Aya sped across the grassy seaside field, staff in hand. The wind blew past her as Eterna spoke to the young Aquan warrior. "Child, I know this man has got you confused and hormonal. It's all part of youth. I felt the same when I was your age in wolfhound years."

"I'm not hormonal," Aya snapped loudly at her tattoo. "This has nothing to do with hormones. He knows about my past world."

"So, this is what your strange behavior is about?" Eterna responded frankly. "You sure it's not because you see him as a potential mate?"

Aya grinded to a stop. "Eterna, no offense, but you seem to be taking his words and actions more personally than me."

The tattoo of the elder wolfhound was silent as Aya continued, "Do you have some kind of personal vendetta against him?"

The tattoo cast her eye aside from Aya's curious glance, before muttering, "I had a mate like Lunsford. Him and I begat Gardenia and though I would never speak ill of him in front of our child, I loathed him and everything he stood for."

Aya's bright blue eyes widened. She clutched her arm band, sliding it up to reveal more of Eterna. "Care to speak about him?"

"I know we don't have much time. I'll give you the abridged tome of my follies," Eterna said. "When my father bestowed me with the power of the guardian, he didn't consider the consequences of making a female wolfhound the matriarch."

"Which was?" Aya asked, her eyes intently focused on Eterna's inky maw.

"When I met my mate," Eterna continued, "He was as smooth and polished as a rock lizard's scales. Always very flirtatious and full of animal magnetism, his slick demeanor never letting on to what he truly craved- power."

Eterna closed her eyes and gave a soft pause, "We mated and when we had a child, he showed his true colors. 'Now that you're a mother, you'll have other duties. I think it's best you let an alpha male like me lead our kind' he began to insist."

The wolfhound tattoo opened her eyes and gave Aya an emotionally pained but angry glare. "I bared my teeth and told him 'never once during my pregnancy did I ever let on that I would step down and shirk the responsibility my father bestowed upon me.'"

Eterna snarled and flashed her sharp teeth like she would tear Aya's skin and break free. "He continued with his insistence, at first gently but soon, rabidly, pressing me further and further. He snarled at me like he would sink his teeth into me at any second."—Eterna's voice grew higher and more distressed as she continued her story. –"Howling back I responded, 'If that's all you loved me for, I never want you in the presence of me or my child again. Leave me!'"

Aya watched as her spirit guide companion's head sunk down solemnly. "After that night, I never saw him again. Disloyal scoundrel, I hope another wolfhound crunched his face off."

Aya ran her fingers across the tattoo of the great wolfhound. "Surely you don't mean that."

Eterna looked up with shock on her face. "You are such a gentle spirit for an Aquan child. But don't be naïve, men will try twice as hard to dethrone a woman in power. Just because they think it'll be easy."

Aya responded softly. "I've never had a relationship before, but I felt your pain when you spoke of your betrayal. I don't know if I'd ever wish death on someone who scorned me though."

"Just be wary of this man, Aya," Eterna responded, her voice becoming very motherly and protective like Aya was her own. "Don't confide in him about yourself until you truly know what he's all about."

Aya picked up her feet and began running again. Atma trees hung in the distance, and so did a crowd of farmers. "Don't worry, Eterna. The safety of this planetoid is my absolute first priority."

"Thank you child," Eterna said, finally showing a smile. "This is the reason I entrusted you with the powers of the guardian."

Aya found herself in the midst of a crowd who were standing on the outskirts of the forest. Farmers were scowling and grumbling, and Aya ran to them to address their concerns. Many upon closer observation looked fearful and full of trepidation. She located Myron with his small spectacled face. "What's happened? Why are you all standing here?"

"The woods are haunted and dark. We can't even dust the trees anymore," he said solemnly.

"Look what happened to Gully," another cried.

Two farmers propped up a man known for his blotchy red face. He was pale and shivering and his legs were limp. Aya crouched on her legs and examined Gully as he stuttered out his breaths. It was the first time she ever felt sorry for a man who chastised her and her ways. She looked to Eterna who used her knowledgeable existence to her advantage. "He is suffering from spectral shock. The spirits can do that to a mortal; but don't worry, as long as he eats a dose of soul fruit, he'll feel a lot better."

"I somehow shook that off while climbing the mountain," Aya said to Eterna.

"Shook what off?" asked the bearded man holding Gully.

"Uh, spectral shock. Those ghosts inflicted the same thing upon Gully."

The bearded man raised an eyebrow, "And...how do you know these things?"

Aya rose to her feet and got close to the bearded man's face. "Don't you see the way I dress? I'm pretty damn spiritual." she said with a sassy purse of her lips before looking back at Gully in his condition. "We need to get him some soul fruit. It will help him recover."

Allons ran panting to the group. He collapsed onto the ground and sat in a cross-legged position. "Miss Aya, you run so fast, there's no way I could catch up with you."

"Was there something else you wanted to tell me, Allons?" Aya asked, looking down at him.

"Yeah....Jeeg," Allons said panting, slowly lowering his back to the soft verdant grass "He seems to have found the cause of these ghosts."

"I need to head to him now," Aya said. "I can do more help when I find him." She walked through the crowd who all gaped at her wide eyed.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Is she really going in there?" they whispered as she walked into the spirit woods. She looked up and saw the Atma trees had changed color and spread their leaves differently. They had shed their rainbow sheen and became tarp-like, extending their reach across acres of land. Darkness draped over the woods and Aya could barely see the horizon. A musky scent hung over the forest as grass and small plants shriveled from lack of sunlight. Nothing seemed to thrive in the forest anymore.

"Eterna," Aya asked while she shivered, "What has become of the spirit woods?"

"I can't be certain," the wolfhound guide responded, "But it seems the forest is extracting revenge on those who wronged it."

Aya thought of what Jeeg had instructed her about her religion. The mantra "We are all part of the big dream" seemed the only explanation for the cause of this misfortune.

"Careful child," Eterna spoke aloud. "I sense the spectral presence has grown since the night. Ghosts of ancient beasts roam these parts."

Aya nodded and pressed forward. She clutched her staff tightly and focused all of her own spiritual energy into its soulful white bark. The staff illuminated allowing Aya to see a few feet in front of her, but just barely. Aya could feel the normally warm air occasionally disturbed by a chilling wind that made the wispy hair on her neck stand up. The forest once rife with chirps, barks and grunts sat still in a desolate silence, making what lied in the darkness all the more concealed and ominous.

Aya jerked her head around when she heard the sound of a wolfhound. It wasn't a normal growl, it sounded more like a deep moan. She drew more breath as the air around her grew stale and frigid. She could feel the rustle of cold, rough fur against her back but when she spun around again, there was nothing tangible. Her normally tall stature shrank, and Eterna spoke again. "Do not fear the specters, child. Though their presence has grown, their business remains tied to this planetoid."

"I won't," Aya said in return. "But I can feel their anguish. It freezes everything with sadness."

As she spoke, Aya heard a voice unlike the guttural moan. It was a small whine, a cry similar to a lost child in the middle of a deep, dark forest. It came from the distance and Aya lowered her staff like a flashlight in order to see farther. She could see a small body shining bright green and she ran to it, ignoring any caution she previously had. Upon closer expectation, the glowing body belonged to a tiny wolfhound pup. Aya quickly called out in the dry air, "What troubles you little spirit?"

The pup with hollow black pupils looked directly into Aya's soul with its glare. It whined again and Eterna spoke, "It says 'Long ago, I was playing in the forest with my friends, but it grew dark and all my friends fled. I didn't know why.'"

The pup's eyes though hollow seemed to grow deeper as it whined further. It pained Aya's ears to hear such a shrill, other worldly cry. Eterna continued on, "I heard the marching of leather boots. I felt hands holding me down... and with a swing of a knife," Eterna gasped before speaking again. " I never saw another year."

The pups whining grew more intense and rang out through the forest. Aya felt she could hear multiple cries as well; and then, the pup fell over revealing an enormous knife wound before dissolving into spectral dust. Aya spoke softly, "This must have happened before we came and changed Du Bois' mind."

Eterna with a look of grief cried. "This is why I don't trust humans. Only true monsters would do this to a child."

Aya's head swayed as she closed her eyes. "They're not all like that. Flora has never harmed an animal- in fact, wolfhounds have done more harm to her. Still... even nature's scariest beasts are no match for human fashioned weapons."

Eterna howled from Aya's arm, causing her arm to writhe. "I would never forgive them if they brought harm to my pup."

"You have my word," Aya said massaging her arm "I will continue to bring balance so nothing like that happens again."

"Bless you Aya," Eterna said softly through her raspy tear soaked voice.

Aya pressed on, heading further and further into the heart of the woods. She heard cries from all around her and it made her heart sick. She saw another light in the distance and ran to it. She found Jeeg standing with his staff glowing by the ruins of the downed Matriarch tree. Pale green fog swirled around the blackened remains. It glowed sickly. "There you are, Aya," he said. "I'm glad you've found your way to me. It is truly ghastly around here."

"Do you know what's happening?" Aya questioned her old friend.

"Yes"—Jeeg extended his hand into the light of his staff—"The spirits of downed wolfhounds and other beasts resided within the Matriarch tree. It kept them at peace for centuries; but now, the tree has been laid waste."

"Is that correct Eterna?"—Aya looked down at her tattoo.

"That's correct." Eterna said and Aya relayed that message to Jeeg.

The old man raised his profile to cast his gaze over the ruins. "I had a feeling. What we must do about it is another question."

"Can we channel the spirits in any way?" Aya asked. "I mean we do have staffs made of spirit wood."

Jeeg shook his head, "It'd take a staff the size of Matriarch itself to placate all of these enraged spirits." He reached into his robe's side pocket and removed a small piece of spirit fruit. "I have seeds from this tree and I'm going to attempt to raise another tree."

"But won't that take centuries?"

Jeeg faced Aya and placed a robed hand on her shoulder. He looked into her frantic eyes with his calm and wizened ones. "When you're young, your patience is fleeting. But when you reach my age, you'll have learned the greatest things take several lifetimes to grow. Your children's children will rest under a new matriarch tree like you once did when you were young."

Aya's nodded with a soothed look on her face. "I understand. "Do you know how it fell?" Aya asked.

Jeeg raised his wrinkled fingers to his long goatee. "That my young Aya, has puzzled me. I know how it happened but it is still unbelievable."

Aya's eyes shimmered in her staff's light. "How?"

"It was struck by lighting"—Jeeg reached down and picked up a piece of splintered wood—"The way the wood is split would shows a lighting strike was the cause, but the way the tree fell would indicate it came at a horizontal angle."

Jeeg turned to Aya holding the wood. "As you and I know. Lighting comes from above. But this lightning came from the side. That strikes you as odd doesn't it?"

Aya held her hands to her mouth. "This is no time for levity, Jeeg. Do you think it was a projectile?"

"It could very much be, but no one on this planet has that kind of weaponry." Jeeg responded duly to his friend.

Eterna growled. "What about that rake's ship?"

"Did it have weaponry?" Aya asked, "I didn't look close enough at it."

"I have a good feeling that womanizer destroyed the matriarch tree," Eterna said with a newfound drive in her eyes. "His crime against nature won't go unpunished."

Aya put her hand to her mouth to hastily bite a longer fingernail clean, "He's tricky like a fox. I don't think after the good he has done for the villagers, he'll come clean if he was the one who did it."

"We just have to catch him in a lie," Eterna retorted. "This party that the human mother spoke of is the perfect opportunity to do so."

"Ah, the party," Aya said as her eyes lit up. "That would be an ideal place to expose him. Good thinking."

Jeeg stood around confused. "What party do you speak of Aya?"

"Mrs. Du Bois' party at the beer barn -she's throwing one in honor of Taylor finding Buck."

The old man's snow-white eyebrows raised. "That sounds like a good occasion for us to bring our instruments. We can play something to lament over the forest's loss, and hopefully soothe the spirits so they don't come to the village." Jeeg pointed his finger forward and with a sheepish grin asked, "Have you been practicing Aya?"

Aya took a step back. Aya's face tensed up and she began to whine and plead. "All the craziness in town has distracted me from playing."

"That excuse was only valid for one day," Jeeg said giving a raspy chuckle. "But I'll let it slide. I know you're an Aquan who loves running through the fields rather than sitting around playing the old Luta-Flute."

Aya let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks I knew you'd understand. Let's get back and maybe I'll go through my scales a bit."

Jeeg nodded and the two held their staffs out to their sides. With the combined power of two illuminated spirit wood staffs, the tense spirts stayed away from the Aquans but watched them from a safe distance while moaning still. Their cries reminding Jeeg, Aya and Eterna of their mission: to uncover the evil presence on their planet and prevent it from causing further harm. Both had confidence that Mrs. Du Bois' party would yield some answers of where the threat lay veiled.