Skade's Adventures: Ghost of the Boreal Woods

Growloween Prompt: The Ghost Hunt

Word Count: 1179

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“You don’t even believe in ghosts, Skade!” Garth countered to Skade’s protesting. 

“Well I don’t want to be proven wrong,” the peach woldren whined back, crossing his arms across his chest. “I won’t go- not this time.”

“Come on. Please? I won’t need to babysit Brenna tonight and it’s a full moon. It’s perfect!”

“No.”

“What if we get hurt?” Thora asked, appealing to a different side of Skade. 

Skade held his head high. He wouldn’t give in. But… what if they did get hurt? They need someone with them that would be able to help them. He felt his face soften as his resolve broke. He crossed his arms and with a sigh, finally agreed, “Fine. But if it starts getting too scary, we’re leaving.”

“When it’s scary is when we know we have ghosts though,” whined Garth.

“Yeah, bad ghosts-” interjected Thora.

 

“Why did you bring those?” Thora asked as Skade passed an unlit torch around. “It’s a full moon, we can see just fine.”

“Yeah, out in the open and while there aren’t any clouds covering the sky.” Skade pointed out. He shifted to adjust the weight across his back and all of the contents of his backpack shuffled against each other. “Do any of you even know how to find ghosts?”

“Yeah! We, uh, we’ll go into the forest! That’s where Knut said he spotted some ghosts the other night.” Garth planned. “And then we’ll, uh, give them… something? Like a snack?”

“Ghosts don’t need to eat.” Skade frowned.

“You sure are an expert in something that doesn’t exist.” Garth rolled his eyes and Skade stuck out his tongue. “What do you think we should do?”

“I think we should go back home, but I know you two won’t follow me.”

“Let’s just see if we can find a ghost and go from there. Maybe we can talk to them and see if they want anything.” Thora suggested before the boys broke out into an argument that would have ended their adventure before it even began.

 

“Look, all I’m saying is-if ghosts aren’t real, then how come Knut saw some?” Garth asked, ducking between branches of evergreen trees.

“Knut tells a lot of tall tales.” Thora answered for Skade, who was leading the group deeper into the forest. “I don’t blame Skade for not believing him.”

“When has Knut ever lied?”

“Remember when he said he had a pet human in a cave that he fed berries?” Skade immediately offered.

“Or when he said his grandmother was a Ship Breaker that was so big she destroyed every boat in a fleet at once?” Thora gave another.

“He also said that-”

“Okay, I get it!” Garth interrupted.

 

Skade’s paws ached from stepping on loose pine needles and pine cones all night. Slowly, he and his friends got comfortable exploring the woods at night and had slowly begun to back off of each other’s heels. He struck a torch and maneuvered with dragging paws. Skade could barely make out Garth’s despondent expression.

“It’s getting close to midnight and we haven’t seen anything supernatural.” Skade informed the group. “We should head home before our parents wake up and worry.”

“It’s almost the Witching Hour!” Skade watched as Garth’s spirits picked back up. 

“Just a little longer, Skade?” Thora pleaded from behind him.

“Fine.” Skade huffed and sprawled on the floor to get off his paws. He listened as his friends roamed away from him, kicking up loose leaves and soil as they walked. They called into the night for anyone beyond the veil to contact them. At first it was nervous, and with each call- the tone shifted to disappointment. Garth was the first to come back, his head so low it might as well been dragging on the floor with his tail.

Skade felt his eyebrows curl upwards as his friend defeatedly sat next to him. He wished he could do something for him. And slowly, a thought creeped into Skade’s head. The woldren repressed a sigh before he decided that he needed to take a page out of Knut’s book. He just hoped he could be good at acting.

Skade pretended to jump as he stared at something that wasn’t there between distant trees. He quickly rose to his paws and squinted against the darkness before he yelped and his tail fluffed in his mock fear.

“What’s wrong?” Garth asked, head tilted.

“Hello!?” Skade pretended to ignore him. “Are you… are you a ghost?”

“What?” Garth’s tail began to wag. “You can see one? Where?”

“There!” Skade pointed between the trees.

Garth gasped, his tail nearly wagging off his spine. “Can you see ghosts?”

“No way! How come the person who doesn’t believe in them can see them?” Thora complained. “What do they look like? Did they say something?”

“They’re looking at us!” Skade lied. “What do I say? What do I say?”

“Ask them their name!” Garth pushed. 

“Uhm, hi- what’s your name?” Skade asked. He felt Thora and Garth shift behind him- a first since he’s usually the one hiding behind friends. “She said Dagmar.”

“What does she want?” Thora asked. In her excitement, she started climbing on Skade.

“Ow, get off.” Skade swatted her off when she slipped and grabbed at a hunk of his fur to try and stay on. 

“How’d she die?” Garth asked.

“Uhm-”

“That’s rude!” Thora interjected.

Skade felt himself getting overwhelmed as he tried to find answers for this fake ghost. His friends were happy, but he didn’t think far enough ahead for their questions.

“What’s she look like?” Thora asked another question.

“Uhm- white and… blue?” he answered “And she’s a swift wing?”

“What’s a swift wing doing all the way out here?”

“Maybe that’s how she died!”

“Garth!”

“Skade, what’s she want?”

“Okay- I lied!” Skade yelled, putting his paws over his ears. “I’m sorry!”

“There’s no ghost?” Thora sounded even more disappointed than she did before.

“I’m sorry.” he repeated, much quieter this time. “You two looked so sad and I… I wanted to do something about it.”

“Then what’s that?” Garth asked, pointing to something in the darkness.

Skade squinted and he could barely see a shadow shifting in the distance. He struck a torch and lit up the area. There was nothing between them but the trees and yet they could clearly make out the outline of a swift wing. 

“Hello?” Skade called out again. Immediately, the wind howled around them and blew out his torch. The temperature dropped. And slowly, a white dragon stepped into the moonlight. Dripping from her nose, mouth, and eyes was a spooky green goo. From her paws rose a creeping black mist. 

“Boo!” her voice was distant, like it was being echoed from down a long hallway.

Skade and Garth screamed, “Ghost!” and tripped over each other as they rushed away. Thora followed behind them, laughing instead of screaming.

“We saw a ghoooost!” Thora cheered through laughter.

“I told you they were real!” Garth yelled to Skade.

“I wish I wasn’t wrong!” Skade cried into the night.