“A warrior? She doesn’t seem much like the warrior type.” The hostess exclaimed.

“I know what a warrior’s aura looks like. The way it formed around your hands, it was just like mine.”

“My father is a warrior, though I’ve never seen him use his aura.” Hamil added.

“Jaime, there’s nothing I could ever do to repay you.” Damian spoke, clenching his fists tightly. He then lifted his head, meeting Jaime’s eyes. “But I can teach you how to use your aura.” 

“You’re going to teach her how to fight?” The hostess asked, almost disgusted.

“I won’t teach her to fight; I’ll teach her to protect herself.”

“Are you saying that you’re going to leave me?”

Astrid was the one who spoke. She was leaning up against a wall near the stairs. Her face was pale and her eyes tired.

“Astrid!” Damian cried out as he rushed to her side, helping her to a seat across from Jaime.

She leaned forward, resting her head on her hands, glaring daggers at Jaime.

“So I see you’re trying to steal my partner.” She sulked, turning her head away dramatically. “I knew he was going to eventually leave me for a younger lady, but I didn’t know that it would happen so soon.”

Her pouting was obviously fake, but poor Damian didn’t recognize it and got flustered. 

“No, I was-” Damian reacted, embarrassed and red in the face. He quickly stopped and lowered his head when he noticed everyone at the table was looking.

“Relax, I’m joking.” She teased, grabbing him by the hand. “I know that you’d never really leave me.” She gave him a playful smile then turned back to Jaime, her eyes softer.

“A spiritualist warrior.” She mumbled, then turned to Hamil. “And I hear you’re a spiritualist mage. And you’re not related?”

Jaime and Hamil both shook their heads. 

Astrid sat silently for a moment before turning to the hostess, “From what you told me before, I assume that these two will be going north at about the same time as us.” The hostess nodded at her question. “We’ll go with them. Damian can teach Jaime and I can teach Hamil.” She turned to Hamil again, “I’m not a spiritualist, but I know enough to help.”

She took a deep breath and stood from her seat, using the table to keep herself up. She limped over to Jaime and pulled her from her seat and into a hug.

“Thank you. If you hadn’t said anything, those kids probably would have gotten hurt.” She pulled Jaime in tighter, her whole body shaking as tears rolled down her face. She whispered, “I know Damian already said so, but thank you again.” Her shaking turned to a quake as Jaime also started crying. She whimpered quietly, “You don’t know… how scared I was.”

She then collapsed, crumpling to the ground with Jaime. She laughed, then muttered, “I guess we both need some rest.”

Damian helped them both back up and into their seats, this time setting Astrid in the seat next to Jaime. As she stretched her legs, Astrid noticed the glass heart hanging from Jaime’s neck.

“That’s a beautiful necklace?”

“Thanks. It was my mother’s.”

Hamil and the hostess both made faces of confusion, but both held their tongues as Astrid reached out and touched it. The moment her skin touched the cool glass, it shocked her, causing her to jerk her hand away.

“This feeling. That necklace is an artefact.” Astrid exclaimed, her eyes full of wonder and excitement. “And not just any artefact, it feels incredibly powerful.”

The hostess spoke up, her voice unsure. “Um, Jaime. Are you sure that your mother gave that to you?”

“Yeah.” Jaime answered, confused.

“While you were asleep.” Hamil spoke. “The spirits were interfering with your dreams. I tried to stop them, but the spirits became violent and started to drain my mana. I don’t know what happened, but you eventually woke up. However, before you did the spirits created that necklace. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“No. My mother…”

Everyone paused, unsure of what to say as Jaime sat frozen, her eyes fixed on the glass heart.

Astrid broke the silence, “Jaime, what did you see in your dream?”

“I was with mom and dad. We were sitting together. She gave me…” She spoke, her eyes still focused on her necklace.

“Jaime.” Astrid spoke, pulling Jaime from her trance. “When an object has an enormous amount of emotion in it, it becomes an artefact. Those feelings somehow give that object magical power. What do you feel when you hold that pendant?”

Jaime squeezed the glass heart, feeling the cool glass against her skin warmed her heart and calmed her mind. I felt a wave of peace rush over her entire body as she smiled.

“It feels like a hug.” She said softly, then grabbed onto my cloak and brushed her hand against it. “What about this?” She asked.

Astrid reached out and felt the rough exterior of the cloak and furrowed her brow.

She stroked her chin and tilted her head. “I’ve only felt something like this a couple of times before.” She started. “This is almost an artefact. Where did you get it?”

“It was my father’s.”

Astrid smiled and gently ruffled Jaime’s ash colored hair. “Jaime, your parents loved you very much.”

“But how did the spirits create something like that?” Hamil asked.

She turned to Hamil and half-answered, “This world is full of mysteries; not everything can be explained. Consider that your first lesson.”

Jaime sat silent. She had learned so much and had taken it all in so quickly. She was nervous, but a part of her was also very excited. In the short time that they knew each other, she had grown to care for Astrid and Damian, especially Astrid. She was like an older sister; someone to look up to; a source of knowledge and affection.

A smile spread across Jaime’s face as she turned to Damian and asked, “When do we start my lessons?”

Damian smiled nervously, “I don’t think you’re in a state to practice right now. We can start after you and Astrid get some rest.”

Just then, a knock came from the door of the inn as several men in uniforms entered. Each one wore a weapon either over their back or at their hip. The symbol of a coiling dragon eating its own tail sat proudly on the center of each of their uniforms.

“We were informed that bandits were in the vicinity of this establishment.” One of the soldiers spoke.

“Yes, they’re the ones on the ground outside.” Damian replied.

“As I suspected. Could we have you give us a detailed report of the events?”

“Sure.” Damian turned to Astrid, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

Sadie came over to our table with food and water.

“Is there anything else?” She asked, concerned.

When Campo’s men had come, they tried to take her as well. Though Damian had stopped them, she was still visibly shaken by the experience.

“Nothing else, dear. Why don’t you come and sit with us for a while?”  The hostess spoke in a soft voice.

Damian quickly returned from outside. I peeked outside for a moment to see the soldiers hauling the three men into a small wagon covered with a metal cage. Skunky was still unresponsive, though the other two were starting to regain control of their bodies. Both of them had managed to kneel beside their limp brother, mourning.

The rest of the day went by quickly. People in town were wary of any other events happening, especially when they realized who had most likely sent the three brutes. During my sweep over the town, I could hear various conversations about what comes after anything like this; that Campo would not let something like this go unavenged.

The soldiers lugged me into their jail wagon and dragged my brothers in after me. I still couldn’t move or even feel anything.

I watched as my brothers knelt over me. They looked sad. Why were they so sad? Was it because I didn’t have my toupee? They were very supportive of my decision to get one, so that must be it.

“Whass gonna happen to us?” My younger brother, Cord, asked.

“We’ll find a way out. We always do.” My older brother, Wen, answered.

“But Lior…”

“Don’ say a thing. The boss’ll fix it.”

“But he’s dead!”

“I said-”

“Shut it!” One of the guards yelled.

At this point, we had left town and were surrounded by the forests.

The wagon stopped and a soldier came around to the barred door.

“You keep out of trouble, or we’ll dump that one.” The soldier said. 

I tried to sit up to look at the soldier, but I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t move my eyes… I couldn’t even blink.

“That dastard killed ‘im!”

Cord leapt at the door, reaching out for the guard.

“That’s it! Oy, I need some help back here!” The soldier cried out.

I heard footsteps from both sides of the wagon and the jail door opened. Two large men came in and grabbed Cord and Wen and dragged them out.

Another man came in and leaned down and met my eyes. “Ah! Who didn’t close his eyes?” He reached down and closed my eyes.

I was picked up and hefted out of the cart.

“No! Don’ take ‘im!” Cord cried. His voice was quickly getting distant.

A short time passed as the voices of my brothers grew indistinct.

“That should be far enough. How long has this guy been rotting? He already smells terrible.”

The soldier dropped me on the ground and started to walk away.

I laid on the ground for what felt like forever. The feeling never returned to my body, so I was helpless the entire time. Cord and Wen recovered more quickly, so why was mine taking so long? They couldn’t have been right…

“Oh, they were right.” A voice whispered in my ear. “You are dead.”

How could I be dead? I can still hear and see.

“I should say, you are mostly dead.”

Mostly dead? What on earth does that mean? I can’t really be dead. That couldn’t happen.

“It happened, and now you are in my hands.”

No, that’s a lie; I can’t be dead. I can’t be dead. I can’t be dead.

“Your denial is amusing. Your fear is… delicious!” The voice growled into my ear. “What are you really afraid of? What makes your skin crawl?”

My mind immediately turned to spiders and other creepy, crawly nightmares. Father would often torment me with bugs saying that they would help me get stronger.

“Ahh. Such a common fear, but so intense. Your father was right. The bugs will make you stronger.”

The feeling returned to my body, only to be overwhelmed by a pain so intense that it made my whole body convulse and twist, my flesh tearing and twisting into another, more gruesome shape.

“The vessel will regret having rebelled against us.”