“That’s easy, Dash. Luray Caverns, out in Virginia,” Regina said. “They’re the only caves of any size within a couple hours of D.C.”
“Hmmm. They’re what, 45 minutes away?” Dashiell asked.
“About that, yes,” Regina replied.
“They’re fairly commercialized, however,” Dr. Wexler said. “Lots of tourists, and a set of park rangers who regularly patrol the entrance to the caves.”
Dashiell shook his head. “Seems like a bad choice. Too easy to be trapped inside. And too hard to get inside in the first place. I imagine a car would stand out in the empty parking lot, and there’s no other easy way to get out there.”
“So you think they’ll be closer in to the city?” Regina asked.
“But what about what you said earlier, about belief and mindset?” Dr. Wexler asked.
“Well, that might be why they wanted the pilot’s thumb. To increase the connection to the spell and the play, since they knew that they wouldn’t be able to use a cave,” Dashiell replied.
“So where else would they go?” Dr. Wexler inquired.
“Well that’s what has me worried. You said Hecate is a demi-goddess of graveyards. If they are planning on raising her, they want to do it in a graveyard.”
Regina looked at Dashiell. “And why would they want to raise her there?”
“I’m afraid they might be trying to raise the dead.”
Dr. Wexler scoffed. “Mr. Aldridge, I understand you’re trying to find these women because they’ve hurt people. But you can’t seriously be considering the possibility that they could actually accomplish anything.”
Dashiell looked at her gravely. “Dr. Wexler, I worked for ten years for the Bureau of Occult Investigations. I have seen things that no living man should have to witness. Raising the dead is fairly minor among them. I assure you, it can be done. I myself have done it on more than one occasion.”
Dr. Wexler continued to look incredulous. But she didn’t seem quite so certain. “You’ve raised a Goddess of the Dead to help you raise corpses?”
Dashiell’s forehead wrinkled. “No. That’s one thing that’s been bothering me. A single witch or warlock can raise the dead. Three together can even raise several corpses together. There’s only one reason I could imagine that someone would want to summon Hecate, or a similar God or Goddess.”
“And what’s that, Dash?” Regina asked from her place by the table.
“To raise an army of the dead.”
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The Continuing Adventures of Dashiell Aldridge
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4 comments:
Where is Ash when you need him? ;-)
Excellent read as well.
Welcome Fred!
Thanks for reading and for the complement.
Also, shop smart. Shop S Mart!
Darn it, just as it was getting really good, I'm caught up.
Clicked over from NMaI, but saw your ad on ToMU. Looks good!
I'm curious as to what the original description of the Seal was, though.
Katie,
Thanks for reading. Good to know the advertising is working.
The original seal was based on the Great Seal of the United States (on the back of every dollar bill). Basically, it replaced the shield with a pentagram. But I couldn't find an image without the shield, and I'm not a good enough artist to fake the eagle underneath it.
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