Wraith

Chapter II.

The boys turned their attention to where Luca was pointing and then they saw it too. It was like a torch. Its blue-green light reflected off the surface of the water.

"It must be some kind of unusual celestial phenomenon," Balázs said, and adjusting his glasses he hurried to the shore of the lake to see if he could get a better idea of what it was. His friends joined him less enthusiastically. The noses of their sandals were licked by the water of the lake.

"I wonder how far it is?" asked Balázs.

"Why, you want to go there?" laughed Tomi at the absurd idea.

"Of course," said the boy confidently, "If you don't know what something is, you try to examine it more closely."

"Good luck" winked Tomi.

"Don't you care what it could be?" turned Balázs towards Tomi.

"Not so much as to wade into a lake full of leeches in the middle of the night to investigate what you call a celestial phenomenon."

"Leeches are also used in medicine," Balázs countered. "They are not dangerous at all..."

"If you say so..." the boy rolled his eyes.

"Guys, stop fighting all the time," Luca snapped, "And if we want to go in there and see what it is, we're obviously not going to swim there.

"If not by swimming, then how?" raised Balázs his eyebrows.

                                                                              ***

The boat was big enough to hold all four of them at once.

"This is s...stealing," stammered Boti, as Balázs and Tomi pulled the wooden boat in the reeds ashore.

"We're just borrowing it," Balázs smiled, as he took a closer look at the boat. It was simple in design, with only one paddle.

"Will it hold all four of us?" mused Tomi.

"I'm not going," said Boti, folding his arms. His three friends looked at him as one. Tomi stepped closer to him and touched his shoulder. Boti shivered a little at the fleeting touch, but did not pull away.

"It's okay to be scared," said Tomi. "I know you well, better than Luca or Balázs. If you come with us now, we can talk later about what you mentioned earlier."

He gave him a grunt, to make sure Boti understood what she meant. When he saw Boti's eyes go wide with recognition, he knew he had won.

"But if I get eaten by leeches or some water monster, I'll haunt you to death!" said Boti loudly. Suddenly he was so emboldened that his stammering stopped. Tomi laughed out loud. His laughter echoed over the glassy surface of the water.

By this time Luca and Balázs had already taken their places in the boat.

"Come on!" waved Luca towards them.

Once all four were settled, Balázs pushed the boat away from the shore with the oar, then dipped the paddle into the water and gave it a tug, turning the boat towards the light.

"It's leaking water." Boti watched in horror as his sandals were enveloped by the inflowing water of the lake. "We will s...s...sink."

"Every boat gets a little water in it," Balázs said. "You don't have to worry about that."

It was indeed as Balázs said. The boat behaved very well and had no intention of sinking. As they got closer to the source of the greenish light, they could now see that it was not really floating on the water, but rather hovering over something island-like. Balázs slowed the paddle to get a closer look at what it was. It was as if someone had lit a bonfire, then taken the wood and left the flame to blaze a few centimetres above the ground. Of course, this flame was blue-green in colour, not yellow-red.

Isn't that amazing?" enthused Balázs. "What do you think is fueling this fire?

Is it oxygen?" guessed Tomi.

"That's not what I meant," shook Balázs. "What is it that burns? I don't see any combustible material."

"Maybe it's something like what happens in oil wells," Luca noted.

"Shall we take a closer look?" turned Balázs to the others. His eyes sparkled brightly as he ran his gaze over his friends.

"I...I...I don't...I don't...care about that anymore," Boti said. He tried to speak confidently, but even he could hear the fear in his voice.

Balázs looked questioningly at Luca and Tomi, who just shrugged. Luca added:

"If we've come this far, let's not turn back!"

Balázs grinned and paddled a few strokes with the paddle.

A few moments later, the boat hit a solid bank and they jumped out, unaware that they had sealed their own fate.