“What is this?” Walter asked. His voice sounded far away.

Flipper hissed.

“She was a daemon in disguise,” Tushen slurred. “Had to do it. She was tempting me.”

Walter didn’t even need to look at Tushen’s soul to spot the lie. The man’s face said it all. He held no remorse. The waves of perverse pleasure rolling off Tushen only reinforced what Walter saw.

“What is this!” Walter shouted.

“Not my fault!” Tushen shouted back. He walked forward, stumbling over his own feet.

“Do not lie to me!” Walter roared.

“Not my fault!” Tushen slurred again. “They tempt me! They tempt me with their bodies! And their looks!”

Walter clenched his fist so hard he felt it would break. Sorrow choked him, preventing him from speaking. His promise to Tivwo replayed in his head. He’d promised to keep Turum safe.

The woman’s soul drifted over her body, the emotions of despair and longing plucking at Walter like a musician plucking strings.

He took a step toward her body.

“Do not come here!” Tushen shouted.

The man dove down, pulling the knife from Turum’s body and brandishing it. Dark blue blood splattered the ground and walls.

“This is my place!” Tushen shouted. “My safe place! I put work into this place! Hid it from the village! Hid it from the pressures of the world! I can be what I want to be here! I can rule here! You will not take that!”

Walter ignored the man and his drunken ramblings. He took another step toward Turum’s soul. He needed to comfort her. She needed to know things would be okay. He was a god, wasn’t he? Gods performed miracles. And what was more miraculous than raising the dead.

“Stop walking here!” Tushen shouted. “This is my place!”

The drunken, crazed man swung his knife, the blood sliding off it in an arc at Walter. Flipper hissed, encircling Tushen in a painted shell of blue and black. Tushen struck the wall, only for the knife to bounce off like a rubber ball.

“Get out of my place!” Tushen shouted from the shell. “This is my space! I hold power here!”

Walter felt a wave of divine energy leave Tushen. He whirled, watching as the energy, a sickly silver-gold, passed through Flipper’s barrier and split into four beams. One beam struck Turum’s body, while four more passed into the darkness.

Turum’s body twitched, and Walter froze. Turum’s soul was still separated, but her body now stood on its own.

“My place!” Tushen shouted. “My women! Protect me!”

A rattling in the darkness drew Walter’s attention. Three skeletons walked out, the tattered clothes of the villagers draped over them like cobwebs.

Wrongness, for that was all Walter could call it, crept up his body like frost. This was unnatural, a cruel perversion of life. Worse was that Walter could feel the divine energy, somehow sick, reaching out. Tendrils shot from Turum’s body toward her soul.

“Flipper, encase Turum’s soul!” Walter shouted.

Flipper obeyed, covering Turum with his barrier and sending a feeling to Walter that two barriers were the limit. It was no use, and Walter watched in horror as the energy crossed the barrier as if it wasn’t there. The tendrils latched onto Turum, and Walter felt pain mix into the woman’s soul as the sickly energy greedily took from her.

Walter rushed forward, not bothering to think of the consequences as he grabbed Turum’s soul. The sick divine energy connected with his body. It joined for only a moment before it recoiled, Walter and the energy hissing in pain.

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The connection, while brief, had harmed Walter more than anything else in this world. This sick energy was antithetical to Walter. Coming into contact with it was like concentrated blasts of radiation burning away his flesh. No, Walter realized. He was the radiation. This energy was a cancer, divine power left unchecked to grow.

Walter pushed through the pain, grabbing Turum’s soul and moving away from the animated dead bodies. He swiped his hand at the tendrils that connected Turum’s body and soul, wincing as he felt the cancerous energy burn away. The energy attempted to circumvent him, tiny tendrils buzzing like flies to land on Turum’s soul and steal more of her essence.

Walter refused to allow it and turned to run back to the village. Flipper squeaked in agreement, changing tactics. He lowered the barrier over Turum’s soul and focused. A piece of Flipper’s shell, solid divine energy, broke off and intercepted the tendrils.

“Mom!” a voice shouted.

Walter froze at the sound. That was Tivwo’s voice! The young woman rounded the corner of the outcropping a moment later before freezing in place.

“M-mom?” she stuttered as she saw Turum’s battered, walking body.

“Run!” Walter shouted. “Get out of here!”

“B-but!” Tivwo retorted.

“You can’t be here!” Walter shouted.

“No! I cannot leave mom!”

Walter ran toward Tivwo, opening his mouth to argue. A familiar hissing scream stopped him, and his eyes widened as three wisps rose from the nearby water. These were the same daemons from before, Walter’s soul vision revealing their broken souls. They were even worse off than the last time Walter viewed them. The twisted feeling that felt so wrong to Walter wrapped tightly around the soul like a noose.

They dove into the fight, rushing in like a tide.

Time slowed for Walter. The three wisps had split up, the wisp woman heading to Tushen while the two smaller wisps rushed at Tivwo. The sick divine energy still attempted to grab Turum’s soul, splitting Flipper’s attention. He knew his helper could make a shield, but he’d drop focus on another in doing so. He would have to make a choice.

In Walter’s opinion, it wasn’t much of a choice at all. “Flipper, drop the shield on Tushen and protect Tivwo.”

Flipper obliged. The painted turtle shell of blue and black vanished from Tushen’s sight and appeared around Tivwo. The two wisps smashed into the shield, their semi-formed bodies breaking against the hard shell. Tivwo cowered inside, shaking like a leaf.

The other wisp reached Tushen and struck out, only for the Elder to block with the fishbone knife. Walter caught a glimpse of the sick divine energy enveloping the weapon.

“You!” the drunken Elder shouted. “You invade my place too? I will not have it!”

The dead bodies turned from Walter and marched toward the wisp woman. The woman fell upon the bodies with a screech, ripping into them with her shadowy claws. The bodies struck back, using their divine energy to split the wisp-woman up. With each traded blow, divine energy flew out like sparks.

The energy settled around the fight, saturating the outcropping. Plants greedily absorbed the energy, growing at impossible rates. The ones that absorbed the sick energy quickly died, returning the power to the ground and causing more plants to spring up. Eventually, this choked the plants using the healthy divine energy, and they too died.

Walter again felt the unnatural feeling. This unchecked growth was wrong, and he needed to do something about it.

The man looked down at Turum’s soul, then over to Tivwo. They wouldn’t be able to survive in a fight like this. He should do something about them first.

We need to get them out of here. Walter thought to Flipper. His helper agreed.

Walter took a breath to collect himself, then rushed at the wisps attacking Tivwo. Flipper growled with effort, picking up the barrier with Tivwo inside it. The turtle pushed Tivwo away from the fight as Walter body-checked the wisps. He knew from experience that these wisps couldn’t hurt him.

Memories assaulted Walter; feelings of anger, despair, sorrow, and more swept through him as he pushed the wisps away from Tivwo. The wisps dispersed, moving their souls away from Walter as he passed through the alcove's entrance and onto the beach. Walter passed Turum’s soul to Flipper, who placed it inside Tivwo’s barrier.

With the now safe, Walter turned to head back inside.

“Wait!” Tivwo shouted.

Walter turned and looked down. The young girl was on the ground, her legs giving out from the shock.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

Walter knelt to meet Tivwo’s eyes. “Things are wrong here. I need to fix them.”

“Can you fix mom too?” she asked, her eyes reflecting the moon above.

“I’m going to try,” Walter said.

Tivwo nodded, her eyes clouded with tears.

“Be strong, okay?” Walter asked. “For your mother.”

The young woman nodded again, watching as Walter walked back into the fray.

Walter considered his options as he walked back into the cave. He only had his body to fight with, but a part of him was sure it would be more than enough. He was the antithesis to this sick energy, that part of him said. It would hurt, but what was pain to a god of death?

The other part of Walter was panicking. He knew he wasn’t cut out for this. He was going to college for a business degree of all things! He didn’t know how to fight; he barely knew how to run a business!

Nothing Walter knew would help him in this fight. Sure, he might not die, but what was he going to do against these monsters?

Another part of Walter spoke to him. If you don’t help, who will?

The thought struck like a gong, battering away Walter’s doubts and steeling his resolve. The feeling was right. If he didn’t help, who else could? The knight commander already said he and his men couldn’t deal with the wisp, and while they might’ve been able to deal with Tushen, Walter doubted that they could stay safe in this sickening energy.

That left Walter. So the man stepped forward.