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CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

Ryker

When we reached the women and children, a group of poltergeists surrounded them. They floated in the air with their stubby arms crossed over their chests as they eyed the group suspiciously.

“Back off of them,” I said as I strode into the circle.

The poltergeists grumbled, but they drifted a little further away. The tall woman who’d escaped the field with us stared warily at the poltergeist before shifting her attention to me. Many of the children huddled at their mother’s sides.

“Did they scare you?” I asked.

“Most of us have never encountered a poltergeist before,” the woman replied.

“It’s our forest,” one of the floaters muttered.

“We’re sharing it with them now,” Creighton, another poltergeist helping us, replied.

A few of them mumbled so low I couldn’t hear them, but they didn’t say anything further. I studied the group of twenty-five women and children. I wouldn’t stick any of them on a battlefield, as they looked softer than a mushroom, but I wouldn’t leave them here.

“Where are their fathers?” I asked quietly.

The woman glanced behind her before replying.

“They stayed behind… for now. They’re clinging to what little they have left, but these women don’t feel safe after what happened.

They came through the towns and rounded up all the women with far too much ease.

Knowing that it could happen again makes it impossible to sleep at night. ”

Ianto stared sympathetically at the crowd. “I bet it does.”

“It’s the giant ,” one of the little boys whispered with reverence. “He can take on anyone.”

“Shh,” his mother shushed him.

Ianto grinned at the boy before bending to be at eye level with the child. “My name’s Ianto, but you can call me ‘giant’ if you prefer.”

The boy smiled sheepishly back at him. I didn’t like admiring Ianto for anything, but it was impossible not to notice what a softy he turned into around children. They should have run screaming from the man, but they flocked to him instead.

“I know they’re not much of an army,” the woman continued, “but the men will come too. They’re trying to hold on in case a miracle happens and they can save their homes and livelihoods.”

“They’re stubborn fools,” another woman muttered as she hugged her daughter to her.

The tall woman didn’t acknowledge her words. “I’ve been spreading the word that the amsirah will be safe with you.”

“Great,” a poltergeist groused. “That means more of them will come.”

“And you’ll watch for them,” I said. “And you’ll help keep them safe.”

The poltergeist looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but then a flicker went through his red eyes before he bobbed a little in agreement. “We can keep them safe.”

The other floaters exchanged looks before also doing the strange poltergeist nod of agreement. I’d taken a risk by telling him they’d help us, but I’d instinctively known it would work.

The poltergeists had come to us with their offer to help build our army. They claimed it was because they hated the nobles, but I suspected it was something more.

Yes, they’d all been angry assholes in life, hence their status as poltergeists instead of ghosts, but most of them weren’t intrinsically bad. They were just assholes with a grudge.

But they were also assholes who wanted to help and sought a purpose in their afterlife. Right now, their only entertainment was scaring the shit out of people, they preferred if it literally happened, but they also sought more.

Helping us had given them a purpose; while they were grouchy bastards, they also needed that purpose.