Campaign group: Shadey Lin, Ozroth, Crispin, Terrance
Difficulty: Medium
Prompt:
An out-of-place metal grate blocks this passage. As your party considers ways to dislodge or bypass it, a figure rushes out of the darkness on the other side. It almost resembles a Courser in shape, but has a skull-like head that pivots through the iron bars towards you. It begs desperately to join your party, and seizes you with its jaws when you refuse.

Word count: 752 words

‘’Yoo hoo, Bruteling~’’

Ozroth froze in his steps. Not again.

He looked over his shoulder and immediately dropped his ears to the sides when he saw Shadey Lin with no doubt his two hired bodyguards. Crispin and Terrance of all.

‘’Fancy seeing you again! It’s like we share a magnetic pulse together!’’ Shadey bumped his shoulder against Ozroth’s, who didn’t move an inch. Ozroth grumbled.

‘’We do not share a magnetic pulse together. Stop following me around like a lost lamb.’’

Shadey huffed. ‘’But I’m not following you around, you see I’m adventuring on my own!’’

Terrance and Crispin glanced at each other, giving each other a look of ‘yeah, sure bud’.

Shadey then walked onwards, looking over his shoulder and saying in an invitational manner: ‘’You’re free to join ofcourse, imagine the fun we’d have!’’

Ozroth rolled his eyes, but given that Shadey and his party were going the same way he needed to go, he followed along.

 He glanced over his shoulder at the two horses behind them, then looked next to him at Shadey.

‘’Out of all mercenaries, you chose them?’’

‘’Hey!’’ Crispin and Terrance sounded in unison.

‘’They fight off all the monsters for me, plus they’re well-versed in the routes around these caverns. Wouldn’t wanna get lost again now would we?’’

Ozroth mumbled quietly, ‘Yeah that’d be ­terrible’, with a sarcastic hint in his tone. He disliked Crispin, and he hated Terrance. The two were simply insufferable, especially together. One wouldn’t shut up about his always-changing story of the geyser fields, and the other was always swarmed by love-struck Coursers and fans who were beyond the clouds about him.

But that was exactly the type of company Shadey liked, he thought. Stuck-up, wealthy, too chattery and very, very annoying.

As the group walked on, they eventually were stopped when the cavern ended in a dead-end. The passage was blocked, not by boulders this time, but by a dull metal grate.

Terrance walked up to the grate and inspected it closely. On one side there was a lock, but it looked very old and very rusted, and the key no doubt would be long-lost. Maybe he could try and kick his way in.

‘’It doesn’t look impossible to dismantle, someone strong enough could kick the lock out with one blow. Unless you all wanna start a search for the key?’’

Crispin looked from Terrance to Ozroth. ‘’You wanna give it a try?’’

Ozroth grunted. ‘’Fine.’’

Just as he walked forward, hoof beats sounded from the passageway at the other end of the metal grate. Terrance quickly backed away from the grate and went to stand next to Ozroth. The four tensely watched a Courser appear behind the grate.

Shadey’s blood ran cold when he saw the Courser. It appeared like a normal horse, but the head.. The head was nothing more than residue on a skull, with no eyes and definitely no vital organs to keep it alive.

‘’A ghost!!’’ Shadey screamed. The coat on his body almost stood upright, and his legs shook on the spot. Ozroth grit his teeth and took a fighting stance, mirroring Terrance. The two warriors didn’t move an inch when the ghostly Courser merged through the metal grate.

‘’Friends! Friends, please!’’

Its crying was ear piercing and chilly, leaving goosebumps all over their bodies.

‘’Please, let me come with! Let me come!’’

Ozroth pulled a blade from his breastplate and clenched it between his teeth.

‘’Back off spirit! You are not welcome among our group!’’ Terrance yelled back, confidence sounding in every word. He knew that with these types of spirits, you had to be firm and clear that they should not be following you. If you gave in, you might never get rid of them again.

But the spirit wasn’t as understanding as Terrance had hoped. Its cries became louder and angrier, teeth showing through the remains of its skull-head.

‘’You’re not friends, you’re monsters!’’

The spirit flew forward, and unfortunately Shadey seemed to be its target. With its strong jaws it grabbed Shadey by the legs, flipping him around onto his back before he could say a peep. This spirit was terrifyingly intelligent, and it seemed to know exactly how to hold someone hostage. It was standing over the black Courser, front legs between its jaws and looking at the rest of the group.

How were they going to fight a ghost? And more importantly, how would they get Shadey out of there with all of his limbs still attached?