Day 27

I dug through the earth in the large barrel and discovered a half-fist sized rock buried therein.

When I pulled the rock out of the barrel, the floating crab followed it. This confirmed my theory that the Astral Projections were pretty much attached to specific large crystal formations located within the soil. I integrated the rock into my armor, by tying a metal mesh-cage around it using thin copper wire.

Looking down at myself through the Astralscope I saw all sorts of blurry critters moving atop me or floating through the air right above me, as if I was a walking museum of ghostly curiosities.

I collected a bucketful of the fresh greenery that grew atop of the two barrels and took it to my new horses who were now housed in the stables at the back of the pub. I named the stallion Abott and the mare Castella. They appreciated the life-rad infused plants, munching on them quickly.

While I took care of the horses I considered why some things within my domain soil decomposed rapidly and why other things such as plants didn’t die as quickly as they grew. The life cycle of living things wasn’t simply accelerated, it was somehow specifically augmented to benefit me.

In a similar manner, metal experienced strengthening augmentation, while soap became better as a cleaning agent. Food became more nutritious and lasted longer if it simply sat or was buried within my domain. These were chemical and biological processes of such bewildering complexity and wide range that I had only one potential theory as to why they were happening. The distinctive crystalline matrices, different astral imprints were somehow performing separate, helpful jobs for me.

I had no idea who was doing what, since I had hundreds of crystals decorating my person and hundreds more lying undiscovered within the new piles of earth that I brought from the outside every morning.

“Thanks guys,” I padded my chain-mail decorated with various rocks. “You’re all doing a great job.”

“Mrrr?” Stormy looked up at me.

“What? I am thanking my dedicated spirits like a proper witch,” I said. “It pays to be nice to my ghostly assistants.”

My fuzzy familiar rolled her eyes at me. She probably didn’t understand why I was being cordial to Astral Projections.

“I’m not weird,” I told her. “People name their cars! There’s nothing wrong with personifying crystalline matrices.”

The kitten shook her head. She had no idea what cars were.

“Why do I even have to justify my actions to you?” I asked. “You’re a freaking kitten. Com'ere! Let’s cook some elk bacon, I’m starving!”

I relocated Stormy to my shoulder and climbed into the pub’s cold storage well to obtain delicious elk meats.

As I cooked bacon I contemplated who I really was.

Almost the entirety of my memories came from 21st century Earth, but my body no longer felt alien to me.

I felt like... myself. Perhaps, I was really Ioan who traded all of his memories of his life in Svalbard to River Glinka in exchange for the memories of an adult biochemist from some distant beyond. Was I even a biochemist? Most of my knowledge dealt with biochemistry, but I couldn’t recollect if I actually worked as such.

What was it that made us who we are? Our bodies or what we knew about ourselves and how we perceived and introduced ourselves to others?

I didn’t feel much remorse when I killed two people in broad daylight, which was more of a Svalbard native thing than something a modern man would be perfectly content with.

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I supposed that it didn’t matter who I was before, what really mattered was my current journey and unlocking the secrets of the universe to survive and prosper.

As I looked down on myself and then at Stormy I realized that she too might need spirit protection and aid. Thus, after a filling breakfast I crafted the kitten a leather collar and harness decorated with small but vibrant violet rocks.

Stormy didn’t seem to mind the additions.

"Are you feeling warmer?" I asked my feline friend as we stepped outside, instantly surrounded by a wave of frigid air.

“Mrwr,” she nodded, jumping and climbing into my shoulder to give my neck a nuzzle.

“You’re welcome,” I smiled.

I slowly walked through the snow to the edge of the river. It wasn’t hard to tell where the village boundary ended and where the river began. Column-like, tall boulders decorated what looked like Nordic runes marked the edge of the river.

One of the biggest boulders was carved up with large runes shaped like stylized waves. I slid my Astralscope goggles on.

A ghostly female figure was perched atop of the boulder, her long dress woven from rippling silver drops. Silver-blue hair floated through the air. She was a lot brighter, much more distinctive than any Astral Projection that I’ve ever seen, with the exception of Yaga Grandhilda.

“River Glinka, I presume?” I addressed the spirit.

Stormy tensed up on my shoulder, black fur bristling as she too spotted the girl woven from brilliant silver and blue shimmers.

When I came closer to Glinka, I noted that the girl didn’t have a face. Rippling patterns of silver composed her dress, hair and figure, her face completely lacking defined characteristics.

I wasn’t sure if she was looking at me or past me, but she made a small nod in my direction when Stormy and I approached.

I looked at the other rocks at the edge of the river. Silver-blue, barely discernible things shaped like fish flashed over them. I wondered if they were spirits of long dead fish that Glinka accidentally or purposefully attached to the rocks within her domain.

“Mind if I take a rock?” I asked.

The ghostly girl didn’t make a noise, didn’t move.

“Do you understand me?” I inquired.

No response followed. Perhaps the avatar of the river was less human than I thought, or maybe I needed to touch the river itself to communicate with her properly.

“Wave a hand if you can hear me,” I said.

The ghost didn’t move.

“I’m going to take that as a... yes,” I commented.

I grabbed a shovel and quickly dug out a rock from the frosty shore. As it rested on my shovel, it sparkled with bright silver-blue lights. Large, drifting snowflakes slowed their flight, becoming momentarily suspended in the air.

Glinka’s head suddenly snapped in my direction.

“I’m taking this rock,” I said, looking at her as my heartbeat intensified. “Okay?”

No answer followed. I kept the rock on my shovel as I retreated away from the river spirit with a lopsided grin.

“This isn’t a deal,” I said. “I just want to understand spirits. I’m taking this rock. I, uh, need it for my garden.”

The river spirit stared at me without eyes. Stormy made the smallest hiss at Glinka from my shoulder.

I secured the rock to the shovel with a net and took off, running back to the village.

The river spirit didn’t try to stop me, didn’t move from her spot atop of the boulder. I wasn’t sure if I was violating some sort of an ancient accord or if I pissed her off or if she even gave a damn about a random rock.

She probably had millions of rocks at her disposal. It was impossible to tell if Glinka even had emotions since she lacked a face. The unnerving, uncanny valley feeling intensified as I ran.

“Mrbrm-b-mrrrr,” Stormy commented as I slammed the door to the pub behind us.

“Yeah,” I said. “She’s effing creepy. I don’t think I’ll be making deals with her. She’s shaped like a human, but she’s definitely nothing like you and me. It looks like she’s an idea of a river shoved into an approximation of a human body. Something completely extrinsic... without a human soul or life behind her.”

“Mrbrrrrrrcshhh,” Stormy sneezed.

“Do you think it would be some kind of blasphemy to dig out those big rune-marked rocks she’s sitting on?” I asked. “There’s definitely a lot of power in them… since they’re anchoring an entire avatar of a concept of a river. What’s she going to do if I take more rocks? It’s not like she can redirect the river to drown me. She’s buried under ice.”

“Mrrrrrrmrm,” Stormy shook her head. She jumped off my shoulder and buried herself in a pile of plants inside of one of the chests. Silver eyes tinted with a bit of violet looked up at me with a judging look.

“I’m not trying to make enemies with a river,” I said.

The judging look intensified.

“I… okay, fine I don’t really know what I’m doing. This is completely unexplored territory for me. Come on, it’s just a rock!”

I deposited the rock with the silver-blue fish floating over it in a bucket in the corner of the pub with a small shudder. Then I sat down on my cozy, warm soil pile and quietly contemplated as to what my next step should be.