Woldec and Kertie’s bodies laid beside each other in the room I decided to call the Main Hall. Evidence remained of our battle--places where Zombie-Woldec had manipulated the stone with his Earth-Touched Talent. A handful of spikes rose from the ground. The shattered remains of stone javelins cluttered the ground.

The room was peaceful now, dark and silent. The only noise came from the soft crunch of small stones under my feet. Nothing else stirred. And no ghosts either. That was a relief. I’d worried about what I’d find, but apparently, there wasn’t anything that kept either Woldec or Kiertie from moving on.

I took the Main Hall’s other exit, passed the remains of a dead chliapp lion, walked along the banks of the underground river, crossed the stone bridge, and found my way to the Bat Room. I heard the bats before I saw them. Their singing echoed in the passage, and I suddenly remembered the taste of charred bat meat. I’d been so hungry then, and so grateful for the meat. At the time, I didn’t know if I would ever escape this cave system.

A beam of light shone down to illuminate Akbash’s body. The decay of his soft tissues had advanced since I was last here, and the smell was strong enough to roil my stomach.

I was also close enough to hear the sound of hooves aimlessly shuffling back and forth. The zombie of Woldec’s javelina was still trapped in the mini-ravine that divided the room. Fortunately, I’d come prepared. My bowstave was bundled along with the wood for the travois. And if that didn’t work, I had my spear as well.

I untied the rope harness and freed my bowstave from the bundle. The javelina must’ve heard me preparing, because the sound of her hooves stopped. Cautiously, I peeked over the side.

The javelina’s face had been scraped off; fringed along the edges by torn fur. The javelina jumped, and I flinched. I needn’t have worried, though. She couldn’t reach me.

I took a breath to steady my heart and methodically worked to string my bow, to nock the arrow, to draw, and release. The arrow thunked into the javelina’s side. It was a heart shot, but I missed the core and needed to cast another two arrows before I clipped it.

The javelina spasmed. Her body shook as smoke escaped from between the bones and folds of rotten meat. Slowly, she sunk to the ground, and the rage faded from her eyes. Wary, I poked the body with my spear, but the zombie was dead.

“Be at rest,” I whispered. “And don’t worry--I’ll bring you out of here as well.”

23 silverlight gathered. 21 absorbed.

Looking around with Spirit Eyes, I confirmed her spirit had moved on. I did spot some bat spirits, though. Their red eyes stared down at me.

“Ah, don’t mind me. I’m just passing through. No need to worry, I had a big breakfast.”

I jumped the gap in the floor thanks to some qi and nature mana, and made my way to the Tube. This was the tunnel I’d crawled through when I first found the Bat Room. The passage was too narrow for my backpack, so I left it behind and dragged the bundled wood behind me. There were times the wood got stuck in the twists and turns, but the luck was with me. Each time, I managed to wiggle it through.

On the other side, after a break to catch my breath, I made my way to the Giant Steps, at the foot of which lay Biaka’s body.

###

I knew. Even before the candlestone’s light illuminated her body, I knew that her ghost lingered. Where that knowledge came from, I wasn’t sure. There were none of the telltale signs I learned to recognize in my previous life. No chills or goosebumps, no feeling of static or unease. Just a certainty; confirmed when I became one with the land and opened my 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. Her eyes were fixed on her body.

Dismay. Regret. An unwillingness to die. Especially for something she hadn’t even wanted. Emotions emanated from the girl in waves, each one rocking us like a boat on the sea.

Her mother had always been willful, and then she’d found Woldec, a man just as willful as she. Biaka had hopes for her new father; that he would tame her mother’s wild schemes and ambitions. Not so. Not so. Instead, he’d gone along willingly, and all that was left was regret, dismay, and an unwillingness to let go from the young life that had so much potential.

Her mother had always been so, so willful. Woldec was her perfect match. He’d 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. If only. A life full of regret and dismay. A life, full of potential, cut too short.

We shook ourselves free from the loop of 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 oriented.

We approached the girl, steady in 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 to see us. Her mouth opened to speak, but Tenna’s Gift would only stretch so far. Her words could not cross the gap.

“Be easy.” Ollie/Eight came forward in our consciousness with words needing to be shared. “You are not alone. There are always those willing to help. You only need to step out of your pain--even if it’s just a moment--to recognize them. A glimpse is enough. A glimpse is hope. A glimpse plants the seed of knowledge that loss is not the end. Be easy, child. We will lay you to rest in a beautiful place. The others are waiting. Let go and find your way to peace.”

Biaka’s ghost watched our lips as we spoke. The words did not cross, but our emotions--our will--did. She closed her eyes, and her face firmed. She gathered her will and let go of the regret, the despair, and the unwillingness. And then, she opened her eyes in surprise.

Biaka didn’t look at us, but beyond us. She lifted her hand in longing, and disappeared.

That gesture, Helen had done the same in 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, scraping the walls with its passage. The flavor of its qi was intense, sharp and pointed. We shrunk ourselves down and kept quiet as it passed.

Once it was gone, we worked quickly to assemble the travois--a curious contraption shaped like a triangle. 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 directly drag her through the Tube or the Teeth, 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 our combined senses. Joined with the uekisheile was like swimming through qi, and losing the feeling was like passing from a cozy, warm room into an empty concrete bunker. I had the Qi Sensitive Talent, but it was nothing compared to the uekisheile.

With much to think about, I went back through the Tube and retrieved my backpack from the Bat Cave. I continued onward, across the stone bridge and along the Beach. I passed through the Main Hall, the Red Room, the Teeth, and up the Spiral 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 the kiln under construction. Mostly, I trained. There was just too much to practice between the Hunter’s Lodge fighting forms, the Dog’s Agility spell, and learning to use my Spirit Eyes. The long summer days helped, as did the glen’s boost to my ability to recover.

The days were exhausting, but Inleio had stressed that it took effort to signal to the World Spirit my will to grow. I mimicked the exercises I 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, and 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 was 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 the Inleio was that I visit for two days out of every tenday; the visits alternating between training and hunting.

Every other tenday, the Hunter’s Lodge patrolled the forest surrounding Voorhei in order to cull any plants and animals that might threaten the village. This helped ensure the immediate safety of the villagers, as well as decreased the potential size of the surge during the winter solstice, i.e. the darkest days of the year.

I arrived just as the village gate was opening for the day. Billisha, Aluali, and Biheila stood on the other side, waiting for me. They had the same searching looks on their faces that I remembered from when my second family waited for me at the airport; when I was coming back from being on location. The recognition that I’d arrived, the light that spread across their faces, the smiles and laughter as they ran to hug me.

“You came back,” Billisha said, squeezing me.

“I promised, didn’t I?”

“Mmm,” she said, nodding.

Aluali didn’t say anything, but I could tell from his hug that he was just as relieved.

Biheila came up behind them. “Are you hurt or injured? Did you eat? We have food ready for the morning meal. Were you able to eat enough while away. 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.

“Did you go into the cave?” Billisha asked.

“Woah, woah! Hold on.” I laughed, my heart light. “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 Lodge, and then whatever I miss, I’ll tell you about tonight.”