Ghosts in the Catacombs

[Jonah]

Jonah had the creature in his sights. Slow breaths, in and out, just like his father taught him when sighting a deer. Don't spook it before you have to. It really was more like boar hunting when he thought about it. These monsters would turn on you as soon as they'd felt pain once and it generally took more than one shot.

Shaking his head, he refocused and squeezed the trigger. Out of the corner of his eye there was a...shimmer and the bullet that was aimed perfectly at one of the things many heads caught it in one of its shoulders. Roaring in pain, it lurched towards the big killer, swinging wildly. He dropped the rifle before it could get broken and swung out with better aim with his hammer.

One solid piece of flesh going pulpy was the result and just as Jonah spun his hammer to catch the thing in its chest with the spike, another shimmer and he paused and the creature launched him in to the stone wall, leaving him dazed for a minute while it ran away to easier prey.

Almost images swam and doubled and then reformed and the bald man shook his head. Eventually everything reformed in front of him as it should be. Except...except there was someone there. It was usual for someone to be in this room. Everyone wandered these halls hunting but this...this was different.

The...person shimmered. Was there and then wasn't. They were dressed completely wrong. Struggling to his feet, he reached for his gun without taking his eyes off this new person. They never noticed, never reacted. It was like he wasn't there to them. A large hand reached out to try and get their attention but it fell through them. Stepping back, Jonah ran in to the wall again, cracking the back of his skull.

Massaging the back of his head, he realized that these were wraiths, just like the ones that had taught him the powers of the other paths except...less. Skirting around one the one, he walked in to the central chamber and...they were everywhere. It was almost crawling with them. And others were just...passing through them. Shallow breaths turned to forced, deep ones as he made himself stay calm while his mind whirled with thoughts of how these...enthralled wraiths might be being used.