Vur’s eyes shot open as a short scream woke him up from his dreams. He sat up and wrapped his arms around the sitting figure in his bed. “Tafel.”

Tears fell off Tafel’s face, staining her silken pajamas, as she let out muffled sobs. Her body shuddered and she buried herself in Vur’s embrace. “It’s not just a dream,” Tafel said, her voice cracking. “I can still hear them blaming me and cursing me.”

“Really?” Vur asked. “Can you see them?”

Tafel shook her head. “I can sense them. It wasn’t always like this,” she said. “It started when we came to the human capital.”

Vur frowned. “Hey, golden thing. Get out here.”

A sigh echoed through the room as a shimmering gold light appeared at the foot of their bed, bathing the dark room with a soft glow. “Do you need us to fetch you water again?” a distorted voice asked as a female face started to form.

“No. Actually…” Vur said and tilted his head. Tafel pinched him. “Never mind. Can you see any other spirits in the room?”

The golden figure nodded. “There’s a ton around you two. They seem very resentful. Very dark and depressed looking.”

“Did you see them before?” Vur asked as he narrowed his eyes.

The figure scratched her cheek. “Err… No?” she said. The rune on Vur’s forehead shone with a black light, counteracting the figure’s glow. “I mean yes! Yes! Please stop glowing like that.”

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Vur asked as his rune dimmed. “They’ve been here for a while, haven’t they?”

“We noticed them the first time we saw the demon girl,” the spirit said. “It’s not our responsibility to take care of a demon. Human souls wouldn’t possess someone like that unless they really resented them during their death. If anything, she deserves it.”

Tafel’s nails dug into Vur’s back as her body tensed. Vur glared at the golden spirit. “Get rid of them.”

The spirit took a step backwards. “We can’t do that,” she said and took another step. “It’s not within our capabilities. Honest.” She raised her hands above her chest. “Please don’t eat me.”

“Why?” Vur asked. “Aren’t you a bunch of spirits mashed together? Why can’t you take them too?”

“Mashed is such a crude description…” the spirit said and hung her head. “There are certain requirements for spirits to join us; these spirits don’t satisfy them. They’ve already attached themselves to a corporeal object and they’re filled to the brim with resentment. You’d have to placate them and convince them to leave the demon girl alone.”

“How?” Tafel asked. Her eyes were red and puffy.

“Well, it depends. What did you do to them?” the spirit asked as she flew closer to Tafel and made grabbing motions at the air. “We’re a bit curious. We haven’t seen such resentment since the village massacres.” Tafel bit her lip.

“If you did do something similar to a massacre, then there’s not much that can be done,” the spirit said as she made a releasing motion and flew back to the foot of the bed. “They’ll haunt you until you die and then they’ll try to consume your soul.”

“Can’t we just force them to leave?” Vur asked.

The figure snorted. “Do you know a necromancer?” she asked. “Just finding one is like finding a needle in a haystack and you want to have him cooperate with you?”

###################################################################

Tafel and Vur stood outside of a wooden door with the golden spirit floating behind them.

“Go inside and wake the person up,” Vur said to the spirit. Tafel gripped Vur’s hand and tilted her head.

“Why me?” the spirit muttered as she passed through the door. “Even relegating me to be a humanoid rooster.” Tafel and Vur disappeared in a silver flash of light and reappeared outside of the castle-like building.

“Should we really wake Auntie up like this?” Tafel asked.

“It’ll be fine,” Vur said as he walked backwards with Tafel.

A thunderbolt, that was as wide as a person was tall, struck the building and turned the night into day for three seconds. A terrified wail echoed through the air as the golden spirit rushed towards the sky through the hole left behind by the lightning. A hand made of hellfire shot out after her. She let out another shriek and dove towards Vur and Tafel. “Save me!”

Vur nodded. “Wait right here and I’ll stop it,” he said. The spirit hid behind them as the black flames approached the trio on the ground. Vur squeezed Tafel’s hand and the two of them disappeared, leaving the spirit behind. She whimpered as the flaming hand grabbed her, burning away her body until she was the size of a small bean. “Never again,” she said as golden tears streamed down her cheeks. “I never want to see him again. Someone else can deal with him.”

Lindyss’ eyes were bloodshot as a vortex of black flames surrounded her body. She snorted and the flames dispersed. Moments later, Tafel and Vur appeared in her room.

“Hi, Auntie,” Vur said with a smile.

Lindyss kicked him. “Auntie my ass. I told you to call me Lindyss,” she said. “And don’t send flamboyant, glitter spirits to wake me up ever again. I’ll destroy it for real next time.” She crossed her arms and plopped onto her bed. “What do you need?”

“Tafel has a lot of spirits haunting her,” Vur said. “The golden thing said that a necromancer could get rid of them.”

Lindyss nodded. “I can, yes,” she said. “I just need a suitable host for each spirit.” She closed her eyes and shuddered. A wave of mana washed over Vur and Tafel. After a minute past, Lindyss opened her eyes with a frown. “There’s too many spirits following you; at least five hundred, but I’m guessing a lot more. I can’t get an accurate count.”

“What’s a suitable host?” Vur asked.

“A corpse or skeleton without a soul lingering nearby,” Lindyss said. “I don’t have that many spares and animal bodies won’t work either unless they were imprinted during life.”

“Killing people to get rid of resentment caused by killing people?” Tafel asked and furrowed her brow.

“Eh? Just go raid a cemetery or two. Maybe ten,” Lindyss said and smiled. “I’m pretty sure the humans entomb all their clergy.”

“Isn’t that wrong?” Tafel asked and bit her lip. “It’d be like blaspheming the dead.”

“It’s fine. They’re dead,” Lindyss said and waved her hand. “And Vur is king after all.”

 

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