Jom-Bolok was huge. They both stood at the trail to the volcano and stared at the giant base of the mountain.

“I have seen Vesuvius, and it seemed smaller than this volcano,” Antonius grinned. He had seen a couple of volcanoes bigger than this one in Africa, but he had to admit it was indeed large.

“Well, now, if we haven’t been just shooting blindly, we can find the remains of the khan effortlessly. All it takes is a bit of magic,” Antonius let lose his magic in the area and felt a faint pulse. It was far away, though. “There is definitely something in here.”

“How do you know?” Cesare had felt a coldness pass through him, but he didn’t see any magic arrows pointing the way.

“You are not a necromancer, Cesare. There is no way for you to see. Come on. I think we are about twenty km. from the cache,” they began to walk, the thumbs of their walking sticks the only sound in the clearing.

About two hours after they started, Antonius stopped. He picked up a stone and threw it in the air. It bounced off from nothing.

“A barrier. This could be a mass grave!” Antonius exclaimed, and he cut his palm and let his blood drip on the grass. Then, much to Cesare’s amazement, a white curtain appeared in the air.

“How come no one has noticed something like this? Surely, scientists researched the volcano?” Cesare stared at the proof that this place had magic in it and shivered. If there was a barrier, as Tony called it, there could be a guardian too.

“Barriers are selective. If you don’t have magic, they won’t show. The same goes for spirits. You only see Genghis Khan because I summoned him before you,” Cesare nodded.

“So, how are we going to bypass this?” Antonius pointed at the khan.

“It is his spirit that holds it up. Hold on to him, he will lead us through,” the khan glared at them as they approached him.

“Back, infidels!” His chains rattled dangerously, but they each took a hold of the chains and began tugging the ghost to the barrier. “I am not a mule! Cease, now!”

“You could have fooled me. You sure are stubborn like one,” Antonius tugged the chain and then placed a hand at the back of the khan. “We have to push him through. Come on, Cesare.”

Cesare touched the cold, mist-like body of the khan and began pushing. He saw things then. Of battles in the step. Of birds, with flaming rope connected to them, heading to a village. Mass executions and people being rolled up in carpets and then trampled by horses.

“What?” Cesare wanted to let go. To stop seeing these things, but Antonius grabbed his hand and fixed it in place.

“Don’t let go. It is normal for the life of the ghost to bleed through upon contact. We are almost through. If you let go now, you will be shocked to death by the barrier,” the khan let out a roar and began trashing. Antonius pushed him halfway through the barrier and, with a heave, both he and Cesare sprinted through the white curtain.

Like miasma, the barrier began to disappear. Cesare looked to Antonius.

“Can I let go now?” He was in the process of seeing a woman backing away from three men in a burning village. He would rather not see what happened next. Not only that, but he could guess.

“Yes, sure. We will need not repeat the experience on the way back. We are already keyed into the barrier. See?” Antonius waved his hand through where the barrier used to be. Cesare saw that Tony was not holding on to the khan anymore.

“Do many people set up barriers?” Asked Cesare as he began following Antonius who was moving forward with the khan following close behind.

“Only those that had access to a powerful witch or mage. So, rulers, witches and mages, mostly,” Antonius was moving slowly and carefully, him having let go of his walking stick to make sure that Cesare was all right. It had rolled down the slope and, now, it was probably lost for good.

They walked until the grass gave way to bare rock. Antonius let his magic scan the area, then, he turned left. There, amid the traces of frozen lava, was something that gave Antonius hope. Stone, and not one taken from the volcano.

“Help me free this up,” Antonius unstrapped his pickaxe and Cesare did the same. They were careful not to damage the stone and worked diligently. The lava had smoothed over the spaces that must have been there between the stone and the rock of the volcano. But, when the sun set, they managed to get the stone out of the rock.

There, with frozen lava filling up the nooks, was a chest. Antonius opened it and saw a crumbling bow, some arrows, a golden war horn with horse motives and some coins.

“Well, khan, was the horn yours?” Antonius turned to the khan, who looked at the horn with longing.

“Why don’t you try to blow it? See if it still works?” Antonius chuckled. He turned the horn around and showed Cesare a carving of a wolf’s head.

“See this? Oldest trick in the book. The sucker that blows it is getting mauled. But, there is another trick. Khan, how is Hell this time of the year?” Antonius smirked at the dead Mongolian, who glared.

“Wonderful,” he said through greeted teeth.

“How would you like to reincarnate?” Asked Antonius, and he took a pendant from his side pocket. “I can make it happen. Just lift the curse that is on the treasure. Surely, you have burned long enough?”

The khan nodded and took the war horn. He blew it and a gigantic blue wolf appeared. The khan said something to it in his language, and the wolf disappeared.

“Here you go,” Antonius placed the pendant around the khan’s neck and dispelled the chains. “Try not to land in Hell again, ok?”

As the khan disappeared, Cesare couldn’t still wrap his head around the fact that hell existed. As he stood stunned, staring at the spot that he had last seen Genghis Khan, Antonius began piling the treasure in his backpack. Another case solved. Another adventure seen through.      

The end.