Achlys screamed. The spectral form of the knight vanished beneath her. She fell to the sand, the remnants of his iron armor clattering down around her. Piece by piece, these too began to fade back into mist, but the spear that had pierced the knight remained. Achlys tried to cry for help, but no sound came out. All the air had been knocked from her lungs. Her eyes, wide with terror, followed the shaft of the weapon, looking back to who had thrown it.

There, standing further down the beach was a spectral woman pierced through her core by a phosphorescent spear. Tall, grim, and lithe, she carried an imposing air of steeled focus, like a falcon tracking its prey. She approached Achlys with steps so light that they did not even disturb the sands. A cold fire burned in the specter's blue eyes but Achlys was powerless to discern the emotion in them. The grim specter held out her hand. The spear in the sand vanished, only to appear in her hand a moment later. As she examined the length of her weapon, she only now noticed the trembling child cowering within spear's reach.

Achlys crawled backwards. Terror made her mind clouded and she found herself unable to speak. The wraith loomed over her with a fixated gaze that didn't so much look at her as it did into her. Around the outskirts of the beach Achlys could see several lesser wraiths, drawn to her intense fear. She longed to reach out to them, draw them to her and have them ferry her away, but much like her, they were wary of the greater undead and kept their distance from her.

"Child." The wraith's tone was as cold and uncompromising as steel.

Only after being addressed by the Spearmaiden did Achlys finally regain her presence of mind to speak.

"No!" she cried, "go away!"

The woman knelt down before Achlys.

"You accompanied one of the betrayers," her cold voice echoed, "why?"

"What?" Achlys stammered, "what a betrayer? Who is? I was with a knight."

Displeased by the child's answer, the specter snatched Achlys by the front of her dress and pulled her closer. Achlys's head snapped forward under the forceful apprehension and she grunted in pain. She looked up at the aggressive specter and her blood turned to ice in her veins.

"He was a betrayer," the wraith snarled, "a murder, a back stabber. He defiled the land with his presence. We despise his kind!"

"I don't know," Achlys whimpered.

"We shall judge."

The woman's glare was so intense Achlys would have sworn her heart stopped under it. All her hair stood on end, covering her body in prickly goosebumps. Her breathing grew shallow and she thought she could see puffs of her breath, as though the air itself was also chilled by this specter's presence. But despite her fear, Achlys couldn't bring herself to break eye contact with the entity holding her. She was spellbound and part of her seemed to understand that her very soul was being examined by the burning gaze.

After an agonizing minute, the wraith released Achlys, who immediately scrambled back out of arm's reach. She pulled her legs up and curled her arms inward to protect herself and cautiously watched to see if the glowing woman was to make another move at her, but it didn't happen. The Spearmaiden stayed kneeling, her expression towards Achlys having shifted from one of harshness to mild interest.

"Your soul bears no stains, child. Such innocence is rare."

Achlys didn't respond, but remained curled up and quiet. Though the woman's words sounded positive, Achlys was afraid of accidentally doing anything to rekindle the wraith's wrath. And so, in silence Achlys sat as the wraith continued to speak.

"Nor was any desire for vengeance found within you. This too is rare."

Achlys nodded along, hoping that agreeing with the spirit would pacify her and eventually result in her going away, but she had no such luck for now.

"Do you understand, child?"

"No," she timidly replied.

As terrified as Achlys was of this wraith, she was more afraid of what would happen if she didn't answer her question.

"You are young," the Spearmaiden said, "no blood stains your hands. This guiltlessness is precious. Avoid betrayers like the knight, for they will despoil your innocence with their presence alone."

"Okay," Achlys said, trying to appease the wraith.

The glowing maiden appeared to accept this answer with a simple nod. Then, in one elegant motion, she lifted herself back up to her fully height and turned away from the child. At the sight of her back and the multiple shafts of ancient weapons protruding from it, Achlys gasped. Even through her own fear, a pang of sorrow crossed her heart as she beheld the broken armor, rent open from ancient betrayal.

"Who are you?" Achlys heard herself asking without thinking.

The specter turned back, looking down at her one last time.

"We are Vengeance."

And then she was gone.

Achlys pulled herself to her feet as quickly as she was able to. Now that the stronger specter had departed, it wouldn't be long before the weaker ones would approach her. As she had predicted, it wasn't a minute before the first of the dark shapes came slithering out from hiding. Achlys didn't hesitate, and once the shrouded figure was within the reach of her magic, she lashed it to her. It struggled against her, but her desire to flee the beach was so great that the wraith quickly submitted to her will and became subdued.

Three spirits she bound to herself in this manner. With her new guards, she began her long walk on the beach towards Helia, its distant glow her only indication of where home was. An hour silently slipped by, and her destination appeared no closer. Little feet, as it turned out, did not cross sand as effectively as the long stride of a horse.

Achlys was growing tired, but she knew she could not stop. She grabbed the largest of the three spirits and tried to pull herself up onto it to piggyback a ride. The wraith hissed in displeasure as Achlys bound herself to it more tightly, as she had with the knight earlier, and wrapped her legs around where the wraith's waist might have been in life. She gave the undead a soft pat on the shoulder and whispered a shushing sound to it. Her head drooped into the inky form of its shroud. It was cold, like sticking your head into a bucket of ice water, and it shocked Achlys back awake. She gave a weary command to press forward down the beach and off they went.

It was slow but steady going. As their procession made its way down the beach, Achlys finally recognized something familiar. Up ahead the cliffs came almost to the water's edge. Achlys pointed to the narrow strip of sand between the rocky wall and the ocean and commanded the spirits hasten their travels. Unlike her, the wraiths didn't tire and they ferried her along the rocky corner and beheld a secluded cove with a small, spectral dock, its wood having completely rotted away centuries ago, protruding into the water. At the end of the dock, a lone phantom sat fishing.

"Katherine!" Achlys called out.

She raised her arms to signal her friend, but in doing so, she lost her grip on the wraith she was riding and fell off. With a whimper, she splashed into the shallow water. Achlys pulled herself upright, but she had become too exhausted to maintain her grip on the wraiths and her magic began to slip away. The smaller two wraiths fled as soon as they were able to wiggle free of her grip, but the third turned and looked down at its former rider with hunger in its smoldering eyes. It never got the chance to open its maw.

Kathrine skipped across the water's surface, making her away to Achlys's side in an instant. She drove off the other wraith with a whack of her fishing pole and scooped up the young girl into her lap. Katherine wrapped her friend close in a damp embrace. Achlys clutched the heavy fabric of Katherine's fishing coat like her life depended on it.

"Achlys," Katherine asked, "what happened? Are you hurt?"

"The angry man took me," Achlys moaned, "then there was a knight but he got hurt. Then there was a scary wraith. She was vengeance."

Katherine nodded, cuddling Achlys closely as she listened. The young girl was sniffling into her friend's shoulder as she spoke.

"Now I'm lost and tired and cold. I was scared."

"Not anymore. I've got you."

"Thank you."

Achlys steadied her breathing.

"Katherine?"

"Yes."

"I want to go home."

"I can bring you back. You found me when I was lost in darkness, now I will always be here to help you."

"Always?"

"Always. Now, let's get you home."

Katherine picked up Achlys and helped the girl to wrap her exhausted arms around her shoulders. With the greatest care, the wraith began the trek back to the cathedral. Her ethereal feet unfailing, Katherine climbed up the crumbling path carved into the cliff side with ease. At the top, the wraith scanned the ruined landscape. Much of her mind was still lost to the Mist, but with Achlys close, remembering things was easier.

"Is that the way to the cathedral?" she asked.

Achlys followed the direction Katherine was pointing; inland and up towards a hill. She nodded.

"Up the hill," Achlys agreed, "past the glowing trees, past the graves, and through the gate."

"It sounds like you know the way," Katherine encouraged in a comforting tone.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask you another question, Achlys?"

"Yeah."

"While you were out there, did you see my sister? I still haven't found her and I am worried that the people from the strange ships might hurt her."

"No, I not seen her."

"Oh, okay. Will you help me look for her someday?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"What does she look like?"

"I – I can't remember."

"It okay. I will help with that too."

"Thank you, Achlys."

Up the hill they went. Between their two memories, they were able to find the path towards the cathedral. They passed an old apple orchard, the dead branches still filled with glowing apparitions of the fruit they used to bare. The graveyard was next. Despite its age, it was in better condition than most locations on the Isles, as Karthus had taken great care to preserve the final resting places of the dead. This made the path through the graveyard an easy one to follow and soon the cathedral loomed ahead. Achlys's eyes welled up at the sight of the grim building and she let out a sigh.

"You don't need to cry," Katherine said, "see, we made it back. You are safe, Achlys."

"Yes. Home. Thank you."

Katherine let Achlys down. Immediately, she began walking around the cathedral calling out for Karthus.

"Father! Father!"

After a few minutes of searching, Achlys sat down on the steps of the cathedral and began to whimper.

"Father is not here."

"He will come back, Achlys. He told me there is nothing to fear. Would you like me to wait with you?"

"Yes please."

"I will stay with you. While we wait, can I try to remember my sister?"

"Yes. I will help."

Achlys reached out and held Katherine's hand.

"I am glad I have you as a friend, Achlys."

"Me too."

Greetings Summoners,

Kalista has finally shown herself. Let me know what you all think. Are there any more denizens of the Isles you would like to see make an appearance? Feedback is always appreciated. There are also a few additional things I would like to mention. One is that I have a Twitter, and if you follow it you would have seen my announcement that I plan on posting 5 chapters of Deathsinger next month. Yay! Second, I now have accounts on websites that allow you to support independent creators. Links can be found on my Twitter page. If you decide to support me, not only will you receive some wholesome platonic love, but you will also gain access to chapters of Deathsinger a month early. And yes, that does mean that all 5 of the next Deathsinger chapter are available right now to go read. So if you want to binge some Karthus goodness, please consider backing me, even if it's only for a month. My stomach will thank you. Best of luck on the Rift.

- Gwoo