“Ash!” Henry pulled back on the reins once more to get his horse to go back a few steps. Ash was less than half a horse length behind him. From the corner of his eye, he had seen his brother, though he was obscured by the dense fog. Did he fall behind and get lost in the haze? He was holding a light slip of his own and held it out, trying to find Ash through the fog.

  He furrowed his brows. “Simir, where’s Ash?”

  He waited, expecting the fire spirit’s reply, but there was none.

  Henry frowned. “Raiju? Naali?” The spirits always responded. “What is going on-” He let out a hiss as his horse began to buckle underneath him. His light slip fell to the ground as he tried to hold on.

  The horse snorted and turned his head from side to side. In order to avoid being thrown off, Henry dismounted and tried to ease his horse, but it pulled its reins away, almost dragging Henry with it. “What is wrong with you? Calm down-”

  It let out a loud neigh and reared back. Henry opened distance between them, momentarily loosening his grip. It was enough for the horse to pull away and fall back, disappearing in an instant into the fog.

  The light slip on the ground suddenly went out and he could no longer see.

  Henry stumbled a step forward, but stopped, reminding himself that the fog was too dense and it was dark. He didn’t know what was ahead of him. He craned his neck. He couldn’t hear any animals, wind rustling, or even the faint sound of the ocean that had been adjacent to the coastal road they were taking.

  He narrowed his eyes and stood in place. He was waiting, but he wasn’t sure what he was waiting for. He reached into his sleeve to look for the eye drops that could help him see in the dark, but before he could, the space in front of him began to lighten. He could see the mist the fog was made of and felt his hairs raise. It was growing lighter faster than it should have.

  He sucked in a sharp breath as the fog began to clear. They’d been riding all night, but he was certain there were a few more hours until dawn. The scene in front of him was daylight, appearing as if it were midday.

  His skin began to crawl.

  This isn’t real. And it wasn’t a dream.

  Henry felt his heart clench in his chest as he found himself surrounded by a neatly manicured garden with a few low shrubs, pruned ornamental olive trees, and symmetrical water fixtures. The stone surrounding the low reflection pool was white marble with blue tiles making the shapes of flowers.

  The sound of birds chirping and water trickling into the pool from a flower-shaped fountain in the center was so familiar, if he closed his eyes, he’d know where he was from the sound alone.

  The garden was beautiful, and across from it was a white pavilion draped with purple fabric to celebrate the arrival of its new resident.

  Henry grit his teeth.

  “What is going on!” His angry voice cut through the calming background noise as he looked around. “Who are you? Why are you making me see this!?” His voice grew tenser with each question.

  His heart was already aching, knowing what he would see as his body stepped closer and closer to the marble pavilion. His control over his body weakened and another being seemed to take over. He could hear the thoughts in his head and he remembered them.

  Once upon a time, they were his thoughts.

  His point of view was lower to the ground and his pace was slow. Occasionally, he ducked behind some shrubs or around a pillar, avoiding the solemn maids that were leaving the pavilion.

  He could hear them speaking in Ashtari.

  “Make sure to bring more ointment balm for the welts. His Majesty doesn’t want to see any injuries on her skin,” the older of the maids muttered as they passed the pillar he was hiding behind.

  “Can’t he use thinner fabric for her face?” the younger of the two asked. “The rough fabric is harsh on her skin.”

  “No, the thinner the fabric, the more he can see her features. He only wants to see her eyes.”

  Henry waited until they were gone and then rounded the pillar and crossed into the inner hall. His mother said that there was a new wife and she would be introduced to them soon. However, it had been several days already.

  Other wives were introduced the day after the wedding. He remembered.

  Why was this wife so special that she was kept in her pavilion all day? Second Brother Arunsha’s mother said that this wife was very beautiful, with long silver hair, warm skin, and eyes that shifted in color.

  The eyes must’ve been magical, but the silver hair? Was this wife elderly? The only people he’d seen with silver or white hair were old people in the court.

  As he crept towards a wooden gate that was patterned with flower lattice work allowing light to seep into the room, he could smell a heavy floral scent that was almost suffocating. He scrunched his face. No wonder the maids had cloth covering their noses and mouths. The smell wasn’t bad, but it was too strong.

  The room in the center of the pavilion had a single door with a lattice gate and windows on all sides also with lattice over them. Light flowed in freely and Henry could see the shape of a large bed with purple fabric hanging around it.

  It was similar to his mother’s room and the rooms of all the other wives he’d seen. Except, theirs usually had all the windows open and everything was neat and tidy. They had cushions and tables, tea sets, and little trays of snacks, as well as tapestries on the wall.

  This room looked so barren.

  Henry frowned. That would not do for the wife of an Emperor. Not only was she elderly, but she was poor! He made up his mind to gift the poor old woman some tapestries from his pavilion. After all, as the eldest son, he had plenty gifted to him.

  He put his hands on the lattice gate and peeked through the holes, trying to see what else was missing.

  In his concentration, he didn’t notice the shadow stop in front of him before it was too late. His view of the room was blocked and he gasped. He jumped back, but his hands had been firm on the wooden lattice. When he jumped back, he pulled the gate back with him. It swung forward and to try to avoid it, he stumbled back.

  He tripped on his own feet and fell back onto the tiled floor. His short arms pushed him up and he lifted his head.

  The first thing he saw was the disheveled silver hair.

  It was so long and straight, as if she were wearing a bolt of silver silk fabric on her head. It fell over her shoulders and her back Even the few displaced strains didn’t take away from it.

  She was wearing a loose purple robe, so her hair clashed against it.

  Her head tilted to the side.

  Henry’s eyes widened. There were streaks of red going across her face, across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose, and above her brows. There were red marks on her neck and one cheek looked more swollen than the other.

  He recalled what the maids were saying as they left. He only wants to see her eyes.

  Henry dared to meet her gaze.

  “Little prince?” Her voice was hoarse and Henry didn’t realize she was talking to him. His attention was on her eyes. They should’ve been silver, but as the light hit them, they seemed to change color from light green to streaks of purple and shimmering aqua.

  Amazing! He was certain they were magic.

  She began to take small, shaking steps towards him. Her bare feet were on the tile floor. The robe ended at her ankles, but when she took a step, he could see the red welts on her ankles. When she extended her arms to help him up, he saw the marks on her arms.

  His eyes reddened. The marks looked painful.

  Yet, those shaking hands reached under his arms and pulled him up while he was stunned. Her face was close.

  What a beautiful woman! She wasn’t even elderly.

  “Are you hurt anywhere?” she asked. She knelt down, shaking a bit as she did . She checked his hands and arms for any injuries.

  Henry shook his head from side to side. “No!” He answered as firmly as he could to reassure her and she smiled.

  “Good,” she said. “Are you Hedrajan or Arunsha?”

  He stared at her eyes with amazement. “Hedrajan!”

  “Oh, our eldest prince,” she said as she lifted her hand and touched his head, her eyes gentle. “You are Lady Saphira’s.” His head bobbed up and down.

  “My mother says you will be introduced soon, but you have not come to visit yet.”

  He caught the pain in her eyes before they darted around. “I...I am very tired right now,” she said with a weak smile. It was then that Henry noticed the bags under her eyes. “When I am better, I will visit.”

  Henry nodded once more. He believed in her. She was shaking as she rose to her feet; he believed she wasn’t feeling well.

  “Auntie, you should rest.”

  She gave him a sad smile. She put her hand on his head once more. “You should go back to your mother’s pavilion. The smell here is...is very bad.”

  He scrunched his face. “Yes, it’s very stinky.” She chuckled and covered her mouth. A trickle of blood came out between her slender fingers. His eyes widened. “Auntie!”

  “Go now-”

  “My lady, are you out of your room?!” The voice of one of the maids shouted and she snapped her head to the side, towards the sound of their voices. She almost stumbled just taking a step back.

  Her hands flew to his shoulders and turned him around. “Go quickly. Don’t let the maids see you!”

  “Auntie, you’re bleeding-”

  “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she told him, her voice urgent as she gave him a little push. “Little prince, don’t come here anymore.”

  His heart sank. He liked this pretty aunt, why did she reject him? “You don’t like me?”

  “No, no, but it’s not...it’s not safe inside,” she said. Her legs began to tremble beneath her, and she grabbed hold of the lattice gate to steady herself.

  “Auntie-”

  “Soon, I’ll invite you to meet Auntie outside, all right? By the row of trees?” she asked him, giving him a warm smile through her weakness. “Auntie will ask for sweets for you.”

  He was reluctant, but when he heard the maids coming, and saw the frantic look on her face, he turned and ran back to his mother’s pavilion.

  “Lady Ananeraka!” Henry looked over his shoulder as he jumped into the bushes at the edge of her pavilion. He peered through the leaves and saw two large maids being led by a smaller, older one.

  They grabbed his aunt’s arms, prying her from the gate and dragging her back into the room. Her head dropped and she didn’t struggle, as if resigned to her fate.

  The fog seemed to return, covering the scene of the white marble pavilion and the manicured gardens. The sound of birds chirping and water trickling faded away.

  Henry found himself standing in place, surrounded in fog, and staring ahead of him.

  His eyes were red.

  He didn’t realize it then, but she had been drugged in order to keep her weak enough for the Emperor to assault. Her torture hadn’t started when she was married, either. What he had seen when he first met her was the result of drugs that she had been breathing in for days.

  Later, Henry found out it started with her family.

  Nera’s father was the official head of the family, but he was always away from the capital. Instead, her paternal uncle headed the household and the second person in control was her father’s unloved second wife, who hated her. Be it for that hatred, fame and glory, or threat of imperial power, Nera was sent to the palace to become a wife for the Emperor against her wishes.

  But Nera had spent her formative years on the borders. Both parents knew martial arts. Of course, their daughter would learn. Knowing that they could not subdue her easily by physical force alone, they drugged Nera and continued to do so, weakening her severely for days leading up to and through her wedding. She couldn’t fight back, and apparently, she couldn’t think to do so either.

  Then, news spread that the Emperor’s first love had left behind a child of theirs. The Emperor put in all his effort into finding that child, abandoning the Court of Imperial Wives. Without the pressure of needing to subdue her for the Emperor, Nera recuperated.

  And found out she was pregnant with Ash.

  Considering how her health had deteriorated at the time, the rest of the wives considered it a miracle that she was able to conceive at all. At the very least, the Emperor had been so obsessed with finding his child outside that he ignored them and they were able to live comfortably and in peace.

  Until he found his son four years later.

  Henry narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. The fog was cool against his skin. Strangely, he couldn’t contact his spirits no matter how much he called out to them. He didn’t hear Naali’s curious voice, Raiju’s suspicious one, or Simir’s calm guidance.

  The fog was unnatural and it was doing something to him, making him lost. If it were magic, something this dense would’ve been felt. Ash would’ve also been able to do something about it.

  If fog was naturally occurring, he wouldn’t have seen that scene in front of him; the one that haunted his mind for days and when he started to question what his father was doing, unknowingly putting him on the road of being more critical of the Emperor and his rule.

  “What is the purpose of showing that to me?” he asked out loud. “Why did you show me that-”

  The fog began to clear once more and he frowned. It was the same scene: the same pavilion, but this time, it was night. He narrowed his eyes. Up until Ash was able to walk, he didn’t go to Nera’s pavilion at night. And when Ash was that age, the surrounding gardening had changed.

  There were cleared areas for exercise, toys piled in corners, and swings.

  This scene looked the same.

  HIs stomach began to tighten. This time, it wasn’t his point of view from a memory. He was almost floating as he moved through the garden, into the pavilion, and towards the room.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He heard muffled crying and gasping. Something fell with a thud and a man’s voice roared.

  “Who told you to remove your mask! How dare you!” Another muffled cry was heard and Henry watched as the lattice gate doors of the room were thrown open.

  A woman tumbled to the ground, a sheet covering his body and her silver hair soaked with sweat and traces of blood.

  Henry’s eyes dilated.

  “Auntie-”

  A tall, burly red-haired man rushed out, naked and flushed. He looked furious with his face contorted. He lifted his leg and kicked the woman in the stomach. Henry screamed for her and willed himself to rush to her side, but his body wouldn’t move.

  Nera curled into a ball, clutching her stomach, and trying to cover it as the man loomed over her, yelling at her, telling her to remember her place.

  “I don’t want to see your face! If I tell you to keep your mouth covered, then keep your mouth covered!”

  He only wants to see her eyes.

  The maid’s voice echoed in his head.

  Henry looked towards the woman on the ground who was trying to stand up, guilty for not being able to protect her. “Auntie-”

  This wasn’t his memory. He knew it wasn’t his memory. He’d never seen this scene before. He’d never seen his father beat his aunt. He’d seen the wounds on her arms, legs, and face, but he’d never seen this.

  Nera looked so weak, quite different from the woman who had killed an attendant in an instant for his involvement in his second brother’s death. Henry grasped his head.

  Why couldn’t he move to help her?

  “Henry....” His voice called out to him and he tensed. His eyes reddened as they fixed on the woman on the ground. “Henry, help me....”

  He jerked his head back.

  “You’re not my aunt,” he said in a low voice. When they were in the palace, she didn’t call him Henry. “You’re not my aunt!”

  Her body began to twist, making strange cracking noises as her limbs stretched out and her torso turned. Her head rose, bloody silver hair falling around her face.

  Henry’s eyes widened. The woman’s clawed hands began to move toward them.

  “Save me, Henry-”

  “No.” Henry tried to move back, but his legs were stuck to the floor. “You’re not-”

  “Save me!” Her hair swept back and Henry saw her face and took in a sharp breath. Nera’s eyes were hollowed out. Her mouth opened, looking almost unhinged. “Why didn’t you save me?”

  “Brother, why didn’t you save me?” Another voice asked and he snapped his head to the side. His eyes widened and the color drained from his body.

  “Arunsha?”

  His second brother’s head touched his shoulder, hanging at an unnatural angle as he hobbled on a broken leg. “Brother, where were you? Why didn’t you stop them?”

  Henry’s heart felt as if it were about to rip apart. He opened his mouth to remind himself that none of this was real, but another, softer voice called out to him.

  He dreaded what he’d see as soon as he heard that gentle voice.

  A skinny boy with dark red hair and a gaunt face was looking at him. “Why didn’t you come save me?” he asked, sounding sad. “There was so much rain…and it was so cold….”

  Henry choked back a cry, not because he was guilty or afraid, but because pain and sadness overwhelmed him. “Laheran....” His third brother had been trapped in a collapsed building during a storm, caught ill, and suffered in bed until he could no longer hang on and died.

  “Brother....”

  Henry clutched his chest and shut his eyes. “This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real!”

  “If it isn’t real,” a sharp voice cut through is trance. “Then wake up!”

  ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

  He curled up, his arms around his knees as he buried his face in them. Part of him knew this wasn’t real. He was an adult now. He wouldn’t fit in a small crevice amongst a pile of boulders at his age and size, but there he was.

  Ash could feel the rough sandstone pressing against him and hear the shuffling of feet close by, just outside the small crack of an entrance.

  He had eaten a while on the road, so why did he feel hungry?

  Not just hungry, but starving. Ash wanted to shake his head. He shouldn’t be starving.

  He wanted to stand up and look out the crack that led outside, but he found that his body wouldn’t allow him to. Still, the situation was familiar.

  “...a spring not far away....”

  “...won’t make it....”

  “...is there any food? Perhaps we can catch an animal?”

  People were talking in Ashtari. It was rough. Not the court formal he was used to hearing and taught as a child, but the common Ashtari everyone else spoke, without all the honorific conjugations and polite speech.

  Ash remembered where he’d heard it the most now. For a few months when he was a child, his mother had fled from the royal hunting lodge in the far east of the country with him, and then his brother. In order to avoid soldiers searching for them, they didn’t go around the more fertile southern, and diverted from the capital.

  They instead went through the northern part of the country, which had faced a historic famine. Refugees from the north and north east were coming down. A woman with two children carrying nothing more than the clothes on their backs and a few satchels would blend in, if one overlooked the fact that they were traveling alone.

  The refugees were a safer bet than the soldiers, as his mother was confident that they would survive in the wild, whereas if they were caught...the punishment was imprisonment or worse, death.

  While they had money hidden away, they couldn’t show it off. That would attract too much attention, which could make them targets by both the refugees and soldiers. There was also no food to buy in the area, so money was useless. They had to find food and water, like everyone else. Luckily, his mother had spent many years in the border region as a child. She could hunt and gather wild vegetables to eat.

  The problem was, she had to go out to find it, and it was easier to do so alone or with an older child, like Henry. Ash was left to hide and wait for them, as they’d seen people kidnap children from refugees to sell. They would move locations when it got dark and his mother and Henry would take turns carrying him on their backs.

  Ash knew why he was hidden, but it still scared him.

  Right now, there were people just outside his hiding place. His chest tightened and he began to tremble.

  A part of him knew what he saw before him and what he was feeling was false, but it felt incredibly real at that moment.

  One sunset, his mother and Henry would return. He only had to wait until then and then he would be gathered up, safe in their arms. Right now, there were no leaves for him to write magic spells on to help conceal him further. It was just rocks and dirt.

  He wondered how many people were outside. He shut his eyes and prayed no one looked inside the crevice he was curled beneath.

  “There’s something moving between the rocks!”

  Ash’s eyes flew open. His heart shot to his throat as his body went cold.

  “An animal?” someone cried out.

  “Quick, close off the area! Try to scare it out!”

  Ash bit his lower lip. He wasn’t an animal. And he hadn’t moved. He couldn’t breathe.

  Around him, just a few steps away, adults were scrummaging around the rock formation, looking through the cracks and reaching inside to feel for anything that could be eaten.

  Please don’t find me. Please don’t find me! A cold, dry hand grabbed the back of his neck. Ash sucked in a sharp breath.

  “I found something!”

  No! Ash shut his eyes, clenching his jaw. This wasn’t real. No one had ever found his hiding place! In fact, as they neared the western border, he’d become a bit more brazen while hiding and would periodically stick his head out to look around.

  Yet, the feeling of being lifted up and dragged forward was too real. Unable to help himself, he began to struggle.

  “Let me go! Let me go!”

  Laughter echoed around him and he opened his eyes. He couldn’t see people around him, but he could see the rocks where he was hiding getting further away. Someone was pulling him forward.

  The scene began to shift. He could still see the rocks, but the sky began to get darker far too quickly. From blue to a hazy orange purple in almost a blink.

  Then he saw the familiar figures. A woman had stopped by his hiding place.

  “Momma!” Ash cried out, unsure if the voice that was crying out was his or that of his younger self. “Momma! Help me!” Another figure a bit shorter than the woman also looked into his hiding place. Ash stretched out his arm and cried out. “Brother!”

  “Ash!” The voice wasn’t coming from the figure in the distance. It sounded as if it were right beside him. The voice of his brother was angry. “Whatever you are, give him back! Give me back my brother!”

  Ash’s eyes flew open and he saw Henry, an adult Henry, in front of him. Light was coming from behind Henry and the fog that covered the area had retreated. Henry’s hands were grasping his arm, and he was putting his weight into pulling Ash back.

  Dazed, Ash wasn’t sure what was going on. Had Henry been there the whole time? He turned away from Henry and looked in the other direction. His eyes went wide, and he let out a scream as he saw a drop in front of him. One foot was already hanging over the edge. He swung it back, making his body tilt.

  “Brother!” Ash felt one final, strong tug on his arm and he tumbled back.

  “What are you doing?” Henry’s chastising voice shouted at him as he grabbed on to Ash and pulled him back on to the bridge. “Don’t you see the gorge?”

  Ash’s heart was slamming against his chest. He saw it, but it was surreal. How did he even get to the edge of the bridge?

  He turned his head towards the light source shining behind him.

  A tall woman in a long dark tunic and billowing dark pants was standing in the center of the bridge, her arms waving in front of her as her hands seemed to write glowing characters in the air.

  As didn’t study much of it, but he knew what it was when he saw it: Astorian Holy Script.

  “Shed your mortal hatred and accept the peace of death! You no longer belong here! This is not your world any longer!” The woman’s voice was full of conviction, if not harboring some anger. “With the consecration of the sun goddess Suryana, I compel you to release your hold on the mortal world!”

  Her white veil flew around her face as the metal chains of her chatelaine jingled around her hips. The glowing white characters in the air flew forward and collided with something Ash hadn’t seen to begin with.

  His eyes widened as he watched the characters seem to wrap around a physical object. As the characters glowed, they began to spread across the object, revealing a stout, middle aged man with blood coming from the corner of his lip. His head was tilted at a strange angle, and his eyes were hollowed out.

  “What is that?” Ash muttered as his hands grasped his brother’s clothes.

  “A malevolent spirit of an undead,” Henry said, pulling his brother back to keep him from running forward.

  “You mean a ghost?”

  “Well, there are few things that holy warrior maidens can trap like that,” Henry replied in a dull voice. “Demons....”

  “And ghosts...,” Ash said, nodding his head. The woman in the black clothes held prayer beads in her hands as she chanted. With each sentence, the character wrapped around the ghost seemed to burn into it, causing the man’s face to twist with anger and refusal.

  “Be gone, restless spirit!” the woman shouted as her eyes opened. She threw the beads out and they floated in the air, spinning in place with the beads floating further apart until the glowing white center grew to be as large as a man.

  The woman’s arms moved around, as if pulling the ghost towards the portal created by the beads. The ghost resisted, leaning back as far as it could, but the woman continued to draw him in. When the ghost was close to the portal, the light began to glow blindingly white.

  The ghost was pulled forward and sucked into the portal.

  The beads continued spinning around it, but came closer and closer. Eventually, the light from the portal went dim, and the only thing that was snatched from the air by the woman’s slender fingers was a bracelet of prayer beads.

  The light coming from her dulled down and she turned around. She picked up a discarded light slip on the ground.

  “Ash, are you all right?” she asked. She wore the habit of a West Wind Abbey nun. It was similar to what Nera wore, but she didn’t wear a fancy spider silk scarf or had her rosy brown face completely covered at the moment.

  Ash nodded and pushed himself up on his feet. “Aunt Soraya,” he said as he stood unsteadily. Beside him, Henry checked him up and down, as if to make sure he wasn’t injured. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was taking Sea Serpent Two to visit your mother and it stopped here to pick you two up,” she said. She narrowed her green eyes. “I heard there were some accidents happening along the coastal road. They said it involved a ghost, so I came.” She shook her head, weariness, and disbelief on her face. “I never thought I’d have to use exorcism to save my own nephews.”

  ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

  “What did you see in the fog?” Henry sat down beside him and Ash remained sitting with his legs hanging off the side of the ship as they cruised over the deep blue waters of the Smiya Sea.

  His voice was quiet. “No one came back for me.”

  “What?” Henry furrowed his brows.

  Ash leaned forward; his shoulders were held back by the wooden railings. “When I was little, when we were fleeing during the famine, and you and Momma went out to search for food, I was scared that you wouldn’t return,” he said, his voice barely audible over the sound of the waves. “I was scared that maybe you were attacked or that someone would find me and take me away.”

  When they fled, soldiers were looking for a woman and a young boy Ash’s age, so he couldn’t be seen, else he’d be questioned. At the same time, a famine had forced a good portion of people from Ashtar’s northern territories south, putting them on the same path.

  People were desperate and he’d heard that families were selling small children in exchange for food. Ash was terrified that someone would kidnap him and sell him.

  “Auntie was very careful about where she hid you.” Henry said. “As long as you stayed there, you wouldn’t have been found.”

  “It was still terrifying.” He’d spend his time reading what he could, but didn’t dare take a step out of his hiding place. “There were days where people passed. They were just outside and could’ve found me at any time.”

  Henry lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  Ash shook his head. “You and Momma needed to find food and figure out a route to the valley. A woman with children was an easy target for some people. I would’ve been in your way.”

  His mother and Henry had been attacked multiple times for food, to be sold, or worse. Henry could at least fight at that point. He was tall and strong for his age, so he could defend himself against malnourished peasants. Nera could also fight, but defending while trying to keep a four-year-old safe was difficult, especially when they were outnumbered.

  They couldn’t afford to attract attention, so scuffles could only be small and over quickly.

  Ash knew this, so he didn’t clamor to go with them. They needed to move as unseen as possible. He resigned to following and being carried at night, from place to place.

  It shouldn’t have taken that long to cross Ashtar, but under their conditions, it took two months. They experienced hunger and living in the wild. After they escaped, they traveled modestly to avoid attention for several years, even if they could afford more lavish transport and lodgings. Still, the experience had shaped both of them deeply.

  “What did you see in the fog?” Ash asked.

  Henry stared out at the water. “It started when I first met Auntie...and then I saw her being beaten…her eyes were dug out and she asked me to save her. And then Arunsha and Laheran appeared...also asking why I didn’t save them.” His eyes reddened.

  “Aunt Soraya said that the ghost was feeding off of fear and sadness,” Ash said. “Several people had left the road and fallen off the bridge, into the gorge.” That was where they found themselves when they woke up.

  They were on a wide stone bridge over a gorge with a small stream feeding into the ocean below. It was just on the other side of the hill from Akepol, so they were close to the city, but were stopped by the fog before they reached it.

  “Sumak had said that there were accidents recently...this must’ve been what he was talking about. I wonder what happened.”

  “The lighthouse keeper’s wife and son died a few months ago,” a voice said behind them. They looked over their shoulders and saw a woman in a West Wind Abbey nun’s habit. Aside from her hair wrap and veil, she wore a black tunic that nearly reached her feet and a metal chatelaine around her waist, along with prayer beads on her wrists. It was the uniform for West Wind Abbey nuns when they were outside the abbey.

  “Was the lighthouse keeper the ghost?” Ash asked. She gave him a small nod.

  Sister Soraya was a nun at the West Wind Abbey who studied with their mother at the abbey’s private girls school. She came from a wealthy northern Dareisol family, but joined the abbey after she finished her schooling. Nera and she were as close as sisters; closer than Nera was to her own half-sister, so Soraya treated Nera’s children, even those she didn’t birth, as her nephews and niece.

  It was she who met them at the border just inside Ashtar to smuggle them out the rest of the way years ago. Despite being a nun, Soraya assisted in the management of Snake, Scarab, and Sons’ tea houses in East Iveria. She said she enjoyed being a regional manager more than being an exorcist.

  “There were rumors in Akepol saying that since he died, he’s been haunting the area, targeting travelers as revenge. His wife and son were staying on the mainland, waiting for a storm to pass as it’s difficult to get past the breaks to the lighthouse when the waters are so turbulent. Still, they came out to help some travelers passing by. The travelers on the road were having problems with their horses crossing the bridge over the gorge and the mother and son were kicked off. The travelers fled, but the lighthouse keeper had seen them from the lighthouse.” Soraya sighed as he shook her head and leaned against the railing on the other side of Ash. “He came to the village and tried to report the travelers, but they were long gone.”

  “How did he die?” Henry asked.

  “From what I heard, they found his body at the bottom of the gorge, so it’s likely he jumped off that bridge you two were crossing. They’re saying it was a suicide, but we really don’t know, do we?” Soraya replied. She gave them stern looks. “His vengeful spirit has been targeting travelers crossing the bridge. You two are lucky I came for you after hearing the story.”

  Both brothers nodded. They really were. They didn’t know how long they’d be stuck there, as they had no idea if the ghost’s fog would last.

  Henry took a deep breath and released it slowly. “So...the ghost wanted revenge by playing on the fears and sadness inside the victims.”

  “Profound fear and sadness,” Soraya replied. “In the abbey, when we counsel people, we hear a lot about their problems. Sometimes, their fears and sadness, their grief, can threaten to overcome them...make them irrational. They can panic or simply stop thinking and hurt themselves. When I exorcised the ghost, I could feel some of its fear and sadness.”

  “How could he not be watching his son and wife fall to their deaths, and those responsible fleeing to avoid punishment?” Henry asked out loud. She gave him a nod.

  Ash looked at her warily. “Will he come back?”

  “No,” Soraya said. He reached down and poked Ash’s head. “You know I won’t let them. Their soul has left this plane of existence. There won’t be any more ghost-related fog there.”

  Henry let out a little huff. “That’s good for Akepol. It just became a merchant city.”

  “Speaking of merchant city, I sent Donut to Carthage Harbor to tell your mother,” Soraya told them. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she frowned. “You should’ve seen how shaken you two were. What did you see in that fog?”

  By the time Soraya arrived, the two had been battling their consciousness, trying to tell themselves it wasn’t real in order to break out of the nightmare.

  “My aunt and dead brothers,” Henry said in a low voice.

  Ash looked back at the ocean with dull eyes. “My childhood fear.”

  Soraya pursed her lips. She gave them a small nod. She reached towards her chatelaine and opened a small cylinder. She took out a cigarette and then used a small crystal encased in metal to light the tip.

  She took a deep breath and puffed the smoke. “Your fears and sadness are always valid, my dears, but it is important that you don’t let it consume you.” She took another drag. “You did well fighting it off. The more people who die, the stronger the ghost gets...and there had been several deaths already.”

  “Still, if you hadn’t arrived....” Henry trailed off.

  Soraya shrugged. “If I had been faster, you wouldn’t have to relive the trauma. I’m sorry for being late.”

  The two shook their heads.

  The journey back was faster than the journey to Uqi’ichu. Once on the ship, it was a direct sail through the isthmus and into Carthage Harbor. There were no thieves, no hidden ruins, nor fake cults this time around.

  The ship entered the harbor by dawn. Sea Serpent Two was one of the smaller ships and went directly to the island. As it approached the dock, the two brothers stood on the starboard bow and caught sight of a woman standing on the dock.

  Her hair was covered and she wore a small veil that covered her eyes. She was dressed in loose clothes that billowed in the sea breeze, and stood in place with her hands clasped in front of her.

  The ship was tied down and a gate at the side of the ship slid open, allowing for the gangway to be connected.

  Ash and Henry were the first to disembark. As they reached the dock, the woman stepped forward and held out her arms.

  Ash’s eyes reddened. A pressure built on the bridge of his nose as he remembered the fear of being taken from his mother as a child. Beside him, Henry lowered his head and slumped forward. Without a second thought, they wandered into Nera’s comforting embrace, as if she knew they needed reassurance at that moment.

  “Momma.”

  “Auntie.”

  “It’s all right.” The woman held both brothers, one in each arm as she gently rocked them. Ash could feel his mother’s tight embrace around his shoulders and he shut his eyes as he heard her voice speak gently against them. “My sons, you are safe now, and I will always fight to ensure that.”