The night was moonless. The gloom pressed on them from all sides, heavy, choking and cold. Ravin and Jules rode at the front of the column of horses that ploughed through the woods. The boy held a torch above his head, and the other riders followed its reddish glow. But still, the light could wrestle only a small piece of the darkness at once. It slid along the twisted branches, not able to settle in one place for longer than an eye blink. And every spot it left behind was immediately claimed back by the night.

Jules squirmed on the horse's back, waving his legs and looking around with desperation. As they reached the Moaning Hills, the forest started to whisper. Shadows darker than the night itself bled from the trees. Many dead eyes watched the riders. The horses neighed, terrified.

"For all the gods' sake, hurry!" Lord Kedmon rode right behind the hunter, his white mare about to hit on Opal's rear.

"We won't help Michael if we break our necks," Ravin jerked out into the black void before him. The careful look of his eyes was fixed on the narrow path. "We'll save your son. If the wraith wanted just to kill him, she wouldn't have kidnapped him."

"What do you mean?" Jules' fingers tightened at the material of Ravin's cloak, "Is she luring us into a trap?"

"Probably," the hunter whispered.

A throaty roar broke the night's silence. Some horses behind them whinnied in terror. Jules didn't react to it, as his own heart was clenched with fear.

"It's like she wanted to be found," Ravin said under his breath, "Maybe she thinks it will be easier to kill us if she lures us inside a cave. Or is it Melissa's conscience that is attracted to the place where she died?"

His apprentice didn't answer. He felt a chilly gust on his neck and Opal suddenly halted. Jules looked out from behind Ravin's shoulder and saw Rosalie blocking their way.

"Here!" she disappeared and reappeared in the darkness leftwards, "Quickly!"

"There!" Jules jumped from Opal's back and ran after her without a second thought. He tripped on a protruding root and would have fallen on the ground if Ravin hadn't caught his elbow to steady him.

"Keep close," the man reminded and turned around to look at the guards following them, "Hurry up!"

They marched up the hill as fast as they could, extending their hands to young trees, grasping their branches, seeking support on rocks and roots, while the soil slid from under their feet.

Rosalie kept disappearing and reappearing between the trunks, leading him, bleak and silent. Her misty body didn't have enough time to form before it diffused again. She appeared to be a foggy cloud with only an outline of a human figure and face - it was a miracle that she managed to appear outside the castle. Her desire to protect her brother must have worked similarly to the pendant had helped her out of the castle before. Jules barely sensed her; his Sixth Sense was overwhelmed with the wraith's nearby presence, a cauldron of anger, hatred and the thirst of blood.

And then a stony wall grew up in front of them, with a wide hollow between two heavy rocks. It wasn't the grotto where Melissa had died, but Jules guessed it was near. What was strange, he didn't perceive the shadows anymore; maybe the wraith scared off all other supernatural beings.

"Here!" Rosalie appeared at the cavern's mouth, "Michael's in there!"

"Remember what I told you," Ravin turned to the men gathered around him. "Don't kill the monster. Your job is only to weaken it, so I can finish it off."

Lord Kedmon unsheathed his sword and stepped into the darkness without hesitance. Captain Rogre turned towards Ravin, who got the torch from his apprentice and handed it over to him. The man motioned at his men. Sir Lensters led the warriors inside.

"Take it," Ravin put his rod and the pouch with night pearls into Jules' hands. The runes carved in the metal sparkled at the boy's touch. "Draw the circle at the entrance, so that the wraith won't be able to leave the cave. Then hide," he clenched his hands on his apprentice's shoulder. The boy couldn't see him now, as all the lights disappeared inside the cave, but he could feel his master's warm breath on his face, "Swear it."

"I swear," Jules whispered. The beast roared again. Ravin's hand slipped off his shoulders. The boy reached out to catch his mentor's arm, but the hunter was already gone.

"Ravin! Wait!" his stomach twisted out of fear. But only a silence responded to him. Then, a heartbeat or two later, the echo of a battle cry flew from the cave.

A scream followed.

The boy took a sharp breath as he tried to calm his messy thoughts. He clenched his fist on the rod and knelt at the cave's mouth. He put the pouch on the ground and lifted his hand gathering magic between his fingers. Pushing it out, he formed a glowing ball. It hovered above him as he started to draw.

The first lines came out from under his hand. Red and burning, they left a fiery trace on the cave's floor. Jules squatted, moving from one wall toward the other, making the outer circle so wide the wraith wouldn't be able to brush past it.

"Faster!" Rosalie appeared just by his side, "Hurry up!"

"I'm doing what I can!" When he tried to move the rod too quickly, the heat in his hand was unbearable. Magic pulsed through his body, like second blood, streaming to his fingers and leaking out through the rod.

He jumped at the wraith's roar and almost destroyed the first symbol he had just started to draw. The sounds of the fight vibrated between the walls of the tunnel. He ground his teeth so hard his jaw hurt, trying to stay focused. Even one tiny mistake would cost them too much; one little imperfection and the runes wouldn't work. The pressure bore heavily on him as if a boulder had been placed on his back – which, like an avalanche, would bring death not only to him but to everyone around.

"Jules!" Rosalie whined, "Hurry! My brother's there!"

"I know, I know," he wiped the cold sweat that covered his forehead. One symbol after another appeared on the ground, and he panted out of the effort. The runes of the outer circle were ready, but he hadn't even started the inner one yet, and he felt totally drained.

"Jules!" the ghost protested when sat on his heels, taking sharp breaths.

He only shook his head as the anger rising inside his chest made him speechless. There he was, too weak to help his master when he finally got his chance. He heard the men shouting and the wraith roaring, and their mingled echoes united in a hellish clamour. He had to pull himself together. If he failed, all their efforts would go to waste.

The boy clenched his fists. The symbols covering the rod slowly faded, and he knew it was the warning sign for him to stop. Something warm dripped out from his nose, and when it reached his mouth, he licked his lips. It was blood.

"Jules?" Rosalie kneeled beside him, watching him with huge, sparkling eyes, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he wiped the gore with his sleeve. Another symbol was made. Only four more were left to draw.

"Let me help you," she posed her hand on his. Her palm wasn't material, but he felt a tingling warmth on his cold skin. And the symbols on the rod burst with light again. He nodded with gratitude.

One more rune shone on the circle. He started drawing the second to last one, but then he noticed Rosalie was sparkling strangely. Her body slowly blurred with every new line. He stopped and turned to look at her.

"You're disappearing!" he gasped. How could he be so stupid! He was using her energy now– when it dried up, there would be nothing to maintain her being in this world.

"It's all right," she gave him a sad, knowing smile, "Don't stop. Just promise me one thing– that you'll save my brother."

He nodded and draw the last symbol. She turned into a sparkling mist, and when he pulled the rod's tip away from the stony surface, she was gone.

The Circle of Annihilation was finished - now it only needed its fuel to burst in holy flames that would burn down the rest of Melissa's soul. Jules reached for the pouch and opened it, but then a strong hand grasped his neck, pulled him up and tossed him out of the cave.

He hit the ground with his back and rolled down the hill. He stopped abruptly on a tree trunk. A dark figure with a torch towered above him. When it turned toward him, the flames lit Brian Lenster's face.

"What are you doing, sir?!" Jules gaped as the man put the pouch upside down and let the pears scatter around. The knight gave him a sly smile and crashed a pearl with the heel of his heavy boot. "No! No, stop!" Jules scrambled and jumped at him, but the man tossed him aside. The boy fell and hit his head against a rock. Dark dots swirled before his eyes.

"I've heard you need those stones to make the circle work," sir Lenster smashed two more pearls. They turned into dust under his foot. Jules tried to get up, but his legs were caught under him. The knight crushed the last pearl. "I've just understood something. My enemy's enemy is my friend, isn't it?"

"What have you done!? They are all fighting and you -" Jules stopped short when the man approached him. A hand tightened on his hair - it pulled his head up - and when their eyes met, the man kicked the boy's ribs.

"Arvers stole this land from my family. It's the high time they paid!"

Sir Lenster let go of his hair and Jules fell to the ground. He curled himself up, breathing hard. He clenched his fists - he had to stand up, to fight! But then he felt something cold just by his neck. He opened his eyes. Sir Lenster's blade shone in the light of the torch, pressing onto the boy's skin.

"No!" Jules clung to the ground in a desperate attempt to move away from the sword. He looked up at the man towering above him. "You can't!"

"You shouldn't be here, boy," sir Lenster readjusted his grip on his sword. There was a hint of hesitance in his eyes, a pinch of disgust in his own action. "I can't possibly leave a witness alive."

"But - wait!" Jules crawled back, but the knight pressed his sword harder against the boy's skin. A warm trickle ran down Jules' throat. "If you kill me, I'll come back to haunt you for the rest of your days! Don't you believe me? I'm impure, I'm a demon's offspring! I'll make your life a living hell!"

Sir Lenster gazed at him, his jaw clenched, his eyes calculating, but then he withdrew his sword and stepped back.

"Run away or die with your master, I don't care," the knight went past him. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."