Chapter 43
W hen she finally makes it down there, she sees Jahar sitting there looking out the small window where the light casts in. There’s a body lying next to him, face down on the floor.
He must hear her approach, because he turns his head towards her, “Aza? What are you doing here?” His voice sounds anxious.
He’s roughed up, dirty, bruised.
“I came to get you out of here. Are you alright? What happened to him?”
“I’m alright now that you’re here.” Jahar smiles up at her, but the smile doesn’t quite meet his eyes, “He’s dead. Don’t worry about it. How did you find the keys? You need to get out of here.”
They move quickly to push the key in the lock and turn, opening the door.
She goes in to hug him, but he reaches out a hand to stop her, “Not right now. I am gross, and we need to get out of here now before you get in trouble.”
Aza nods in understanding, and they begin to sneak out of the dungeons, taking a back exit to the outside. Aza tells him that they need to go to the mountains. She quickly recaps everything Jaddah told her as they sneak to the horse stables. Aza grabs a horse.
“You go. I will meet you there.”
“No! I need you to come with me!”
“There is something I need to take care of. I promise I will be right behind you. It will be alright.”
“What if you get caught! I can’t! You won’t be able to find it; only I can.”
“They only caught me because I let them. I won’t let them find me and catch me this time. I promise. And nothing will stop me from finding you. I love you. Now go!”
Tears slip down Aza’s cheeks as she mounts her horse, “I love you more,” she whispers as she takes off.
It takes her nearly the whole day to get there.
Her stomach growled in hunger, but she ignored it.
Ignored her chapped lips. She felt sorry for this poor beast, but he did not falter.
Finally, in the distance, she saw the mountain line and a line of bushes filled with black roses; even the stems and bushes themselves were a dark grey.
She found a tree near the bushes and tied the horse's reins to it. Hoping that Jahar would notice the horse and know she was there somewhere. She would bet that he would try to follow in the steps of her horse, given that the sand didn’t shift much.
She then followed the path Jaddah had laid out for her. When she walks through the entrance in the rocks, she truly feels like she is stepping through a veil. She feels as if she were walking through a thick cloud, and her vision is swarmed with a glowing blue light.
On the other side of it, there was a small town surrounded by large rocks at least twenty feet tall with more dark grey vines and black roses growing up it.
There were four houses, made out of sandstone.
In the middle of the town was a large circular porcelain structure that held water.
It was at the height of her knees. She was drawn to the way the water sparkled in the light and went to look more closely at it.
In it, she saw her reflection, but behind her appeared many faces, broken, bloody, scared. Aza screams, stumbling back, away from the reflective surface, looking around her to make sure no one was truly there. But no one was.
Her scream, however, gained her attention.
A beautiful woman with silvery-white hair, wearing a white robe, stepped out of one of the houses.
She made her way down to Aza. Her posture and movement were so regal that Aza felt as if she were looking at royalty and felt lacking herself.
She stopped in front of the structure, standing across from Aza.
“Amiaza Rashidah. Welcome to the spirit veil. My name is Teiliana. I am the original spirit guide created by Death himself.”
Aza is filled with pure shock. The original spirit guide? She must be thousands of years old, but she doesn’t look any older than Aza.
Aza doesn’t even notice the two other girls who make their way to either side of Teiliana.
“These are my sisters, Elisa and Raewin.” She moves her hand in front of both of them as she introduces them.
“How may we assist you?”
“I-I came here for answers. About me, about being a spirit guide, about my mother. Please, help me. I beg you. I have lived my life ignorant of everything. I need to know how to live with this. What can I do?”
The woman named Teiliana begins, “Millenia ago, Death himself created spirit guides through a bargain that was forged.”
“Who would bargain with Death?”
“Me.” Teiliana announces firmly, “May I continue?”
“Y-yes. I am sorry. I meant no disrespect.”
Teiliana only nods her head at Aza and continues her story, “Death needed help collecting all the lost souls of the lands.
Souls who would not or could not move on.
Some have unfinished business that keeps them from moving on.
Some do not realize they have died and are stuck in a fear of the unknown.
Some hold such strong emotions that they stay tethered to the land.
Whatever it may be, spirit guides were created to help them cross over and lead them.
Spirits appear whenever they are in need of help, whether on purpose or by pure accident.
Some are such a menacing presence to the in-between world that they appear before a spirit guide for them to take care of the matter.
Spirits can also reach you more easily when you are experiencing strong emotions.
Spirit guides can interact verbally with the spirits, explaining to them that they have died and need to move on.
There are two types of interactions you can experience when in a dreamstate.
One being that you are seeing the past; you cannot interact with it, you can only see how events unfolded without being able to change them for they have already happened.
The other being spirits who are stuck reliving their pasts sneak into your dreamstate conscience.
Although this may be unsettling, seeing how one died might help you convince them to move on.
However, spirit guides should not interfere with the manners of the living at the spirit's request; nevertheless, they can sometimes take some measures to try to settle unfinished business, if needed. But it cannot be known that the dead asked them of it. Chaos would ensue if the population learned that certain people could talk to the dead. Order would fall.”
"Can the dead hurt me?"
"No child," Elisa starts, "Death's touch protects the spirit guides, so although they can see you and communicate with you, they cannot hurt you."
"How do I get them to leave me alone, to move on?"
Raewin answers, "I'm sure by now you have figured out ways to make them disappear from your view.
You can learn how to block them out for moments in time, but not forever.
That would not be what Death intended. As for them moving on, that is a decision they need to make on their own.
You do not have to take them somewhere or do anything particular.
You have to only work to convince them that they are dead, trapped in the in-between, no longer able to commune or interact with the living, and must move on to find peace. "
"What happened with my mom?"
"We cannot speak of her with you."
"Why not?"
"We do not speak of other spirit guides or the secrets of the dead," Teiliana informs her.
Aza huffs in frustration, "Can you speak of the living?"
"Within reason. What do you want to know?" Teiliana asks.
"King Abasi Soergelen. What can you tell me of him?”
"Do not say his name here, child!" Elisa scolds.
In the water's reflection, the surface turns cloudy, then blackens. Faces begin to pile up. Some covered in blood, some missing features or limbs, some crying, others with gaping mouths. Aza hears faint screaming coming from them.
"W-what is happening?"
"Shhh!" Raewin orders.
Teiliana waves her hands over the water's surface, chanting words Aza does not understand. Eventually, the faces dissipate, and the water clears.
"That man is evil incarnate. We cannot speak his name here. It upsets the spirits." Teiliana explains.
"Those are spirits? What is that water?"
"It is a sort of portal that lets us see lost souls, but if we are not careful, they can see us. We have a duty to Death to monitor the souls that are in the in-between. We can also see spirit guides through it, but we can’t interact with them nor they with us."
"Are there more spirit guides?"
"Yes, child. There are three just in your kingdom alone right now.
After we were chosen, our duty passed to our children, then to theirs, and so on.
Spirit guides can only have daughters, and they will always become spirit guides when they come of age.
Although that age depends on their growth and development, normally in their early teens. "
Three? They said ‘right now,’ so they don't mean Mama. Who is the third? Something I'll have to figure out later.
"Answer me one question about my mother. Did she come here to talk to you?"
"Yes," Teiliana says, but her sisters' faces show concern that she answered her question.
"What is this place anyway?"
"It is a sanctuary Death created for us. For we are immortal and needed a place of sanctuary where spirits cannot reach us and where we could help other spirit guides. Minus the few spirits we see in the water, of course." Elisa answers.
"Can I come back here to ask more questions if I need to?"
"Yes, child," Raewin assures.
"Okay. This is a lot to process. I need to think."
"Of course. Take your time." Teiliana reassures.
"Can I stay here? At least for the night?"
"Yes, that would be alright." Raewin assures her.
"Okay. Can my…” Aza didn’t quite know what to call him, fiancé? He did propose to her last night. Lover? Friend? “Can my friend come in? I’m sure he’s here by now. I trust him with my life.” She settled on a friend. She didn’t need to give away more than necessary to these people she did not know.
“There is no one outside.”