Aeld sat down in the snow and gestured at me, and I did the same, far more awkwardly as my leg pained me.

“As you know, our world abounds with spirits,” he began, laying his staff across his lap and speaking in a lecturing tone. “Most of these are simple land spirits, barely aware and easily controlled with a circle and a basic ritual. Commanding these is a simple matter; they accede readily to the will of any menskallin, and they present little danger even to an untrained spirit.

“However,” he continued, “an undvarn is a different matter. Each is possessed by a close spirit, usually a Hunt Spirit or Death Spirit, and these are both aware and intelligent. They resist being controlled or commanded and will try to escape a circle placed around them. Attacking their mortal shell doesn’t weaken them as it would a beast spirit, and had you killed the undvarn, you would have simply freed the spirit to find another vessel to occupy. To truly defeat one, you must bind that spirit, and to do that, you must first subjugate it through spiritual combat.”

He pulled out what looked like a copper knife from his waistband, and I tensed slightly, but he simply took it and lightly stabbed the underside of his forearm before sliding it back into his belt. He squeezed a couple drops into the snow between us, and with See Magic active, I saw them glowing dully in the darkness. He touched his arm, and the bleeding stopped, then he gestured toward me.

“Place your wounded arm on top of my blood,” he instructed.

“Why?” I asked warily. I really didn’t want his blood in my cut; that seemed really unhygienic, for one, and I had a feeling it could be a bad idea in a magical sense, for another. Magic still radiated from his blood; it was faint, but it was there.

“To initiate a spiritual contest, you must first link to the one you would battle. A melding of blood is the easiest way to do this.”

“Wait, you want me to fight you?” That startled me a bit, but he chuckled in reply.

“The rashi may talk about careful instruction, but I’ve found that the best way to learn is by doing. I can show you in an instant what would take days to explain, and I promise that you won’t be hurt by the experience.”

“Could he hurt me through his blood like that, Sara?” I asked silently.

“Yes, John,” she replied gravely. “In many worlds, blood is a conduit for magic. If you have someone’s blood, you can bypass a lot of their defenses, and the same applies if their blood is touching you.” She paused. “However, I think you’re right that if Aeld wanted to hurt you with magic, he would just do it. Your Resist Magic ability would help, but it’s not meant to be a primary defense. Until you learn more about this world’s magic, you don’t have any defenses to speak of, not really.”

“Sad but true,” I sighed. Hesitantly, I reached out and touched my arm to the spots of blood cooling in the snow. Instantly, I felt myself rising once again as the world lit up in the same hazy, silver glow I’d seen before. This time, though, with See Magic active, it looked very different. Bands of energy stretched all around me, some as this as threads and others at thick as bridge cables. The shapeless blobs I’d seen before now burned with power; the ones floating in the sky looked wan and feeble, but the shape wrapped around the mountain blazed like a sun. Fortunately, something shaded me from that radiance; when I looked around, a bubble of translucent energy surrounded me, rising from Aeld’s circle and wrapping about me like a shield—or a prison, I suppose.

“I think you could get out of it if you wanted, John. Aeld didn’t put all that much energy into it, I don’t think. It feels more like a precaution than an actual defense.” Sara’s voice still echoed in my mind, and I felt a wave of relief at the sound. I’d been half afraid that whatever was happening might leave me cut off from her, but obviously, that wasn’t the case.

I spun at the sound that echoed in me, not really heard so much as felt in my depths. A humanoid shape stood before me, larger than me and swirling with multiple colors. Dusky orange stained its light gray body, streaked with milky white. Blue-white seeped from its core, and light purple bands rippled along its surface, shifting and moving constantly. It took me a second to realize that I was looking at Aeld, and when I did, I glanced downward to see our bodies seated below us, still and silent and strangely empty-looking.

the shaman said, his voice almost overpoweringly loud in the silence and yet still not really ringing in my ears. I could simply feel what he wanted me to know, almost as if the thoughts were planted directly in me.

I tried to ask him what would happen if something took my body, but no sound came from my mouth no matter how I struggled to speak. Aeld must have sensed my attempts, though, as his voice sounded in my mind once again.

I did that, thinking about my question and focusing on the idea of him knowing it, and I felt a small tingle of energy flow out of me.

He fell silent for a moment before finishing.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Aeld seemed to suddenly swell with power, growing larger and more solid. Heat rippled from him, and biting cold emanated from his core. An eldritch breeze rose, whipping around me, battering me with dry heat and bitter chill at the same time. A feeling of power and threat rolled out from him and washed over me, demanding that I submit and threatening my destruction if I didn’t.

he said, his voice a roar that battered at me.

A stab of panic raced through me as Aeld’s form rushed forward, sweeping toward me in a wash of fire, ice, and wind. Part of me wanted to turn and run, to flee his assault, but something seemed to stir in my stomach at that, and a rush of power flooded my limbs along with a fierce anger and feeling of aggression. Aeld wanted me to submit, like some sort of prey, but that wasn’t my nature. I was a hunter; I was the predator, not the prey.

I slid sideways, allowing his initial rush to slip past me, then lashed out at his side as he swarmed over where I’d been. My fingers hardened and sharpened into claws that sliced into him, passing through him like I’d slashed at Jell-o, not flesh. He turned and drove toward me, but I fell back, darting out of the way and once again striking at his rear as he roared past me. I suspected I couldn’t match his strength, but that was fine. I could bleed him out, weaken him with a thousand small cuts when one powerful blow wouldn’t suffice. He charged at me, and I retreated, dancing around, striking at him when I dared and otherwise avoiding his attacks. I dodged a shimmering, purple spear that shot from his chest and a blast of flame that swept toward me. His wind battered me, trying to knock me down, but I held my balance and slashed at him with clawed hands and feet that bit lightly into his body.

He seemed to clench himself for a moment, then his entire body exploded outward in a wave. There was nowhere to dodge, and the power of his attack slammed into me, driving me backward. Heat seared my skin; ice chilled my bones; wind battered my eyes and ears. I felt the force of him pressing down on me, trying to drive me to my knees, to make me submit. I growled in refusal and shoved back, pushing against the force overwhelming me, and as I did, a surge of power and aggression rose from my stomach, flooding my body.

My growl turned into a howl as I flung myself upward, tearing free of his grip, and I felt his surprise as I hurled myself at him, crashing into his much larger form and knocking it backward. My claws sank into him, locking me in place, and without thinking, I lashed out, burying my teeth in his throat. A blast of force exploded from him, tearing me free and hurling me to the ground, but I rolled quickly to my feet, ready to strike again. He flowed back, though, leaking mist from the wounds I’d given him but otherwise seemingly unhurt, and held up a hand.

his voice echoed in my mind, no longer as overpoweringly loud and even seemed a little weary.

The force rising in my stomach snarled at his words and demanded his blood, and part of me wanted to indulge it. I thought I could beat him, and if I did, I’d apparently gain some sort of power over him. With that power, I could force him to train me, to teach me about this world.

Perhaps he sensed my intent, though, because a rush of power surged into the dome and flooded his body. His wounds healed instantly, and he swelled to immensity, his body filling the dome. The sense of his presence slammed into me like a battering ram, and it took everything I had not to curl up into a whimpering ball and hide my face. I frantically concentrated on agreeing to end the battle, and a moment later, I plunged downward into my body.

I sucked in a deep breath with a gasp, then winced at the brilliant white glare that flared from the end of his staff and stabbed at my eyes. His body still glowed with multiple colors, as well, but those looked fainter and dimmer than they had in the spirit world—and I could barely seem them against the radiance of his staff.

“Try turning off See Magic, John,” Sara suggested. I followed her suggestion, silently berating myself for forgetting that it was on, and the staff’s glow faded somewhat. To my surprise, though, it still pulsed with swirls of power, much brighter than it had before, and the colors didn’t fade from the shaman’s body. A notification blinked in my vision, but I ignored it for the moment and kept my focus on the shaman.

“That—was interesting,” he rumbled as the glare faded into a dull glow once more. “Freyd, did you chase off that Hunt Spirit or bind it?”

“I bonded with it, if that’s what you mean,” I said a bit nervously. “It offered, and I accepted.” I didn’t know what he’d done at the end of our fight, but I knew that at that moment, he could have handed me my ass, and there wouldn’t have been a thing I could do about it. That was a little unsettling, to say the least, and while I wasn’t really afraid of the man, I certainly held a new respect for him.

“A willing bond,” he said thoughtfully. “That explains it.” He rose to his feet, and I did the same, wincing as my leg again protested the movement.

“What was that?” I asked, the question tumbling from my mouth. “At the end, how did you become so strong? And how did you do all that?”

“That, Freyd, is the power of a valskab,” he said with a chuckle. He reached out with his staff and drew a line across the circle surrounding us, and I felt a sudden easing of pressure against my skin, as if something had been released when he broke the circle. “The rest doesn’t matter. What does is that you now understand the danger of spiritual combat. Your body could have been taken while you fought that Hunt Spirit, and if it defeated you, you would have become one of its minions, forced to serve its pack until you could fight free of its dominion. Had you faced something greater like an elder spirit, it could have driven you from your body entirely, killing you, or even devoured your spirit.”

“Yeah, I understand,” I sighed, forcing myself not to nod in agreement once more. “I didn’t do it on purpose, though. Its blood mixed with mine accidentally.”

“That wouldn’t have mattered if it had overcome you,” he said sternly, then took a deep breath. “Forgive me, Freyd. I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment. That—didn’t go as I expected. You have a uniquely powerful spirit—but you must still be cautious.”

He reached out and touched my shoulder lightly. “However, it’s obvious that you need to be trained. With a spirit like that, and your abilities awakened, you can’t be left alone to fend for yourself. We have a purpose here in the High Reaches, and once we’ve completed it, we’re heading back to the valskab. In the meantime, should you choose to aid us, your path would be ours for a time—and I would be happy to guide you along it for however briefly it lasts.”

“You mean, you’ll teach me if I agree to help you?” I asked.

“I’ll give you some guidance, yes—enough to hopefully protect you from your own nature—but if you wish greater training, you’ll have to return to the valskab to be tested. If you’re found suitable, then your path could join with ours, and you would learn all that you need to know. Would you be willing to do that?”

“That depends,” I said slowly. “What happens if I’m not considered suitable?”

“That, I can’t say,” he said with another sigh. “In all likelihood, you’ll simply be cast out and on your own once more. And you’ll likely meet an unhappy ending facing a spirit beyond your ability or binding more than your spirit can handle. That’s why I’m offering you training; without it, you might end up a vessel for an angry elder spirit, and no one wants that.”

“Especially me,” I thought silently. “Sara, what would happen if a spirit possessed me?”

“I don’t know if that’s even possible, John,” she admitted. “Your body isn’t a regular one, after all. It’s a magical shell held together by your will. If you were somehow evicted from it, you’d probably just create a new one, and the old one would dissipate. It’s possible that a powerful enough entity could maintain it, though, and keep it intact.”

“So, definitely something to avoid, then.”

“I would if at all possible.” She laughed. “However, you do tend to throw yourself into things, so I won’t be surprised if it happens. If nothing else, I’m certain that between the two of us, we can evict any spirit from your body reasonably rapidly. I still wouldn’t suggest trying it, though.”

“Well, Freyd? Are you willing to aid us?” Aeld asked, disrupting my thoughts. “And perhaps be tested?”

“Yes, to aiding you,” I replied at once. “As to the rest—we’ll see.” Traveling with them was a n-brainer, and I’d probably stick with them for a while after. I hoped that the valskab was somewhere a lot more civilized than these mountains, so if they could at least lead me out of them, I’d have a lot more options for proceeding.

“Then let’s return to the cave, and I’ll finish healing your wounds. You’ll need to be at your best for the journey, trust me.”