Kethril by John H. Carroll Read Free Book Online

purple balls of light appeared and danced
above as they walked.
     
    ***
     
    They were everywhere, taunting him. Sir
Danth watched another battered spirit floating through the trees.
He had been following them for the past five days since reaching
the Lost Road Inn, stopping only to leave markers and set up camps
for the party.
    Here in the Willden Forest where the Kingdom
of Morhain had once existed, the ghosts of his people wandered
through the trees. The sight of them was causing Sir Danth to
panic. The knight’s armor blessed him with magical vision allowing
him to see things out of the normal realm, like magical runes or
invisible creatures. He could also tell when there was a ghost in a
building, or even if remnants of strong emotion remained in an area
such as a battlefield
    He hadn’t known about the roaming phantoms
while standing guard in front of the vault for so long, but after
leaving that lonely place and traveling through the forest, he had
become aware of them. At first, they were random movements and
lights to the side and behind him. Sir Danth preferred to look
straight ahead like living people did, but could see in every
direction at once when he wanted to. At times, in the dark cave, he
would spin his vision around in circles as fast as he could while
standing still. Without a body to experience vertigo, it didn’t
make him sick, although it was hard to stop the spinning if he did
it for too long.
    As the companions traveled from Aaltdiin to
Brondaggiin, the scattered movements were less frequent, so Sir
Danth chalked it down to effects created by being able to see the
sky, sun and moons after so long in the darkness. When they
re-appeared a few days after leaving the influence of Mother Tree,
he still didn’t think anything of it.
    When they went back into the forest after
Puujan to tell Mother Tree about the Rojuun, the lights and
movement had reappeared. They were stronger away from Mother Tree
and nowhere to be seen when near her. Sir Danth debated asking his
companions if they saw it too, but they had other concerns and he
didn’t want to make them unhappy. The knight needed them. He had
lost his mind more than once while guarding the vault and they were
the only thing keeping him from losing it again.
    After rescuing the princess and escaping
from the Rojuun caverns, Sir Danth had seen the movements again,
only they weren’t just movements anymore. There was a blurred ghost
standing at the edge of the river along the Lost Road upon exiting
that last cave. When he walked toward it, the apparition had
disappeared. There were more ghosts along the road, but the knight
was never able to get near. If he left his companions, he could get
a little bit closer. The more he focused on each one, the more the
blurriness would go away.
    The specters bothered the knight a great
deal. He didn’t understand why he could see them and his friends
could not. Vevin was a dragon, so perhaps he just didn’t care about
human spirits. Liselle looked at the good in everything, so maybe
she didn’t see tortured spirits. Tathan should have spotted
them. He could see darkness, pain and suffering in people. Sir
Danth didn’t know why, but recognized the quality and liked Tathan
for it.
    When the party reached the Willden, the
spirits had become more numerous. They were wandering through the
trees, not as movements or lights, but as full-bodied phantoms.
They were also much clearer and Sir Danth could see the tattered
clothing and bent limbs as they searched for whatever they were
looking for.
    Still, the ghosts never came close to the
party. Sir Danth spent some time contemplating why and he would go
into the forest each night to study them. Early one morning,
Liselle had come to find him while Tathan and Vevin were practicing
some wrestling moves. When she approached the knight, the phantoms
disappeared. Sir Danth took a closer look at Liselle and realized
her aura was pure and dazzling, preventing the apparitions