Jaime, Hamil and the hostess sat around a table near the back of the inn with their new guests, Astrid and Damian. The two Freelancers were slowly eating the food that Sadie had brought out for them. I could see a faint glimmer in Hamil’s eyes as he watched Astrid. I recognized the look. It wasn’t affection, but admiration. My boys, Callum and Levi, had the same look in their eyes every time they watched me work.

Outside the inn, children ran around, leaping over and around the still bodies of Campo’s men. The men were alive and conscious, but all of them had been frozen in place, only able to move their heads. One of the men, skunky, opened his mouth to shout at the kids, but one of them took this chance to drop a spider into his mouth. The brute started to panic and thrash his head around wildly, spitting and crying out as he did. Seeing his reaction, the kids were satisfied and moved on to their next victim, laughing loudly as they did.

One of the inn’s guests had volunteered to go inform the soldiers nearby of what had occurred and rode north toward the checkpoint. Assuming that nothing bad happens, we should be seeing them an hour from now.

After inspecting him closely, I could see that skunky was holding back tears and whimpering quietly. I could also see very slight movement in his hands. Astrid had used the same magic that she had used against baldy on the other two, freezing them in place. Neither of the other two were moving in any way, so this concerned me greatly.

I moved back to the table where the group was sitting. Astrid and Damian had just finished their meals and were conversing with the hostess, or Astrid was. Damian was leaning back in his chair, hand on his stomach with a pleased look on his face. The hostess had shared part of the situation with Jaime and Hamil with her.

“Are you sure you don’t want a reward?” The hostess asked.

“We’re sure.” Astrid replied.

“The food was enough of a reward. Anything more would be robbery.” Damian commented.

Astrid ignored her companion and continued her conversation.

“If you’re offering something, we could really use some information.”

“Anything you need.”

“We’re looking for transportation back to the capital. Freelancers don’t come out her very frequently, so our information on people is very limited. And the people that are here don’t seem to like us that much.”

“A few merchants come through every month, trading in mostly lumber. One should be arriving within the week. I can arrange for you to meet with them while they are in town. And don’t worry about the people, it’s not you that they’re afraid.”

“I know. And it would be fantastic if you could do that.” Astrid beamed. “Also, if we are going to need to wait that long-”

“We do have rooms open at the moment. I would be happy to let you stay.” The hostess interrupted.

“Thank you.”

The conversation so far had distracted me, so I had neglected to share what I saw. Hurriedly, I relayed the information to Jaime in whatever way that I could think of. Two seemed to get a reaction from her in some way: speaking, if you could call it that, or thinking it loudly.

“Um… Astrid.” Jaime said in a hushed, nervous voice.

“Yes.” Astrid said, turning towards her.

“Could you… go check on those guys. The ones outside.”

Astrid’s eyes softened at her words. She obviously cared for Jaime in some fashion, especially after learning what the hostess had shared about Jaime’s situation. She elbowed her companion and stood up from her chair.

“We’ll go make sure they don’t causing any trouble. Damian, let’s go.”

Damian groaned and stood from his chair, dragging his feet as they both stepped outside. It was an odd reaction, but I quickly realized that his lazy attitude was something of a joke as he chuckled and straightened himself, earning a short sigh from Astrid. Once outside, Astrid shooed the rampaging children away and inspected each of the men, ensuring that her magic still had an effect.

After inspecting skunky, Astrid turned to Jaime and the rest of the group standing just outside the inn.

“See. There’s nothing to worry abo-”

“SPIDEEERRRRSSS!” Skunky started screaming from the ground as he shot up to his feet, his face twisted in horror with tears flowing from his eyes.

“SPIDERS! SPIDERS!” He continued shouting.

Astrid turned to the man, surprised, as he thrust a knife into her chest, ramming his head into hers. He let go of the knife as Astrid’s body collapsed, taking it with her, then charged at the kids that were standing a short distance away, screaming threats as he did. The children cried out in terror and scattered, running in every other direction.

Skunky’s rampage was cut short when Damian slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground. The man turned over, flailing his body. He knocked skunky’s arms away and started to pound his fists into the man’s face and chest. Compared to before, Damian’s attacks were vicious and violent, leaving the man a mess of blood and tears.

His wails now a faint murmur, skunky silently fell limp.

A short distance away, Astrid lay on her back, skunky’s crude knife protruding from her chest. Jaime, Hamil, the hostess and a few others were huddled near her body. She was still breathing, though each breath was short and rough. I knew from where the knife was and from her reactions that the attack had been fatal.

A rush of guilt and worry flowed into me from Jaime. She was blaming herself for what had happened. Her whole body trembled as Damian approached her. The look in his eyes was complicated, like he didn’t blame Jaime for what had happened, but blamed himself instead.

“Is there a healer near here?” He asked the hostess, his voice weak and shaky, then shouted the same phrase to everyone spectating.

“There was one here not too long ago, but who knows where he went.” The hostess answered.

“Someone go find him!” He commanded.

Jaime started to tremble even more and reached both hands to the glass heart that hung around hear neck, hoping for comfort. The cool glass didn’t calm her like before, but made her tremble even more as the guilt became overwhelming. Tears started flowing down her face. Then a sharp, piercing pain stabbed through her heart.

She looked down as a black light flowed through her body, reaching for her eyes like a hungry beast with a thousand hands. The glass heart started to heat as the light connected to her eyes, burning her hands. The pain in her eyes was comparable to the pain from the guilt she felt from what had just occurred.

From my own eyes, I saw the world as it was, but the world through Jaime’s eyes was different. Every color was more vibrant and bright and so full of detail, so much so that it hurt just to keep them open. She could see a colored aura surrounding Hamil, Damian and Astrid, the same color as the aura that had flowed through their eyes when they used their magic.

In the air around her, Jaime could see little balls of light that began gathering more densely around her hands.

“We can fix her.” A whisper echoed through the air. Jaime seemed to be the only one that reacted to the voice.

Seeing the dark aura emanating from Jaime’s eyes, Hamil activated his own, his eyes widening as the light reached them.

Jaime rushed to Astrid’s side and knelt down, grabbing the knife with both hands, ripping it from her body and tossing it aside.

Damian reached out to stop her, but froze when he saw hundreds of tiny balls of light appear in the air.

“Let us act through you. Lay your hands on the wound.” The voice whispered to Jaime.

Doing as the voice told, she rested her hands on the bloody patch on Astrid’s clothes .As she did, the lights in the air rushed through her hands and into the open wound.

Astrid’s body convulsed for a moment before relaxing, her breathing now calmer and more steady. As the aura faded from her eyes, Jaime removed her hands from Astrid’s body, showing that the wound hand closed without even a scar.

Damian fell to his knees beside the woman, his eyes reddened, and his face stained with tears. He had been crying ever since Astrid hit the ground. He carefully picked his companion up and carried her to the inn with the hostess following close behind.

Jaime tried to stand but nearly collapsed as she did. Hamil had been waiting nearby to catch her and helped her inside the inn. The audience that had gathered to view the fight quickly dissipated.

Hamil led Jaime over to a table at the back of the inn and helped her sit down. The room was entirely empty now as everyone had quickly left after the first fight.

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“Why… why am I so tired?” Jaime asked, struggling to breathe.

Hamil sat down in the chair next to her and answered, “You drained all of your mana.”

“Mana?” Jaime asked.

“It’s what lets me use my magic. Nobody is really sure how, but some people are able to create mana in their bodies.”

“That aura. The one that Astrid had before. Is it like that?”

“Just like it, yes. Though it’s also different.” Hamil spoke, reaching a hand to his chest, just over his heart. “Place your hand here, just like I’m doing.”

Jaime reached up and placed a hand over her chest and felt the beat of her heart, though there was another feeling there with it. Following just after the beat of her heart was another beat, a quieter, weaker rhythm. She focused in on that feeling and saw the image of a closed door in her mind.

“Do you feel it?” He asked.

“Yes. It feels like a… a door?”

“From now on, you will slowly develop mana in that door.” Hamil said, closing his eyes as the purple light rushed out from his heart. “I wouldn’t try it now, since you’ve already strained it, but you can open it. That will release this aura, allowing you to use magic.”

Jaime thought back and remembered the dark color that her aura had taken on and asked, “Why is mine black?”

“That’s because you just awakened. The color of your aura tells you how pure your mana is. When you’re ready, you can go to the capital to try and promote to the next stage. I’m already at the stage just after yours, which is this purple color.”

Jaime sat back against her chair and closed her eyes, thinking through what she just learned. She could feel the warmth of my cloak wrapped around her body. This warmth filled her and eased the weariness in her chest, helping her relax. The feeling passed through to me, and I realized how cold it was to be a spirit.

Just then, Damian and the hostess came down from the upper floors. The hostess walked over to our table and gently hugged Jaime’s head. She didn’t say a word, but gently stroked the top of Jaime’s head.

We all stayed silent for a time before Damian broke the silence, his voice trembling while keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

“Thank you. I’m… not good at this kind of stuff… but you weren’t the one responsible for what happened. If I had properly… if you hadn’t been there for Astrid…” He choked on his words.

The hostess spoke up, allowing Damian to collect himself, “How did you heal her like that? I know that those were spirits, but Hamil has to use a magic ring when uses them, just like other mages.”

“That’s because she’s not a mage.” Damian spoke up, his voice quiet, eyes still pointed at the floor. “She’s a warrior. Just like me.”

“A warrior? She doesn’t seem much like the warrior type.” The hostess exclaimed.

“I know what a warrior’s aura looks like. The way it formed around your hands, it was just like mine.”

“My father is a warrior, though I’ve never seen him use his aura.” Hamil added.

“Jaime, there’s nothing I could ever do to repay you.” Damian spoke, clenching his fists tightly. He then lifted his head, meeting Jaime’s eyes. “But I can teach you how to use your aura.”

“You’re going to teach her how to fight?” The hostess asked, almost disgusted.

“I won’t teach her to fight; I’ll teach her to protect herself.”

“Are you saying that you’re going to leave me?”

Astrid was the one who spoke. She was leaning up against a wall near the stairs. Her face was pale and her eyes tired.

“Astrid!” Damian cried out as he rushed to her side, helping her to a seat across from Jaime.

She leaned forward, resting her head on her hands, glaring daggers at Jaime.

“So I see you’re trying to steal my partner.” She sulked, turning her head away dramatically. “I knew he was going to eventually leave me for a younger lady, but I didn’t know that it would happen so soon.”

Her pouting was obviously fake, but poor Damian didn’t recognize it and got flustered.

“No, I was-” Damian reacted, embarrassed and red in the face. He quickly stopped and lowered his head when he noticed everyone at the table was looking.

“Relax, I’m joking.” She teased, grabbing him by the hand. “I know that you’d never really leave me.” She gave him a playful smile then turned back to Jaime, her eyes softer.

“A spiritualist warrior.” She mumbled, then turned to Hamil. “And I hear you’re a spiritualist mage. And you’re not related?”

Jaime and Hamil both shook their heads.

Astrid sat silently for a moment before turning to the hostess, “From what you told me before, I assume that these two will be going north at about the same time as us.” The hostess nodded at her question. “We’ll go with them. Damian can teach Jaime and I can teach Hamil.” She turned to Hamil again, “I’m not a spiritualist, but I know enough to help.”

She took a deep breath and stood from her seat, using the table to keep herself up. She limped over to Jaime and pulled her from her seat and into a hug.

“Thank you. If you hadn’t said anything, those kids probably would have gotten hurt.” She pulled Jaime in tighter, her whole body shaking as tears rolled down her face. She whispered, “I know Damian already said so, but thank you again.” Her shaking turned to a quake as Jaime also started crying. She whimpered quietly, “You don’t know… how scared I was.”

She then collapsed, crumpling to the ground with Jaime. She laughed, then muttered, “I guess we both need some rest.”

Damian helped them both back up and into their seats, this time setting Astrid in the seat next to Jaime. As she stretched her legs, Astrid noticed the glass heart hanging from Jaime’s neck.

“That’s a beautiful necklace?”

“Thanks. It was my mother’s.”

Hamil and the hostess both made faces of confusion, but both held their tongues as Astrid reached out and touched it. The moment her skin touched the cool glass, it shocked her, causing her to jerk her hand away.

“This feeling. That necklace is an artefact.” Astrid exclaimed, her eyes full of wonder and excitement. “And not just any artefact, it feels incredibly powerful.”

The hostess spoke up, her voice unsure. “Um, Jaime. Are you sure that your mother gave that to you?”

“Yeah.” Jaime answered, confused.

“While you were asleep.” Hamil spoke. “The spirits were interfering with your dreams. I tried to stop them, but the spirits became violent and started to drain my mana. I don’t know what happened, but you eventually woke up. However, before you did the spirits created that necklace. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“No. My mother…”

Everyone paused, unsure of what to say as Jaime sat frozen, her eyes fixed on the glass heart.

Astrid broke the silence, “Jaime, what did you see in your dream?”

“I was with mom and dad. We were sitting together. She gave me…” She spoke, her eyes still focused on her necklace.

“Jaime.” Astrid spoke, pulling Jaime from her trance. “When an object has an enormous amount of emotion in it, it becomes an artefact. Those feelings somehow give that object magical power. What do you feel when you hold that pendant?”

Jaime squeezed the glass heart, feeling the cool glass against her skin warmed her heart and calmed her mind. I felt a wave of peace rush over her entire body as she smiled.

“It feels like a hug.” She said softly, then grabbed onto my cloak and brushed her hand against it. “What about this?” She asked.

Astrid reached out and felt the rough exterior of the cloak and furrowed her brow.

She stroked her chin and tilted her head. “I’ve only felt something like this a couple of times before.” She started. “This is almost an artefact. Where did you get it?”

“It was my father’s.”

Astrid smiled and gently ruffled Jaime’s ash colored hair. “Jaime, your parents loved you very much.”

“But how did the spirits create something like that?” Hamil asked.

She turned to Hamil and half-answered, “This world is full of mysteries; not everything can be explained. Consider that your first lesson.”

Jaime sat silent. She had learned so much and had taken it all in so quickly. She was nervous, but a part of her was also very excited. In the short time that they knew each other, she had grown to care for Astrid and Damian, especially Astrid. She was like an older sister; someone to look up to; a source of knowledge and affection.

A smile spread across Jaime’s face as she turned to Damian and asked, “When do we start my lessons?”

Damian smiled nervously, “I don’t think you’re in a state to practice right now. We can start after you and Astrid get some rest.”

Just then, a knock came from the door of the inn as several men in uniforms entered. Each one wore a weapon either over their back or at their hip. The symbol of a coiling dragon eating its own tail sat proudly on the center of each of their uniforms.

“We were informed that bandits were in the vicinity of this establishment.” One of the soldiers spoke.

“Yes, they’re the ones on the ground outside.” Damian replied.

“As I suspected. Could we have you give us a detailed report of the events?”

“Sure.” Damian turned to Astrid, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

Sadie came over to our table with food and water.

“Is there anything else?” She asked, concerned.

When Campo’s men had come, they tried to take her as well. Though Damian had stopped them, she was still visibly shaken by the experience.

“Nothing else, dear. Why don’t you come and sit with us for a while?” The hostess spoke in a soft voice.

Damian quickly returned from outside. I peeked outside for a moment to see the soldiers hauling the three men into a small wagon covered with a metal cage. Skunky was still unresponsive, though the other two were starting to regain control of their bodies. Both of them had managed to kneel beside their limp brother, mourning.

The rest of the day went by quickly. People in town were wary of any other events happening, especially when they realized who had most likely sent the three brutes. During my sweep over the town, I could hear various conversations about what comes after anything like this; that Campo would not let something like this go unavenged.

╚╩╩╩╝ Lior ╚╩╩╩╝

The soldiers lugged me into their jail wagon and dragged my brothers in after me. I still couldn’t move or even feel anything.

I watched as my brothers knelt over me. They looked sad. Why were they so sad? Was it because I didn’t have my toupee? They were very supportive of my decision to get one, so that must be it.

“Whass gonna happen to us?” My younger brother, Cord, asked.

“We’ll find a way out. We always do.” My older brother, Wen, answered.

“But Lior…”

“Don’ say a thing. The boss’ll fix it.”

“But he’s dead!”

“I said-”

“Shut it!” One of the guards yelled.

At this point, we had left town and were surrounded by the forests.

The wagon stopped and a soldier came around to the barred door.

“You keep out of trouble, or we’ll dump that one.” The soldier said.

I tried to sit up to look at the soldier, but I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t move my eyes… I couldn’t even blink.

“That dastard killed ‘im!”

Cord leapt at the door, reaching out for the guard.

“That’s it! Oy, I need some help back here!” The soldier cried out.

I heard footsteps from both sides of the wagon and the jail door opened. Two large men came in and grabbed Cord and Wen and dragged them out.

Another man came in and leaned down and met my eyes. “Ah! Who didn’t close his eyes?” He reached down and closed my eyes.

I was picked up and hefted out of the cart.

“No! Don’ take ‘im!” Cord cried. His voice was quickly getting distant.

A short time passed as the voices of my brothers grew indistinct.

“That should be far enough. How long has this guy been rotting? He already smells terrible.”

The soldier dropped me on the ground and started to walk away.

I laid on the ground for what felt like forever. The feeling never returned to my body, so I was helpless the entire time. Cord and Wen recovered more quickly, so why was mine taking so long? They couldn’t have been right…

“Oh, they were right.” A voice whispered in my ear. “You are dead.”

How could I be dead? I can still hear and see.

“I should say, you are mostly dead.”

Mostly dead? What on earth does that mean? I can’t really be dead. That couldn’t happen.

“It happened, and now you are in my hands.”

No, that’s a lie; I can’t be dead. I can’t be dead. I can’t be dead.

“Your denial is amusing. Your fear is… delicious!” The voice growled into my ear. “What are you really afraid of? What makes your skin crawl?”

My mind immediately turned to spiders and other creepy, crawly nightmares. Father would often torment me with bugs saying that they would help me get stronger.

“Ahh. Such a common fear, but so intense. Your father was right. The bugs will make you stronger.”

The feeling returned to my body, only to be overwhelmed by a pain so intense that it made my whole body convulse and twist, my flesh tearing and twisting into another, more gruesome shape.

“The vessel will regret having rebelled against us.”