The Lost Witch

Chapter twenty-four

***Heys, guys, finally it's time for the big reveal . . . What is a draugr? What is Aaron? Read to find out***

"What the heck is a draugr?" Letting loose a sigh filled with so much tension and emotions it was almost depleting, Paige met Kendall's gaze. Mr. Beddoes mentioned draugrs briefly, only saying they were nasty vile creatures. Like that was any real help. But Kendall's books might reveal something more. Something useful.

"What are they?" Paige asked again ten minutes later, almost pleading this time for answers. Kendall had her nose buried in a book and looked up as Paige's words sliced through the air. "Are they . . ." She almost asked if they were dangerous, but she stopped herself before the words could leave her mouth. From what she's seen from Aaron, draugrs were very dangerous.

Kendall's brow arched as she turned her attention back to the book in her hands. "They're dead?" It wasn't a statement, it sounded more like a question, one filled with uncertainty.

"What?"

"Listen to this," she said, moving to kneel on top of her bed. "Draugrs are born in death, and in death they remain, forever connected to eternal damnation."

"Explain without a riddle, please."

Kendall looked up, any hints of a smile vanished from sight. "Draugrs are people who have been resurrected."

Paige curved her brow. "Like revenants?"

Kendall shook her head, her brown mane a tangled mess down her back. "No. Revenants are animated corpses. No heartbeat. No blood flow. But draugrs are completely resurrected and they manifest in early adolescence. With significant changes to how they were before they died."

Paige moved beside Kendall on the bed and leaned back on her elbows. "So, you're saying Aaron, at one point in his life, died and was resurrected?"

"If he is actually a draugr, then yes."

"Resurrected by what? People don't just go around, waking up after death. It's weird. Even by our standards."

"By this." Kendall flipped the book around and showed Paige the painting of the draugr again. Her finger rapidly tapped against the man-shadow in the background. "Draugrs are resurrected by reapers. That's what it means: Forever connected to eternal damnation."

She turned back to the book, flipped over a few pages and remained silent for a long moment. She read aloud her discovery. "Draugrs remain psychically connected to the reaper that resurrected them. That's what you saw behind Aaron that night, Paige. You saw the reaper that created him."

"People die all the bloody time," Paige said, resisting the urge to tear the book from Kendall's hands and look herself for more answers. "Why isn't there hundreds of these bastards running around?" She felt pretty confident that draugrs would be much more well known if there was such a large number of them.

"Because reapers are very selective in who they bring back," Kendall said slowly, as she absorbed more information from the book beneath her. "No one knows why a particular person gets chosen. But when they do wake after death, they're not themselves anymore."

Paige repressed a shiver. "How so?" She knew she wouldn't like the answer, but she still had to know. The suspense was killing her.

Kendall's eyes almost looked hollow. "The reaper will influence them. Because of the connection to the reaper, the draugr is much closer to death. They always have a foot in it, I guess. They become more aggressive, violent, ruthless, dark. They become hunters."