Ravena sat in the dark contemplating her further entrapment when a voice yet again billowed out from the blackness, heralding new uncertainties and possibly more opportunities.

She called into the unknown, echoing halls in front of her cell. “Who is there? Is that you, Marley? I’m going to get you back for killing that guard! He was just doing his job!”

An unearthly laughter emerged from the very cell she occupied. “Ha, ha, ha, ha! Dear girl, I am not that foul-mouthed fool working with Gareth,” a male voice said, approaching in uncomfortable proximity to Ravena’s ear.

Ravena jumped with fright. “Who is there? Show yourself vagabond!”

A brightening glow intensified from the cell, illuminating her face like a dawning sun. Before her stood a sight she’d only heard in rumors and tall-tales, a bona-fide ghost!

The ghost approached her face at an uneasy distance. “I do not work for Gareth, not anymore. I am his late brother! His better familial half!”

Ravena smirked at the bravado of the otherwise anti-climactic revelation of a supernatural entity. “A gong farmer would be better than your brother, to be fair,” she said, laughing at her own joke and slapping her knee.

“Well just for that, no help for you!” He said, disappearing into the darkness.

Ravena reached her hand out as if to grab him by the shoulder. “Wait! I’m just cranky, having been down here is all! Lighten up, I need your help!”

The ghost brightened its incorporeal form into a blinding blue light that made Ravena squint and shield her view with her forearm. “Hilarious! That’s enough now! Let’s talk already.”

“What, you don’t like our banter?” The ghost crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air, peeking playfully out the side of his eye to spy her reaction.

“By the Gods!” Ravena huffed. “Who would have thought a ghost would be such a drama queen?”

“Well, if you’re going to continue insulting me, madam, I’ll take my leave,” he said, dimming the light of his form. “You need me more than I require you at the moment.”

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Ravena kicked a rock at the spot where the ghost once stood, letting out a primal yell into the air. “Gods! I’ll go mad before I’m executed, for sure!”

Crossing her arms, she turned her back to the cell’s interior, facing a corner of the wall before spinning around to announce her surrender.

“Alright! I’ll help you if you aid me in my escape!”

The ghost emerged, hovering in front of her, staring directly into her eyes. “Not before you apologize, madam!”

Ravena pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked down, closing her eyes to contain the frustration. “Great then. I’m sorry, okay! Sorry, I’m taking out my anger at your brother on you! Why are you down here, anyway? And why are you helping me cross Gareth?”

The ghost brightened in excitement. “Oh, because it will put him in a right state of irritation that his prized sacrifice slipped from his arrogant self assured grasp! Besides that, the least he deserves after double crossing his own kin!”

Ravena grinned. “Well, it will feel good to see that smug bastard’s look when he gets what’s coming to him. How will we do it then?”

“Oh, very simple indeed!” he said, grasping his ethereal hand on the cell door lock.

His form brightened and a distinctive hum developed until a sharp metallic snap shot through the otherwise silent corridors. The rusty cell groaned open as he pushed the gate with his hand, revealing his ability to affect the physical world around him.

“Oh! So you’re a poltergeist-class ghost?”

The ghost chuckled. “I haven’t even told you my name yet, nor have you asked! What, am I just some magic object to you?”

Ravena sighed. “No, you’re a valued member of my new party,” she said halfheartedly.

The ghost giggled. “Well, you’re making an effort, even if your heart isn’t in it! That counts for something and so I shall introduce myself merely as Walt,” he said, closing his eyes and bowing as if they were in more respectable circumstances.

The two meandered through the corridors, backtracking several times before stumbling onto the proper path to the top. Several guards patrolled, complacent and unsuspecting and thus unnoticing of their skulking in the dark. Walt led the way, dimming and brightening his form to illuminate the way. However, the way up the stairs beside the tavern counter presented another obstacle: An unavoidable guard next to the stairwell, and the late night stragglers keeping the bar-staff burning candles at both ends.

“Damn!” Ravena whispered a little too loud.

The guard snorted, almost coming out of his slumber. He was leaning precariously back on the two hind legs of his stool, his hands placed behind his head for a bit of respite.

“What do we do now?” she whispered to Walt.

“what you can’t sneak last one sleepy head?” he paused as the guard rusted and snorted before returning to peaceful slumber. “What kind of Realmseeker are you?”

“The new kind. But my point is when we storm through that door above, it’s full of other Realmseekers who watched me get taken down here. That isn’t the door to the lavatory. We all know it goes to the dungeon. I can’t clear my name while a room full of rowdy upstarts is chasing me down as a fugitive. “

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Walt placed his hands on his ethereal hips and looked down, shaking his head. “You do realize I’m a ghost, ma’am. I’ll just spook them and distract and you sneak up. Certainly, you can get to your room during the ruckus.”

“Oh.” Ravens scratched her head. “Well, yes, that would work. Why didn’t I think if that?”

Walt smirked before floating up the staircase and emerging into the common room. A loud ruckus emerged as glasses crashed and multiple drunk slurs erupted in unison. “It’s a ghast!”

A seemingly endless pause punctuated the situation, followed by a muffled rebuttal. “Eh? No, I’m a ghost, you filthy humans!” Walt shouted.

Meanwhile, Ravena snuck past the sleeping guard. Thankfully, he was a heavy sleeper, but she was sure he would rouse once the door opened and the noise could be heard clearly. Several steps creaked, and she paused for what felt like an eternity to see if she’d woken him.

But nothing seemed to wake him. So she carefully turned the knob of the door above. Click. Damn! It’s locked. Of course it is Ravena! She smacked the butt of her palm to her forehead.

“What? Who goes there?” the guard jumped to his feet, kicking the chair behind him in a clamor that drew his attention.

“Great...” Ravena said, letting out a heavy sigh.

With the guard’s attention diverted momentarily by his own clumsiness, Raven grabbed hold of the rafters and swung down onto his shoulders, clasping his neck with her thighs before back flipping him onto the floor.

The guard groaned loudly, collecting himself from the shock of the moment, and she seized the time to steal his keys and sprint up the staircase again as he clamored to his feet. “Wait! Thief!”

She fumbled through the keys one at a time, shaking in the rush of adrenaline before finally shoving the correct one in. The guard was taking lunging steps up, skipping several stairs at a time to reach her in his heavy, lumbering armor. She felt his hand graze her backside as she spun around, sliding the opening of the door with time to spare before shutting it and locking it back.

The room was a full on brawl, but Owen turned at the sound of the clasp with a preternatural sense. Gazing at her, she held still as the brawling raged around her. Her saving grace was Owen getting clobbered by an errant mug. Her eyes widened in fear. “Owen!” she shouted, but as he rubbed his head, she felt assured he was ok and darted up the staircase behind her to the upper floor.

As her worn shoes hit the lush carpet above, a hole in her sole allowed the carpet’s soft texture to brush against her skin. It felt cozy, and her anxiety abated amidst the silence above. She knew she had to find Gareth’s room if she were to gain the evidence needed to implicate his treachery, but which one was his? The hall reached out in all four directions, in what appeared to be an endless cascade of doors. Ravena had never been up here before and was surprised at how lavish the décor was, given that she’d only seen a few employees working for Owen. Magic is afoot in these halls.

Her feet wandered as her mind flushed with awe and curiosity, like a small child in a playground. Every door looked the same and her attention began to become hazy as she looked for any discerning detail that could separate her quarry from the sea of entryways.

A familiar voice called out to her. “Who goes there!”

She was startled and recognized the face marching towards her. “Um, I’m just trying to stay out of the drama downstairs!”

“I know, I can hear it! I was instructed to remain up here lest wanderers like yourself meander this way in the commotion!”

“I’m just searching for my room! I want some silence, not a brawl.”

“Ravena, I remember who you are, so don’t start with me. You’re supposed to be in the dungeon...”

She grimaced, clenching her fist in preparation for a wild swing and tensing her legs for a sprint, but the guard with the flat of his palm aloft to halt her unease.

“I’m not going to arrest you. Look, I was there before Gareth arrived. I know what I heard my dying colleague say to me. I know you didn’t kill him. But Gareth has a powerful influenced here and I’m new. Nobody would believe me and I might lose my job... or my life to implicate him.”

Ravena squinted her eyes in disgust. “So you’re just a coward, then?”

The guard curled his lip at the judgment. “Look. I’m no good to anyone dead. I can’t find evidence to bring to him just as a newcomer shouting his mouth off. You saw what happened to you in the bar earlier. He has the crowd’s ear and Owen’s benefit of the doubt.”

“I guess you’re right. Maybe I should be more subtle, like a game of chess. Lure him into his own demise.”

The guard put his hand out. “Exactly. You can call me Ben. I think I’ve found his room, but I cannot get in to save my life. Even the guard’s master key isn’t working.”

Ravena shook his hand. “I think I have the answer,” she said, anticipating the arrival of her new friend as the hair on her neck stood up. “Walt, you can come out now.”

Ben stepped back as Ravena smirked. The glow of Walt’s form emerged behind her, lighting the dim hallway devoid of windows. The guard was speechless before the ghostly form spoke.

“Well, don’t just stand there, boy. Lead me to the room!”

Ravena stood in front of Walt. “Wait, if you’re not down there, why and who are they all fighting?”

“Well, each other, of course! I disappeared rather promptly, before pulling some belts and slamming some glasses. Before they knew it, they were all accusing each other of foul play, and I’d incited a proper ruckus!” Walt said, looking rather proud of himself.

Ben stared alternatingly at the two. “So your answer is a spirit? Can he turn into a key or something?”

Ravena chuckled, turning to Ben. “I mean, I don’t think so,” she said, referencing Walt’s shaking head to discern the answer. “But he can pass through walls and he’s a poltergeist-class ghost. So he could open it from within.”

Walt moved forward, passing through Ben’s body as his face took on a pale complexion and his hair wafted in the accompanying breeze. His eyes were wide open and pupils dilated at the sudden movement. Ravena took the opportunity to reassure Ben of their loyalty.

“Don’t worry, Ben, he’s on our side. Gareth betrayed him too, and he just wants a little justice. Why are you doing this, though?”

Ben sighed a deep breath to release the tension. “It’s very simple. I grew up in the city and watched the level of deceit and selfishness on the streets. Dog eat dog it was. I dreamed of being a hero, like the tales I heard about the far off Inn here. But when I arrived I’ve seen nought but the same behaviors. So I became a guard to try to keep people in line in hopes of getting rid of the bad apples that are keeping people like yourself from rising the ranks.

Ravena smiled with her eyes at the genuine altruism and felt seen for the first time in many months. She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek and Ben blushed, stammering his words.

“C’mon Ben. Don’t get your armor in a bunch there. Let’s go back to Gareth’s room and end this,” she said, waving an inviting arm to motion him forward. “Lead the way.”

The trio arrived at Gareth’s room, a door adorned much like the rest, but with a golden trim. Walt passed through its solid frame, and a familiar click heralded the opening of the lavish door. Ben and Ravena entered to find a plain bedroom, completely devoid of anything of interest.

The troupe spoke in unison to each other: “What the hell?”