Chapter 18
Midshore was reading when she felt it. The feeling had been growing stronger each day as she meditated, becoming more vivid and defined with each day passing. It must be close to feel it outside so strongly outside of meditation, but the discontent was growing very near, and strong.
Midshore rushed to where she could see the shore. There were three ships gathered there, sailing towards her shore. The ships, boats really, which normally carried one, maybe two people were laiden with four to each, making them barely float.
Everstar joined her, looking out at the shore. “What do you sense?” she asked. She was tense, ready to grab her spear and run it through whoever thought to attack.
“I don’t believe they mean us harm…” pondered Midshore. “I think they’re refugees....”
“More refugees? Why do they come to our island when they could easily go to the big island? Where they’re prepared to take care of these sorts of things? I swear, they should put up signs to point them in the right direction or maybe train those dolphins to guide…” Everstar grumbled.
“No- I have the feeling they need our help, not just the relief the islands offer.” Midshore continued to peer down at the shore.
As the boats landed on the shore, a figure of a man stood with the figure of a pregnant woman in his arms. Another carried a baby in her arms. There were three children among them, and there appeared to be nine adults.
Midshore suddenly rushed down from her stoop to meet them. The man carrying the woman laid her down on the ground carefully.
“Wait, don’t-” Everstar objected, but it was no use. All she could do was follow after her and hope they weren’t robbed.
“Midi, oh thank the Creator I got the right island! Please, I beg you, you need to help this woman.” the man pleaded, his arms beginning to shake.
“Fredrico, what are you doing here? How did you find me? Who are these people?” Midshore asked, using Sir Romeo’s first name.
“None of that is important,” he panted “I’ve heard what you can do. This woman is the most important thing to any sort of rebellion the mainland has, she can’t die!”
“What are you talking about?” asked the woman holding the baby. “My daughter wasn’t in that bad of shape, was she? When-” she began to sob.”When did my baby girl die? How long has it been?”
“I thought I was your baby girl…” muttered one of the girl children.
The older man took the woman into his arms, his face was one of shock and his motions were mechanical.
At first, Midshore had thought that the disturbance hand been one individual with a great deal of pain, but now she couldn’t determine who was the source. Just as the strangers sprinkled the shore, so was the pain emanating. It was terrible grief.
One of the men of the group had been looking out at the water, scanning it as if they were afraid to be followed. “Look, a ship! There!” he barked.
“They found us!” a young woman shrieked. She looked terrified and held the hand of one of the men.
“Quick, the cloak!” urged Midshore to Everstar. She knew what a ship from the mainland looked like, and she didn’t need to be told twice that they were bad news.
Everstar's hands began to glitter and she let her sparks fly, raising the cloak and with a look of effort. Midshore could sense she was changing the winds as well, making them blow away form the cluster of islands.
“There, they can’t see us or sail near us. They won’t know why, they will sail around us and not bother us.” she said. She turned to Fredrico, “We can’t help her standing on the shore, I will help you bring her, but I expect a thorough explanation as to why you thought you could bring a dead woman to my door and expect you to help you.”
She turned to the rest of the party. “Unfortunately, there is limited space in where we are going, and you cannot all come with. Everstar will lead you to the refugee area once she has finished her spell. We will come and get you once we know anything.”
“But, I need to come with you!” begged the mother. “I can’t leave my baby, she has to be buried… my poor child…” she started sobbing again.
“Mother, maybe you should rest. It’s been forever since we were on solid ground, the baby still needs you, Joseph and Sophia need you. Let’s eat and sleep, and let the women do their work.” soothed one of the men.
“I can stay with her, Mother.” said the young woman as she stepped forward.
“See, Lara will make sure everything is alright,” he soothed once more.
Begrudgingly, she nodded and the trio started up the hill to the Greenhouse.
“You couldn’t have gotten a better house than this?” asked Romeo.
“This is where the spirits have led me to live my life. The island is teeming with life, and if you expect me to bring her restore her there is no better place.” she tried to look at the building with the eyes of an outsider. It was lush with vegetation, but was it over grown? Not that it mattered, she wouldn’t harm the plants for something as trivial as vanity.
“Wait, you’re going to bring her back to life? But she’s dead! That’s dark magic! I can’t let you do that to my sister and her child!” the young woman argued, stopping in her tracks.
“There is nothing wrong about restoring a life as long as it was taken unjustly. Fredrico, you know my rules, and the rules of the spirits. If I am to have their favor I must abide by them. Was she killed unjustly?” Midshore questioned.
“Yes, by a knight of the Templar.” he answered.
A shiver of hatred ran down her spine. So many of the refugees on the islands were fleeing from either the military of the mainland, or the religion of it. The Templar knights were in the crux of both evil things.
“Is she loved here?” asked Midshore.
“Deeply, not only by the people left on the shore, but also by her… I don’t know if they had a label, mate? The father of her child, Creator rest his soul.”
“He isn’t here? She inquired. “That’s too bad, if he is passed on it will be harder for her to return to the living. Final question: has she been dead for five days or less?”
Fredrico paused and thought, panic flashing over his eyes for a moment. “I think she may be, but she would want to live for her child. She wants to live for her family and to see a better tomorrow.”
“Fredrico- You know that it is nearly impossible to restore a soul that is that long gone!” she was nearly yelling at this point, furious that he would try and pull this again. “The last time I tried to restore a soul that was a week old on my own because the spirits wouldn’t help and I nearly restored a monster instead! After I reversed the ritual the spirits didn’t talk with me for nearly a month!”
“Look, I’m sorry about the last time, I really am. I had the best of intentions, but Veronica was kinda mean to begin with…” Fredrico tried to defend himself.
“Veronica was speaking in tongues on my alter and had red eyes when I was done!” She visibly reeled herself in. When she spoke next, her voice was calmer. “How long has she been gone?” she asked.
“Maybe six days. Probably five. I tried to sail as quickly as I could, I swear, but with so many people on the boats they were slow. We nearly starved a few times, we barely had enough water-”
“I don’t need the story, I need Everstar and I need to get this woman to the altar. If we are to restore her and her child, we should act quickly.” Midshore interrupted calmly in an even tone. Even when being impolite she was polite.
She walked down the path and around the side of the greenhouse and a glowing, molting arch stood before them. Midshore casually walked through it, as did Romeo, but Lara was hesitant. They had disappeared into it, dissolving like a drop of ink into a bucket of water. But they had brought Anwyn with them, and Lara would go where she did, so under the arch she walked.
Midshore noticed that the young woman was having trouble wrapping her head around the events that were happening, but she was too occupied to explain right now.
“I need her laid on the altar. Goodness, Fredrico, what is she wearing? Where are her clothes?”
“Her clothes were torn, so I wrapped her in my own shirt and part of a flap tent.” he said meekly.
“Alright then.” she accepted. She looked at the face of the woman. She looked familiar, as if she could barely remember seeing her in a dream. The smallest of threads of life she had remaining were delicate and frail, but Midshore could sense them. “It’s nearly the end of five days, we must act quickly. Fredrico, shout for Everstart right away. Girl-” she turned to the young woman, “I need you to change, we’re going to be using you as an anchor. You appear to be her sister, you will guide her back stronger than anyone else here. Her string curves towards you. Get changed.” Romeo left right away, dashing out the door to summon Everstar
“You want to involve me in your strange magic?” she nearly spat the last word, as if she couldn’t believe she was saying it. “You want to dirty my soul too? Necromancy is a dark art, I would be barred from the afterlife.” she looked disgusted and alarmed.
“Child, necromancy is fixing the job that doctors fail at. Some forms of necromancy do center around the use of dark magic, but I use life magic. The world is unbalanced when a good person dies at the hands of evil, and I am going to try and restore that balance.
“The Church was the one to tell you what is good and what is not, and yet they are the reason for many deaths. They don’t want their opposition coming back once they’ve squashed them, but here on the islands people live in harmony and free from the Church. As someone who has talked to the other side and restored souls to their bodies, I assure you that participating in life magic will not barr you from the afterlife. Now, go and change!” she pointed the girl in the direction of her chambers.
As Lara scurried away, Fredrico walked back into the ceremony room. “You never have gotten over your temper, have you?” he asked.
“I try very hard to not let it surface, and most of the time I am successful. However, I wasn’t prepared to have so many… inexperienced guests. Or even the experienced ones.” she said, glancing at him.
“So… who’s the brunette?” he asked. “Your spiritual sister, like nuns?”
“She’s my wife.” she said plainly.
“Wife?” Romeo raised his eyebrow. “I guess the islands are as accepting as I’ve heard. Kinda hot, having a wife.” he teased.
“You wouldn’t understand. You are a bachelor, probably always will be. What you and I tried didn’t work, I found something better. Besides, that was ages ago. I’ve grown since then, I hope you have too.”
The young woman opened the door wearing a blue ombre dress. “I see you found the dress, but we need to make sure you wear the right makeup and your hair is right. And you need tattoos too. Don’t worry, these won’t be permanent. The spirits get fussy over these things.”
She let down Lara’s hair and found a matching blue flower crown. With a wave of her hand, Lara was now wearing glittering makeup that pulled the whole ensemble together. With a twirl, Midshore was wearing a similar outfit, and Everstar appeared behind them in the same. They looked like beautiful goddesses, and Romeo hoped that the spirits would aid them in returning Anwyn to the land of the living.
“When this is done, I expect to hear about how this all happened and why you’re here.” Midshore said again, before all three of them entered the ceremony room to begin the restoration. “You aren’t allowed in here, her life string curves away from you. You hurt her somehow, and you won’t encourage her to return.”
“But-” he looked afraid where he had been joking minutes earlier. “I have to protect her. I- this is all my fault. I can’t let her go without helping to bring her back, I need to reverse what I’ve done, I can’t let it end this way-” he started hyperventilating.
“Fredrico, relax. You can pray, focus on asking forgiveness from the spirits. We will do everything that we can.”
He nodded, but looked miserable. He normally looked like he was suave, now he looked like he was torn to shreds. He left the ceremony room and shut the door behind him.
“What is your name, my dear?” she asked the sister.
“Lara. I’m her sister.” she responded.
“I can see that.” Midshore smiled. “Kneel at the foot of the altar, we and we will begin.”
The girl moved to her position, And Midshore and Everstar stood on either side of the altar, focusing their powers.
Midshore turned back to the woman on the altar, admiring her face. She had an unfortunate scar on her face, clearly from a years old injury. She had gone through much hardship, and Midshore felt that she was the one that had been the source of the disturbance. She held so much pain and had now passed it on to her family. To revive such a soul would be good for living, but would it be good for the returning soul?
Lara watched as they performed the ritual, and the light in the room became much more blue. The room seemed to be adorned in blue, with blue flowers, blue crystals, and blue runes on the floor.
The two women seemed to be in a trance as they moved their arms. At one point, they strode around the altar in a clockwise motion, trading places. Midshore seemed to be leading the ritual, and Everstar was following slightly. Lara wondered how many ‘restorations’ they did and how practiced they were.
With a start, Lara noticed that Anwyn was starting to levitate from the altar, arched backwards as if being lifted by the waist.
Lara looked over to Midshore, who had her head bent in concentration. Was she doing it? How was she doing it? There were no strings attached to Anwyn, how was she being raised?
The two women stepped closer to Anwyn, lifting their arms and start chanting. Before this they had been nearly silent, just muttering incantations under their breath, but now they nearly were singing a hymn.
Suddenly the lights went dark blue, and Lara felt the air stir, almost like a fall vortex where you can see the leaves turning in circles when the wind bounces off of the walls and makes the leaves dance.
The two women seemed oblivious to the change in lighting, continuing with their eyes shut and arms raised. Anwyn bobbed up and down gently, though the wind in the room became stronger.
Lara continued kneeling on the hard ground, listening to the rhythmic, nearly monotone drone of their voices, and as the wind died down, so did their chants. The two women lowered their arms and put their palms and fingertips together, opening their eyes and looking at each other.
Anwyn returned to her original position on the altar and nothing moved. The two women, who had been moving constantly for since it had begun stood statue still, then they lowered their heads and hands, as if they were curtsying.
They appeared to be praying, pleading silently with their spirits to aid them.
As suddenly as the lighting had turned blue, it became a brilliant bright gold. Lara teared up with the brightness, and with the emotion of the whole ordeal. Anwyn, Annie come back. Come back to us.
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