"Read a book, Father! Read a book!" Achlys chanted while holding a book above her head, "read a book, Father! Read a book!"
"What book have you brought tonight?" Karthus responded.
He held out his hands, into which Achlys excitedly thrust the book. From the binding, Karthus immediately knew that the book was one of the ones he had written for Achlys, and by seeing how well-worn the corners were, he knew which one it was.
"The Three Clever Wraiths!" she cheered.
"This is your favorite."
"Yeah!"
Karthus levitated down to the carpet so that Achlys could climb up into his lap. She leaned back against his chest and held up to the book. Taking it, Karthus opened to the title and held it before them.
"I will hold the book," Karthus said, "if you will turn the pages."
"Can do!" Achlys chirped.
"The Three Clever Wraiths," Karthus began.
Once upon a time, there lived three people. Then they died. But they were lucky. They had died during a Harrowing and were transformed by the Mist into three wraiths. Now blessed, they came to dwell on the Isles. Their names were Casimiro, Alba, and Kasparas.
One day, when the Black Mist was swirling in the sky above, they decided to go for a walk in the woods. The old trees stood tall. These woods were made of both dead trees, with their bright blue leaves, and living trees, with dark green leaves. The wraiths were happy to go for their walk, but they stopped before entering the forest.
"We must be careful," Casimiro said, "the woods can be dangerous."
"Do not worry," Alba replied, "we are clever."
"Yes," Kasparas agreed, "we know how to be safe."
"Then we are ready to go into the woods," Casimiro said.
One, two, three, the wraiths went into the woods. In the trees, the spirits of birds sang. The wind rustled the branches and stirred the spider webs nestled in them. Pale, ghostly, flowers poked through the ground. It was peaceful.
But their walk was interrupted. There was another wraith standing in the path. It looked like a big wolf with shaggy fur and boney paws. It growled as the three wraiths came close to it.
"Look at the claws," Casimiro warned as pointed at the wolf's feet, "they could slash us back to Mist."
"If we are destroyed, we will reform," Alba comforted, "that is a blessing of this land."
"But what if I do not want to reform?" Casimiro asked.
"I will solve this problem because I am clever," Kasparas said, "I can use magic on the wolf. Watch."
Kasparas stepped forward. He held up his hands. They began to glow blue with magic.
"Hello wolf," he said, "we do not want to hurt you and we do not want to be hurt, but we need to get past you."
As the clever wraith spoke, he reached out to the wolf with his magic. The magic passed over the wolf, making it glow brighter. Then, the wolf stopped growling and instead lowered its head.
"Please," Kasparas said, "let us pass."
The wolf moved off the path and went over to rest below a tree. The wraiths passed and not one of them was hurt.
"Thank you," they all said to the wolf.
Kasparas let go of his magic over the wolf.
"You are free again," he said to the wolf, "be at peace."
And the wolf was.
"I can do that" Achlys chimed in, balefire springing to her fingers as she spoke, "I have magic like that. Hold and calm and be good to wraiths."
"I know you can," Karthus said, "that is because you are also very clever."
Achlys smiled. She ran her fingers, still alight, over Karthus's illustration of a wolf.
"Pet the wolf, pet the wolf," she chanted, "can we get one?"
"Maybe we can when you are older and are able to fully control it yourself. But for now, let us continue the story."
"Yeah."
Deeper into the woods they walked. The trees grew closer together. Their branches crossed over each other, creating a dark canopy that hid the sky from the wraiths. But they were not afraid. There was beauty in this darkness. The light of their spectral forms glowed brighter, and wherever they went, the forest glowed like a dream. The spirits of fireflies blinked in and out, surrounding them like stars, pale blue leaves reappeared on the trees they touched, and glowing mushrooms peeked out at them from the petrified underbrush. Memories of the olds woods awakened and ghostly remnants of what was once there returned in their presence.
"It is wonderful to know," Alba said, "that we never need to fear the dark."
The other two wraiths nodded in agreement.
Soon the three wraiths came upon a river. The water rushed before them, bubbling and splashing. Around its bank, living plants grew. In these reeds, a thorny toad hid. It croaked loudly as the wraiths approached.
"Be careful. The water is moving quickly," Casimiro said, "if we fall in we will get swept away."
"Then we will fly over it," Kasparas answered.
"But you used your magic," Casimiro said, "you may be more tired than you know. You may fall down when flying. I do not want to see my friend swept away."
"We may not need to fly," Alba interrupted, "look over here."
The wraiths looked to where Alba pointed. The faint outline of a ghostly bridge was visible. As the other wraiths got closer, more of the bridge appeared and grew brighter.
"We can cross on this," Alba said.
"But how," Casimiro asked, "the magic of the three of us is not enough to form the bridge."
"We will need more wraiths," Kasparas said.
Alba nodded in agreement.
"I will solve this problem because I am clever," she said, "I will summon other spirits to us."
Alba raised her hands to the sky and let out a great cry. From every direction, wraiths came to her. They circled around her like a whirlpool. Alba smiled at the other spirits and spoke softly to them.
"Please," she asked politely, "will you help us? Gather along the bridge and together our magic will summon it. Then we can all cross in safety."
The other spirits agreed and followed Alba to the water's edge. At their presence, the bridge glowed brighter as their combined magic pulled it back into existence. Now they all could cross the river without risk of falling in. On the other side, Alba thanked the spirits that answered her call and released them.
"If there is something you cannot do on your own," Alba said as she watched the wraiths drift off into the woods, "you can always ask for help. There is no shame in it."
Her friends nodded in agreement.
"Can I do that?" Achlys asked.
"You have called wraiths to you before, but we should practice until you are able to do so reliably."
"Okay. I like to pra-prac-ice"
"Practice."
"Prac-tice magic."
"And I enjoy teaching you."
"Prac-tice magic after book?"
"Of course we may."
Achlys turned to the next page and Karthus continued reading.
The three wraiths were drawing close to the center of the forest. Here the woods were the darkest. Most of the trees here were still living and did not give off the same beautiful light that the petrified dead ones did. Even without the light of undeath, there were still many wonderful things to see. Kasparas tried to count all the green leaves growing on a tall oak tree. Alba watched the steady flapping of a butterfly's wings as it rested on a little white flower. Casimiro followed a rat he had startled out of the bushes as it scurried across the path.
They were all enjoying themselves, when suddenly there was a loud noise that sounded like the groan of dozens of trees bending in the wind. The leaves on the bushes rustled and the branches of the trees shook. Something big was coming right towards them.
"Did you hear that?" Casimiro asked.
"I did," Alba said, "is that what I think it is?"
"It is," Kasparas answered, "a treant."
The three looked at each other. All of them were frightened. They knew that the treant was a monster that they could not fight.
"My magic will not be enough to calm him," Kasparas lamented.
"And the monster is stronger than the other spirits I could call," Alba worried.
"Then there is only one safe choice," Casimiro said, "we must hide."
The three wraiths left the path and hid themselves in the branches of a dead tree. The ghostly glow of their bodies was hidden among the equally bright glow of leaves. From their hiding place, they watched as the brutish treant passed below them.
The monster's body was made of living wood and had a mane of green leaves encircling his head. Of its two arms, one was brutishly large, almost as big as the monster's chest, and it had a second face carved into it. But what was scariest of all was the color that his eyes glowed. They were a sharp blue, bright as the sky on a cloudless day.
The color burned brighter than the soothing light that the wraiths themselves glowed. The wraiths knew that this color meant that the treant possessed magic that could destroy. They knew to hide and run from anything that glowed that color.
Silently, the wraiths hid until the treant moved on. After they were sure the monster was gone, they climbed back down the tree.
"I am sorry," Casimiro said, "that all I could think of was hiding. I wish I had thought of something more clever than hiding."
"Do not be sorry," Kasparas said, "sometimes there are fights that cannot be won."
"It is cleverer to know when to hide or flee instead of fighting and being destroyed," Alba added.
Casimiro smiled. His friends smiled back at him. Having had their fill of adventure for the day, the three clever wraiths headed out of the forest and returned home. And they existed peacefully ever after. The End.
Achlys read the final words of the story at the same time as her father had.
"Do you understand why the wraiths in this story are clever," Karthus asked.
Achlys nodded. Karthus always asked this question every time they read this story and she knew the answers well by now.
"They are clever because they use magic, ask for help, and hide when they not able to fight or run away."
"Exactly correct," Karthus praised, "they were clever and able to survive. That is what I want for you. Practice your magic so you can grow strong, ask for help if you need it, and never be ashamed to hide that is what is needed to stay safe."
"I know."
"I know you do. That is because you are one clever girl."
"I am," Achlys smiled.
She closed the book and scurried off to put it back in her bookshelf.
"We go prac-tice magic now?" she asked when she returned.
"We can go practice," Karthus answered.
Achlys held her father's hand. She leaned her head against his arm as they walked.
"I love you," she said.
"I love too, my little one."
-Dedicated to my father, who I know will never read this because he only reads nonfiction, but still supports my passions. So much of this story is based off of the many things you and mom did while raising me. You have always encouraged my love of learning and reading. I will never forget the contentment I felt when I would walk around the house chanting "read a book dada" before bedtime and how you would tuck me in and read me a story, usually about dinosaurs. Thank you for raising me with love. Happy Father's Day.
-Gwoo