by J E Mueller
I wanted to argue with them, but I settled for glaring. They were right, and more than likely that this was the best plan. If they knew who they were looking for, the demons would chase after me. I could stay just far enough ahead of them to not be in trouble. This wasn’t my first sprint against them, but I was annoyed nonetheless.
“Fine, can we get this over with?” I grumbled. The sooner I got to safety the sooner the other two could get to safety. Things would be fine. I hoped.
Lydia nodded. “I’m ready.”
“Shall we be off?” Marella asked, already leading the way.
Lydia stayed a step behind her and I trailed loosely behind. My running magic never took a thought to summon up. I always felt it swirling happily around me. Something Marella said earlier came to mind. Living in a place without magic must be more than just dull. I’m sure one could adjust, but to have that part suddenly ripped from you? I wondered if many went mad from such a thing. I could hardly imagine it myself.
“Well, they are more alert than usual,” Lydia mumbled, snapping me from my reverie.
I started to actually pay attention to my surroundings. Visible demons were easy to sense nearby. I could hear some chatter in their language. No one seemed to think we were heading this way - or so I gathered from the broken speech.
“We’re almost to the place… Ready, Tella?” Marella asked me.
I ignored her, having stopped several feet back. Something about the chatter caught my ears. “We’re not alone.” I tilted my head to the side trying to gather the rest of the story. Demon speech was so hard to understand even on the best of days.
“What do you mean?” Lydia asked, very uncertain.
“They’re looking for….” I couldn’t quite pull the words together. The snarls, snapping teeth, and overall gritty voices were too far away to hear well.
Marella glanced at me, confused, before turning her head to listen for herself. She was considered a demon. Understanding them shouldn’t be an issue.
For a moment we all stood there. Lydia couldn’t hear them, I couldn’t hear them well enough, and Marella seemed more annoyed than anything as she slowly took in the words.
“It would seem,” she said slowly as she pieced the story together, “that there is someone already fleeing here who is gifted with spirits. I doubt they’ll survive without a little help.” Marella thought for a moment before glaring at me. “You will continue with the plan as is. I’m sure Lydia and I can handle this.”
“And leave someone else to be demon bait?” I clicked my tongue. “That just won’t do.” I defiantly placed my hands on my hips.
“You’ll make the plan that much harder to save this new person,” Lydia said with a sigh.
“Or I can lure them away.” I stood firmly. “I doubt this new person can run like me. They may not have any other magic to aid them at all.”
“I’ve got more than enough extra magic to see them to safety,” Marella assured me.
“Then see them to safety.” I agreed with that much. “I’ll be able to get the majority off their trail.”
“Don’t you do what I think you’re going to do,” Lydia warned me, already seeing the plan in my mind.
“It’s worked well before, hasn’t it?” I smirked. “I believe they said this person is just…” I got my bearings straight and pointed left of us.
“Don’t….” Lydia sighed, already knowing she couldn’t stop me.
“What are you planning?” Marella asked.
She might have been the only one able to stop me, but she would have needed to know the plan first. I happily shrugged.
“Do what you do best, and I’ll have them following me before this person can be found. Likely they have what, minutes left at best?”
“Less, I’d say.” Marella eyed me carefully.
“Guess we’d better go save them, then!” I replied cheerfully and took off.
I could barely hear Marella cursing behind me. The wind whooshed by, my magic gleefully dancing as I quickly gained all the attention I was looking for. Whoever this person was, they’d be in the clear very shortly.
The tingle of magic changing near me made me push myself faster, nearly to my limit. I knew I was being followed. I could hear them trying to keep up. Several demons were slower than me, but for the most part, they could keep up. Once I pushed myself to my limit, I wouldn’t have much time to get to safety. I knew that well from attempting this several times with Lydia. It had always worked before, but I had never been the prime target like this.
A stronger shift in the magic around me made my heart flutter, and I pushed myself as hard as I could. It was time to circle back to safety. I wasn’t too far away. I knew from that battle with Beleth weeks ago, that the change in magic meant one of them was here. I didn’t know, or want to know, what was likely tailing me. I tried pushing myself harder and felt the strain on my energy, magic, and body all at once, but safety was in sight.
I could do this. Relief filled me as I slammed into something solid that I could not see. The pain was a terrible shock to my body. I didn’t even recall falling to the ground. Rocks, twigs, and who knew what else dug into me, but I barely registered it. My vision blurred and danced. What had happened?
I could hear chatter over me. The gritty, nails on a chalkboard sound didn’t make any sense to me. What did I hit? I was so close. Everything felt broken. I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than pain.
Something hit my side, and I felt like screaming, but couldn’t. I had never been in so much pain that I couldn’t cry out. Fear gripped me as another wave shot through me. Someone, something had lifted me off the ground. My body started to go cold, my eyes heavy. I begged myself not to lose consciousness, but felt myself slip away as darkness claimed me.
A soft breeze awoke me. It hurt to open my eyes, but other than that I was relatively pain-free. The room around me was longer than it was wide. Several beds were along the same wall with curtains neatly tied back. I was the only one in this infirmary.
The only one living, that was. Lliam was leaning against a wall not too far away, head down, eyes closed. I couldn’t tell if he was just in deep thought or sleeping. Either was fine by me. I still couldn’t make sense of what had happened or how I had survived, and talking with Lliam seemed to more often produce questions rather than answers.
The breeze from the nearby window reminded me I should get up. Enough light was getting in that I assumed it was late morning or early afternoon. Without another thought, I carefully sat up. Lliam still hadn’t moved, so I tried getting out of bed. My legs protested for a moment, but I seemed well enough to walk.
“Take it easy, still,” a voice said.
I glanced around before I noticed someone was sitting on the floor by a very small bookcase. He carefully got up, dusted himself off, and offered me a smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t notice you were awake. I had been reading,” he apologized. “You can call me Danny.”
I nodded. “Hi, Danny. So… what’s going on?” The man across the room wasn’t much older than me, though the dark blonde hair pulled back into a short ponytail gave him a much younger look.
He motioned vaguely with his hands for a moment before shaking his head. “Truthfully, I’ve little idea. They said to heal you, so I healed you. They didn’t want to explain much of anything, even though we’re both fairly screwed right now.”
I tilted my head, both surprised and confused by his words. “Can you elaborate a bit?”
Danny gestured vaguely at Lliam. “He said I needed to come here. That the demons were going to be after me and I couldn’t just ignore them anymore. I really didn’t want to listen, and didn’t at first, but then the attacks began. It’s been a very long couple of days.”
Danny sat on the edge of the nearest bed. “Demons have never given me any trouble, well, no more than you’d expect. Angels are about the same. So, why all this nonsense now? You hardly see any of them close to Reawakening. Why now? What’s
going on? I didn’t need this added trouble now.”
“I’m sorry.” I sat back down on the bed I had woken up in. “Well, I do know the demons are going after anyone who can see spirits.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Danny waved it off. “They blocked ghosts from crossing over. Like we can do a thing to fix that, though? Come on. It doesn't work that easily.”
I was surprised by his words. “You seem to be better informed than me.”
Danny shrugged. “I grew up a two day ride from here. Dad was a healer, mom was a healer, and I am a healer. Weird talents? I had heard about these ghost whispers before I gained the talent myself. I know the basics, maybe a little more, but I wouldn't say I’m an expert.”
While it was surprising to finally meet someone who knew the basics, the first part of his statement rang loudly in my mind. Was, was, am.
“What happened to your parents?” I asked softly. It was a bold question for someone I had only just met.
Danny shrugged again. “It’s a bit of a complicated matter. So, to sum it up, mum didn’t like who I am, who I truly am. Tried to kill me. You know how that bit works, right?” I nodded and he continued. “Well before that, before she could, she had to get through my dad. She succeeded. It’s harder to defend yourself when you’re mourning the loss of one parent. Not that I wanted to get injured or anything, but still. It happened, but not before I dealt a destructive blow. So, dad hadn’t crossed and tried to make sure I stayed, got healed, and things got better. More or less.”
It was a sad, jumbled story to take in, but before I could even ask about what he meant by his true self, the door opened.
Lydia breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank heavens you’re finally up.”
“What was I down a week or something?” I asked, confused.
“Four days, so it might as well have been,” Lydia confirmed. “Do you remember anything?”
“Not much. My plan was great until I hit something solid and very much invisible.” I wanted to know what that was about.
“Marella said it’s a very high-level demon trick,” Lydia explained. “Basically you ran into a shield, and with how fast you can run, I’m sure that was more than just unpleasant.”
“Ugh, those stupid high-level demons.” I groaned and let myself fall backward onto the bed. “Is there any way for us to get around these issues? I’d like to not do that again.”
“You could just pass through it,” Danny replied.
I sat back up and gave him a look. “The heck do you mean? I don’t have that magic.”
Danny looked over at Lydia and then again at me. “Okay, so you can see ghosts, you can talk to them. Do you know anything else about what you can do?”
“No,” I replied a bit too sharply. “I haven’t found anyone that could help teach me yet.”
Danny nodded as he got up to pace. “So, there are several things you can do. The obvious being talking to spirits and helping them cross. The less obvious is accessing your spirit form, working within the spirit realm, and upholding the gate. But the gates are destroyed, so that doesn't matter anymore.”
“I wish any of those words mattered to me, but they don’t,” I replied, tiredly falling back onto the bed once more. The ceiling was at least less confusing. Though it looked like one spot had scorch marks.
There was a moment of silence before Danny continued, “I’m sorry you didn’t have access to this information sooner, but you do now. You’re in no shape to really learn the spirit form today, but I can help you learn more about the spirit realm stuff once you’ve had a decent meal.”
“I’m not that hungry. I’d rather learn something now and get rid of a few questions,” I argued.
Danny stood tall. “Too bad. I’ve been a healer since birth. First the healing, which also includes eating. Then the rest. The dead aren’t going anywhere.” He chuckled to himself. “They’re very much stuck here.”
“And it’s just such a blast,” Lliam chimed in, annoyed.
Danny ignored him. “Any others on their way?”
“No.” Lliam shook his head sadly. “Getting you here was rough enough. The only other one anyone has found is dead.”
Danny pressed his lips tightly together, his hand balled up into a fist. “I don’t know why they are doing this. We can’t fix the gate! Why are they hunting us?”
“Mist seems to think Tella can.” Lliam gave a nod in my direction. “If you can get her to Mist you might have some answers. I don’t understand any of these matters. All I know is the demon scum have sunk lower than normal.” Lliam snorted in disgust, shoved himself off the wall, and vanished.
Lydia came and sat next to me. “So… what's going on?”
I gave a sad laugh and explained Lliam’s part of the conversation. “So, no more real answers, but I guess we’re in the right spot,” I added before getting up. “Guess we should do this meal thing.” I started to walk toward the door before stopping. “What happened to Marella?”
“She’s around,” Lydia shrugged. “She got us here, vanished. Brought you here, told Danny to heal you and vanished again. Marella stopped by twice to check in on you but hasn’t actually said anything, so I’ve no idea what her deal is.” Lydia joined me near the door and tugged at my hand. “Food sounds great though, so shall we?”
Danny fell into step silently behind us.
14
After a small meal and a quick tour, Danny led us to the temple. The series of steps were hard on my legs. The journey that should have been effortless for me was exhausting, but I did my best not to show how I really felt. I wanted, no, needed answers. So, up and up I climbed. The temple had many small rooms dedicated to various gods and goddesses to worship. It seemed they had the whole country’s worth of deities here. Danny showed us to a room in the far back on the left. It seemed very tucked away and dimly lit.
Inside were three short pews on either side of an aisle that led up to a dais with a small shrine sitting on a table just barely bigger than it. The shrine was a black igloo like structure with a small opening. On either side of the front were two pillars with spiraling rose gold leaves and flowers.
“What is that supposed to be?” I asked curiously.
Danny approached the shrine while we hung back. Without replying, he walked to the back of it, picked up a piece, and set it back in place. It was a rose gold gate for the front of the dome. When he touched it, it glowed a soft emerald green. As soon as he removed his hand, the glowing stopped.
“This is the shrine to the Lady of Silence, often called the Goddess of Wandering Spirits.” Danny carefully touched the shrine again. I watched in wonder as it once more turned a magnificent green.
“How are you doing that?” I asked, amazed.
“Doing what?” Lydia asked, confused.
Danny shrugged. “She can’t see it.” He replied before looking at Lydia. “Those with a connection to spirits can see it change color when one of us touches it. It’s sort of like a rite of passage. The color says what our main talent is. Mine is guiding spirits to their final resting place. For some, it can be tracking spirits. For others it’s helping them be ready to cross. So green, red, and orange respectively.”
Lydia nodded. “I’m useless here aren’t I?”
I looked at her, surprised. “You’re not useless!” I countered.
She smiled at me sadly and gave my hand a squeeze. “This isn’t my area, just like many Blessed things are not yours.” Lydia hugged me tightly. “I’m going to pray, then do some training. Go learn. I won’t be far.”
I hugged her for an extra moment. “I guess we are really not meant to be in the same faction. Still the perfect team, though.”
“Of course,” she agreed wholeheartedly, winked, and walked out of the room.
“That still sucks,” I sighed after she left.
Danny shrugged. He always seemed to shrug. “Yeah, but she seems like a good friend. I’m sure she understands.” Danny waved me over. “Let’s see what you can do.�
��
“It really just glows a color based on what you’re supposed to be best at?” I asked skeptically.
“Yep!” Danny smiled. “I’ve seen this done several times. The color will also be how your soul appears in the spirit world. We’re not dead, so we look like ourselves bathed in the color of our talent instead of like a ghost.”
“Does this thing somehow connect to the spirit world?” I walked up to it but still didn’t touch it.
“Yes,” Danny answered excitedly. “It’s the easiest way to connect with it, but it’s not needed once you learn what you are doing.” He motioned encouragingly for me to touch the shrine.
Sighing, I lightly touched the surface and watched it turn a deep purple.
“What does that mean?” I looked up at Danny.
He shrugged, but watched the glow with great interest. “I have no clue.” For a moment he continued stared at it. “Well, if Mist thinks you’re the one to fix this mess, maybe it has something to do with the color. I actually don’t even know her color. She’s dead now, and I’ve never seen her touch this, and spirit realm things are weird… She’ll know either way. Mist has trained everyone for years.” Danny nodded confidently.
I studied him for a moment, not sure what was off, but something felt amiss. It was nice seeing him sure of something, though.
“Okay so now what?” I asked, removing my hand. The purple disappeared when I removed my hand and I marveled at how it even worked. Magic was much too strange sometimes.
“Well…” Danny replied, pacing. “I’m not sure. I’ve joined in on these activities here and there since I learned myself, but it’s been years since I’ve helped someone new. You at least understand part of where your gift came from?”
“I know all of it. The old ways to the new, the spirits aiding without knowing their touch can accidentally gift us.” I shrugged. “I don’t know anything about the gate and why the original creators can’t just rebuild it themselves.”
