Without Parth to guide them, tracking through the forest was hard work, even with Semari jumping between trees and checking ahead. Stathis did what she could to try and make a path for the others, continually running across broken walls that blocked their progress, or woods too dense to break through. After half the day, they’d finally managed to hack their way back to their campsite, without any sign of Parth.

By day, there was no sign of ghosts, or anything more savage than squirrels. Still, they moved as a group through the building, quickly checking the room they had camped in. With that empty, they had little choice but to press on towards the main fortress in the centre, the road there at least mostly clear, without any sign of the unicorn. The walls around it were intact, the moat steaming slightly, sinuous shapes moving beneath the muck and froth. The main entrance was easy to find, but impossible to access – whatever bridge there had once been was long gone, with a portcullis on the far side blocking the entrance even if they could cross.

‘Don’t suppose you’ve got anything to fly us over?’ Stathis asked Hakara. ‘Doubt anything will have gotten in, and the inside rooms might have stuff that hasn’t rotted away completely.’

Hakara eyed up the size of the walls, and the width of the moat. ‘I fear not, Miss Stathis. If the portcullis were open, then I might be able to transport myself across, but I lack more advanced movement spells. Does Miss Janaxia not have any spells that could help?’

Before anyone could answer, Semari yelled. ‘Parth!’

A ghostly figure staggered towards them, translucent in the sunlight. It was Parth, but she was injured, a bandage wrapped around where Stathis had shot her, and limping and staggering along, face twisted in pain. She glanced behind herself, then moved forward, stepping onto the water as Semari tried to grab her, Semari’s hands passing through Parth’s form. Whatever world she was in must have something different from here, as she walked out over the water, limping forward and through the portcullis.

Hakara cast a spell, blue dust flickering from her fingers. Shapes formed into being around them, vaguely defined humanoid forms, clawed hands reaching forward. Janaxia stepped back to avoid one, teetering on the edge of the water before Stathis yanked her back onto solid ground. The ghostly forms simply moved through them, without anything more than a momentary chill sensation.

‘Shit! We need to find another way in. Hakara, anything you can do to talk to her, or pull her here?’

From the look on Hakara’s face, that would be a “no”. They skirted around the moat as quickly as they could, trying to find another entrance. They soon came to what would have been a heavily defended side entrance, a turreted and gated guardhouse, their passage blocked by heavy metal doors. Faded letters were etched into the archway, Janaxia squinting at them before supplying a translation. ‘Those that would seek passage, pledge thy troth to enter.’

‘Anyone know weird elven riddles?’ Everyone shook their heads. ‘Right then, let’s get the crowbars. Hakara, can you check it’s not going to blast us with fire or anything? Or summon that damn unicorn.’

‘Yes, Miss Stathis.’ She began casting some magic over the doorway, parts of it flickering pale blue in responses to her spell.

‘Semari, give me a hand with this.’

It was worn enough they could slide a crowbar into a crack, working it back and forth, Stathis trading off with Semari. A harsh green light started to shine from the doorway, suddenly blinking out as Hakara disrupted it, the power disrupting with a loud ‘crack’. Finally, the thing gave, scraping open over the rubble-strewn floor and allowing them inside. Semari ran ahead, into the shadows of the gatehouse.

A few moments after she vanished from sight, a loud crashing echoed down the hallway, followed by Semari’s cursing. Stathis drew her sword and ran towards the sound, finding Semari arced into an awkward position, surrounded by weapons, a variety of sharp edges and spikes around her, fallen from weapon racks. A white cat was sat on her chest, licking itself, apparently unconcerned with the noise.

Semari managed to twist herself into a bridge position over the weapons without slicing herself, the cat digging claws into her clothing to keep its position. Stathis knelt to look at it, checking for any signs of demonic power or ghostly influence – scales, twisted limbs, eyes that burnt with power from beyond the grave. There was a red gem between its eyes, somehow melded with the skin, glinting in the light. It meowed at her, disdainfully sniffing her extended hand before giving the proffered gauntlet an experimental nibble, glowering at her when it couldn’t penetrate the metal.

Janaxia and Hakara bundled into the room behind her, both blazing with arcane power, ready to unleash spells of destruction, before the energy slowly faded as they noted the lack of targets. Hakara examined the cat, keeping herself out of clawing distance, a momentary ring of blue light surrounding the creature and raising a meow of protest before she reported her findings. ‘It is faintly magical, but not unduly so. I doubt it is anything powerful masquerading as a simple cat.’

Semari was beginning to strain and groan beneath it. ‘It’s pointy at every end! Get it off!’

Janaxia tickled it under the chin, making it preen, as it smugly accepted her touch. ‘Are you a good cat? Are you?’ It stretched, digging claws deeper into Semari as it made itself more comfortable. ‘Mew!’

It meowed back at her.

‘Janaxia, are you talking to it? Does it know where Parth is?’ Stathis asked.

Janaxia meowed at it again, stroking it. ‘Don’t be silly, of course it can’t talk, it’s a cat. Although, from the particularly fine colouration, I would assume that it is an elven cat, and therefore possessed of some level of magical power. It may be able to assist us though; they are said to be more intelligent than normal cats. Isn’t that right?’ She tickled it under the chain, as it rumbled back with a purr of satisfaction. ‘There may be a population of the creatures – with such fine breeding, any kittens would be valuable. Any number of nobles would happily pay a great deal for such a beast as a pet. Transportation may be complicated though.’

Semari’s arms were beginning to shake, as she strained to support herself. ‘Just get it off me!’

Janaxia sighed, then carefully picked the creature up, nestling it in her arms. It shifted around, making itself comfortable, rubbing its face against Janaxia, as Semari slowly rose to her feet.

‘Damn thing is probably in cahoots with that pointy-headed horse bastard!’ She leant down next to it. ‘I’m keeping an eye on you!’ It stretched, casually extending an arm, claws protruding and glaring back at her.

Janaxia shifted protectively. ‘Don’t be so paranoid! He’s simply a good kitty, isn’t that right?’ She stroked it again, earning a satisfied meow back. The thing looked far too smug, nestled in Janaxia’s arms, but hadn’t tried to murder anyone yet, so it seemed unfair to chase it off or kill it.

‘Right, so we’ve got a cat now. If we get ambushed by something, throw that in their face. Hakara, can you cast that big divination spell again, check there’s not some massive magical something nearby that’s going to kill us all?’

‘Yes, Miss Stathis.’

As Hakara started to cast the spell, Stathis continued speaking. ‘Now we need to keep moving and find out where the hell Parth might be, and how to bring her back here. Any of you know anything about where to go?’ Everyone shook their heads. ‘We’re just going to have to keep looking then. And try and find her before nightfall – she might have some idea about where to go to not get attacked by ghosts again. We’ve probably got about four more hours until sundown. This place looks deserted.’ The cat mewed in protest. ‘You’re a cat, you don’t count. The unicorn can’t get in here, and those ghosts don’t seem to come out during the day. If we split up, we can look faster that way. Meet back here in two hours.’

Hakara’s spell was almost complete, blue spheres trickling back in, building up an image of the surrounding area. Somewhere deeper inside the castle, below them, was a bright concentration of power, surrounded by smaller dots at various points around it, roughly corresponding to the inner keep. ‘We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Hakara, we’ll work together. Get any protection spells you need up and running.’

Hakara was peering at the spell, before looking up, trying to orientate it to her surroundings. ‘I will do what I can. The place may still have some magical traps, but they all seem to be towards the central keep. Any traps out here would be purely mechanical.’

‘Thanks, that’s something useful to know.’

Semari was poking at the magical spell, as Janaxia also moved close, the cat reaching out and swiping a claw through it as well. They glared at each other, until Stathis put a hand on Semari’s shoulder. ‘Go scout, see if you can find anything magical or portal-y, that might bring Parth back.’

They split up, each taking a different path, Semari racing off, Janaxia stroking and talking to the cat as it leapt free of her arms, sauntering ahead of her, mewing back. Stathis started looking for stairs upwards, a route onto the battlements, Hakara staying close behind.