Like the grass around it, the great snake glowed with a silver light. Lilac-colored stripes swirled over its body. It slithered along the ground, barely disturbing the grass as it went. There was an etherealness about it that Xan couldn’t quite place. It stopped at one wagon and raised its head.

“Quite the caravan they’ve got here,” it said, looking around the camp. It craned its long neck to look into the back of one of the wagons. Then it lowered down and continued to slither its way around the circle. “Lucky no one seems to have gotten seriously hurt in the landslide earlier. Ah, it must have been because of these two…”

The snake slithered its way under the Verdans’ cart. Then it rose up and turned to look inside the back.

Panic overtook Xan. He ran towards the snake, waving his arms. “Hey! Leave them alone!” he cried out.

The snake turned in surprise. “This one sees us?” it said, seeming confused.

Xan attempted to tackle the snake. His body sailed right through it, and he landed face-first in the dirt. He groaned in pain as he wiped the dirt from his mouth. Then he rolled himself over to find the large snake looking down at him with a mixture of consternation and curiosity.

“Well, that was rude,” it scolded him.

Footsteps approached. Xan looked to see the camp guard rushing over to him. He was about to warn the guard about the snake, but before he could, the guard ran right through it. The guard didn’t even seem to notice.

“What’s wrong?” the guard asked, holding up his spear.

“S-sn-snake,” Xan managed to stutter out.

The guard paused, then looked around the camp. He looked under the cart, poking at the grass with the haft of his spear. Then he straightened up.

“Well, it’s gone now. Woah, what’s with your eyes?” he asked.

“My eyes?” Xan reflexively covered his eyes. He rubbed his arm across them like he was trying to wipe some dirt away. When he lowered his arm, the silver glow was gone – and so was the snake.

“I, uh… tripped. Must’ve got some dirt in my eyes,” he said, gingerly standing up.

“Right… well, try to keep it down, people are trying to sleep,” the guard said, giving him a suspicious look. Then he turned on his heel and resumed his march.

Xan slumped against one of the cart’s wheels. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. Whatever the Spirit Sang’s power was, seeing giant ghost snakes was the last thing he expected. He peeked out from under his hands, half expecting to see it slithering away. But he didn’t see anything. For some reason that made him even more nervous.

After a long moment, during which he composed himself, he began to reason that he wasn’t able to see the snake without the Spirit Sang’s power. If he really wanted to know that the snake was gone, there was only one way to do it. He gripped the pendant in his hand again, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

When he opened his eyes, the silver glow was back. The pinpricks of light from the souls of the animals and people around him were back, too. He started looking around the camp, bending over to try to look under the wagons. Then he turned and suddenly saw the ghost snake inches away from his face.

Xan recoiled, knocking the back of his head against the cart. He reflexively grabbed at his head and moaned in pain.

The ghost snake leaned away from Xan, seeming to sit back onto its coils.

“So you can see us,” it said.

Xan blinked, rubbing his head. He glared in annoyance at the snake.

“What’s your problem?” he said irritably.

“Our apologies. We merely wanted to confirm if you could see us. Most of the time people don’t see us when we don’t want to be seen.”

Xan thought back to a moment ago. When the guard had rushed over he hadn’t seemed to notice the snake at all. It was as if it had been invisible.

“So, what, you’re a ghost?” Xan asked.

The snake straightened up a little in seeming indignation. “We most certainly are not a ghost,” it said.

“Well, if you’re not a ghost, then what are you? And why can no one else see you?” Xan asked.

The snake gave Xan a confused look. “You don’t know?”

Xan shook his head and shrugged. The snake leaned in closely to Xan, examining him. Then the snake’s tail reached out and lifted up the pendant.

“You carry a piece of Mother’s blood, and yet you don’t know?” it said incredulously.

“Mother’s blood… you mean Sterre? So this is a Sanguine crystal!” Xan said, briefly holding up the pendant in awe.

“Aye, a crystal that’s been awakened. But,” the snake began to circle around to the other side of Xan, “your soul bears no signs of awakening. Ah, this must not be yours, then. No wonder you don’t know anything.”

“Hey!” Xan cried indignantly.

“We merely speak the truth. One cannot awaken a Sanguine crystal unless one first learns the basics of its power. So, if this crystal is not yours, then, how did you come by it?”

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“That’s… none of your business,” Xan said.

The snake gave Xan a hard look. “There are few people in this age who follow Mother, and fewer still that carry her blessing. If you gained it through ill-gotten means, you can expect harsh retribution for that, both in this life and beyond.”

“No, I didn’t – it was – what I mean is-” Xan stuttered. The snake merely continued to look at him with a stern expression. Xan sighed, then said, “I got it during a near-death experience only a couple of days ago. I didn’t know anything about what it really was, or how it works, and I still don’t. But… I need to. I need to figure it out.”

The snake tilted its head. “Why?”

Xan opened his mouth to answer, then stopped himself. His first impulse had been so that he could figure out what had actually happened to Seeker Torban and his crewmates on the island. If he had known about the Spirit Sang’s powers back then, he might have been able to find a way to free them. Even now, the idea that he could still find a way to free them made his heart soar with hope. But the more he thought about it, the more that hope quickly turned into despair. His crewmates were a world away, marooned on an island, and under the unrelenting oppression of a cursed Seeker Torban, who seemed more than willing to work them to death. In the time it would take to learn all of the Spirit Sang’s powers and get back to the island, it would be too little, too late.

So, what, then? Would he just throw the pendant away like he had been willing to do this morning? Move on with his life and forget about it all? As soon as he had the thought, it just felt wrong. As painful as it was, he didn’t want to forget about the crew that had been his family and the ship that had been his home. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he became sure that if he truly wanted to honor them, then he would make sure that no one else went through what they went through ever again.

He looked up at the snake and said with conviction, “So no one else gets hurt.”

The snake gave him a long look. “We see,” it said. Then it coiled up and settled, almost as if it were sitting down. “Well, then, we are willing to answer your questions.”

Xan blinked. He already had so many questions, where would he start?

“Uh… well, I guess let’s start with the basics. My name is Xan. Do you have a name?” he asked.

“Mother named us Chusho, and you may call us that as well,” the snake said.

“Chusho, alright… So, Sterre is your mother?”

“She formed us, so yes.”

“But if you’re not a ghost, what are you?”

“I am a Wild Spirit.”

“What’s a Wild Spirit?”

Chusho tilted his head again, looking amused. “We are the manifestation of the combined Ru of all living things in this part of the land.” At Xan’s confused look, he added, “You know, Ru? Spirit energy? Wow, you really don’t know anything, do you?”

“Hey look, it’s been a lot the past couple of days,” Xan said defensively.

“Hmm…” Chusho said thoughtfully, like he was trying to gather his thoughts. Then he gestured to the pendant in Xan’s hand. “Let’s start with that. You know that that’s a Spirit Sanguine crystal, yes? Its basic power grants you Astral Sight, which allows you to see souls and the Ru, or spirit energy, that they generate. All living things have Ru, but not all living things have souls.”

Xan looked at the silver glow that surrounded them. “So those stars I’m seeing…?”

“Each one is a soul.”

When he said this, Xan noticed that Chusho did not have a tiny glowing star near his heart. “What does that mean for you, then?” he asked.

“When enough living things gather together in an area, their Ru begins to coalesce. So, in the beginning, when life began to flourish in the world, Mother gathered this Ru and formed us and our brethren. We are meant to watch over, protect, and aid those living in the land we have charge of.”

“But, if you don’t have a soul-”

“We owe our existence to those who dwell among us. We live and die with the land.”

“… That’s terrible.”

“It is what it is,” Chusho said matter-of-factly.

Xan paused to digest this information. “So, there are more Wild Spirits?”

“Oh, yes, many of us.”

“Then how come no one can see you?”

“We do not always manifest ourselves to others. If someone in need seeks us out, however, we are wont to listen and to help.”

Xan paused again. This was already a lot to take in, but he had just one more burning question. He held up the pendant again and stared at it.

“Alright, so this can help me see souls. What else can it do?” he asked.

The snake began to chuckle. “You can’t expect to sprint after just barely learning how to crawl, little one. Before you learn more about what the Spirit Sang is capable of, you must first learn to see the flow of Ru around you.”

Xan gave Chusho a confused look. “But I can already see-”

“What you can see are souls. But can you see the energy flowing out from those souls? Can you see it flowing out to fill their bodies? Can you see the waves as it passes through the grass?”

Xan looked around. The glow coming from the grass looked pretty solid; and the souls looked like no more than stars. He squinted, trying hard to see the waves Chusho was talking about.

Chusho chuckled again. “We’ll take that as a no. Start with this, and when you can see the flow of Ru, seek out us or one of our brethren. We can direct your path from there.” The large snake then began to uncoil itself like it was preparing to leave.

“Wait!” Xan cried. Chusho stopped, looking at Xan expectantly.

“Yes?” he asked.

Xan hesitated, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “The Verdans I’m traveling with… one of them is sick. Can you help him?”

The snake looked up, seeming to stare through the cart to the souls sleeping inside. Then he looked back down at Xan with a sad look.

“We’re afraid we cannot, little one. We have seen times when the strength of a soul supersedes the limitations of the body, but even that would not be enough to help him. His tether is already weakening… he does not have much time left,” he said.

“How long?” Xan asked, despair starting to creep into his voice.

“A few days at most,” Chusho said.

“A few days?” Xan echoed. He slumped back against the cart wheel in disbelief. He held his head in his hands. “But, then, they won’t make it… they won’t make it to the shrine in time!”

“Hmm…” Chusho said, tapping his tail, “if only there was a way to get them there faster, right? Well, we believe you already have what you need to help them. Good luck, little one. Perhaps one day we will see you again.”

The large snake pivoted and slithered away underneath the carts. Xan stared after him for a long while. Eventually the silver glow faded from his sight, and he was left alone in the semi-darkness once more. A hoot sounded, and he looked to see Sage staring down at him from his perch on the cart. He could’ve sworn Sage was looking at him like he was crazy.

“I’m not crazy,” he told the owl.

Sage hooted again, then hopped inside the cart. Xan stood up. He groaned as he rubbed his backside where a rock had been sticking him. Then he hopped up into the cart himself.

Sage had settled himself in one of the open crates, next to a small bundle wrapped in leather. Xan, realizing what it was, kicked himself for forgetting. He reached over to take it out. Sage protested quietly.

“Hey, I need this more than you right now,” Xan whispered.

Sage hooted grumpily, then settled further into the crate.

Xan unwrapped the leather covering, feeling the warmth from the small Ember Sang soak through his gloves. He looked over at Katar and Taika, who were still sleeping soundly. Shadow was still there under Taika’s arm, purring intermittently.

Suddenly something clicked in Xan’s mind. Yes, there was a way they could get there faster! Hope began to rise in his chest once more, and he couldn’t keep himself from smiling. He reached over to shake Taika’s shoulder and tell her – but stopped when he saw her face. For the first time since they had met, she looked so peaceful. He pulled his arm back and settled on the bench.

“Alright. I’ll save it for the morning,” he said.