Magic Books, Runes, and a Little Hope

Magic Books, Runes, and a Little Hope

Chapter Two: Ghosts and Phantoms

Am I completely daft? Ghostwriter internally screamed. He ducked as a ball of fire skimmed over his head, singeing his mane. Jumping to his hooves, he dashed forward, just as a blast of lightning zipped by, causing his fur stand on end.

No, Ghost, this was a great idea, he thought sarcastically, I mean, taking on a known killer when you have little combat experience, what a stroke of genius!

Ghost skidded to a stop as a large spire of rock rose in front of him. He gulped as he looked right toward a grinning Phantom.

“I must say,” he said as his horn sparked with red light, “if nothing else, you’re rather adept at dodging.” With a swing of his head, a bolt of lightning shot forward.

Ghost quickly pulled a sheet of paper with a circular symbol out of his bag. The circular symbol glowed brown and he slammed it on the floor.

“Oh, what a neat little trick.” He heard Phantom say from behind the rock wall. Ghost frowned as he panted.

I’ve spent 3 years of my life basically running from creatures that I’ve ticked off and five minutes of scrambling around tires me out, he thought sourly. My only saving grace in this fight is my runes. A glance to his bag brought a smirk to his face. And it just so happens those are my speciality.

Suddenly, another spire of rock rose to Ghost’s right. Before he could move, more rock spires rose up around him, trapping him in a cage. Through a small gap between the spires, he peered out at his opponent.

“Do you like your new fort?” Phantom chuckled and summoned a ball of red light. “I promise it will be a blast.”

Ghost rolled his eyes. He quickly pulled two runes out of his pack. Folding one into a paper glider, he pitched it over the wall and put the other one on the floor. His horn glowed light blue as he touched it to the rune on the floor. The symbol glowed, opening a portal. Ghost could see the ceiling on the other side. Wasting no time, he jumped through just as Phantom tossed the ball over the wall. Ghost covered his ears as he hit the ground, feeling the explosion shake the room and bits of debris rain down on him. He jumped to his hooves, glaring at a surprised-looking Phantom.

“Well, well, well, you’re certainly full of surprises,” Phantom said with a smirk. “So you must be the colt that mastered rune magic.” He laughed. “Runes definitely have their uses, but their rather inferior to regular magic.”

“Then why do you want the Rune Guide if it’s so inferior?” Ghost asked. Gotta keep him talking, give Flare more time, he thought.

“Well, it’s quite simple,” Phantom said. He narrowed his eyes and smiled, an action that made Ghost involuntarily glup. “It’s a form of magic I don’t have, and that just won’t do.” He laughed, making Ghost shudder. “Now then,” he continued, starting to circle Ghost. “Since you seem to have no intention of backing down, be sure to give me some fun before you die.”

So he’s conceited and cocky, Ghost thought as he kept his eyes on Phantom.

Phantom dashed forward, slashing his sword horizontally. Ghost jumped back to dodge the slice, then rolled left to avoid a vertical slash. Phantom readied another swing.

Ghost’s eyes widened. Foxtrot! I can’t dodge. His eyes narrowed. Then I’ll block. Fueled by adrenaline, Ghost quickly raised an object to his defense.

The sound of steel clashing with steel reverberated through the room. Phantom’s eyes grew wide as his sword clashed with a book sporting an armored spine.

“What?” he growled.

Ghost smirked. And ponies called me stupid for putting steel on the spine of my travel journal.

He pushed back Phantom’s sword and slid left. As Phantom pushed back, Ghost moved his book slightly left. The sound of scratching metal covered up Phantom’s curse as he stumbled forward. Quickly dashing past him, Ghost delivered a solid strike to the back of Phantom’s head while gaining some distance.

Phantom growled. “Now you’re starting to tick me off.”

Ghost chuckled, a small, tentative smirk on his face. “You’re not the first to tell me that.”

Phantom quickly fired a blast of magic. Ghost hurriedly rolled to his left while simultaneously folding a rune into a glider.

“Try this!” he cried, chucking the paper plane at the thief.

Phantom crouched in preparation to dodge, but the plane landed harmlessly in front of him.

An awkward second passed before he snickered. “Was that supposed to do something?”

Just my luck, Ghost growled internally.

Phantom laughed as he picked up the plane in his hoof. “Rather pathetic, colt, rather—” Suddenly the plane lit up and exploded. Phantom flew back and slid across the ground.

Ghost raised an eyebrow. He looked at another rune, the same as the one he had just thrown. Oh, I accidentally grabbed the one with twenty second fuses.

Phantom growled as he stood up. “Full of surprises, indeed.” He smiled, grinding his teeth together as his horn sparked. “Well, so am I!”

Ghost cried as he jumped out of the ring of fire that erupted under his hooves. He quickly took stock of his now singed feathering.

Well, I did say I needed them trimmed, he thought.

Phantom dashed forward with intent to cut his head off. He raised his book to meet the sword. With a grunt, he pushed back, yet Phantom held his ground.

A growl sounded from his throat while runes flew from his bags. They quickly surrounded the clashing pair and folded into paper airplanes, held aloft by Ghost’s magic.

Phantom glanced around and pushed harder. With a grin, Ghost willed the runes to strike. Suddenly, Ghost felt his hold on the book slip. Phantom twisted his sword and flung the book far to the left. Ghost tried to finish activating the runes, but Phantom slammed the pummel of his blade between Ghost’s eyes. The floating runes dropped harmlessly to the floor. Phantom swung his head down, summoning a shock wave that knocked Ghost backwards.

Ghost hit the ground and bounced. He gritted his teeth as he felt himself collide with the floor two more times before sliding to a stop. A groan escaped his throat as he struggled to his hooves, his ears ringing and the beginnings of a splitting headache forming.

Okay, little more painful than I anticipated, he thought, clenching his eyes closed. But all according to plan. He inwardly laughed.

“Your little magic pictures are ticking me off, colt,” Phantom growled. “But it seems you’re not much use without them.”

Ten seconds, he timed. Keep him talking.

“Hey, Phantom,” Ghost said rubbing his head. “You ever heard the phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’?” Fourteen seconds.

“What,” Phantom asked with a raised brow. “What are you on about, colt?”

“Well, the same is true for runes,” Ghost said as a wide grin formed on his face. Seventeen seconds! “ Problem is these runes only know the word ‘Boom’!”

Twenty seconds!

Phantom’s eyes widened as the paper planes around him began to glow.

***

Flare ran through the Museum’s halls, the only sound heard being his own breathing and the pounding of his paws on tile. He had his mission and he wasn’t going to fail, but there was one problem.

I can’t remember the way back! he thought.

Tears stung his eyes as his fear-fueled imagination conjured pictures of Ghost, bloody and broken. Phantom had scared the twin-tail more than anything he and Ghost had ever encountered. No creature, especially a normally peaceful pony, should smell of that much blood.

Flare skidded to a stop and glanced around, desperately looking for something to guide him back to the party. He sniffed as he began running again.

Being two-hundred years old, Flare had seen and experienced a lot in his life. However, by kitsune standards he was only two. His greatest fear in life was losing the ones he cared about, and if he didn’t find a way back he faced the possibility of losing his big brother.

He sniffed again, this time a scent wresting him away from his thoughts.

“Wait,” he mumbled as he stopped. More sniffs confirmed his suspicions. “I smell cookies.” His eyes widened. “The party! I can follow the scent to the party.”

Just as he was about to dash off, his sensitive ears picked up a soft boom. His heart froze.

“Did he?” he gasped. A tense second passed as he stood stock still. He soon sighed. “No, I can still sense Ghost.”

Narrowing his eyes, he wiped the tears from his face before dashing towards the scent of sweets. “Hold on, Ghost! I don’t want you to die.”

Within seconds, Flare was starting to recognize his surroundings.

“Yes,” he cried as he rounded the corner. Then his heart stopped. “No,” he cried. “No, no, no!” Before him was the entrance to the art wing, but the large door was closed. His tears returned as he desperately scratched at the door, his cries of distress dissolving into yips and barks. “No,” he growled. “I’m not giving up now.”

Backing away from the door, Flare lifted his two tails. He growled as two blue flames formed on their tips. Lunging towards the door, he performed a quick frontflip. The two azure flames shot at the door, leaving a charred hole which he jumped through.

Alright, he told himself. Just got to find one of the princesses.

Barely registering the party occupants’ surprise, he looked around frantically. Between his own panic and teary eyes, he failed to notice he was on a collision course.

“Flare?”

The fox picked himself up and turned to the speaker. Noticing the star-studded mane and concerned blue eyes, he put his front paws on Luna’s leg.

“Princess!” he cried. His eyes were wide as tears freely flowed from his eyes and his mouth quivered. He was practically sobbing as he tried to talk.

“Princess, me and Ghost were with the Rune Guide and then Ghost pulled it out and then the case exploded and this strange pony appeared and he smelled like blood and Ghost sent me here to get help and I can’t tell if he’s alive and I’m scared!”

“Easy, little one,” Luna cooed. “I can’t understand you.”

As Flare tried to speak his words dissolved into terrified yips, his mind no longer able to distinguish the difference.

Celestia walked up beside her sister. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” Luna said with a frown. “Flare, you need to calm yourself.”

Just as Flare was about to try and talk again, a large explosion rocked the building, shaking paintings and light fixtures and even knocking a few ponies off their hooves.

Flare turned towards the source of the explosion and let loose a loud, sorrowful wail.

The pony sisters, with narrowed eyes, nodded to each other.

“Flare,” Celestia said sternly, “Take us to Ghostwriter.”

***

Ghost let out an audible groan as small stones showered his body.

“That was painful,” he voiced as he struggled to his feet. “and not my best idea.” He stumbled slightly before shaking his head. “Well, never let it be said I can be dissuaded from a bad idea.”

With one eye closed in pain, he walked towards the giant crater. Please have worked, please, please have worked.

He gulped as he stared into the hole in the room. Smoke and dust obscured his view. His body was tense, his mouth dry, his legs shaking.

The smoke cleared revealing an empty crater.

“Wha,” Ghost whispered with raised brow. “Did... Did I get ‘em?”

“Not quite.”

His eyes widened. The sound of steel slicing through air met his ears as he jumped to his right. A sharp pain erupted from his side with the sound of Phantom’s sword tearing through cloth and flesh. Ghost hit the ground on the side, his teeth clenched as pain momentarily left him speechless.

“Good show, Colt,” Phantom said as he walked towards the downed scribe. “But sorry to say you missed.”

That was at least twenty blast runes, Ghost thought angrily. How did I miss?

Through clenched teeth, Ghost struggled to his feet. He cried out in pain as Phantom kicked him in his now injured side, knocking him back to the floor. The spell thief slammed a hoof onto the side of Ghost’s head. Keeping him pinned, Phantom chuckled as he wiped the blood off his sword with Ghost’s shredded robe.

“This was certainly entertaining, but you have to face facts.” He leaned in close to Ghost’s ear. “You never stood a chance against me.”

Ghost let out a growl.

“Now, let’s see,” Phantom said as he opened Ghost bag. “Ah, here we go.” Sheathing his sword, he pulled the book out with his magic and flipped through it. “Quite extensive, isn’t it?”

“I won’t let you have it,” Ghost growled.

“Well, good thing I’m not asking you,” he said with a chuckle. His horn sparked. “Now, how would you like to go, burned to death, electrocuted, maybe frozen?” he asked with a smile that made Ghost sick.

I’m out of runes, there’s a giant gash in my side, Phantom has the Rune Guide, and is pinning me to the ground. Ghost thought. I’m about to die, aren’t I?

“Oh, I know,” Phantom laughed. His voice dropped low as his horn glowed brighter. “How about I keep it a surprise.”

This is it, Ghost inwardly sighed. I’m sorry, Flare. I’m sorry, Paint, for everything. I’m sorry, Dad... I failed.

With those thoughts, he closed his eyes. He waited, waited for the magic induced end Phantom promised.