The fields outside of Voorhei’s gate were full of people, the whole of the village practicing their Militia Arts. To the right, the villagers took turns casting arrows at a string of archery butts. To the left, the villagers marshalled with long spears to practice their formations. I noted how every second spear had lugs below the spearhead to keep an injured animal from working its way down the shaft to attack the wielder.

People called out to Mumu as we walked past. A few waved to me, the faces familiar from my initiation into the Hunter’s Lodge. The moose meat had been delicious, and they were open about saying so.

I was...not quite in the mood to deal with people, and the noise and activity grated. All I wanted was to run back into the woods to be alone. Except, I wouldn’t be alone, would I? Wherever I went, the uekisheile would also be.

Mumu tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. She’d spotted Inneioleia coordinating the Militia training along with the village’s leadership--Koda the Village Head, Dwilla the Reeve, and Sheedi the World Speaker.

“I’ll make the arrangements to meet with the World Speaker,” she said. “Will you be all right here until I get back?”

I spotted the kids--Billisha and Aluali--working with some toddlers. I pointed and said, “I’ll be over there. Come get me when she’s ready.”

Mumu nodded and jogged toward the clustered leaders, while I made my way to the toddlers. The little ones were reciting together in singsong, “I am a true human child, not a false one. I can speak, and my blood is red.”

Each toddler had a small knife. They were instructed to make sure it was clean before being shown the way to draw a thin line of blood across the front of the forearm. Some of the littles cried, while others retreated into Meliune’s Blessing.

Billisha and Aluali coaxed them out of the Blessing, and stressed that it was very, very important that they be able to talk when facing a worried adult. They didn’t want to be mistaken for a false one, a Little Horror, did they?

The sight of the small children scarring themselves gave me chills. This was the reality within which I now lived. Every adult I’d met had these scars. Every single one had to prove themselves human at some point.

That didn’t stop them--the adults--from joking as they practiced. Militia training was one of the few times the whole village came together, so it was an opportunity to socialize. Underneath the amiability and chatter, though, was a serious intention. These practices were the foundation for how they would defend the village during an attack. It was how they defended their humanity.

The experience at Fort Sugar Shack shook me. There was a chance that I was a ticking time bomb; that the uekisheile would end up harming me and the people around me. Or maybe our difficulties were just growing pains, and I’d been right about choosing to make peace with them. I hoped that was the case. I very much did.

But if I was somehow turning into a monster, then what was I thinking to raise two kids out in the wilderness? Did I go mad in the month I was out in the wilderness on my own? The idea worried me enough that I checked my Status, but no mental illness showed. Only:

Conditions

Occupied (Truce)

The kids spotted me and waved. I smiled, waved back, and gestured for them to keep working. Pretending felt false, but I didn’t want them to worry about me.

###

It turned out that Mumu spilled the beans about my new Talent to the village’s leadership team. They all traipsed over to congratulate me on achieving my fifth Talent, their eyes shining like dogs eyeing a tasty steak.

Only Inneioleia seemed apprehensive. No doubt he worried about my ego ballooning. I could see the gears turning in his head--the intense training he was planning to keep me humble and grounded. I saw a future of endless sore muscles ahead.

That wouldn’t be so bad really. I’d take it over some of the other futures I worried about.

The village’s leadership had to stay behind to continue coordinating the training, all except for Sheedi. She hummed an unfamiliar tune as she led Mumu and me toward the village gate. Her steps were light and breezy.

We walked through the empty village. I thought it’d be quiet and still, but the livestock peeked out from their enclosures and lowed or brayed as we moved past. It was like walking through a fairy tale village inhabited by animals instead of people.

If only I had a fairy godmother, but the closest I came was a magical otter, who--now that I was thinking about it--might have some ideas for how to deal with the uekisheile, as well as my new spirit-seeing Talent.

I really wasn’t thinking straight. Focus, Ollie. Take things a step at a time. Deal with the obligations here and then get to the glen as fast as possible. Minimize the variables and get help from a trusted source. And...and…maybe leave the kids behind. Just for now. Just in case.

I really didn’t like that idea. My heart rebelled, but I steeled myself to make the right decision.

The kids wouldn’t like it either, but I’d just have to convince them; maybe give them a task in the village they could do, while I...while I… worked on moving the bodies of Woldec and his crew out of the cave. That sounded reasonable.

Before I knew it, we were climbing the pyramid steps. From the corner of my eye, I saw the Doggo Destruction Team--Jeseidatchei and Musastacha Dog Rider--patrolling the area. Sheedi waved to them and led us inside.

We walked down the spiral staircase, past the village’s magic core, and into the room with the scrying platform. For the second time in the span of a few days, I had my Status read.

Eight the Little Pot of Questions (Visible Status) Path of the Young Forester 3 Age 8 Silverlight 771 Soul Marks The Way of the Hunter Attributes Strength 8 Constitution 10 Agility 9 Intelligence 9 Wisdom 9 Spirit 9 Charm 8 Luck 9 Hit Points 12/12 Mana 13/13 Qi 11/27 Talents Qi Sensitive Uncanny Tracker Multilingual Enduring Spirit Hunter Blessings Ikfael Glen (Spirit, Temporary) Curses Conditions Skills Magical Aeromancy 2 Hydromancy 2 Nature Magic 3 Qi Body 5 Qi Body Arts 3 Spirit Magic 0 Martial Archery 5 Knife Arts 2 Spear Arts 5 Strategy 1 Mercantile Barter 5 Scholarship Communication, Nonverbal 5 Communication, Signed Diaksh 3 Literacy, Diaksh 4 Social Relationships 1 Survival Caves 3 Forest 5 Stealth 5

Afterward, looking at the map of my spirit, Sheedi pointed to a notch in the area around my heart. “Here is the Mark of the Hunter.” A line extended from the notch up through my neck and into my head. “See how it connects to this area above the brow. That is the new Talent. Its shape is unfamiliar--like lightning branching upward--but the color is of the Spirit. You said it allows you to see ghosts?”

“Yes, when I become one with the land.”

“Do it now,” she said. “I would like to observe it in action.”

The world tilted as I became one with the land. My handle on Dog’s Agility wasn’t very good, not without the uekisheile, so I staggered when the initial blast of sensations hit me. Mumu caught my elbow before I fell.

“How is it?” Sheedi asked. “What do you see?”

There were three ghosts in the room with us--a child of about five, a foggy blob that might have human once, and a giant dog. The dog looked a lot like Jeseidatche but with darker fur and with a narrower muzzle.

The ghosts watched us, and I felt their interest pressing against the insides of my eyes. The child was lonely, and the dog curious. They kept their distance. The blob was hungry, though, and tendrils extended from its body to reach for me. Something about me seeing the ghost let the ghost see me better. Well enough to attack anyway.

The tendrils were repulsed. They streamed around an invisible shield to search for an entry, but the shield covered the whole of me. Was it a function of Tenna’s gift? One of my Blessings? Or something older, something gained from mi abuela? Whatever its source, the shield kept the tendrils off me.

Mumu and Sheedi stepped back when I pulled my hunting knife. I’d been able to push Bindesei’s ghost away; I should be able to affect this one as well.

“Little Pot?” Mumu asked. “What goes?”

“There’s a ghost.” I sliced, and the dismembered tendrils dissipated like vapor. I must’ve looked ridiculous waving my knife in the air, but I wasn’t about to put up with a hungry ghost trying to leech me.

The ghost sucked its tendrils back into its body, and tried to flee the room.

“In the name of the Deer God, I command you to stop.”

The words were in English, which confused Mumu and Sheedi, but I couldn’t help it. I needed the words to convey my will, and English was better for that than Diaksh.

The hungry ghost stopped. It shuddered and struggled to escape, but I refused to let it go. My will held strong. Mi abuela would’ve scolded me for letting a hungry ghost escape.

“Lay down your spite and your anger,” I said. “They will not serve you. Lay down your spite and your hunger. They will only weigh you down. A third time, I say unto you, lay down your spite and your despair. Let them go and find your way to peace instead.”

“Little Pot, are you all right?” Mumu asked.

I didn’t respond. I was too focused on remembering old lessons from a lifetime ago. I was intent on gathering the will in my belly and connecting it to my words; pushing it out into the world. I didn’t have any of the spiritual tools and medicines of mi abuela, but for a weak-ass ghost like this, my will was enough.

But doors open the way for two directions. The shield around me faded as I spoke, eventually leaving only a thin layer, like the skin of a bubble.

The ghost fought against my will. Its tendrils lashed out, and I stumbled avoiding them. I would’ve been hit if not for a second shield, this one arising from inside me.

Somehow, in that moment, I felt Helen and mi abuelos gazing at me. I felt their love and support. From the floor, not bothering to stand, I re-focused my will.

The ghost screamed--its body pulled upward, like taffy being drawn. I couldn’t hear it. Instead, the scream was a painful scraping across my eyes, and it didn’t stop until the ghost was completely gone; banished to its rest.

I fell back, spent, and my breath came in short gasps, as if I’d been sprinting. Mumu knelt beside me, her brow furrowed.

“Little Pot, you are very much concerning me.”

“I’m concerning myself,” I said. Then I remembered to speak in Diaksh. “I’m all right. There was a ghost that attacked me, but I put it to rest--”

Before I could continue, the child’s ghost stepped closer. His hands were open, but instead of hunger, there was longing in his eyes. He gestured to the place from which the hungry ghost had been banished and then pointed to himself.

“You want to rest too?” I asked. “To rejoin the circle of life?”

The ghost didn’t understand my words, even when I spoke them in Diaksh. The boundary between life and death, Tenna’s Gift, wasn’t something I could completely cross. So, I pointed to the ghost and then to the sky. The meaning of my gesture was simple enough that it got through. The ghost nodded.

“Eight, you need to tell us what is going on.” Mumu's voice intruded into my disoriented world.

I struggled to organize my thoughts, and it took a moment just to figure out what language to use. “There’s another ghost. A boy this time. He’s asking me to help him rest.”

Sheedi became anxious; the feeling like a taut drum behind my eyes. “You can hear him?”

I shook my head. “No, he used simple gestures. That’s all.”

“And the attacking ghost?” Mumu asked.

I finally noticed that her knife was out of its sheath. When had she drawn it? I couldn’t tell among the colors, sounds, smells, and tastes swirling around me.

“That ghost is gone,” I said. “I exorcised it. Ah, how to explain that word...I forced it to go to where it belonged.”

“And now this child will also be exorcised?” Sheedi asked.

“I won’t need to force him, I don’t think. He’s just gotten lost and needs to be shown the way.”

Sheedi gestured for me to stop. “Wait. Before you do so, what does he look like?”

The boy was about my age, with short dark hair and hopeful eyes. A small birthmark under his left eye accentuated his delicate features.

“His description does not match anyone I know.” Sheedi looked to Mumu.

“Not me either. He’s not from my generation,” Mumu replied. “What happens next?”

I looked over at the dog’s ghost, but they--no, she was content to sit on her haunches. She didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere or do anything. Instead, she felt responsible for this place and watched over it. As long as I didn’t try to harm the village core, I’d be safe from her.

“It’s just the boy who needs help.” I picked myself up off of the floor and moved to kneel beside him.

The boy anxiously held his hands together. He started to talk, but I couldn’t hear him. When he realized his words weren’t reaching me, he bowed his head in disappointment. The feeling of longing was back, but this time for someone. For Family.

“I don’t know who they are,” I said, “but I’ll try to find them and let them know you miss them. It’s all right to let go of the longing. To let go and rest easy. To move on and find the peace you deserve. To move on and, when the time is right, rejoin the circle of life.”

All it took was a touch of my will to point the boy in the right direction, and he faded away. His sad smile--grateful and weary--lingered, but even that eventually faded away.

I waited to see if anything else happened. The dog’s ghost laid down on her side to rest, and the shield that thinned earlier started to recover. Thankfully, it didn’t appear that I forewent Tenna’s Gift’s protection as a consequence of dealing with the hungry ghost.

I assumed the god’s gift was the source of the first shield, since the second was family-related. Of that I was certain--I could taste the stone knife, the spear, and the arrows I once laid down to bar the doorway to my soul; back when Ikfael Glen took me on a spirit walk to give me access to my mana.

I took a deep breath and let the land go. Mumu and Sheedi, their faces full of concern, snapped into view beside me.

“You’re back,” Mumu said. “Your eyes are clear again.”

“The ghosts are gone?” Sheedi asked.

“Yes, I’m here. And yes, the ghosts are gone. Well, there’s one left--a dog--but she’s guarding this place.”

Sheedi’s eyebrows rose. She looked around the room, as if to spot the ghost. “Should I be concerned?”

“I don’t think so. She didn’t seem to be interested in anything other than protecting the village core.”

“Oh. That’s good then.” The edges of Sheedi’s mouth turned up in pleasure. “I will have to tell the others we have a spirit protecting our core.”

“Is a ghost the same thing as a spirit?” Mumu asked.

“Three is the direction of five,” Sheedi said. “Perhaps this ghost will become a spirit in time. Such things have been known to happen.”

Mumu looked doubtful, but didn’t protest. If anything, there was worry in her voice. “And our Eight’s Talent? What did you learn?”

Sheedi shook her head. “None of the Paths, Skills, and Talents I know let one talk to ghosts in this way.”

“Well, I’m not exactly talking to them,” I said. “The words are just a focus for my will, a way to give it shape and direction.”

“So that was a magical language you spoke?” Sheedi asked. “It is a magical art?”

“Yes and no. The magical art was my grandmother’s, and she trained me in it. Not a lot, but enough for me to get the basics. Enough so that I wouldn’t accidentally hurt myself or others. The language is hard to explain. Let’s just say that it’s one my Family spoke.”

“Then you must have a Skill for it,” Sheedi said, “for both the language and art, but I didn’t see either on your spirit map.”

“I don’t know how to respond to that--”

Literacy, English (Hidden) -> Literacy, English (Visible)

Spirit Arts 0

Spirit Arts 0 -> 3

Spirit Arts 3 -> 5

The English Skill was always there, just hidden from view. The Spirit Arts Skill, though, that was new, and it felt like a wall tumbling down; of being in the dark and suddenly breaking through to the light outside. My breath caught as the feeling spread through me.

The others must’ve recognized the look on my face, because Mumu shook her head in disbelief.

“A breakthrough. Our Eight really is a genius.”

“I’m almost tempted to scry his spirit map again,” Sheedi said.

There, Mumu protested. She helped me stand and led me to the dining room, whereupon she poured hot tea down my throat and stuffed me full of porridge.

Sheedi let her, and even helped pour the tea. “Our Eight, let me remind you. In fourteen days, we will visit Ikfael Glen to make offerings to the spirit residing there. Put in a good word for us, will you? We will make sure to make it worth your while.”