Chosen [Part 18]
Nov. 18th, 2011 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Original
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: R
Notes: Contains violent fighting.
You can find my commentary on this part here.
Soooo. We just got even darker. >D *cough*
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 2,858
Total word count: 45,407
Status: Work in progress
Aldran glanced out the window, his expression pensive, and then nodded slowly. "They should be in the next room, so it won't be long," he said.
Ras smiled tiredly at him. "Thank you."
She started to fall asleep again, yawning, and the last thing she heard was the closing of the door.
* * *
The villagers had yet to find any signs of the daughter by the time they left. Ras wanted to go and help but she had made a good point - they hadn't been chosen to do that, only fight geists and at the moment, there just seemed to be more geists than there was khertan and psyven.
Ras wavered on her feet once they arrived back at Winolock, but the dizziness didn't last for very long. Unsurprisingly, Farrick and Penran just threw out a couple of words in summary of what happened as they left the teleportation room, while Ras rolled her eyes and shook her head. Penran hadn't needed the healing spell that was sent his way, not for his face at least, because that wound had already healed over and it didn't even look like it was going to scar.
After giving a little more detail to the mages, she and Aldran were given two days off, but Ras was starting to realise that the reason why Farrick and Penran was just walked off was because they knew how many days they were given were arbitrary – if they were called after the number of days they had rested, then that was a good, thing, but it tended towards having the resting period cut short, because everyone else was needing more rest than them.
As they walked through Winolock, Ras paused at one of the corridors, guessing where it might go. She then started walking down it.
"Ras...?" Aldran called after her, before he started to follow. "Where are we going?"
At least he had stopped trailling behind her without question, she thought with some relief.
"The library - aren't you becoming a little tired of how much we're getting surprised by everything?" she threw over her shoulder, sending him a dry look.
He blinked, his expression going thoughtful, before he nodded. "Yes, I am."
* * *
The library, quite frankly, was huge. Ras had not been that much of a reader growing up, much prefering to go outside and explore, but she had never seen this many books gathered in the one place.
She also found where the rest of the mages of Winolock were, a few dotted around, some by themselves, others in pairs, others still clustered around tables, having heated, if whispered, debates about something.
Ras stared up at the shelves lined with books, having absolutely no idea where to start.
"Do you need help?" someone asked, and Ras turned to see a long-haired blonde mage, looking at her with a patient expression. She was sat at a table, a small pile of books beside her.
Ras chuckled, a little weakly. "Yes, we would."
"All right," the mage said, smiling. "I'm Gastun."
They did the usual introductions and then Gastun asked what they were looking for.
"Books on geists," Ras admitted, glancing at Aldran, wondering if he wanted to read anything else specific.
Gastun nodded, sliding a piece of paper into her book before closing it. "I'm fairly sure where that is." She lead them past a couple of shelves, squeezing past oblivious mages (their robes looked different, some having different designs, and Ras wondered what they meant) and stepping over miniature mountains of books, although they were stacked neatly, rather than being a haphazard pile.
The library was far longer than Ras expected it to be, and she started to suspect that magic had a hand in that.
Aldran was trailing behind again (and Ras realised that she knew because she was finally aware that she could sense where he was without seeing him) but when she turned around, he was looking at everything with a curious (and slightly awe-stricken) expression. Even if she did live past the expected age of a khertan, Ras was sure that she would never be able to read even half the number of books in the room.
Gastun eventually stopped, peering left and right as she hummed. "Maybe I didn't know exactly where it was," she admitted. "Geists isn't a topic I normally read." She held up her hand to one of the floating balls of light that hovered at the end of every shelf, tapping it.
When she did so, it was like the ball unravelled, unfurling until it looked like a piece of paper, lines and lines of letters appearing. "These can be controlled by your voice," Gastun informed them, "but-" she glanced around, nodding towards the other people who were around them, "some choose to search by putting it by themselves. It is, however, easier to find if you use your voice."
Ras just watched her as she tapped a few things, spelling out 'geist' and then there were lines and lines of titles, along with a small map at the bottom corner. Gastun tapped on that and the map grew bigger, enough to show that it was a map of the library.
"They're really simple to use," Gastun said after studing the map and started walking again.
It did look like that. "Anyone can use these?" Ras asked, peering at it. "Do we need to use magic for it to work?" It would take some very fine control if that were true.
Gastun shook her head. "No. It responds to touch." She snorted softly. "You don't have to worry as much about robes accidentally pressing against it and making it search for the wrong thing."
That was good to know.
Gastun stopped and then waved to the stack of shelves beside her. "Geists are here," she told them, "though I don't know exactly what shelf."
"It's far closer than what we would have found by ourselves," Ras told her dryly. "Thank you for helping us."
Gastun chuckled, shaking her head. "No, I probably needed to have a small break anyway. I hope you find what you're looking for."
Ras hummed, staring up at the shelves at Gastun left. Not that she knew what she was looking for either, but hopefully it would lead to them being slightly more prepared.
"Hmm." Aldran peered at one particular shelf, a hand resting on it, his tail waving back and forth. "I think I've found a number of books on geists here."
Ras moved next to him, looking closely. Her eyes flicked to the above and below shelves, seeing more of the same. She nodded. "If we read anything interesting-"
"We'll tell the other," Aldran finished, smiling at her.
"Heh. Yeah." Ras fished out the first book closest to her and wandered to a nearby table. Settling into a chair, Ras began to read.
* * *
Ras frowned, staring down at the words in front of her. Some of the information, she already knew (geists ate souls, were stronger than humans, and they healed extremely quickly), but others…
"'Geists will lure their prey with words and promises'," Ras read out loud. Which was what happened in the last village they were in. But if geists knew how to make promises, then they were already far smarter than the mindless monsters that Ras had originally taken them for.
"'They also have the ability to control the mind of their prey, to make their prey come to them, to not resist when they are being fed on'," the next sentence said. Ras wasn't so sure about that one. She hadn't seen any geists doing that to anyone, especially her or Aldran, and she was sure at least one of them would have tried to on her or Aldran. Unless it didn't work on khertan or psyven? She skimmed the rest of the passage, but found no mention of it.
"Maybe these are…like the stories?" Aldran suggested, lifting his eyes from his own book. "Or maybe we just haven't encountered one that can."
"Wonderful," Ras said, disgruntled. "These are either as wrong as what are in the stories, or we're going to find that these are true soon enough."
"'Because geists feed on the soul, that is why their healing powers are so great'," Aldran repeated, a concentrated frown on his face, "'and souls are by far the strongest sources of magic.'"
"I suppose that could be where their mind control comes from," Ras commented, turning the page of the book she was reading. But then, that still didn't make much sense, because the geists would have just fed then. "They need to concentrate to do it, just like when you're keeping the link open?" Ras mused.
Aldran didn't respond, and Ras looked across at him. "There's…just a lot of information," he said quietly, staring down at the book.
There was no doubt about that. "But why so much?" She glanced back at the shelf full of books. There was obviously going to be overlap in the books, but if the books took up so much space, there had to be so much more that wasn't generally known.
"But why so much…what?" someone repeated behind Ras and she turned around to see Lesten. She went wide-eyed and then looked away. She remembered that she wasn't supposed to do that, but Lesten were still one of the leaders of the khertan and psyven, the most experienced of everyone. Ras assumed, she realised with a frown. How old had Lesten been when he had been chosen? But he had to be the leader for a reason, not just because of seniority.
"There's so much here," Ras said, bringing her gaze back to them, "and so much that everyone else doesn't know! Shouldn't they know some of this as well?"
"That ignorance," Lesten said carefully, "is what allows them to sleep restfully at night. They can feel better, not knowing what's happening."
Ras' mood soured, thinking again about what had just happened. They could also feel better about putting khertan and psyven in even more danger than usual (and if they were the third to arrive-!).
"Is there anything else you wish to know?"
Ras glanced at the books in front of her and Aldran. "Is all of this true?" Were all of this information needed to be known?
"Some of these are a little embellished –most weren't written by khertan or psyven- but they all have some semblance of the truth, or else they wouldn't be here."
Ras' shoulders slumped as she stared dejectedly at the books. That…was a lot of reading. "The mind control?" That was definitely something that they needed to know.
"Yes," Lesten said quietly. "A few have that skill."
A few. It was better than 'common', and much better than 'all', but it wasn't a nice thought, whatever the chances of meeting a geist that had that ability.
"Is there a way to counter it?" Maybe with Aldran's magic…?
"It's…tricky," Lesten said, frowning gently as he took a seat. "Being a khertan and psyven means you are more aware – but that can also mean you're more susceptible."
That…was not the news Ras wanted to hear. She merely sighed though, propping an elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand. It wasn't unexpected; not with everything else Ras had learned.
"As for fighting it…" Lesten continued. "I haven't encountered it that much myself, but I believe that you can resist it – and a geist can only have a hold of one person at a time, so if one of you is being controlled, the other can break its hold."
"That's reassuring." Especially since Ras and Aldran never left each other's side, so then it would be no problem for them.
"I think that's all the questions we have at the moment," Ras said, glancing at Aldran. He was reading the book in front of him, so she nodded for them both.
"Good to know," Lesten said with a smile. "Don't research too much – remember, you're supposed to be resting."
Ras snorted, shaking her head after he left. She was sitting down, reading a book; there wasn't much more she could do to rest.
Aldran still hadn't looked up from his book, and Ras realised that she might be being a little selfish – while she might be all right with what they were doing, was Aldran?
She hummed, getting his attention. He peeked at her through his hair instead of lifting his head, and that decided it for her. If Aldran was sliding back again and being submissive, that was definitely a sign they should stop.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Aldran blinked, his head dipping before he caught himself. "I…" His mouth twisted as he paused. "It's something else we have to look out for."
"Yeah." Ras sighed, closing the book. "Maybe we should do what he said."
A curious look grew on Aldran's face.
"Do something that doesn't involve thinking?" she suggested. "Maybe go out?"
Aldran's eyebrows rose. "Go out…?" he echoed before frowning. "Where to?"
Ras' mind blanked at his question. Where to? They could go to… Ras didn't know.
"And..." Aldran added hesitantly, "if people see us, then they might expect..."
"That we were either called there, or just look at us like they should stay away," Ras realised, groaning. "Never mind."
"But I am a little hungry...?"
Ras' stomach agreed with him, as if his words had called its attention. "Dinner?"
He smiled, nodding. "Yes."
They put away the books and left.
* * *
Ras swept her gaze around Vaern, the air feeling chillier than she was used to. There was a blustery wind blowing by, and Ras could see that Aldran's hair continued to fly into his eyes. Vaern was a northern town, and it seemed like it was just naturally colder compared to the temperatures that she was used to.
Putting those thoughts to the side, Ras continued forward. There were no living relatives of Nessina, but he did have friends, who had told her and Aldran that they had found him in the space between one of the houses. Ras approached the place with some foreboding - Nessina hadn't had a single mark on him, the only marks on him were from years ago.
After what they had just found out a few days ago... Ras didn't like what the signs were pointing to.
She paused, her head tilting as her skin prickled, and she saw Aldran stop as well from the corner of her eye.
The sun was already setting, nearly gone over the horizon, and Ras hurried towards the sensation, hoping to find maybe find something before it became a lot harder to see.
When they arrived to where the buzz was the strongest, Ras was already peering at the ground, finding it difficult to see. As far as she could tell, there hadn't been any geist blood spilled and she stayed at the mouth of the gap while Aldran went further in, his tail sweeping side to side.
At least both sides were open, Ras mused as she tugged at her pendant. It meant there was more light spilling into the-
There was a 'thud' and Aldran gave a cry of pain before it faded. Ras snapped her head up to see Aldran lying listless on the ground, even his tail not moving, someone –a geist- towering over him, lifting its leg to-
Ras couldn't make a sound, flinching at the deafening crack as it broke Aldran's leg. She stood there frozen before the geist turned its attention onto her, and Ras forced herself to move, to unsheathe her dagger. She was able to dodge the geist's first attack, but she couldn't help her gaze flicking to Aldran, wanting to know if he was all right –but he wasn't, of course he wasn't, how could he be?- and by the time she focused again, it was too late.
A vice-like grip wrapped itself around her throat, and Ras choked, feeling like her skin was burning at the geist's touch. Her vision was suddenly filled with the geist's slitted eyes, their noses nearly touching.
"Be still," the geist purred, and Ras' – and Ras' body did just that, her limbs falling limp. She tried to move them, but they didn't respond. At least then, there was some sort of movement when she wanted it, even if there was a lot of protest to go along with it. It wasn't the same as when she was weak – it was as if she was trapped in her body, unable to do anything but watch.
"Good," the geist said, sounding pleased. "Wait here."
The geist left her vision, and – it was moving towards Aldran. It was moving towards Aldran.
Ras tried to struggle against its mind control, but she may as well have been trying to knock over a mountain. Absolutely nothing changed, and then she could hear something being dragged away.
"Now then," Ras heard, just before the geist entered her vision again. They locked gazes and Ras couldn't look away. "Follow me."
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: R
Notes: Contains violent fighting.
You can find my commentary on this part here.
Soooo. We just got even darker. >D *cough*
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 2,858
Total word count: 45,407
Status: Work in progress
Aldran glanced out the window, his expression pensive, and then nodded slowly. "They should be in the next room, so it won't be long," he said.
Ras smiled tiredly at him. "Thank you."
She started to fall asleep again, yawning, and the last thing she heard was the closing of the door.
The villagers had yet to find any signs of the daughter by the time they left. Ras wanted to go and help but she had made a good point - they hadn't been chosen to do that, only fight geists and at the moment, there just seemed to be more geists than there was khertan and psyven.
Ras wavered on her feet once they arrived back at Winolock, but the dizziness didn't last for very long. Unsurprisingly, Farrick and Penran just threw out a couple of words in summary of what happened as they left the teleportation room, while Ras rolled her eyes and shook her head. Penran hadn't needed the healing spell that was sent his way, not for his face at least, because that wound had already healed over and it didn't even look like it was going to scar.
After giving a little more detail to the mages, she and Aldran were given two days off, but Ras was starting to realise that the reason why Farrick and Penran was just walked off was because they knew how many days they were given were arbitrary – if they were called after the number of days they had rested, then that was a good, thing, but it tended towards having the resting period cut short, because everyone else was needing more rest than them.
As they walked through Winolock, Ras paused at one of the corridors, guessing where it might go. She then started walking down it.
"Ras...?" Aldran called after her, before he started to follow. "Where are we going?"
At least he had stopped trailling behind her without question, she thought with some relief.
"The library - aren't you becoming a little tired of how much we're getting surprised by everything?" she threw over her shoulder, sending him a dry look.
He blinked, his expression going thoughtful, before he nodded. "Yes, I am."
The library, quite frankly, was huge. Ras had not been that much of a reader growing up, much prefering to go outside and explore, but she had never seen this many books gathered in the one place.
She also found where the rest of the mages of Winolock were, a few dotted around, some by themselves, others in pairs, others still clustered around tables, having heated, if whispered, debates about something.
Ras stared up at the shelves lined with books, having absolutely no idea where to start.
"Do you need help?" someone asked, and Ras turned to see a long-haired blonde mage, looking at her with a patient expression. She was sat at a table, a small pile of books beside her.
Ras chuckled, a little weakly. "Yes, we would."
"All right," the mage said, smiling. "I'm Gastun."
They did the usual introductions and then Gastun asked what they were looking for.
"Books on geists," Ras admitted, glancing at Aldran, wondering if he wanted to read anything else specific.
Gastun nodded, sliding a piece of paper into her book before closing it. "I'm fairly sure where that is." She lead them past a couple of shelves, squeezing past oblivious mages (their robes looked different, some having different designs, and Ras wondered what they meant) and stepping over miniature mountains of books, although they were stacked neatly, rather than being a haphazard pile.
The library was far longer than Ras expected it to be, and she started to suspect that magic had a hand in that.
Aldran was trailing behind again (and Ras realised that she knew because she was finally aware that she could sense where he was without seeing him) but when she turned around, he was looking at everything with a curious (and slightly awe-stricken) expression. Even if she did live past the expected age of a khertan, Ras was sure that she would never be able to read even half the number of books in the room.
Gastun eventually stopped, peering left and right as she hummed. "Maybe I didn't know exactly where it was," she admitted. "Geists isn't a topic I normally read." She held up her hand to one of the floating balls of light that hovered at the end of every shelf, tapping it.
When she did so, it was like the ball unravelled, unfurling until it looked like a piece of paper, lines and lines of letters appearing. "These can be controlled by your voice," Gastun informed them, "but-" she glanced around, nodding towards the other people who were around them, "some choose to search by putting it by themselves. It is, however, easier to find if you use your voice."
Ras just watched her as she tapped a few things, spelling out 'geist' and then there were lines and lines of titles, along with a small map at the bottom corner. Gastun tapped on that and the map grew bigger, enough to show that it was a map of the library.
"They're really simple to use," Gastun said after studing the map and started walking again.
It did look like that. "Anyone can use these?" Ras asked, peering at it. "Do we need to use magic for it to work?" It would take some very fine control if that were true.
Gastun shook her head. "No. It responds to touch." She snorted softly. "You don't have to worry as much about robes accidentally pressing against it and making it search for the wrong thing."
That was good to know.
Gastun stopped and then waved to the stack of shelves beside her. "Geists are here," she told them, "though I don't know exactly what shelf."
"It's far closer than what we would have found by ourselves," Ras told her dryly. "Thank you for helping us."
Gastun chuckled, shaking her head. "No, I probably needed to have a small break anyway. I hope you find what you're looking for."
Ras hummed, staring up at the shelves at Gastun left. Not that she knew what she was looking for either, but hopefully it would lead to them being slightly more prepared.
"Hmm." Aldran peered at one particular shelf, a hand resting on it, his tail waving back and forth. "I think I've found a number of books on geists here."
Ras moved next to him, looking closely. Her eyes flicked to the above and below shelves, seeing more of the same. She nodded. "If we read anything interesting-"
"We'll tell the other," Aldran finished, smiling at her.
"Heh. Yeah." Ras fished out the first book closest to her and wandered to a nearby table. Settling into a chair, Ras began to read.
Ras frowned, staring down at the words in front of her. Some of the information, she already knew (geists ate souls, were stronger than humans, and they healed extremely quickly), but others…
"'Geists will lure their prey with words and promises'," Ras read out loud. Which was what happened in the last village they were in. But if geists knew how to make promises, then they were already far smarter than the mindless monsters that Ras had originally taken them for.
"'They also have the ability to control the mind of their prey, to make their prey come to them, to not resist when they are being fed on'," the next sentence said. Ras wasn't so sure about that one. She hadn't seen any geists doing that to anyone, especially her or Aldran, and she was sure at least one of them would have tried to on her or Aldran. Unless it didn't work on khertan or psyven? She skimmed the rest of the passage, but found no mention of it.
"Maybe these are…like the stories?" Aldran suggested, lifting his eyes from his own book. "Or maybe we just haven't encountered one that can."
"Wonderful," Ras said, disgruntled. "These are either as wrong as what are in the stories, or we're going to find that these are true soon enough."
"'Because geists feed on the soul, that is why their healing powers are so great'," Aldran repeated, a concentrated frown on his face, "'and souls are by far the strongest sources of magic.'"
"I suppose that could be where their mind control comes from," Ras commented, turning the page of the book she was reading. But then, that still didn't make much sense, because the geists would have just fed then. "They need to concentrate to do it, just like when you're keeping the link open?" Ras mused.
Aldran didn't respond, and Ras looked across at him. "There's…just a lot of information," he said quietly, staring down at the book.
There was no doubt about that. "But why so much?" She glanced back at the shelf full of books. There was obviously going to be overlap in the books, but if the books took up so much space, there had to be so much more that wasn't generally known.
"But why so much…what?" someone repeated behind Ras and she turned around to see Lesten. She went wide-eyed and then looked away. She remembered that she wasn't supposed to do that, but Lesten were still one of the leaders of the khertan and psyven, the most experienced of everyone. Ras assumed, she realised with a frown. How old had Lesten been when he had been chosen? But he had to be the leader for a reason, not just because of seniority.
"There's so much here," Ras said, bringing her gaze back to them, "and so much that everyone else doesn't know! Shouldn't they know some of this as well?"
"That ignorance," Lesten said carefully, "is what allows them to sleep restfully at night. They can feel better, not knowing what's happening."
Ras' mood soured, thinking again about what had just happened. They could also feel better about putting khertan and psyven in even more danger than usual (and if they were the third to arrive-!).
"Is there anything else you wish to know?"
Ras glanced at the books in front of her and Aldran. "Is all of this true?" Were all of this information needed to be known?
"Some of these are a little embellished –most weren't written by khertan or psyven- but they all have some semblance of the truth, or else they wouldn't be here."
Ras' shoulders slumped as she stared dejectedly at the books. That…was a lot of reading. "The mind control?" That was definitely something that they needed to know.
"Yes," Lesten said quietly. "A few have that skill."
A few. It was better than 'common', and much better than 'all', but it wasn't a nice thought, whatever the chances of meeting a geist that had that ability.
"Is there a way to counter it?" Maybe with Aldran's magic…?
"It's…tricky," Lesten said, frowning gently as he took a seat. "Being a khertan and psyven means you are more aware – but that can also mean you're more susceptible."
That…was not the news Ras wanted to hear. She merely sighed though, propping an elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand. It wasn't unexpected; not with everything else Ras had learned.
"As for fighting it…" Lesten continued. "I haven't encountered it that much myself, but I believe that you can resist it – and a geist can only have a hold of one person at a time, so if one of you is being controlled, the other can break its hold."
"That's reassuring." Especially since Ras and Aldran never left each other's side, so then it would be no problem for them.
"I think that's all the questions we have at the moment," Ras said, glancing at Aldran. He was reading the book in front of him, so she nodded for them both.
"Good to know," Lesten said with a smile. "Don't research too much – remember, you're supposed to be resting."
Ras snorted, shaking her head after he left. She was sitting down, reading a book; there wasn't much more she could do to rest.
Aldran still hadn't looked up from his book, and Ras realised that she might be being a little selfish – while she might be all right with what they were doing, was Aldran?
She hummed, getting his attention. He peeked at her through his hair instead of lifting his head, and that decided it for her. If Aldran was sliding back again and being submissive, that was definitely a sign they should stop.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Aldran blinked, his head dipping before he caught himself. "I…" His mouth twisted as he paused. "It's something else we have to look out for."
"Yeah." Ras sighed, closing the book. "Maybe we should do what he said."
A curious look grew on Aldran's face.
"Do something that doesn't involve thinking?" she suggested. "Maybe go out?"
Aldran's eyebrows rose. "Go out…?" he echoed before frowning. "Where to?"
Ras' mind blanked at his question. Where to? They could go to… Ras didn't know.
"And..." Aldran added hesitantly, "if people see us, then they might expect..."
"That we were either called there, or just look at us like they should stay away," Ras realised, groaning. "Never mind."
"But I am a little hungry...?"
Ras' stomach agreed with him, as if his words had called its attention. "Dinner?"
He smiled, nodding. "Yes."
They put away the books and left.
Ras swept her gaze around Vaern, the air feeling chillier than she was used to. There was a blustery wind blowing by, and Ras could see that Aldran's hair continued to fly into his eyes. Vaern was a northern town, and it seemed like it was just naturally colder compared to the temperatures that she was used to.
Putting those thoughts to the side, Ras continued forward. There were no living relatives of Nessina, but he did have friends, who had told her and Aldran that they had found him in the space between one of the houses. Ras approached the place with some foreboding - Nessina hadn't had a single mark on him, the only marks on him were from years ago.
After what they had just found out a few days ago... Ras didn't like what the signs were pointing to.
She paused, her head tilting as her skin prickled, and she saw Aldran stop as well from the corner of her eye.
The sun was already setting, nearly gone over the horizon, and Ras hurried towards the sensation, hoping to find maybe find something before it became a lot harder to see.
When they arrived to where the buzz was the strongest, Ras was already peering at the ground, finding it difficult to see. As far as she could tell, there hadn't been any geist blood spilled and she stayed at the mouth of the gap while Aldran went further in, his tail sweeping side to side.
At least both sides were open, Ras mused as she tugged at her pendant. It meant there was more light spilling into the-
There was a 'thud' and Aldran gave a cry of pain before it faded. Ras snapped her head up to see Aldran lying listless on the ground, even his tail not moving, someone –a geist- towering over him, lifting its leg to-
Ras couldn't make a sound, flinching at the deafening crack as it broke Aldran's leg. She stood there frozen before the geist turned its attention onto her, and Ras forced herself to move, to unsheathe her dagger. She was able to dodge the geist's first attack, but she couldn't help her gaze flicking to Aldran, wanting to know if he was all right –but he wasn't, of course he wasn't, how could he be?- and by the time she focused again, it was too late.
A vice-like grip wrapped itself around her throat, and Ras choked, feeling like her skin was burning at the geist's touch. Her vision was suddenly filled with the geist's slitted eyes, their noses nearly touching.
"Be still," the geist purred, and Ras' – and Ras' body did just that, her limbs falling limp. She tried to move them, but they didn't respond. At least then, there was some sort of movement when she wanted it, even if there was a lot of protest to go along with it. It wasn't the same as when she was weak – it was as if she was trapped in her body, unable to do anything but watch.
"Good," the geist said, sounding pleased. "Wait here."
The geist left her vision, and – it was moving towards Aldran. It was moving towards Aldran.
Ras tried to struggle against its mind control, but she may as well have been trying to knock over a mountain. Absolutely nothing changed, and then she could hear something being dragged away.
"Now then," Ras heard, just before the geist entered her vision again. They locked gazes and Ras couldn't look away. "Follow me."