Woldec and Kiertie’s bodies lay where I had left them. Nearby, evidence remained of our battle: a handful of spikes jutting from the ground and the shattered remains of stone javelins. The room was currently peaceful, though, dark and silent. The only noise came from the soft crunch of small stones under my feet. Nothing else stirred.
There were no ghosts either, which was a relief. I’d worried about what I’d find, but apparently there hadn’t been anything to keep Woldec and Kiertie’s spirits from moving on.
I headed deeper into the cave, past the underground river and the natural bridge crossing it, until I heard the trilling of bats echoing in the passage. Just ahead was the Bat Room.
A beam of light from a hole in the ceiling shone down to illuminate Akbash’s body. The decay of his soft tissues had progressed since I was last here, and the smell was strong enough to roil my stomach.
Looking around with spirit eyes, I confirmed that there was no ghost present. I did spot some bat spirits, though, and their red eyes stared down at me.
“Ah, don’t mind me. I’m just passing through.”
I jumped the gap in the floor thanks to some qi and nature mana, and made my way deeper still, crawling through a narrow tunnel. The passage was too small for my backpack, so I left it behind and dragged the bundled components for the travois behind me. There were times they got stuck in the twists and turns, but I managed to wiggle them through.
On the other side, after a break to catch my breath, I made my way to where Biaka’s body lay.
I knew. Even before the candlestone illuminated Biaka’s body, I sensed her ghost lingering. Where that knowledge came from, I wasn’t sure. There were none of the telltale signs I had learned to recognize in my previous life. No chills or goosebumps, nor any feelings of static or unease. Just a certainty, confirmed when I became one with the uekisheile and we opened our spirit eyes.
Biaka’s ghost huddled against the stone wall opposite her body. Her legs were drawn in, and she hugged them tight, her head resting on her knees. She didn’t notice us at all. Instead, her eyes remained fixed on her body.
Emotions emanated from the girl in waves, each one rocking us like a boat on the sea: dismay, regret, and an unwillingness to die, especially for something she hadn’t even wanted.
Her mother had always been willful, and then she’d found her match in Woldec. Biaka had had hopes for her new father—that he would tame her mother’s wild schemes and ambitions. Not so. Definitely not so. Instead, he’d gone along willingly, and all that was left for Biaka was a reluctance to let go of the young life that had had so much potential.
Woldec had been delighted to find a woman with a knack for finding treasure. If only the treasure wasn’t hidden away in the dark. If only there hadn’t been a kalihchi bear and a chliapp lion. If only Biaka’s life hadn’t ended in regret and dismay. A life cut too short.
We shook ourselves free from the loop of thoughts and emotions trapping the girl. Fortunately, there were memories from Ollie/Eight’s life we could rely on—old lessons with our abuela about rooting down into the ground, reaching up to the sky, and finding our place in between. Orienting between the two poles kept us stable.
Metaphors. They were metaphors, but like how the mind guided qi, intent guided will. And will was what mattered in the spirit world. We approached the girl, sure of our place between earth and sky, and expressed our will through our words.
“Lay down your regret and your dismay,” we said. “They will not serve you. Lay down your regret and your craving for life. They will only weigh you down. A third time, we say unto you, in the name of the Deer God, lay down your regret and your despair. Let them go and find your way to peace instead.”
The shield around us—Tenna’s Gift—thinned. The girl called Biaka turned her head, and her eyes widened when she saw us. Her mouth opened to speak, but Tenna’s Gift would only stretch so far. Her words could not cross the gap between death and life.
“Be easy.” Ollie/Eight came forward in our consciousness with words needing to be shared. “You are not alone. You only need to step out of your pain—even if it’s just a moment—to recognize those waiting to help you on the other side of life’s embrace. A glimpse is enough to help you find hope and know that death is not the end. Be easy, child. Let go and find your way to peace.”
Biaka’s ghost watched our lips as we spoke. The words couldn’t cross death’s divide, but our thoughts and emotions—our will—did. She closed her eyes, and her face firmed. She gathered her determination and let go of the regret, the despair, and the unwillingness. And then, she opened her eyes in surprise.
Her gaze was somewhere behind us. She lifted her hand in longing and… disappeared.
That gesture, Helen had done the same at the moment of her passing. The memory’s echo reverberated through our consciousness. Tears formed, but we wiped them away. The sorrow was familiar, an old friend.
We did not linger to examine the memory for long. Something large slid through the tunnel above the giant steps leading down to this place. It scraped the walls with its passage, and the flavor of its qi was intense, sharp, and pointed. We shrank ourselves down and kept quiet as it passed.
Once the creature was gone, we worked quickly to assemble the travois. Two of the long poles were tied at one end, and the two shorter branches were used to keep them apart. We strung the net between the poles and attached the rope harness.
Alas, Biaka’s body was too fragile, the putrefaction too far along. The moment we picked her up, pieces fell off. The travois would likely work, but the moment we tried to drag her body directly through any of the tunnels too narrow or twisted for the travois, we knew her corpse would break apart. We needed a container to put her in, and likely the other corpses too.
We recomposed Biaka’s corpse and left the travois beside her for when we came back with something suitable—probably a bag of some kind, as the flexible sides would let us squeeze through the narrow sections better than a box or chest.
When we were sure it was safe to do so, we let go of the land.
I returned to myself again, blinking and unsteady from the sudden loss of combined senses. Being joined with the uekisheile was like swimming through qi, and losing the feeling was like passing from a warm, cozy room into an empty concrete bunker. I had the Qi Sensitive talent, yet it was nothing compared to the uekisheile. Not to mention how we were able to sense the thoughts and memories of the dead thanks to what the Deer God had done to me. We weren’t communicating, so we weren’t breaking Tenna’s Gift, but there was a good chance we were bending the rules.
What exactly happens when the intentions of two gods conflict? My guess was that the System would find a way to make both a reality at the same time. That was a just supposition on my part—it may be the gods fought among themselves here, but that wasn’t the impression I’d gotten in my limited experiences with them. To know the real answer, I’d have to wait and see how things played out.
With much to think about, I went back the way I’d come and retrieved my backpack. Then, I continued onward, across the stone bridge and along the beach. I passed Woldec and Kiertie, the Red Room, and the path up to the Lion’s Cave.
Afternoon light slanted in through the cave’s mouth. There was still plenty of time to make it back to the Glen before dark.
The next couple of days were uneventful. In my downtime, I fished for our meals, told stories, and experimented with my spirit eyes. Mostly, I trained. There was just too much to practice between the hunters’ fighting forms, the Dog’s Agility spell, and everything else. The long summer days helped, as did the Glen’s boost to my ability to recover.
The training was exhausting, but Inleio had stressed that it took effort to signal my intent to grow to the World Spirit. I mimicked the exercises I had learned from him and pushed myself to my limits.
Ikfael looked at me like I was crazy, and maybe I was. But I had a lifetime of experience behind me, as well as the willpower that came with it. More importantly, I knew the preciousness of family and was willing to fight for it.
Because now that I knew the uekisheile wasn’t a danger, the option to bring Billisha and Aluali back to the Glen was on the table again. The only obstacle would be my ability to protect them, so I drove myself past the brink of exhaustion, rested, and then did it again and again and again.
It was time to work, and I’d never been afraid of hard work.
I woke up before dawn in order to prepare for the trip to Voorhei. My deal with Inleio was that I would visit the village for two days out of every ten.
Every other week, the Hunter’s Lodge patrolled the forest surrounding Voorhei in order to cull any plants and animals that might threaten the village. That helped ensure the immediate safety of the villagers, as well as decreased the potential size of the surge during the Long Dark.
The hike was uneventful, and I arrived just as the village gate was opening for the day. Billisha, Aluali, and Bihei stood on the other side. They had the same searching looks on their faces I remembered from when Helen and the kids had waited for me at the airport. There was the same recognition, the same light that spread across their faces, and the smiles and laughter as they ran to hug me. I had loved working on location, but coming home was best.
The kids ran to me and threw themselves into a group hug.
“You are here,” Billisha said into my shoulder.
“I promised, didn’t I?”
“Mmm,” she replied.
Aluali didn’t say anything, but I could tell from his hug that he was just as relieved.
Bihei came up behind them. “Are you hurt or injured? Did you eat? We have food ready for the morning meal. You look thin. How did you get so thin in only a few days?”
“How was Ikfael?” Billisha asked.
“Did anything happen while you were gone?” Aluali asked.
Billisha immediately followed up with: “Did you go into the cave?”
“Woah, woah! Hold on.” I laughed, my heart lighter for having reunited with the children. “I’ll tell you all about it, but not while we’re blocking the way for the people trying to get to work. Walk with me to the Hunter’s Lodge, and then whatever I miss, I’ll tell you about tonight.”
