From outside the dome Krarrnic and Pif had seen Raelea’s kneeling form shrouded in inky billows of dark mist which abruptly vanished, then skin had taken on a shadowed undertone with faint silver lines along the planes of her face. Making her seem dark and cold herself, but slowly her colour returned to it’s normal deep bronze.

Aignew’s voice was resigned and still weak but rapidly regaining strength as he said, “Very well…” She felt a tingling rush as her magic returned, it’s touch almost painful after it’s long absence. “Now remove the poison, witch.”

“When I am sure my companions will survive.”

“Why do you doubt? You have my power now, eat them all. You can.”

“I will not be devouring any spirits, Krarrnic has shown me he truth of that evil act.”

Aignew’s voice was dismissive, “Pah! That idiotic spirit speaker has filled your head with nonsense and weakness. It is just and right that the stronger spirits feed on the weaker, the morsels that cling to his skirts begging for scraps of magic disgust me.”

“You know I am a touchstone and the truth of his words is self-evident. What you taught me as normal is a perverted and damaging waste that pollutes the spiritworld itself.”

“Good thing I will eventually gain control of this body, making you but a voice in my mind because you are too weak and naive to do what will be you greatness. But you must survive until I can take control, with the amount of my stolen essence you now contain all you will have to do is a simple task quite well suited to you. Brawl like the brainless thug you are.”

Ignoring the feeble jab, she said to Krarrnic, “I was just told that because of the amount of spirit essence I now have within me I would be capable of disrupting the spirits in combat. Do you believe that is possible? Or is it just another of Aignew’s lies?”

As Aignew shouted that it was no lie within her head, Krarrnic assumed the Mantle of the Spirits and studied her intently eventually saying, “You have as much presence in the spiritworld as any full spirit and you have your own magic, I can sense nothing that would make a lie of his words. Spirit combat is almost always purely decided by the strength of the spirits involved and you now are one of the strongest I have ever seen.”

Gesturing to the swarming spirits outside the dome she said, “Drop the barrier and I’ll see what I can do about them.”

“Once it’s down I will not be able to put it back up again, I will protect the little one and myself while you lessen the numbers. On three and good luck.”

She said, “I hope I don’t need it.”

The dome over her disappeared with a soft pop just before Krarrnic scooped Pif up and drew his spirits into a tight spiral around him and a new dome formed over them.

He started counting down.

When he hit one, the large barrier vanished and Raelea disappeared under a pile of clawing, biting, screaming spirits. Only a few broke off to claw futilely at the smaller and much more effective barrier over Krarrnic and Pif.

The pile of spirits heaved and shook, visibly deflating until a black limned arm and hand broke free and punched through a spirit which disappeared with a look of serenity etched into it’s ghostly features. Raelea struggled to her feet, hurling spirits back, claws slashed and teeth gnashed but none could break through the dark mist which shrouded her body but her every blow sent another spirit to peaceful rest.

The swarm was still huge and while the outcome was not in any doubt, once the few spirits who had been investigating the smaller dome joined the main swarm Krarrnic dropped the barrier over himself and Pif.

Kneeling he murmured words of power and golden pulses of light washed out over the entire area, in moments the last of the spirits were gone and peace almost fell.

Only Raelea’s panicked and pained scream broke that peace, “Stop! It’s tearing me in half, Krarrnic I beg you stop!”

Krarrnic’s murmuring words stopped and the golden pulses ended, he said, “That should not have affected you. It banishes specifically spirits in turmoil, spirits who are suffering.”

She heard Aignew’s voice in her head, “What did you expect the spirit half of yourself, me, is in turmoil. A great deal of turmoil. His very existence is under threat, so hurry witch and remove this poison. I would be less turmoiled.”

With an annoyed grunt she made the motions and spoke the words of the small casting to purge poisons of all sorts from the body.

Almost instantly, even before the now violently coloured liquid was fully expelled from her mouth, her magic was gone again.

Aignew’s voice was crowing as he said, “I did not say you would be allowed to keep your magic witch! Just you wait once I regain my strength I will take control then kill the fat dog and the idiot spirit speaker while you watch helplessly. Oh yes, you will be kept as a voice in my head and a source of pleasure as I force you to witness everything I do with your power and your body.”

“You will not last long enough to take control, you will be destroyed like any other parasite long before then.”

“Parasite? You call me, parasite! No you are the parasite, I taught you everything, gave you everything and kept you alive when others would see you dead!”

“That song and dance is tired Aignew, you are a parasite and have always been a parasite but now you are the type of parasite who dies with no host. Shout, scream, deny it all you want the moment I dragged you fully within myself your days became numbered, like the parasitic horsefly maggots that infest a horse’s skin you will be removed and destroyed. That is your fate now.”

She could hear the sneer in his voice as he said, “We shall see witch, we shall see.”

She said to Krarrnic, “Keep a close eye on me, the instant I show any sign of being spirit ridden, you know what to do. Aignew’s strength is broken for now but I don’t know how long it will take for him to recover enough to contest me for control.”

Krarrnic looked slightly confused and very puzzled, “I am not going to pretend I have any idea exactly what just happened, I am sure I have missed a large amount but I can easily do as you ask. You already show every sign of being spirit-ridden but one and that the most important your touch on the spiritworld is still your own, I will have a spirit watch and the instant that changes I will finish the banishment I started then destroy your body.”

“Good.”

“This changes nothing of our plans does it? If anything it makes your need for the Spirit of Light’s aid even greater.”

“Yes, it is now only Aignew’s broken strength that stops him and he will recover. Should we still wait here or can your spirits lead us to another site to meet the Spirit of Light?”

Krarrnic shook his head, “Waiting is all we can do.”

They settled in to wait and the wait was absolutely miserable.

For Krarrnic because he had to stay within the stuffy confines of the tent or risk severe blood loss to the swarms of small biting insects that had finally hatched and were in an orgy of breeding and feeding.

For Raelea it was because Aignew grew in strength daily and so did his taunts, threats and whispers, lack of sleep and the constant noise in her mind driving her to the edge of her sanity.

For Pif it was miserable because he was bored and playing pranks as he normally did even he could see would be a very bad idea.

The first thing they knew about the Spirit of Light’s arrival was when an almost solid-feeling beam of light pinned Raelea to the ground like a bug and an angry, multi-harmonic, sourceless voice said, “You! You turned some against me that had long been my allies, and friends. I will send you to oblivion soon spirit but answer me this, why did you do it?”

Krarrnic bolted out of the tent saying, “Hold! By my connection to the Spirit of All I tell you this one had no hand in your difficulties.”

Raelea started to speak but the spirit said, “No! Do not open your mouth if you wish to avoid oblivion, I will believe nothing you have to say. Let the Shaman who cannot lie to me or risk all his strength speak. Go on, Shaman, tell me the ways of this that I may judge them.”

After a very lengthy explanation the spirit knew the details of the rebellion and the details of what Aignew had said he did.

Once the explanation was done, seated cross-legged and floating in mid-air the boyish shape of the spirit, slowly shook his head and said, “That is a sad tale of violence, murder, and strife with far more to come. But… needed, the Fae Chanar are a blight but sadly I cannot aid you. I am tired, so tired. Tired of the death, tired of the struggle, tired of the suffering and pain I have seen so many times… tired of my own limitations as well. The spirits here that you have sent to the rest were part of a rebellion long ago. I aided them in their attempt, but by the time my aid was really needed I was at my rest. My unavoidable rest, I am… not a good ally to have.”

Krarrnic nodded and said, “I can understand your sorrow and your pain, following the path of the spirits I have many times needed to do other than I would. But my companion needs your aid otherwise she will fall under the sway of the dark spirit inside her. I would force him from her but due to some ritual that I don’t really understand the details of, she is now tied to the spirit realm as strongly as any spirit. She knows the ritual used and I would beg a portion of your essence to keep her spiritworld connection active for I fear what her uninhabited body may become. I suspect it would be very hungry and hard to put down knowing her and Aignew’s natures.”

“Uninhabited? Your companion would be willing to die to have Aignew destroyed?”

Before Krarrnic could answer Raelea looked at the spirit and simply said, “Yes.”

Rotating to face her fully the spirit said, “Of such tender years and with so many ahead you would give your life for this? Answer, I will listen.”

Determination fixing her face in stone she said, “Yes, he’s an evil being who delights in torturing and murdering those weaker than him. I would happily give my life to prevent him from using the knowledge he now has, he knows the way to effectively become a god.”

Krarrnic said “What?”

The Spirit of Light said, “The Shaman does not know this, what is your meaning and speak carefully.”

“Krarrnic didn’t know because it was only mentioned in an internal conversation I had with Aignew. I didn’t tell him as I’d already organised for him to destroy me and my body if I showed any sign of being spirit-ridden, he has a habit of overthinking if faced with too strong opponents so I kept that from him.”

As Krarrnic looked at Raelea with a frown on his face but nodding, the spirit said, “That does now fully answer my question, what do you mean by a god?”

“With borrowed magic and his knowledge, Aignew could retain his true spirit nature in a previously mortal body. Mine or any other that he has moved a portion of his essence into.”

“Oh! Yes that must not be.”

The spirit fell silent and a look of intense concentration and deep thought covered his face.

Krarrnic had retreated back into the tent to avoid the insects and the sun had made it’s way across a quarter of the sky before the spirit moved, he nodded once and stretching his legs down walked over to Raelea without an expression on his glowing childlike face. Reaching where she sat he laid a hand on her shoulder and tendrils of light started running across her body.

He called out, “Shaman! Attend me.”

Krarrnic popped out of the tent and walking over said, “Yes, Spirit of Light?”

“When I am done, you will teach her the skills of banishment, all of them and contain the evil one once he is forced out.” Turning his head back he addressed Raelea directly, “Raelea, Witch of the Spiritworld, leader and strength of the Rebellion, I gift to you all my power and knowledge, charging you to finish my task. Once my task is done, use my gift to bring about the triumph that is dimly visible among the threads of fate. This is my choice, this is my need and this is how I choose to end my days, I can go to my final peace knowing my task will not be left undone and knowing that I will have aided the Rebellion.”

As he spoke the tendrils thickened and grew in intensity until they were much too bright to look at directly.

Raelea gasped and stiffened, her face and body glowing with vitality and health as the dark stain of Aignew’s essence was forced to pool in a smaller and smaller part of her body. Soon there was too much light and as she was suffused with a gentle glow a dark roiling cloud of cold mist was forced out of her. Krarrnic blinked in surprise and confusion but did as he had been bid, a dome of shimmering force surrounded and contained the cloud, which thrashed around within the barrier before forming into the tall thin shape of darkness Raelea recognised so well.

A look of utter peace replaced the stressed and worried look the spirits face had held just before he faded completely from view.

Aignew said, “I am whole! That blighted do-gooder did me a favour, I even recovered the essence I’d wasted on your useless self. Wait, what’s this? No! NoNoNO! Where is the magic? I must have it back!”

As Aignew spoke, Pif, who’d been sprawled out on some hides nearby watching what was happening in fascination suddenly sat up with a wide, maliciously eager grin. With a soft displacement of air his grey Death Realm doggie appeared beside him and leapt at the contained spirit.

Aignew must have felt it because he looked up at the flying doggie with an expression of dawning horror and stepping backward slammed into the inside of the barrier. The dog shaped bundle of Death Realm energy crashed into him and throwing him to the ground started savaging him viciously as he wailed in terror, tearing chunks of his dark form out and throwing them away to evaporate into wispy darkness the slowly faded from view.

With a last gibbering scream of dreadful panic that trailed off as the dog tore his head off his body broke up into pools of mist that flowed across the uneven ground before fading away.