"Putting aside Kai and his tendency to corrupt people, I do have a serious point to make." Aswon sat back and waited for people to be quiet, fiddling with his cup of coffee. "We just carried out a mission that had some fairly horrible consequences for the natural world. I'm not saying I'd do it any differently, or that we did it on purpose – just that the effects on the area were bad. We killed a whole bunch of civilians – farmers, people at the airport, people driving through the area – innocents that had nothing to do with what went on. Not the soldiers – they knew exactly what they were signing up for. But the other people around, who were caught in the cloud from the explosion."
"But we saved a whole other bunch of people from getting shelled." Hunter pointed out.
"Yes, I know. And that's why I'd do it again. What I'm saying is that despite it being worth it in terms of the people saved, and the damage prevented elsewhere, there were still people killed here, and the land was being savaged – and that's bad. Bad morally, for all of us. But particularly bad for the four of us I'd say – those bound to our avatar in the group. And especially bad for Tads, given her totem and beliefs, and the background she comes from."
"This sounds very much like a 'you' problem, and is entirely far too focussed on mystic mumbo jumbo for me." Marius pushed his chair back and rose, quickly draining his cup before placing it neatly in the centre of his placemat. "I am going to spend some time upstairs relaxing with my wife and my son." He nodded to them politely, then headed upstairs, leaving them to get on with their magical discussions. Hunter pulled out a cable from his deck and slotted it into the jack on the side of his neck.
"Don't mind me, just surfing the matrix. Carry on…" He waved at Aswon. "Not like this is going to affect me much anyway."
"Very well – I think all of you are broadly in agreement with me anyway – at least about the impact of our actions, if not the reasons why we carried them out and if we'd do it again. But for the moment, I think we should focus on what we're going to do about it. I certainly do not want to meet our avatar without having made SOME efforts to make amends in some way."
"We could always go and fix that amusement park?"
"You've already suggested that. Why is it coming up again?" Aswon looked at Shimazu with genuine curiosity.
"Tads keeps asking about it for one thing. And it's not that far from here. And fixing that might help balance things out."
"I have something I need to do before we head out and do anything else. Will probably take me two days, maybe three… but I'm generally in favour of us going to examine the amusement park and fixing whatever's wrong there."
"I'm sure we can make that work ok." Kai looked at Tads to see if she'd elaborate on what she was planning on doing, but she just sipped at her soy-choc and stared at the wall. "Well, I'm a little worried about Aden personally. So maybe if we can do something to help clean the world up a lot, it might slow him down – or he'll kill us last…"
"I think Aden is the least of our worries when it comes to damage caused. Think about what he did to Tehran and how that has ended up." Tads said dryly.
"And besides – he told us to stop the shelling, and we did. Well, ok, we let what… four get fired? But given the timescales of the operation, that's pretty good going. I don't think we could have done much to get there and stop them any faster than we did, especially as they didn't turn up until after us." Aswon folded his arms defiantly. "And whatever that nutter Yez thinks, I'll stand by that." He looked around the table, seeing agreement from Shimazu, and at least acceptance from Kai – but strangely enough, Tads refused to meet his gaze, and he looked at her with concern for a moment.
"But none of that changes what we did to the land. Or the people." She said, quietly, after a moment.
"True enough. On that basis, I could get behind going to the amusement park – maybe declaring it as a deed to our avatar. If we go and deal with whatever horrible situation has arisen there, then perhaps we can address the scales somewhat, and try to bring some balance back." Aswon was glad to see Tads looking back up, making eye contact again. "We just need to work out what's in it for Hunter and Marius."
"Besides our charming company, wit and style, you mean?" Kai managed to get out before he had to duck to one side, to avoid the teaspoon Hunter had flicked at him. "So, just to be clear Aswon, you're not actually worried about Aden?"
"No, I'm not concerned about the dragon. He told us to do something, we did it as best we could. I ain't worried about him – I'm concerned about the stain on my soul…"
He was interrupted by a buzzing from the direction of Shimazu. His wrist comm buzzed again, and as Shimazu checked the number, he gave a smile.
"Saito! Thanks for calling. You… hang on, I never actually messaged you." Realisation caught up with him as he stared at the communicator in confusion. "Why have you called?"
"Hah! Just imagine if he called to ask us about getting a team over the border!" Kai joked.
"Shimazu – I've got a job that you might be able to help me with. There's a team of people need help with a border crossing, not far from you…" Shimazu glanced over at Kai, watching the smile freeze in place and then slowly slide off his face.
"Um… ok. Sorry, this is a bit surreal. But go on…"
"Well, there's a team of runners, and they're making their way north of Iran, but they've run into some problems, and really need an assist getting over the border."
"And your other team isn't available? The ones that helped us get over the border the other year?"
"The Moving Company? No, they're way over to the east, working in China at the moment."
"Shame. Well, let me guess. I don't suppose they're driving a small Suzuki off-road transport, are they?" Shimazu grinned at the sudden very long pause on the comm, watching as the tiny image of Saito gave him a very suspicious look.
"Maybe. Well, yes – but how did you know that?"
"Unfortunately, we've already been approached about this job by another fixer – someone local to us. And we've already turned it down as being unfeasible. We don't have a lift hook or the fixing point or whatever on the bottom of our vehicle, and we don't have a winch attached… and the four by four is too big to actually fit in our cargo hold. So unfortunately, as we can't fit it IN our vehicle, and we can't carry it UNDER our vehicle either, we had to knock the job back. Not for lack of wanting to – but we're just not kitted out for it."
"Ahh, I see. Well, that's a frakker. Oh, not you Shimazu – the situation. Alright, I'll go poking around some more – someone has to have some heavy lift capacity in the area, I'm sure."
"Oh, just before you go…" Shimazu said quickly, watching as Aswon furiously waved, then mouthed at him. "Right, sorry – just been reminded. We're off to go deal with a problem at an amusement park. I don't suppose you've any information on the Zuga-Zuga Boyev Amusement park in Turkmenabat, do you? Or could scare any up?"
"I can ask around. Just general information you're after?"
"Whatever you can get, if you can find a source. We suspect it's haunted, following some kind of accidents, but that's all we know."
"Ok, I'll look into it. Once I've found some lift capacity, that is…"
"Thanks, Saito. See ya." He waited for the link to terminate, then looked up and around at the others. "Well, that was weird."
"Yeah. This team must really want out of Iran." Aswon shrugged. "Of course, I can understand that – but they're hitting up multiple fixers to get some help."
"Maybe you should have asked how much. If it was a lot more than Germaine was asking, maybe we should take the job. People getting desperate are much more willing to spend their cash…"
"Not a good idea in my view. We've turned down Germaine – can you imagine how she'd react if we took the job from someone else to try and earn a bit more cash?" He shuddered, his dreadlocks vibrating violently as he imagined the scathing look and condemnation. "No thanks – I definitely want to keep on her good side – or at least neutral."
"I think you're right there, Aswon. But we can always go back to her and tell her we've reconsidered if it is possible. Tads – can you make that size vehicle invisible?"
"I could, yes. It's a separate entity to the tilt-wing, so I can cast a spell on it, without affecting us."
"So if we could sling it underneath us, we can make it disappear? Surely that's the end of it then?"
"No, not quite." Aswon stopped for a moment, trying to come up with an explanation for Kai. "Ok, look – Tads can make things invisible right – and she's pretty good at it." He held up his coffee mug then placed it behind the big coffee pot in the middle of the table. "Can you see it? No, course you can't – think of the big pot as Tad's invisibility spell. But…" He grabbed his spoon and started to gently tap on the side of his mug, the sound echoing around the room. "Can you tell that something is here?" He waited for Kai to nod. "Right… the spoon is radar. It's not a visual signal, not anything to do with light. So the invisibility spell doesn't affect it at all. You can't tell it's a mug maybe, but you know something is here…"
"And actually, just to extend his explanation, I CAN tell it's a mug. The way the sound echoes. Well, alright, a mug or a cup, no problem. I can even tell you roughly how big it is, by the way the sound waves reflect and echo." Hunter tapped the side of his head. "Spatial recogniser – great for mapping out underground chambers, mining tunnels – and apparently breakfast cups. Glad I got it implanted…" He rolled his eyes, then went back to browsing the matrix.
"Well, there you go – that's probably a really good analogy then. You can hear something with basic sensors and know it was something there. With better sensors, you can tell what it is – even though you can't see it. So even if Tads puts up an invisibility spell over it, radar or other sensors that don't work on light can still detect it, and report on that to the border patrols, to investigate further."
"Oh. Bugger. I was thinking we could maybe just get the hook mounted on the inside of the chopper or something, and just cut some holes in the floor to feed the cables or straps through. So it's not held up on the outside, but on the inside…"
"Kai – I tell you what. You go up and tell Marius that you're planning on cutting multiple holes in the airframe of his chopper, and if you can get back down the stairs without being shot, I'll… " He looked around the room for a moment, "I'll do the washing up and your laundry for a month." Kai thought about it for a moment, but declined to take the bet, which bought a wry smile to everyone's face – but his.
"We could… and I hate myself for even suggesting this… but we could try a different solution. One that doesn't involve cutting holes. If we dropped the back ramp and opened both side doors – maybe we could rig up a strap system around that." Kai made a small 'go on' gesture, and Aswon continued, with obvious reluctance. "Ok, imagine a strap out of the back. Probably two straps actually, dropping off either side of the ramp, so there's less strain on it. And two more straps slightly forward, one out of each door. That would give you four fixing points to sling a load underneath us. One more strap to join all four of those up in the cargo bay, and it might be doable. Risky as all hell though…"
"Why? I can see that working?" Kai did a quick sketch on his pad, and showed Aswon. "Something like that?"
"Yes, just like that. But we'd have to fly along with all three doors open. For one, that means a hole in the ward, on the port side. For two, that might make flying actually difficult for Marius due to the wind and the drag and the massive area of the tail ramp and stuff – I don't know about that, we'd have to ask him. But for three – that will make us horribly un-stealthy. We'd have openings in our sides that aren't covered in radar absorbent material, and that will massively mess with our electronic signature. Any sensors pointing our way are going to get returns from the INSIDE of our aircraft, rather than the outside, and that's going to look really weird on their screens. We'd be compromising our own ability to stay hidden, and we still wouldn't have solved the problem of how to hide the other vehicle."
"But it's possible?"
"Yes, it's possible. But you're placing an enormous load on Marius' shoulders to fly stealthily and well with an external load the bird was never meant to carry. And you're putting an equally massive load on Tads to try and magically hide all of this, carrying multiple overlapping spells to keep us hidden. That's a big risk for both of them, while the rest of us just tag along for the ride…"
"But could you do it?" Kai turned his attention to Tads, staring at her intently.
"I can try. I don't know how well I'd do. And if we do get spotted, remember I'm not a combat mage – I'm just not good in a fight. And I don't know how well Marius would be able to steer if we had a big weight hanging off our bottom. And if we get spotted, there's very little I can do whilst already holding up other spells."
"We'd be messing with the Iranian border patrols and guards, and then going into the waiting arms of Espirit corporate security forces. Remember we saw the air battle last year, when we were working for Maersk? They're no slouches… though perhaps if we got in touch with Johanna, she might be up for some payment if we were to mess up Espirit for her a little bit. That's got to help her out, if we can mess with her competitors a little."
"We keep assuming that we're flying them over? Is there any reason for that? Can't we just drive… and if so, could I not make their vehicle quiet and invisible, and we could create a diversion somewhere, while they crossed the border somewhere else?"
"Ahh – I don't think you were looking out when we crossed the border, Tads. From what I remember… actually, you will have seen something like it – when we crossed the Iranian border in the truck, on our way in. This border was a bit more rugged though – much better maintained. It was a nice high fence, with several rolls of razor wire piled up, one on top of another on either side of the fence. Then there was a wide cleared area, and another fence, just like the first. I'm pretty certain that the area between the two fences is going to be packed with mines that would make a ground crossing almost impossible, unless you're at an approved checkpoint. The only way to get over that kind of obstacle is to really go over it – flying. Not even getting up speed and hitting a ramp – I think for the distances involved you have to be actually airborne." Aswon thought back to their trip across the Iranian border and his close encounter with the large mines the Iranian government seemed to like burying in huge swathes.
"So, it really sounds like we're not going to be able to do it then…" Kai looked disappointed, but at least he'd now seemed to give up on the idea, and was going to let it go. "But that means we are free to go do the amusement park, right? Though why are we doing this again, Shimazu?"
"Because it's an amusement park that's haunted? It'll be fun?" He seemed a little unsure on the specifics, and glanced at Tads for support.
"Hey, I've been wanting to do this for more than a year. Suddenly you come along and mention it, and now we're doing it…" She answered Shimazu, but stared at Kai, giving him an annoyed look. "I mean, it's not like I've suggested it several times before, and always been ignored or over-ruled."
"Ahh, well then it was funnier…" Kai smiled and gave a very fake looking 'two thumbs up' gesture to Tads, trying to get her to smile – without success. "Ok, not funny then. But if we are going, how are we getting there?"
"We can take the truck – I can drive it. Assuming Marius doesn't explode…" Shimazu offered. "I'm not as good as he is, but I'm perfectly capable of driving us there and back. We've already driven the route several times before – on the way to the temple and stuff. Should be simple enough, apart from getting through Iran."
"Nah – we take the same route as we did getting out after Maersk. Get in touch with them and arrange transport as deck cargo on one of the oil tankers. Go from Baku across the Caspian, land at the terminal and then drive down the highway to Ashgabat, and onwards to the park." Aswon suggested. "Keeps us out of Iran and well away from the area, and a bit of downtime on the journey. And we can arrange the trip back the same way, too."
"Well, you can go without me." Hunter piped up again. "Bah, bollocks to this. I've been looking for somewhere nice for a holiday for the next two weeks, but so many places have such utter arses for their visa requirements or permits. I think I'll just stay here. No – in fact, I'll go up into the hills and do some camping."
"A holiday?" Aswon queried.
"Well, yeah. I'm gonna get frakked up the ass by that giant scaly bastard on the nineteenth. So I'm gonna enjoy myself before that. Ares frakked Marius, Aden's gonna frak me. Tell me he's not? Go on, I dare you – look me in the eye and tell me exactly what he's got planned for me!" Hunter stared at Aswon, who opened and closed his mouth several times. "Yeah, see. You don't know what he's gonna do, but I can tell you it's gonna be bad. I can just feel it."
"So you're staying here then? Not coming with us?" Kai checked.
"Yep – got no interest in going ghost-hunting. I'm not gonna be much help to you, so I'd rather stay here. You go sort your myffic shit out between you. I haven't got a stain on my soul, after all."
"Debatable." Aswon muttered under his breath, but probably still loud enough for Hunter to hear him – but the ork chose to ignore him. "Well, alright Hunter – do me a favour. Take your phone with you and check in, twice a day."
"What are you, my mum?"
"No – but we're in this team together. You know what happened when Shimazu went up there last. What happens if you fall down into a cave-in and break your legs. Ignore any creatures that might be down there – what if you've fallen twenty metres and shattered your leg, and can't climb out."
"Or what happens if you're out for a few nights, and someone does a tracking ritual on you, because you're outside the wards for long enough for them to get a lock." Tads suggested quietly. "And they manage to find you and send someone to get you…"
"That's a good point. I'd rather know within six hours that you've not checked in, rather than come back and find you've been missing a week and the trail is cold!"
"Fine, fine, whatever. Sure, I'll take comms and check in. Dawn and dusk, alright?" Hunter knew that Tads would be active then, calling on her spirits, which made it a logical time to communicate between them. Aswon nodded in agreement, and Hunter pulled the cable out from his jack port. "I'm gonna go pack a rucksack then. Or have a nice long bath – or something. You guys can crack on then…" He slid back his own chair, grabbed his deck and headed upstairs too, leaving the four magically active members of the team sitting around the table.
"I still need a few days, probably two, maybe three to take care of something." Tads reminded them. "But if you can take a bag of my stuff with you in the truck, I can catch up with you while you're on the way, probably. The rest of the team looked at her, but she declined to explain any further, and they didn't press the issue.
"Alright, sounds like we have a vague plan. Let me go call Maersk and see if we can swing a deal." Kai headed out into the back yard with his commlink, leaving the others to look at the route and make some plans. When he returned a few minutes later, he looked pleased. "Good news, folks. Got though, and got us passage there and back, just like last time. They'll crane the truck up onto the deck, and take us across the sea, seven hundred and fifty Nuyen each way. Same deal as before – keep out of the way of the crew, help repel any attacks. Seemed fair to me. And they've got a boat due late tomorrow afternoon, from Baku heading over the sea towards their facility that we can be on."
"So if we're leaving tomorrow afternoon, that's the second, the sailing would get us in on the evening of the third if I remember the voyage time right. Probably a while to offload, then we need to drive past Kum Dag…"
"We could stop in and say high to Johanna!" Kai interrupted with a grin.
"So we go PAST Kum Dag and not pick up any extra jobs we don't have time or resources for, and drive down to Ashgabat – that's a good few hundred klicks, so probably a half-day of travel there. But I remember we managed to get a motel room there last time. So then we leave there after a few hours rest, and get on the road again, towards Turkmenabat, which is probably another half-day of travel at least – so we're at the amusement park on the fifth. Couple of days to fix the hauntings, whatever that involves – say takes us up to the eighth. Gets us back to the oil terminal on the tenth, and allow a couple of days for a boat and travel back, so we're back here on the thirteenth. Worst case the fifteenth I'd say. Still plenty of time to get back to Aden." Aswon looked up to Tads. "Does that fit with whatever you have planned? Can you get to Turkmenabat by the fifth?"
"Yes, that should work fine." She nodded firmly. "Is this the plan then? If so I need to go and make preparations – the sooner I start, the sooner I'm back." She looked around and saw the other three nod, then excused herself and also headed upstairs to pack her travel bag and get a few supplies. She came down and placed the bag at the end of the table, then headed out into the yard; once there, she dropped down onto the ground cross-legged and started to meditate, opening her mind to the spirit realm and preparing to summon a spirit to her to aid her travels.
Shimazu caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and stared through the window, hand dropping to his sword hilt as an enormous spirit rippled into existence, distorting the air around it. His chair clattered back to the floor as he started to head towards the back door, stopping short as he saw Tads facing it, communing with it in some way. The others had turned as he'd shot up from the table, and were also looking at the spirit.
"That's much bigger than normal…"
"I'd say twice as large, at least. That's going to give her a headache, to be sure." Aswon grabbed a glass of water and dug out some painkillers from his belt pouch, then headed to the door, passing them over to Tads without a word. She popped the painkillers in her mouth and washed them down, passing back the empty glass with a smile of thanks, and Aswon came back inside. "Yeah, she's up to something – and expecting trouble by the looks of things."
"Do we ask her?" Kai suggested.
"No. If she wanted to tell us, she would. I think we have to trust her, and have a little faith."
They settled back in to planning their mission, occasionally checking on Tads who was now resting in the pale winter sunlight, apparently waiting for her headache to subside. About twenty minutes later, she opened the back door, but was careful to stay outside the house – not leaving the domain that she was in, and losing control of the spirit.
"I'm ready to head off now. Aswon – can you come out in a few minutes to grab my stuff?" He nodded at her and she gave them a cheery wave, then pulled the door closed and headed around the side of the house, out of line of sight. Aswon waited a second, then ran to the small window next to the trid-unit, and craned his head to peer out of it. A moment later he saw Tads move into view, and watched in confusion as she started to strip naked. She was facing away from him, and he didn't think she was aware that he was watching – but it still made him feel a little uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as not knowing what she was doing, though… She neatly folded her clothes and laid them out in a bundle, her badly-scarred skin starting to pucker as the chill wind bought up goosebumps all over her flesh. He saw the spell starting to form, mana drawing into her body and making her entire form glow for a moment in astral space, and then she began to twist and contort, shrinking in height – her arms elongating and growing a crop of long feathers, body changing shape and legs twisting around and becoming scaly. A few moments later, the transformation was complete – and the large Imperial Eagle hopped forwards a few times then let the massive wings beat, clawing for height as she remembered how to fly. Once she had a bit of altitude, she started to put some effort in, rapidly accelerating until she was probably travelling at a good forty kilometres per hour.
The spirit wrapped around her, engulfing her completely, conforming to her shape and forming a bubble around her beating wings and swept-back legs. With a flicker of power, the sky spirit used one of its natural abilities, enhancing the natural movement ability of the shaman. Aswon watched with a little touch of envy as she surged forwards, accelerating until she was a tiny dot that disappeared into the distance.
"Well, I don't know where she's going, but she's in a rush. Transformed into an eagle and headed off with a spirit to bolster her speed. Reckon that's why she's summoned one so big – she needed some major mojo." Aswon wondered again where she was going – and how far away it was. By his estimate she'd been easily topping three hundred kilometres per hour by the time he lost sight of her, and given the endurance birds of prey had, she could be going for quite some time. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind though, and went back to the table, working with the others on the list of supplies and equipment they needed to take.
Marius was surprisingly happy to let Shimazu take the truck – with only pro-forma threats of eternal doom for any scratches or damage – once he realised that it would give him anywhere from six up to ten days of relative peace and quiet with none of the team around to interfere with his quality time with his family. Packing their own gear as well the small bundle of supplies Tads had prepared, they headed up to Baku and to the port on the eastern side of the city, meeting up with the oil tanker there as it finished unloading its cargo of crude oil into the storage tanks that dominated the skyline next to the port, slowly emptying into the pipelines that ran across the Trans-Caucus League towards the Mediterranean Sea where it would be shipped on further west. The crane mounted on the deck of the ship lifted them up onto the deck, and they discovered it was the Emerald Queen – the same boat and crew that had carried them across the Caspian previously. As they landed on the deck, Chris Harris met them, giving each of them a cheery smile and a handshake. He was just as huge as they remembered, carrying the massive anchoring chains and tiedowns as if they were made of paper, and putting even Shimazu's physique to shame.
This time the voyage was quiet and uneventful – no Fuchi strike team moving to steal their cargo and divert the boat to a different port – and they chugged across the sea at a steady six knots, until the far shore came into view. They were unloaded just as efficiently and were soon on their way, driving down the two-lane blacktop highway, watching out for sand-drifts and bandits, and an especially sharp lookout for any ambushers high up on the sides of the road that might belong to the Wolf Tribe they'd encountered the year before. Hopefully if they were out there they might recognise and remember the truck, and know to leave it alone – but if not, the team would have to remind them of what had happened last time…
Their journey was smooth though, and they reached the walled enclave of Ashgabat, which hadn't changed since their list drive through. The poor were still crushingly poor, gathered in shanty-town like structures outside the wall, coping with the dust storms and freak weather as best they could, while the corporate middle class and elites sheltered inside the high walls, living in their ultra-modern glass and steel monoliths will all the modern conveniences of civilised life. The team managed to refuel their vehicle and stock up on chilled supplies though, before getting some rest and then pushing on further along the highway.
Leaving, they found themselves following two large articulated trucks, both having the appearance of being heavily armoured – though with no obvious weapons. Aswon pointed out that only meant they no doubt had concealed weapons or pop-up turrets, and to be careful! After following them for a while, they found one of the trucks calling them on the radio, using one of the general frequencies used for civilian communication, demanding to know who they were.
Kai chatted with the unknown caller, describing how they were carrying goods from the port west of Kum Dag and heading to Turkmenabat, trying to stay out of trouble and hoping to have a quiet journey through the wastelands. Initially the voice at the other side sounded suspicious, but Kai chatted away for a few minutes describing an entirely fictional history of his trucking company, throwing in some snippets of real life, such as their journey down this road when they'd been returning from the temple rescue. His story seemed to allay suspicion, and the team moved up to the two trucks, forming an impromptu convoy, sticking together as they travelled down the hundreds of kilometres of barren landscape.
As planned, they arrived at the city of Turkmenabat late on the fourth, bidding goodbye to their truck friends and heading into the city itself, leaving the highway behind. Skipping the airport which lay on the eastern side of the city but which no doubt had security assigned to patrol it and keep it under surveillance, they pressed on to the north side of the city, almost to the point of meeting back up with the highway. But here they found, a quiet area that had escaped development or urban sprawl, sandwiched between the highway to the west, a filthy canal to the north and a rail-track to the east. They pulled the truck up, worked out who was going to take which watch, and settled down for the evening. With luck, Tads would meet up with them in the morning, and they could move up to the amusement park, located just the other side of the highway and canal, in the daylight – which seemed a far better idea than investigating a site claimed to be haunted in the middle of the night…
Aswon gave a start as he heard something land on the front of the truck, and realised he'd zoned out somewhat during his watch – with nothing to see or do, and no noise, the boredom had dulled his senses to the point of just staring into the distance. But now he definitely had something to focus on – he stared at the large eagle standing on the bull-nose of the truck, swaying gently from side to side. It preened its feathers for a moment, then gave a small hop and a skip as it moved closer to the front window and tapped on it with its hook shaped beak. He slid over to the door and pushed it open, letting in a blast of chill air.
"Tads?" he ventured. The resulting 'caaaawwww' sounded quite definite. "I'll go and open the back door, your bag is back there…" He heard another cry, but was already pulling the door shut, swinging the heavily armoured panel back into place before he squeezed through the small doorway into the back. Shimazu and Kai were still fast asleep, wrapped up in their sleeping bags and extra blankets, tucked away in the cramped bunks. He moved to the rear and opened up the back door, grunting slightly with the effort as the heavily armoured panel swung open. Aswon was about to suggest that he'd drop the bag out of the back and leave her to it when the eagle swooped down towards him, clearly aiming for the narrow opening. He jumped back out of the way as the wings folded and the large bird shot into the rear of the truck, talons skittering across the metallic grating of the floor as she came to a halt.
The bird twisted and contorted, feathers morphing into skin, the body elongating and growing, wings transforming back into arms and the head inflating rapidly, as the eagle transmogrified into the form of a naked woman. He turned and pulled the outer door closed, and kept facing the doorway, averting his eyes as she finished her change – partly out of respect for her in general, and partly to avoid making her feel self-conscious over the massive scar tissue that wrapped around her body. He felt her brush by him as she grabbed the bag of clothes, and he stood waiting while she pulled on her insulated leggings and top.
"Ok, I'm decent now." He turned and gave her a welcoming smile as she continued to dress, pulling on her tightly fitting form-shaped armour before adding her regular clothing over the top. He fired up the small stove in the back corner, then reached into the fridge for some fresh milk and added some to a metallic mug before he placed it carefully over the heat. When it had started to bubble, he slowly began to add in the chocolate flavoured soy-powder, watching until it turned a rich velvety brown while he gently stirred it. Tads had just finished lacing up her boots when he gave her the steaming mug of hot chocosoy, and she gave him a beaming smile as she gratefully accepted it with both hands.
"How was the….flight, I guess?"
"Long and hard work, even with the spirit helping me. I ran into a flock of birds as well that tried to hunt me – some kind of hawks I think – but they couldn't keep up. Followed me for nearly a kilometre though, just in case I slowed down. Think I was lucky I flew past them while they were mostly perched on rocks and trees – by the time they'd got off the ground, I had a good lead on them. Other than that, it was pretty quiet. Seems like a good way to travel, provided you don't need to carry anything with you. Although my arms ache a fair bit."
"I'm not surprised." Aswon looked like he was going to say something else, but then closed his mouth. If she wanted to tell them where she'd been, she would. If she didn't, he wasn't going to pry…
They chatted, and Aswon started to potter around in the kitchenette, getting breakfast on the go. He didn't bother keeping things quiet, and as the smell of frying soy started to fill the back of the truck, along with the grating of metal and the clattering of pots and pans, the other two started to stir, though neither looked interested in getting out of their warm cocoons just yet. It was only when he started to assemble hot sandwiches and cups of coffee that they managed to crawl out of their bunks and get their clothes on, rubbing arms and legs to warm up before tucking into breakfast.
"So, I flew over the park on the way here. At least it's not far away. Definitely has a nasty edge to it in astral though – some nasty things have happened there, and the whole area feels distinctly unwelcoming."
"Well, that sounds like the right place then, if nothing else. But not so bad you're not willing to go in?" Aswon quirked an eyebrow at her.
"No, it's not that bad. Just…not nice. It should be – there's a lake, and trees, and lots of what look like landscaped areas. It should be fun and pleasant… but it's clearly not."
They finished breakfast, chatting a little more and then got ready to head to the amusement park, making sure they had food and water, medical supplies, reloads for their weapons and their various weapon foci to hand.
Once they were set they headed east and under the highway, then turned north, crossing the brown and turgid canal. The road was quite wide, no doubt constructed to allow large numbers of cars to approach the theme park in its heyday, but now the asphalt was cracked and broken, with weeds growing all over it, the white lines almost disappeared after countless years of fading in the summer sun and freezing during the harsh winters of the plains.
The team turned left though, heading alongside the canal and following the towpath, skirting around the edge of the park. There was a chain-link fence, three metres high and topped with a roll of barbed wire, along with faded and pitted signs declaring the park to be private property. The height of the fence indicated it was post-awakening, designed to form a barrier against even trolls and other new forms of humanity, but it was rusty and poorly maintained, even here by the road. As they walked further along the path they could see where sections of the fence had ripped away from the posts, sagging almost to the ground, or where the roll of barbed wire had fallen from the angled supports and swung gently in the breeze, making an odd keening sound as the wind was distorted by the open tube. Here and there they saw holes in the fence, no doubt cut or pried open by the local kids, who would have found the park an irresistible lure at one point – at least until people started dying…
As they approached the fence they could feel the atmosphere change, a feeling of chill creeping over them, a faint aura of despair and pain that seemed to resonate from the ground the closer they got. Backing away to the path the feeling faded, until it was nothing but an ugly memory. Approaching the fence again though, the feelings intensified and became more pronounced – and they could all distinguish different negative emotions as they sampled the air around them; malevolence, coldness, hatred, despair, rage and pain being the ones most easily discerned.
On the other side of the fence they could see a large area, mostly flat but covered in bushes and grasses that swayed in the wind. Finding a large section where the fence had dropped off the posts making it easy to gain access, they took a deep breath and crossed into the park itself. They discovered the area beyond had once been part of the massive car park for visitors. Over the years the bushes and grassy areas had spread, growing unchecked and forming growing islands of vegetation that encroached upon the sea of concrete. At some point there had been enough plant life to form solid anchors, catching windborne dirt, seeds, leaves and other material and the process had intensified, the islands starting to link up as a network of grasses and brambles spread over the car park, building a layer of growth over the top until the concrete had all but disappeared beneath it.
As they travelled north, picking their way through the uneven clumps of bushes and grasses, they felt the air chill further, and got the strange feeling of being watched. Aswon hefted his spear in his hands, while Kai drew the punch-dagger from its sheath, and both looked around them cautiously. Shimazu let his eyes defocus slightly, not looking at anything in particular, just letting his eyes search for movement. At the rear, Tads raised her magical defences, ensuring the team was protected under the blanket of her watchful gaze.
The ghostly form of a small child drifted out of a thick bush ahead of them. Translucent and ethereal, they could see the bush behind him, washed out and pale as the light refracted and scattered passing through his form. He was probably about six to eight years old – or would have been when he died – but they had no idea how long ago that was. Slender, with a head slightly too large for his body, he was clad in a tightly fitting parka and tatty trousers, his shoes scuffed and marked.
"Hello! We're not here to hurt you." Aswon called out in English. The figure gave no sign of recognition, so he switched to a couple of the local languages he'd picked up passing through previously – but none seemed to have an effect upon him. The figure floated towards them, the legs still and rigid, passing through the odd patch of reeds or root system as the figure closed on their position. "What would bring you peace?" Aswon tried, but again he got no response from the child.
They saw the eyes widen, pupils shrinking at the same time, making the eyes appear to bulge in the head of the ghost, and then the entire top section of the head cracked open like a dropped egg, skin splitting and sending small plates of bone flying in all directions. Blood and brain matter followed, spraying outwards like a fountain, the particles seeming to evaporate into the air around it. The small mouth opened into a silent scream as the top of the head was carved open, and they felt the air around them grew colder the horror erupted from the ghost. Teeth elongated into a mouthful of fangs, forming a circular pit that seemed to grow in size, forming an astral vortex that tried to draw in their souls. The child flowed towards them, moving faster and faster, hands raising and fingernails grew and warped into claws that grasped and snatched at them, green ichor dripping from the ends. A wave of fear and revulsion washed over them – or at least it tried to.
Tads' magical defences repulsed the effects of the spirit, sending the engulfing wave of mana back the way it had come and dissipating the fear to a point where all they could feel was pity for whatever tragic events had struck the child. They got the feeling that this ghost was weak and without much power, and they could have resisted the soul-sapping feelings it tried to affect them with, even if they hadn't been protected by Tads' defences. They closed ranks, watching as the ghost closed on them, intent on the attack. Aswon raised his spear, barely needing to fight the ghost and watched as it impaled itself on the blade. The mouth twisted, changing to an oval of pain as it shrieked into the gentle breeze, then the ghost started to unravel as the magical bindings holding it together were torn asunder by the weapon foci. A moment later it was gone, leaving just a faint tune seeming to echo in their ears, a flashback to a previous era.
'Durr du du durr, do do dum dum. Durr du du durr, do do dee…' The discordant music faded away after a moment, leaving just the blowing of the wind as it sang through the bushes, and the four team members looking around them for any further threats.
"That seemed… weak." Aswon pulled his spear back to a guard position as he looked around.
"Yes. Because it was a child maybe?"
"Perhaps Kai – but I'm not sure. I think it was more a very low force entity. A ghost though, for sure."
"Which means what, Tads?"
"It's like a spirit, in certain respects. Magical in nature, able to move in three dimensions with ease. Can disappear from the physical world and move very quickly. And likely to have several powers or abilities – like making people feel fear or confusion, and things like that. But it was weak – very weak. The spirits I summon each day to protect you were at least twice as strong, maybe more. But my spirits have to be called and bargained with at dawn and dusk, as the world turns and the cycle renews. A ghost is normally tied to a place, and not by time. It probably can't go very far – not outside the park, and maybe less than that. But it will have a chain or an anchor too."
"Like a boat?" Kai looked confused.
"Well, sort of. In some ways exactly – a binding to a place, that will keep it nearby. Often something to do with how they died, or whatever caused the emotion that made the ghost appear." Tads shuddered as she thought back to the way the head had disintegrated before them. "I would suspect that whatever accident befell that child is their anchor – a place somewhere in the park that formed a link to their psychic death-scream, that has kept their soul from leaving."
"Well, good job we just killed it then." Kai sheathed the dagger and got ready to move on, but stopped when he saw Tads and Aswon both shaking their heads. Tads gestured at Aswon to explain, turning away to stare at some trees as she tried to banish the image of the child's brain being smashed out of his skull from her memories.
"When you hit a spirit, you don't kill it – you just banish it back to the plane it calls home. It can't come back here, to the real world, for a while. A weak spirit might take a full lunar month, but stronger spirits can… reform themselves, and return in their form sooner than that. A ghost though – well, it's held to the world by the chain, and they come back much faster. Days, maybe hours? I don't know. We've not really encountered them before… probably the closest was those strange spirits up in Siberia when we went to collect that Dragonspine plant. They were quite ghost-like – certainly they seemed to hate us for being alive. But I'm not sure they had chains. But we could get to the other side of the car park and bump into this ghost again, now coming to haunt us and try to kill us."
"Well, you didn't seem to have much trouble with it. I reckon I could have had it with how it attacked!" Kai smiled, but Aswon didn't return it.
"I know. And that's horrible. Whatever it felt, or whyever it's here, it's driven to attack us and to try and eat our souls or feast upon our feelings, or whatever it's trying to do. But it's just a little child – and weak at that. It's got no chance against us. No doubt it would be terrifying against another child, and could take them down. But against any one of us? No. But it's still driven to try…"
"Oh, I see what you mean. Still, if it tries it again, we're going to have to deal with it right?"
"Yes. But it won't feel good."
They pushed onwards, crossing the car park and reaching the more heavily wooded area, trees rising up twenty metres or more into the air and dense bushes forming a screen that they needed to chop and push through. Beyond they found the entrance to the park, a cracked and collapsed concrete structure, painted in what had once been bright and vivid shades that had faded and bleached, flaked and crumbled to a washed out, deathly pallor. The windows that had once held ticket sales were now blackened chasms, portal to darkened interiors that seemed to swallow the light and gave off a sense of foreboding. They pushed through the entranceway and found a wide and gently sweeping path beyond the ticket area, bending off to the west. Bushes had grown wildly on both sides, forming a tunnel of sorts that channelled them forwards, while plants grew through cracks and divots in the path, seeking to replicate the success of their brethren in the car park.
As the path wound through the wooded area they caught sight of buildings in the overgrowth on either side, shops and stalls set back on plazas that were now a sea of wild vegetation. The buildings were shuttered and empty, the façade faded and cracking, but still showing faint murals of clowns holding balloons, monkeys holding water pistols and various other scenes that no doubt had tempted children to drag reluctant parents into the tourist traps to buy overpriced merchandise.
Rounding a corner, they found themselves facing another ghost – this time a small girl, standing in the centre of the path. She was wearing a long dress adorned with flowers, and her blonde hair was parted down the centre, falling down both sides of her pale and drawn face into long pigtails while a large fringe covered the front of her face. She was staring down at the ground as they walked around the bend, but at the sound of their approach her eyes flicked up, staring at them with a hungry gaze through her fringe. Slowly her head rose and she started to float towards them.
"STOP!" Kai's voice rang out clearly and with power radiating from it, the harmonics rumbling through the air and echoing from the trees, wisps of power resonating through the air. The ghost seemed to pay him no heed though, continuing to approach. When she was ten metres away though, she suddenly came to a halt, twisting to one side and her right arm suddenly snatched up into the air, giving the appearance of almost jerking her off her feet. Then she did lift, bodily up into the air – but rather than the smooth motion they'd seen a moment ago, or witnessed when they'd faced the little boy in the car park, this was a brutal snatching, the body rising up into the air violently, following the arm as it rose up higher. Again, the mouth opened in a silent scream, and they saw the sleeve of her dress rip as pressure mounted on the arm.
The arm slammed downwards, pulling the body sideways and inverting it quickly as it dashed down towards the ground and slammed into the floor, before the the arm was jerked up once more, dragging the body after it into the air. The girl screamed – or at least looked as if she did, though again no sound came from her body, and just like the first ghost in the car park, they felt the wave of power splash against their defences, only the vaguest sense of dread leaking through. Even without Tads' barrier against the spirits powers, it was doubtful any of the team would have flinched – after what they had seen and experienced in the last year, this was unpleasant to be sure, but not the stuff of dread horror. Certainly, it had nothing upon the beast they had faced in the temple near Tashkent, and again in Sioux.
Bouncing up and down like a macabre puppet, the ghost of the girl was flung into the air and down to the ground, slowly advancing towards them with her 'ree hand extended outwards towards them, fingernails again elongating into feral claws that swiped and slashed at them. The rip in the dress grew bigger, and the little girl's arm bulged and then popped out of the socket, the body writhing in pain in response. A moment later the skin tore, and blood fountained outwards, as the arm ripped free of the body. For a few moments tendons shimmered in the air, tenuously attaching the ravaged limb to the body, before they too gave way. The arm exploded into motes of mana, scattering through the air, and now the little girl came at them with a vengeance, her remaining arm aimed at Kai with claws extended. Shimazu took a step forward and bought his sword down in a carefully controlled swing, cleaving through the ghost and watched as it dissipated quickly, the wisps of ghostly energy pulling apart and unravelling outwards from the sword cut.
The team looked around the silent glade, staring at the bushes and trees, waiting to see if anything else would appear – but nothing did. All around them the concealed remains of the abandoned theme park peeked out from behind the encroaching vegetation as it continued to lose its war with nature. They pressed on, moving around the next corner and came to a stop at what they found there.
Off to one side of the path was another of the large plazas, but this time instead of a shop or refreshment stand, there was a ride. Broken and battered, covered in rust and with paint flaking off from every surface, was a carousel. What had once been brightly painted horses attached to fluted poles of gold were now rotting carcasses, looking more like leprous plague creatures than something a child would want to sit on. But as they looked over the ride, they spotted an anomaly - a darker area where pain and fear seemed to radiate so strongly it distorted the physical world around it. Glancing in astral they saw a different scene – the horse covered in blood and gore, arterial spray covering the pole almost to the top of the ride, while a shimmering pool of blood spread over the carousel's floor, streaking outwards as a severed limb was caught in a trailing loop of some kind, attached to the fence that surrounded the ride's outer ledge.
With sickening suddenness it became clear what had happened in the past – the girl had climbed aboard the ride, laughing and smiling, probably full of joy. Her arm caught on some part of the machinery or equipment, pulled with irresistible force up and down as the ride spun around, the horses rising and falling, the music no doubt mixing with her screams of pain, pulling her from the ride and dashing her up and down as the ride continued while horrified parents were forced to watch helplessly from behind the barriers until the ride could be stopped.
"Shimazu, I seriously recommend you not doing psychometry on that. With what happened with the shepherd down in the desert – I don't want to be relocating your arm. Or trying to sew it back on." Aswon looked around at the sudden noise, moving over to lay a comforting hand on Tads' shoulder as she turned and retched, her morning drink being violently thrown up and splashing over the ground. He handed her his water canteen, keeping a watch as she washed the taste out of her mouth.
"Sorry. I just… I could see… imagine… it was like an astral flashback, and I could see what was happening. And it didn't stop."
"I don't know what we can do about this. Can you create some water, and wash down the bit of the ride where it happened? I don't know if it will help, but we can maybe try to wash away things, even symbolically. I'm going to say a prayer for her. I don't know if it will help – but I don't think it will hurt."
Tads concentrated, fighting through the morass of negative emotions to pull on the mana around her, creating a cascade of water over the ride. It didn't seem to do anything about the torrent of blood visible still in astral space, but she did her best to avoid looking at that. Instead she concentrated on Aswon's voice as he said a prayer, calling upon whatever spirits or ancestors were nearby to look after the spirit of the girl, and to comfort and protect her as best they could. When he'd done, the area felt just as horrible as before – a mix of rage, impotence, pain and suffering – but they didn't know what else they could do.
"Let's move on." Kai suggested, waving at Shimazu to take the lead, and the team pushed on further along the gently winding path. They rounded another curve in the path and came to a large clearing – though trees and bushes were slowly colonising the centre and starting to obscure the land there. The path split into a curving Y shape, meeting up with another large path that went from east to west. Faded and battered signs were positioned on either side of the path, showing a stylised view of the park from an isometric angle. It appeared that the main park was a roughly oval path, with rides off on short spurs from the loop track, both inside and outside the loop. This split was the first real interface with the loop, and they had a choice of going west into the more heavily wooded area, and working around clockwise to the north, or heading east and travelling towards the lake in a counter-clockwise direction. Either route would take them around the full loop, and there didn't seem to be any difference to them, but for some reason Tads seemed adamant that they should go left, and follow the clockwise path. When questioned, she just declared that when you had a choice, you should ALWAYS go left, and that this was some form of tribal wisdom. It didn't matter to anyone else, so they headed that way, following the broad but broken pathway as it gently snaked back and forth through the woods.
A little further on they came across the first "big ride", a large wooden coaster that was set back on the outside of the loop. The area changed to have a distinct theme, with lots of things made out of wood or faux-wood materials, the fences laid in what appeared to be a haphazard fashion of sloping planks – until you looked at the bigger picture and realised the angles of the slopes were repeated every four sections. The refreshment stands were called 'The Old Saloon', the gift stands were labelled up as the 'Blacksmith' and 'Tailor', and all the other stalls had a distinctly 'Wild West' vibe to them. Looking down the path they could see the huge structure rising up over a sign that proclaimed it to be the "Runaway Mine Car". Wandering down the path under the sign they could see the latticework of the coaster had started to collapse in places, some sections only missing crossbeams while others had lost angle braces and uprights as well, leaving voids in the structure and sections of the track that floated in mid-air, unsupported from below and only remaining in place from the structure on either side.
They could see the snaking path to their left that wound back and forth and headed into a shanty town like structure – presumably the loading station for the ride where eager passengers would climb aboard the cars before the train started, slowly emerging and pulled up the steep lift hill by a chain, the rhythmic clacking sound building up tension and excitement until they reached the summit - then flipped over into an equally steep descent. Props littered the fibreglass rocks and canyon sides that were built up at the bottom of the first hill, whilst the track dropped into a shallow tunnel area, covered with boards and rocks. Faded and barely legible signs proclaimed 'Danger!' and 'Caution! Dynamite!' but their eyes were drawn to a huge and heavy looking set of beams that lay across the track just about at head height. Part of the ride had decayed away so badly it had collapsed to the side, and they could see the large hydraulic pistons attached to the rear of the 'tunnel roof', that could raise or lower it vertically.
"Oh. Oh no." Aswon looked at the setup, his eyes tracing the path from the top of the lift hill, sliding down the track to the tunnel and the mechanism that blocked it.
"What?" Tads asked. For once her naivety saved her, her inexperience with 'civilised' life not letting her recognise what had happened here.
"Um… ok, don't look in astral. But I think I know what happened to the little boy we saw in the car park."
"I…. I don't want to know, do I?"
"Probably not." Aswon steadied himself for a moment, then peered into astral space, unsurprised to find a massive black blot of distortion at the bottom of the hill, right where the train would enter the tunnel. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to clear the image, but his fertile imagination filled in the details for him - the mock screams of the train passengers plummeting downwards turning into real screams as the 'collapsed roof' failed to retract in time, striking whichever unfortunates had been in the first car… "Definitely not Tads. But let's turn around and head on. I don't know if we're going to find much useful down here." He said a few words again, reaching out to the astral realm and sending his thoughts and prayers for the tortured soul.
It took them only a minute to make it back to the main loop and to turn left again, moving on past a number of smaller rides such as slides and a haunted house – which thankfully didn't seem to have any actual ghosts hanging around. They moved on and passed under another banner that was stretched over the walkway, ripped and faded by the sun to illegibility. Clearly it marked the point in the park where they moved from one zone to another though, as the style of the buildings and artwork changed, as did the fences and street furniture. Gone was the rough, hand-sawn lumber and instead things were painted in bright neon colours, made smooth and with chromed poles. Or at least, they had been – now the chrome finish was flaking off revealing the structural material underneath, and the neon colours had faded until they were barely pastels. Buildings were decorated in what had once been bight and bold images, but now were only faint murals of rock stars and singers, dancers, troops of teenagers in leather jackets with greased back hair, and girls in short dresses with their hair coiled high above their heads or in huge pigtails.
"Future zone? Or music zone?" Something like that?" The others grunted and nodded at Kai – unsure of what it was supposed to be, and not especially bothered. It was just as run down and dilapidated as the rest of the park, and had just the same aura of decay and malaise. They rounded another bend, encountering their third ghost who seemed to be walking back and forth over the path, turning sharply to head off in a new direction before spinning back again, criss-crossing the path. This one was a teenage boy, dressed in jeans and a shirt, both covered in burn marks. As the figure stopped to look at them, the eyes glowed a brilliant blue, crackling with power as sparks danced where the pupils should be.
The face contorted into a snarl almost immediately, and it started to float towards them, teeth lengthening and hands raised as if to strangle them – but with flickers of electricity jumping from one finger to another in a random pattern. Kai pulled out his taser, and triggered the test routine on it, making the capacitors give off a crackle of energy that rippled across the front of the gun. The ghost reacted immediately, focussing his attention on Kai and increasing speed towards him.
"Oh – ok, he does recognise that, but he doesn't like it."
Tads stepped in front of him, raising both her hands in a calming motion, and unleashing a torrent of magical energy towards the ghost. Her influence spell was better suited to the living but she kept her concepts simple – be calm, be patient. Don't be aggressive.
The figure lurched to a halt, face twisted as competing emotions fought for control, and the crackling lightning still rippled out from the fingers while the eyes glowed an ethereal blue – but it stopped for the moment. Tads spoke to him in English first, then tried Russian, but he gave no sign of understanding or recognition at all. Aswon tried again in the local languages he'd picked up, and saw the figure turn his attention turn towards him, snarling in rage and despair. It wasn't the reaction he was after, but at least there was comprehension – and for the moment at least, the influence from Tads held the ghost still, persuading it not to attack.
Kai put his taser away, then moving slowly he advanced towards the figure, arms out from his side and hands splayed, clearly empty.
"Kai – what are you doing?" Shimazu lowered his hand to the hilt of his sword.
"Just trying something. Being calm, and careful. Keeping it slow and steady, and showing some trust." He moved forwards, keeping his movements very slow and precise, and lowered himself to the ground in front of the teenager, moving to sit cross-legged in front of him and looking up at the angry ghost. Slowly Kai's facial features shifted, his skin tone altering to more closely resemble the young man.
"We're not here to harm you. We just want to help." He spoke in English, fairly certain he wouldn't be understood, but hoping the emotion and sentiment would be clear. The ghost stared at him for a moment, and Kai tried to give off positive and friendly vibes, encouraging the ghost to interact with them someway, somehow, in a way that didn't involve violence.
It was not to be.
The ghost managed to overcome the magical influence that Tads had exerted, suddenly lunging down at Kai's seated form. He started to roll back, but he'd barely begun to move when the ghost disintegrated as Shimazu's sword blow cleaved it in half. Kai managed to turn his frantic dodge into a roll to the side as if it was what he'd been planning all along and then rose to his feet, dusting himself down and removing the leaves and flakes of paint and debris from his trousers.
"Thanks. Seems that all they know is hostility."
"That's not surprising – from what I understand, they're creatures born of horrific events, some strong trauma or disaster, and forced to remain upon this realm until whatever injustice or situation created them can be resolved."
"So – we need to find out why they died Tads? I mean, we know why they died – they were all caught in accidents. But we need to find out the cause of the accidents and fix them?"
"From what I understand, yes. But I've not really dealt with them before – just heard the teachings and songs of my people, and the stories of others who have."
"Well, that's the best we have, so we'll go with that. What are you doing Aswon?" Kai turned to face the tribesman, who was slowly rotating on the spot, looking around and occasionally jumping into the air, to gain a little extra height – as if that was needed.
"Hmm? Nothing. Ok, let's push on."
They moved forward, closing on the next plaza, which was only a few metres forward but had been obscured by the untamed bushes and vegetation encroaching on the path, and found the large and half collapsed structure of the dodgem cars laying parallel to the main loop route. Cars were scattered all across the once smooth floor, some crushed by the falling roof, some tipped on their sides. A quick glance in astral space showed another dark spot in the middle of the ride where one car was covered in burn marks with a fine trace of lightning burn damage running down the pole from the roof to the car itself.
"Well, that explains Mr Glowing Lightning Eyes I guess." Kai said, looking at the car and feeling the pain and fear radiating from it, even after the many years since the accident.
Aswon was heading to the back of the ride, looking for a section of the fallen roof that he could climb. Some of the panels shifted under his weight a little, but he managed to jump clear of the falling debris and found a roof beam he could use to ascend up to the top of the ride.
"What are you doing up there?"
"Just checking a theory. I can see a couple of other things through the trees from up here. There's a big drop tower to the north, and to the north east there's another rollercoaster. And over to the east there's a stone tower of some sort."
"So?"
"I'm pretty sure we could see the tower from the carousel ride as well. I couldn't see what it was through the trees, just a weird shape and colour – but it's clearer from here. Would probably have been clearer back in the day too, when the trees were being maintained."
"I still don't get why you think that's important?"
"I'm not sure it is. But we could also see the tower, and one of the rides from the Mine Train coaster. And I'm wondering if there's some kind of link. If there was some kind of trigger or main event, or even some kind of cause for these accidents – could they be related to a central disaster or act?"
"Oh I see… sort of like the hub of a wheel?"
"I suppose so, yes. I'm really not sure about this, I've got even less to go on than Tads. But somehow it just…feels connected somehow."
"Well, we've got frak all else to go on, Aswon, so a hunch is good for me. So, we double back and go the other way at the big turn, and towards the lake?"
"Looks that way…" Aswon climbed down and rejoined them on the ground, taking a moment to say another prayer for the victim of the accident here before he moved off to catch up with the others. They retraced their steps back to the huge triangular split in the path, then pushed on into new territory, following the loop route the other way as they headed towards the lake.
As they closed in on the lake, they could see the tower more and more clearly through the trees, realising it was part of a giant faux-castle. It was a soaring structure, some weird kind of hybrid between a fairy-tale dream and a gothic nightmare. Towers and turrets rose up around a central keep, questing high into the air with hundreds of tiny windows studded around the perimeter of the various towers.
"Does anyone want a static armour casting upon them?"
"Is this your defensive spell you've been learning?"
"Yes, it's an aura that will cling to you and cover you in an electrical field – it should zap anyone or anything that tries to attack you."
"I don't think so, thanks. It'll immediately make us look hostile to anything we meet for sure, and that's not going to help. But I also think if we try to interact with anything, it's going to make life difficult. Not sure how it would work with something we've picked up – but I'd rather not set fire to anything by mistake or fry it out, by accident. But thank you." Aswon tried to be as polite as he could, knowing how much effort Tads put into learning her spells and to keep the team safe and well. Shimazu shook his head too, following Aswon's lead, and Tads shrugged her shoulders, happy to push on forwards on their quest.
The path followed the shoreline for a short while, then continued on the far side of a bridge over an inlet. A falling tree limb had damaged the bridge structure at some point in the recent past, They had to cross one at a time, the rotten woodwork creaking alarmingly beneath them.
As they reached the next flat area, they felt the air around them chill once more, putting them instantly on guard. Movement in the reeds and rushes down by the water drew their eyes. Another ghost had appeared, crawling out of the water on all fours, bedraggled hair obscuring the face and the clothing sodden and dripping foul water all over the bank of the lake. The figure rose, a young girl, hair plastered over her face, her pale dress streaked with grime and mould. She drifted towards them, her movements just like the others. As the arms rose they saw massive red welts around one arm, deep impressions in an alternating herringbone pattern.
Water cascaded from the mouth of the ghost in a constant stream, and the team felt the spirt trying to use its powers on them, just like the other ghosts had. The faint tinges of hopelessness and agony tugged at their psyche – but their defences held firm and they shrugged off the attempt to paralyse them with fear.
The ghost continued to float towards them serenely, the sheer fabric of the dress soaked by the water that poured out of the ghosts mouth and down the chest. The fabric clung to her slenderform, outlining her small breasts and making the fabric stick to her flat stomach and legs. The arms raised higher, and another ineffectual wave of fear washed over them – but the only thing the ghost achieved was to let them more clearly see the marks that wound all around one arm, biting deeply into the flesh.
"Ahh – I know what that is! Chain! It's the indentation for a length of chain wrapped around the arm, pulled tight." Kai exclaimed.
The ghost was almost upon them, Shimazu stepped forward raising his sword and getting ready to strike.
"I knew I'd seen it before" Kai continued, as Shimazu struck once, the blow held high as if he was in the training salle, and after the strike he recovered and bowed, trying to act as respectfully as he could, to at least the memory of the child as the ghost disintegrated in the pale morning light.
"...I remember someone training with a fairly exotic weapon back home, a ball on the length of chain. If they got it swung right, it would bind over a limb and the momentum and weight would make the chain bite into the arm – or leg – and leave marks like that. Hurt like hell too…"
"Where would a chain be…" Aswon glanced down at the lake and let his eyes quest around, then raised his spear and pointed. A number of boats were drawn up on the side of the lake, engulfed in reeds and barely visible. As they moved to examine them they could see that each was carved into a different shape. A swan led the way, wings raised and angled backwards, followed by a perch or some other large fish, then a butterfly, and a frog, while others were harder to discern what creature they were based upon. Each was built around the same circular hull, with the features or shape of the animal added on, no doubt brightly painted many years ago and covered in detail, but now nothing more than rotting decoration that was only just recognisable. And between each of the boats was a length of chain, rusty and dripping with moss or weeds, leading from the rear of the previous boat to the front of the next. A quick check in astral space confirmed Aswon's suspicions. "The frog one – black and radiating pain and helplessness, just like the other rides. I reckon something got caught in the chain, and she was pulled under, and the movement of the ride will have locked the chain around her, keeping her just under the surface of the water as it moved…"
Aswon looked up towards the front gate of the castle, looming around the next bend in the path, at the top of a short incline that lifted it clear of the surrounding area. The gateway was a good four metres wide, with a portcullis raised high into the air, a row of sharpened 'teeth' aiming down at the ground below.
"Come on – I think we need to get in there, and look for what caused all of this."
The team headed towards the entranceway, walking four abreast with weapons ready and eyes peeled…
