Ship of Souls

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    “Like that trap and chain!” I exclaim, then clamp my hand over my mouth. Sorry , I say without sound. It’s going to be hard learning to speak with my mind.
    The stone beast was also propelled by their malice. While I was their captive, they were able to maintain their human form. But now—to you—they will seem monstrous. Remember, D—they are only shadows that fear the light you have within. Be brave!
    I press myself against the damp wall and try to breathe deeply to slow my racing heart. I can hear voices coming from below. Several men are arguing angrily—but they’re not men, they’re the dead—and Nuru called them “monsters”! Above ground, their collective voices sounded like a hissing snake, but now that I am underground, the nether beings sound like regular human beings.
    “Where is he?”
    “Drag him in here! Who’s he to keep us waiting like this?”
    “Patience, men, patience! He hasn’t the heart of a soldier.”
    The men laugh at the suggestion that I’m a coward. They quiet down after a while, and I realize the last speaker must be their leader.
    “Come in, boy, come in!”
    I move toward his booming voice even though I know his welcome is insincere. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I find myself in a large cavern. A gust of air blows past me, and suddenly three torches ignite and fill the space with orange light and wavering black shadows. The cavern is actually a junction, an open space circled by gaping black holes that must lead to other tunnels or stairways. Tangled roots hang from the ceiling, and wriggling worms burrow in and out of the damp earthen walls. Then I look closer and realize the worms aren’t moving through soil—they’re moving through the decomposing flesh of the dead!
    I reach up and cover my nose with my hand, expecting to be overwhelmed by the stench of rotting flesh. But Nuru was right—the dead are like shadows, glimmering glimpses of the men they used to be. Soldiers who died in battle more than two hundred years ago shouldn’t be walking and talking—and looking—like this. Those at the back of the cavern appear to be skeletons while the ones closer to me have enough flesh on their bones to appear more like corpses. I can even see the fatal wounds that killed some of them—a bayonet gash across the abdomen, a bullet wound in the temple.
    To my surprise, they aren’t wearing uniforms—just drab-colored long coats over plain shirts and pants that end at the knee. Some have stockings and shoes with buckles, others wear heavy leather boots that reach their breeches. All have long hair that’s pulled back in a ponytail. In my mind, I imagined all Revolutionary soldiers looked like George Washington in his powdered wig, but this motley crew looks anything but dignified.
    There are about a dozen nether beings altogether, and they all seem determined to get as close to me as they can. I’m not sure if they really can’t touch me—Nuru said they could only move objects around—but I sure don’t want to find out! As they press forward, I creep back toward the stairs until their leader calls his men to attention. A couple of centuries haven’t diminished these soldiers’ sense of discipline, and they fall in line immediately.
    The leader proudly surveys his men as they stand at attention, their eerie eyes glued to the wall instead of feasting on me. “At ease, men,” he says next, and they widen their stance and clasp their hands—what’s left of them—behind their backs. I take this opportunity to look around the room. It’s filled with items you’d expect to find in the park’s lost-and-found bin—I see a few baseball bats and tennis rackets in one corner, stacks of newspapers and tattered paperback books in another, and two umbrellas, a shovel, and several lawn chairs are arranged around a three-legged plastic table that’s propped up by a walking cane.
    I jump when the leader suddenly speaks to me. “So, my boy. Where is it?”
    “W-where is what?” I stammer.
    “Don’t fool with me, boy. You know what we’re looking for.”
    I wait to hear Nuru’s voice inside my head, but all I hear is the loud thudding of my heart. “Uh—if you mean the bird…it left. I tried to offer it to—to your rock servant thing, but it flew away before I could hand it over.”
    “You’re lying,” says the captain.
    “I’m not!” I take off my jacket and turn around so they can see that I’m not hiding anything.