“How do we know if we’re headed in the right direction?” Prince Thallios asked.  He looked at their surroundings and stared up at the canopy.  “The forest isn’t changing very much.”

“You said the sword was in the mountains to the northeast, Your Highness,” Leiyu replied.  “We just keep track of where the sun rises from, and we head slightly north of that.”

Bakhat and the prince’s nameless golden horse stopped in front of a gentle stream.  The two steeds stooped their heads to drink water.

“Are you feeling better, Your Highness?” Leiyu asked.

“Yes, thank you for asking,” the prince replied.  “I haven’t felt any lightheadedness since leaving the shrine.”

I wonder if it was possession by spirits, Leiyu thought.  But his eyes have done that before.  The woman’s voice was unexpected though.  “Would you like to stop here for a while, Your Highness?  The horses are resting, and I could catch some more food.”

“Oh, of course,” the prince said.  He dismounted from his horse.

Leiyu dismounted from Bakhat and started walking.  He turned back and saw the prince standing next to his horse.  “I won’t go too far, Your Highness.  I’ll stay within your sight.”

The prince nodded.  Leiyu scanned their surroundings.  So far, their diet had been mostly sparrows, squirrels, and fish.  If he could find a wild hare, that would add some variety, although it was rarer to encounter such creatures.

The wind picked up and the leaves circled around him.  A sharp ringing sound pierced his mind.  He put his hands over his ears and stumbled forward.

“Leiyu!” he heard the prince call out.  It sounded like someone shouting while he was underwater.

Despair

Despair 

Despair 

Leiyu’s heart pounded.  The ghost voices are here too?  He saw Prince Thallios run toward him.  The prince crouched in front of him and put his hand on Leiyu’s arm.   Leiyu uncovered his ears.

“Leiyu, are you all right?  What’s going on?” Prince Thallios asked.  He had a look of panic.  “Why are there voices in the forest?”

Leiyu’s eyes widened.  “You can hear them too, Your Highness?”

“Yes, they sound frightening.”

Leiyu reached into his sleeve and ran his fingers over his talismans.  When he found the one he needed, he pulled it out.  He ran his hand over it until the calligraphic brush strokes glowed, then threw it in the air.  Ribbons of light flowed from the talisman and swept across the trees.

“What is that?” Prince Thallios asked.

“Warding talisman,” Leiyu said.  He saw the prince’s confused expression.  “It’s supposed to drive away evil spirits.  I used them when I heard the same ghost voices in the mountains on the way to Ishkhandar.”  He paused to see if mentioning the fallen kingdom elicited any reaction, but the prince’s expression did not change.  He strained his ears, trying to detect any additional ghost sounds.  “The voices are quieting down a little.  I’m surprised you can hear them, Your Highness.  The merchants were not able to when we were in the mountains.”

“I can hear a faint sound.  Like someone crying?”

Leiyu gasped.  “You can hear the ghost children?”

“Ghost children?  Is that what they are?”

“I’m not sure, but it sounded like that when we were in the mountains. I also heard battle sounds.  Later that day, I had a dream that I was surrounded by ghost soldiers.”

The prince gasped.  “How frightening.”

“Your Highness, I asked you before whether you knew of any wars that occurred in this region.  I’ve always wondered if these ghost voices are from that time.”

Prince Thallios’ eyes widened.  “Are you saying this forest is haunted?”  He moved closer to Leiyu.

“I suppose any place that has a long enough history would be haunted, Your Highness.” Leiyu said.  The prince shuddered and drew even closer.  For a second, Leiyu was tempted to put a protective arm around him, but stopped himself.  Neither the time nor place, he thought.

“The forest soil is nourished with blood and misery,” an otherworldly woman’s voice said.

Leiyu’s eyes widened.  No!  He did not even want to look at Prince Thallios’ face, since he knew the glowing golden eyes were back.  Too late.  The prince’s petite fingers curled around the fabric of Leiyu’s cloak, like talons hooking into prey.  Leiyu’s heart lurched.  The prince looked up at him, irises like burning embers.

“Who are you?” Leiyu demanded.  The prince smiled gleefully.  “Are you a demon?  Why do you keep taking over the prince?”  And why isn’t the warding talisman having any effect?

“Demon?” the prince said.  “How amusing.  No, I’m afraid the reality is far more prosaic.”

I don’t even know what that word means, Leiyu thought.  He tried to quell his racing breath and thoughts.  If he made any move, he might harm the prince, but if he did nothing, there was no telling what would happen.

“Why are you here?” Leiyu asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

“I’ve always been here,” the prince replied with a half smirk.

Leiyu tensed up.  Demonic possession?  Did this have anything to do with the prince’s ever shifting moods?  “What is your name?”

“You know already.”

Leiyu exhaled nervously.  “Yes, but you are not the normal Prince Thallios.  Why do you have a woman’s voice?”  He stared at the ruby diadem on the prince’s forehead.  The last gift from the late queen to the young prince when she was on her deathbed.  A pinprick of realization pierced his mind.  His blood ran cold.  “Are you his mother’s ghost?”

The prince grinned gleefully and narrowed his golden eyes.  “I am…the deathless one!”

Then, like a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut, the prince fell forward.

“Your Highness!” Leiyu wrapped his arms around the prince’s limp body, and tried to calm down his own pounding heart.  Once he had regained composure, he slowly sat down and cradled the prince in his arms.  What is going on?  Is this going to keep happening?  Are we even going to make it to the sword?

The prince stirred and opened his eyes.  Amber irises.  Leiyu exhaled in relief.

“Leiyu, what happened?” the prince asked in his normal voice, scarcely above a whisper.  “Did I faint again?”

Leiyu’s vision blurred, and he blinked a few times until everything cleared up again.  He took a deep breath.   “It’s all right, Your Highness.”  He held the prince closer, and his mouth formed a strained smile, as if he were trying to reassure himself.  “Everything is all right.”