Flashback Break with the past Part 8

[Karsynwa]

6th - 7th of Spring, 490 AV

Leth’s face was almost full as they approached the bridge. There were only a few dark clouds across a bright, clear night sky. The stars were watching them as Karsynwa approached with a pea of light cupped between both hands. All along the journey Karsynwa had been afraid the soulmist would fade as quickly as it had before so he brought the supplies Zerous didn’t use. They hadn’t needed them yet, but they were ready just in case. Karsynwa wasn’t sure if there was a limit on the djed the concoction could absorb from his body each day so he supposed they were going to test that here too. He wanted to see a ghost, and this seemed like the best way to do that. Even if the supposed ghost of this bridge had a nasty reputation. Both of them had heard rumors that a woman had died here by falling of the bridge and now she lingered to haunt the spot. As the other boys would tell it, she would become particularly active at night to test the bravery of an unfortunate soul that passed by. If she found them lacking, she would send them off the edge as she had gone. Karsynwa couldn’t remember where he had first heard the story, just some tale made up by his classmates, but now that he was starting to dabble into spiritism, he was keen on testing if there was any weight to this rumor.

They approached the bridge cautiously, worried an adult would catch them. If that happened their parents would be sure to hear about it, and Karsynwa didn’t like to think about the punishments his parents could imagine. When they were sure the way was clear, the approached quietly, stepping slowly across the cobblestones until they reached the edge of the bridge. There Karsynwa set the bowl down, and then sat down. Zerous joined him after a fashion, though he sat a few feet farther back from the bridge. Rubbing his hands together, Karsynwa peered out into the night seeing nothing. He decided to call to it softly.

“We brought an offering if you want to come on out. We don’t mean any harm.” Karsynwa said, looking around as he spoke. His friend’s face spoke volumes. He didn’t like being out here any more than Karsynwa did, even though it had been his idea in the first place to come out to test the spirit. Karsynwa however was determined to see it through, despite his distaste. He nudged the bowl again.

“We brought you something you might like. I-” Karsynwa said, stopping when he thought he saw a faint flicker of mist. He blinked and it was gone. Chiding himself for just seeing the splashing of the falls, he looked again down the bridge, seeing it empty as it swayed to a gentle breeze. Karsynwa turned the bowl around between his hands. He turned to Zerous to see if he want to leave when he saw that the boy’s eyes were wide, and Karsynwa felt the prickle of hairs raising up on the back of his neck.

“Thanks boys.” A melodic voice intoned.

WC - 525

[Karsynwa]

Date, Season, Year

“Is this for me?” The feminine voice asked. Karsynwa turned to see what looked like a woman made up of a soft glowing mist. She was rather small of frame, with soft crinkles around the edges of her eyes and lips as she smiled gently. The woman was wearing a well worn green dress. She knelt before him as he looked upon her. His eyes met her warm brown ones as she leaned over the bowl. When he nodded which was about as much as he could do at the present moment, she tittered a laugh and reached out towards the bowl. Her hand trailed mist as it hovered over it, then the soulmist in the bowl merged with her own. As it did, her appearance sharpened so now it looked like she was solid now. Now she appeared as a three dimensional painting with a pretty smile. Karsynwa reached out to touch her and she did not shy away.

“Oh, I don’t know.” She said hesitantly, but there was something off about the way she said it. As his hand neared hers she became ethereal once more. Suddenly she was moving towards him. Karsynwa flinched back but he was too slow. Her mist flowed through his pores, sinking into his body. He slapped at his chest as she seemed to pull herself into him. It was ineffective. She kept on coming. A cold pervaded him, spreading through his insides. Zerous cried out something but Karsynwa could no longer hear him.

Shhhh.. A voice echoed inside of his head, and racked Karsynwa with an involuntary shudder. His arm spasmed. Then his leg. He was in control over none of it, couldn’t even feel his limbs anymore because of all the cold. Frighteningly enough his movements were getting more coordinated as he sat there. He was standing up now. Zerous was shuffling behind him. His foot took an awkward step forwards. He was panicking. Panicking and he couldn’t even do the breathing exercises to calm himself down. Though he could feel her breathing through him. Long shakey breaths through his mouths as she shuddered another step towards the bridge. Where was she going? He didn’t like this at all. This didn’t feel right. Karsynwa manged to clench the muscles of his throat. That was something at least. He thought about coughing her up like he had the soulmist. They were made of the same thing right? Zerous called out again something unintelligible.

Another step towards the bridge. His body was trembling with a sheen of sweat coating his skin. He focused on the area around his throat trying to blot the rest of it out without giving up the fight. There was a true fear in him now about what would happen if he stopped resisting. In his minds eye he felt his control extending up his neck towards his mouth, an pushed hard against the cold presences that roiled inside of him. She was no longer trying to talk to him now. He could tell that she was deep in concentration. Finally he managed to turn his head an look at Zerous.

WC - 522

[Karsynwa]

Date, Season, Year

It was like talking around gauze, but he managed to get the words out. “Hellp me.” Karsynwa said, his voice barely audible over a mumble. Zerous stepped forwards towards him before the ghost reasserted control and turned his head back forwards. She was headed towards the bridge. Wait, not the bridge. The edge of the cliff. His foot took another involuntary step forward. He was within two feet of the edge now. There he could see down the steep drop off opposite as if he didn’t already know what waited him below. Another two steps and- Arms wrapped around him, pulled him back even as his body fought to jerk away. Karsynwa fought harder to press this cold presence out of him as an unearthly shriek escaped his lips. They were rolling on the ground now. His arm jerked forwards, nailing Zerous on the chin. His friend came back with a kick, rolling him over onto his side. The pain made it harder to concentrate against the cold.

Zerous rolled on top of him, and pressed his knees against Karsynwa’s shoulders, pinning him to the earth. His limbs that were not his own to control tried to pry him off but Zerous had a good position. Inside Karsynwa felt elated as tried to imagine again the ghost’s presence as something to be manipulated like she was him. He imagined her control like the strings on a marionette. All he had to do was cut them and he would be free. Concentrating on his arm, he though of a force inside of him breaking her grasp. Feeling returned briefly to his fingertips. He gasped, and pressed again, harder this time. At last he was able to keep his arm from flailing at his friend. Her grip upon him was loosening. Quickly he sought to pry it loose further.

With everything he had he thought again of regurgitating her presence, expelling her like he did that bit of soulmist earlier. Real or imagined there was a queasy feeling in his stomach, a sudden lightness as he twisted his head to the side. Warmth spread through his other arm, and both of his legs as he regained control over them. He clenched his hands now and curled his toes as he fought to press her the rest of the way out of his body. Karsynwa forced a cough, then another that came with a loud belch. His head still turned to the side, his stomach heaved. A spout of mist came out. Unable to control it any further, he emptied the contents of his stomach out onto the ground beside him. The soulmist poured out as he did so to form a thick fog on the ground.

Zerous started to drag him away before he could even ask, and once he found his feet, he started running. They did not stop until they reached the Corra Apartments, and even then they did not linger long before going into their respective homes. Karsynwa’s mother was waiting for him.

WC - 504

[Karsynwa]

Date, Season, Year

In the back of the room his father snored quietly. His mother’s eyes were fiercely bright in the dark, reflecting the torchlight from the hallway back out at him. With one hand, she pushed on his chest till he was outside of their room. Then she closed the door behind them. Fear ran through him like wildfire. His heart still pounded from the encounter just chimes ago. Something in his mother’s expression softened seeing his fear illuminated in the torchlight. She sighed.

“Where have you been Karsynwa?” Synwa asked, her voice full of reproach. Karsynwa looked around nervously, but decided to be upfront about it as no secret was safe from his mother.

“I went down to the bridge to see the ghost there. I didn’t know she was going to try and take control of me. I only wanted to see if the soulmist recipe worked.” Karsynwa said, practically blurting it out. Confusion crossed his mother’s face, followed by a cold calm.

“Wait here. Do not disturb your father. I will be back.” Synwa said, her tone crisp as she started marching down the hallway. Hesitantly Karsynwa watched her depart for a chime before slowly opening the door to his home and closing it behind him. There were the soft sounds of his dad’s snores again. Karsynwa thought of going to his own bed, though that thought didn’t sit quite so well with him. His mind was racing and he wanted to do something about that. Needed to do something. The pantry. Karsynwa’s eyes flicked over to the cupboard. There was something he could do after all.

Very carefully he opened the metal doors that swung on greased hinges, and lifted out the supplies he would need one at a time. Once he had a small pile beside him, he got started, working as quietly as he could manage. Fortunately his father was a heavy sleeper because his quiet was not nearly so. Every time the flat in of the spoon ringed of the edge of the bowl, Karsynwa winced but his father did not wake up. He said a small prayer each time it was so, and couldn’t help but sigh in relief when he was almost done mixing the egg, flour and cheese together. Then he popped it into his mouth and started furiously chewing. It almost made him gag as the amount of material he used this time was far greater. It was hard to chew around the large ball of dough in his mouth. All he could manage was breathing in through his nose while he chewed the ball of dough into something that was more workable in his mouth.

While he chewed he thought about what it had felt like to have that ghost possess him. How her soulmist felt cold inside of his body, and how their contest of wills had went. That had been a different kind of exertion that he had ever felt before. Like wrestling a hard question only that was a poor analogy. He didn’t have a word for what it felt like to be controlled by that ghost. There was no describing it, not at least here in this moment with the thought so fresh in his mind.

WC - 540

[Karsynwa]

Date, Season, Year

Out of the frustration came the rage, honing his focus to a point. He went to find his wooden Lakan and imagined getting back at that ghost. His mother was out there now. While he didn’t know what her plan was he had an idea. She was not one to let sleeping dogs lie. Worry seeped in. Karsynwa remembered to visualize what he was trying to do with the soulmist. This time he was not trying to nourish, but use it to go no the attack. In a way her presence helped him to focus. Even now he still felt like he could feel the ghost in the pores of his skin, and he manipulated that feeling now into a weapon. Thought about smearing that soulmist onto his Lakan to use soulmist like the man in the journal had. Because of the ghost could finally relate to what the soulmist had felt like in his body, though his manipulation of that feeling left much to be desired. It was like trying to grasp mist. He had to shape it slowly which was hard while his mind was racing.

He knew it was time to spit it out when the texture changed slightly in his mouth, and he felt that uncomfortable coldness from before. It made him think of her. Spitting it out into the bowl, he saw he had made a small chunk of soulmist which he then proceeded to smear across the blade of his wooden lakan. The door opened, and closed. Karsynwa looked across to see his mother standing there, a frown set across her narrow features as she knelt down beside him.

“What are you doing?” Synwa asked, squinting at the mildly glowing substance he was coating the blade with.

“I’m covering it with soulmist so I can fight her.” Karsynwa said, trying to keep his voice quiet and steady. Neither worked exactly as his voice cracked. He brandished the blade to show her then watched as the light flared briefly before dissipating. Karsynwa frowned. That didn’t feel like it was supposed to happen.

“Put that foolishness away, and go to bed. We will talk more about this in the morning.” Synwa said, and then tussled his hair before going to bed. Reluctantly Karsynwa did as he was told, putting the materials away carefully before going to his cot clutching the Lakan. He would have to try harder. Keep trying until he made a weapon that he would be able to fight the ghost with. That journal was placed in his way for a reason so that he could rid Riverfall of that dangerous presence before it possessed another. He drifted asleep without really ever realizing it. When he woke up his mother was waiting for him, his father conspicuously absent.

“Alright ghost hunter. Lets hop to it.” Synwa said, nudging him out of bed with the butt of her bow. In response, Karsynwa got dressed quickly and quietly without looking at his mother much. He was afraid at what he might find on her face. When he had gotten dressed, she ushered them out of the door and down the hallway without a word.

“Where are we going?” Karsynwa asked, hesitation clear in his voice.

“You’ll see when we get there.” Synwa said.

WC - 547