Anna continued to guide Abe to their destination while the rest of the group remained inside the carriage, utilizing Abe’s biome for his variety of different animals as a place to train.

  They all spared no time to honing their skills, while they awaited the results of the two conflicts going on in the world in regards to the two prisms actively being retrieved. Yet, at the same time, unlike Barry and Puck, no one else could completely focus on their training due to the possibility that the contestants might lose the fight to claim victory over the quest items. Barry was sharpening his skills with his trident, doing his best to master the way of the spear like Claude was teaching him. He wanted to penetrate holes through metal as clean and efficiently as his mentor kept demonstrating. Repetition after repetition, Barry kept going on and on.

  Kat missed landing a couple of her beams of black magic at Ron’s illusions of different creatures, clearly troubled. But Ron was no different, he couldn’t concentrate on controlling his illusions movements without issues unlike his usual self. Luna experienced a similar problem, her mental state was filled with worry so she couldn’t multitask her clones to follow her commands exactly the way she wanted.

  Puck stopped his moment of self training with his pyromancy due to the low energy everyone was experiencing. “Why everyone look so…down? Puck, don't understand?” He wanted to know the reason.

  The three stopped as well, they saw the inefficiency they were showing and decided to take a moment to clear their minds. Ron replied back to Puck, speaking for everyone. “It's the two prisms. Calista couldn’t see the situation going on and that worries us. What if we lose those prisms to these villains?”

  “So what?” Barry commented, he noticed that the others were bothered and now that he knew why, he decided to say something. “If these shitbags manage to collect any of these prisms, then we just take them back. Besides, from my understanding, I think only one side truly wins if they manage to obtain all eight prisms. So even if they manage to collect the other seven prisms, we still have one.”

  There was a chance that what Barry was saying could end up being true, it wouldn’t matter who had the most prisms because either side would likely need all eight to guarantee victory. “You might be right…” Ron pondered on that logic.

  “You know what, yeah!” Luna flipped her downbeat attitude around, trying to think positive. “We should quit dwelling on the ‘what ifs’ and focus on preparing for the challenges ahead. There’s nothing we can do for the others fighting for the prisms right now, aside from training.”

  “Right.” Kat was renewed with positive energy, she encouraged herself that things would be okay in the end and to keep improving herself everyday. “We also need to have more faith in our allies. I’m sure they are doing everything they can to secure the prisms.”

  Thrilled by the sudden shift in optimism, Puck cheered with excitement. “Yeah! Puck and friends have nothing to worry about, we can do this!”

  After getting everyone’s bearings together, they all resumed their training feeling invigorated and profound motivation. Barry was glad that his group managed to get back on track, he hoped this sense of attitude remained continuous throughout the entire quest. About an hour passed and everyone decided to take a break, moving back to the living room area. Barry wanted to crash out on the couch so badly and continue training inside his dreams, but he wanted to stay awake to find out the results concerning the prisms.

  But later on, while the group was taking their break, a system announcement was presented to all contestants across Scion. It was informing everyone about the outcome of the two fights to retrieve the two prisms at different locations. And even though they all just recently had a pep talk, the group couldn’t help but be a bit concerned about what happened. Their eyes scanned the text given, anxiety filling up inside Kat, Ron, and Luna. Puck didn’t have access to the system unlike the others, so he figured everyone else was currently doing some reading. Barry maintained a calm composure, willing to accept whatever outcome was presented.

  Ron was the first to express his thoughts about the announcement, his heart still pounding after reading the message. “YES! Both prisms were retrieved! We got not just one win over the villains, but TWO more!”

  “Ha! We have a huge lead over these silly gooses, and if we manage to find and get the 4th prism before the other villains do, we’ll be able to have a deadlock.” Luna pointed out, she was pumped to face whatever challenge awaited them.

  “Barry.” Kat said, getting his attention. “Maybe you should message the two parties about what happened. Although we know they won, I’m sure they could have useful information about our foes. I’d also like to know if the two groups are okay.”

  Barry was thinking the same thing, so he went ahead and messaged both Ned and Edward right away. He wanted to know if they were safe, along with any information about their enemy forces. They waited for about another hour until Anna entered the carriage, wanting to discuss with them about the news shown to them, while also swapping with Ron to resume giving Abe directions.

  Not long after, Barry received a message from Edward about the battle for the prism his group was seeking. He and Sylvia arrived in the tundra biome and climbed the highest point of a mountain, following the coordinates given to them by Calista and discovered a frost kingdom filled with arctic monsters guarding the place. But they weren’t the only ones who travelled there; along the way, the two managed to convince a large group of contestants to join forces. And as they were fighting their way through the kingdom, that was when one of the villains arrived with their own formidable forces. It was the Eviscerator’s, warping from their own dimension and onto the battlefield. Things were looking a bit dicey for a moment, the contestants were losing a considerable amount of people until a band of Orcs arrived to assist them which were led by one known as Wreav.

  Barry didn’t think he would hear of Wreav’s name once again, the orc that had beaten him and Puck to submission all for the sake of satisfying his hunger for combat. Regardless, he was glad that Wreav’s presence at the time was able to tip the scales of battle to guarantee securing the prism. He wondered where Wreav and his band of Orcs would travel next, most likely searching for more trouble wherever they went.

  Ned would soon give his report of his and Oswald's side of things. The two had taken the Kobolds from Puck’s treehouse along with them and met a bunch of other contestants along the way that combined forces before reaching their destination. They did some reconnaissance and discovered a fortified fortress near active volcanoes, guarded by draconic creatures just as foreseen by the visions provided by Ron. Together, the group formulated a plan to overtake the fortress which turned out successful until a mass of other random adventurers engaged them in combat. It was shocking to them how a bunch of random people were suddenly attacking them, spreading chaos all around. But some time after, a mass of soldiers led by a high-ranking official from a kingdom showed up in time to assist them. They were originally sent to scout for prisms wherever they were in the region.

  At the end of the battle, Ned and Oswald with the Kobolds, alongside the contestants and the helpful soldiers, stood victorious. They were able to locate the prism just in time before the volcanoes started erupting violently and evacuated the area. With the prism retrieved, it was collected by the soldiers who would bring it back to their kingdom for safe keeping. Barry would have liked it if they had kept the prism, but it is what it is.

  With all this said, Barry replied back, telling them what a good job they did and that they were out searching for the last location of the 4th prism at the moment. Barry also provided Ned and Oswald coordinates to the Nightwalkers base so that they can meet once again and be prepared to retrieve the next prism. The two old time adventurers agreed to venture out to the base as fast as possible and couldn’t wait to see each other. After Barry finished conversing with them, he let everyone else know about what was discussed. The group was content with the outcomes and the overall safety of both parties, their help was much appreciated.

  “So we’re just five prisms short from reaching the endgame of this main quest. We just have to keep the momentum up.” Anna said, feeling confident in their chances.

  “Yeah, but remember, we only got this lead because we had an unfair advantage with the future sight potion.” Barry reminded, he didn’t want the group to get too lax. “Not that I’m complaining, we still have one last future sight potion to use. We’ll have to be careful when to use it.”

  “You mentioned that Ned and Oswald experienced some crazy adventurers that tried to wipe them out while they were seeking one of the prisms.” Kat commented with curiosity. “Did they mention anything about them specifically? Maybe their reason for doing so?”

  Barry was only told how insane these adventurers acted in conflict against Ned and Oswald, that they sought to slaughter and oppose them from achieving their mission of getting the prism. “Not really, not much was told about these adventurers aside from them being unreasonable and violent.”

  Kat pondered about what the truth behind their sudden attack could have been. From her talk with Calista, aside from her infatuation about witchcraft, she learned that mind-control spells existed and that could probably be a reason for those adventurers' motives. “Calista told me that there was magic capable of controlling people to do the casters' bidding. Maybe that’s the cause? That’s just a guess on my part…”

  He thought about her explanation which was plausible, but suddenly his mind shifted to one person that might be capable of brainwashing individuals. ‘Could it be that…it was Judas? The damn doctor that tried to launch a surprise attack on Ned and Oswald’s group? Last time he tried to control me, but it didn’t work out well for him. Would it also be a stretch to say that he had gotten stronger within the last time I’ve seen him? Hmm…’

  In the end, Barry decided that there was a chance it could have been Judas, albeit just a bit. He didn’t believe that his powers couldn’t have improved so much that he’d be able to take control over a bunch of experienced adventurers or contestants. “I wouldn’t brush aside that guess, it is a possibility. In any case, we’re ahead of the villains. So let's keep the momentum going.”

  They all agreed and went back to training shortly after. Barry wanted to sleep and talk with Thalia and Claude about everything that was discussed. Besides, it would be his turn after Ron to help guide Abe in the right direction to their destination. He gave his excuse to the others and went to sleep on his usual couch, falling asleep fast. When he awoke in his dreams, Barry heard the clash of weapons echoing all around, wind pressure was going off everywhere. “What is going on?” He picked himself off from the ground and was astonished by the situation he found himself in.

  Thalia and Claude appeared to be having an intense duel against one another, metallic sounds ringing upon every strike between sword and spear. The two knights were too focused on their duel to acknowledge Barry’s presence at the moment. He dashed out of the area and observed their fight from afar.

  “Still as evasive as ever, Thalia.” Claude complimented, the thrill of experiencing an exhilarating fight against his sister was just what he needed after being dead for so long.

  “And your brash and cocky attitude remains unchanged, I see. At least you still have the talent to back it up.” Thalia returned back, throughout their fight, she felt as though it was much needed to get the rust off her skills.

  Barry had trouble keeping his eyes locked on to one specific person because both duelists never remained in one general area longer than 3 seconds before whisking away to another zone. ‘They’re so fast! Every strike and collision they make against one another creates another wave of intense pressure. How long have they trained to reach this level?”

  Thalia danced gracefully on the battlefield, nearly avoiding the move that Claude threw at her. Every other attack sent her way had to be deflected or blocked due to how quick and precise Claude was, who kept applying extreme pressure consistently with his advantage of reach. Barry then witnessed something extraordinary for a second that intrigued his interest in the art of spear-mastery.

  In half a second, Claude gathered what he could inside himself, and unleashed a multitude of thrusted spear attacks that were strong enough to obliterate the trees behind Thalia with just the wind pressure alone. ‘What the hell!? That’s insane!’ Barry was astonished.

  However, as destructive as Claude’s attack was, Thalia anticipated he would do something flashy and heightened her reflexes enough to evade and deflect all his attacks. She found an opening within his offense and closed the gap between them, deciding to use a special move of her own. “Nice attempt, but that just cost you.” Thalia told her brother.

  The next thing that happened was something Barry couldn’t explain himself, he had no clue how Thalia’s next move was even performed in what sequence. From a glimpse, Barry witnessed Thalia simply tap Claude’s chest armor with the tip of her sword, giving it a light kiss before seeing what could have been streaks of slashes cutting through the air at the central point of his armor. This pushed Claude back a dozen of feet but quickly corrected his composure and prepared himself for another go at taking down his sister.

  “Ha! A clean hit, well done Thalia. I was hoping one of my attacks would land, but I was too careless. How’s about we get a bit more serious now, eh?” Claude suggested, cracking a grin inside his helmet.

  ‘This isn’t even them trying!?’ Barry didn’t know how destructive these knights were capable of becoming, so the fact that Claude mentioned that they were basically messing around was crazy. ‘Maybe I’ll learn something from their bout.’

  Upon hearing Claude’s suggestion, Thalia glanced over at Barry who had taken caution by moving away from their fight and took his presence into account. Claude was confused when he saw her sheathe her blade before replying to him. “Our pupil has just arrived. We shouldn’t indulge ourselves when there’s a squire in need of training.” She then walked over to Barry, ending their fight.

  Claude was disappointed, he wanted their duel to end with a victor in the end. “What!? I was just feeling the flow! Gah! Way to kill the mood, Thalia.” He held himself back and begrudgingly tagged along.

  Barry felt let down as well, he wanted to know how powerful the two of them could be if they didn’t hold back. “I saw you two show off something impressive and was completely invested in the fight.” He commented as they approached him. “Am I gonna learn those moves sometime soon?”

  Thalia found his sense of hunger to learn very amusing, he never wasted a moment when given to train himself for the better. Yet still, she didn’t want to rush his progression and become sloppy. “No, although you pick up things quickly, we can’t have you rushing things without some proper experience. You’ll appreciate the basics more than you realize, later on.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Fair enough.” Barry replied, as long as he was under their wing, he felt like he was in good hands in the presence of two legendary knights. “Anyways, I didn’t just come here to train. I have news to share with you two personally; in case neither of you were paying attention to what was discussed with my group outside from here.”

  The three sat together and Barry began sharing with them about the current state of things. Claude and Thalia were pleased with the results of being in the possession of three prisms out of the eight. Barry had already told them about the other supposed villains involved in the quest from his last nap, so when he mentioned insane adventurers trying to stop them, it was puzzling. The only explanation that Barry had was what Kat assumed, mind control.

  “I don’t know exactly what the state of the world was or is as of now before the gods decided to make an entertainment show out of everyone…” Claude spoke, his arms crossed. “But mind-control is a possibility. I mean, by the time we left the world was during the Era of New Beginning, the aftermath from the dark times our king’s family went through. A damn curse plagued our city to ruins, turning nearly everyone against each other.”

  From his voice alone, Thalia and Barry sensed the weight of his anger reflecting on the events leading to his previous home’s downfall. Thalia looked at Barry, remembering their first encounter when they talked about their reasons for cooperating with one another and mentor and student. ‘Hmm…he’s not ready yet, he has his own mission to accomplish. While my brothers and I are lingering spirits bonded to him… I wish we knew the cause of the curse…’

  Barry faced Claude, thinking about their demise. “Right, that curse that plagued your kingdom. So you agree that mind-control spells or curses such as that wouldn’t be too far-fetched.”

  “It’s the only logical explanation I can think of. If these adventurers were unreasonable and lashed out at all those around them just to oppose your goal, then that must be the case.” Claude recalled the people of his kingdom doing unholy things, burning down churches filled with ill patients, slaughtering defenseless innocents, stirring up an uproar all around. It was mass chaos that no one could make sense of. Claude and Thalia’s kingdom had enemies from criminal factions but nothing they couldn’t handle.

  “Well, it’s sounding like that might be what happened. Maybe if I was there with my allies, I might have been able to find out more in person.” Barry concluded, accepting that possibility. He then got up from his seat and drew out a long sword from his inventory rather than his greatsword, Thalia had wanted him to work on his finesse this time around. “Time to get back to training.”

  Both knights saw him walk off to an open space to fight against a mob of enemies he manifested, Thalia stood up and looked down at Claude who was still thinking about the past in deep thought. She placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to her. “Brother, no need to dwell on the past so much in search for an answer. I can feel your guilt growing ever stronger the more you linger on it.”

  Claude took her advice and sighed. “Yes, I know…but don’t you wish to know the reason for our kingdom’s collapse? I know it’s been eating you inside as well.”

  “I admit, it has. Even after our death, it persists. I, too, wish to know the mystery behind our precious kingdom’s downfall. Why else do you think I decided to take Barry under my wing.” Thalia felt like teaching Barry was the right choice for her in accomplishing what she truly wanted.

  Claude thought about what she was hinting at before quickly coming up with the assumption of what she was trying to do. “Hold on, you’re not just helping him because our king bestowed his will on him…you hope for him to find the answers for us!? Is that your intention?”

  “Precisely.” Thalia affirmed with confidence.

  He looked at Barry, watching him train and looked back at Thalia with disbelief. “What makes you think he’ll agree to spare some time to venture out to our fallen kingdom? He’s currently focused on surviving as it is by playing along with these gods. We have no control over his physical body unless he allows it.”

  “You’re right, he has no obligation to be so kind as to uncover the mystery we’ve been dying to know. Our relationship with him is mentor and student, same with the rest of his party. Aside from the Kobold he accepts as a friend, he views everyone else more as a comrade from the way we see and feel from his surface thoughts. We have no control over what he plans on doing…”

  Thalia then picked up her violin that was gifted to her from Barry. “And yet, he still shows some consideration to others. Those heroic acts that we’ve seen, he didn’t want to do such things but does so anyways. I have a feeling that Barry will accept my proposal to search for our longing question of what happened during that tragic event. We need only build rapport with him and provide all that we can in his journey. Our king’s motives were never without reason.”

  “Tch.” Claude thought back on all those times he observed Barry’s interaction with others. How he was able to motivate others to push on and be better, keeping his party out of harm's way, inspiring people to face their fears, and even showing humility at times. “I suppose there is a chance for our squire to accept our request…”

  “Haha, yes, I believe there will be. So let’s keep nurturing him till then.” Thalia smiled, she knew that Barry was focused on clearing his main quest first-an-foremost so she would ask at a later time when it was right. Especially when their relationship grew enough to where she could ask.

  The two knights joined in on Barry’s training, spectating and giving advice as per usual. This would go on for a few hours in between some breaks until Barry sensed someone was trying to wake him up from his nap. That was when Barry took his leave and returned back to his physical body, believing that it was his time to take his turn at guiding Abe to their destination.

  When he came too, he awoke sitting upright. “I’m up, I’m up.” Barry said, rubbing his eyes before turning to face the person responsible for waking him.

  “Have a good sleep?” Ron queried. “The weather is a bit cold outside, just letting you know before stepping out. Have fun talking with Abe.”

  Ron would then walk over to one of the other couches and prepared to sleep himself. Everyone else was fast asleep. Barry patted his face a bit to wake himself up some more before heading out to take his shift. ‘It is a bit cold outside, but at least it’s not windy. I hate that feeling.’ Barry was grateful that wasn’t the case.

  “Ah! Barry!” Abe called out, waving a hand from his coach box. “I’ve been dying to have a chat with you! Well, I guess dying ain't exactly the right word for me to express considering I’m already dead. Haha!” The spirit cackled.

  Barry responded to his cheesy joke with a slight roll of his eyes and climbed up into the coach box with him. “I sure as hell hope you don’t crack a joke like that every so often.”

  He was then given a friendly slap on his back from Abe who chuckled in return. “Oh I can’t promise that, kid. My carriage, my rules. I’ll get a smile out of you with my nonsense when you least expect it.”

  “Sure, good luck with that. Let’s get a move on anyhow.” Barry sighed, this was always something Barry had to endure whenever he sat next to Abe.

  With a crack of his reins, Abe commanded his spectral horses to continue moving the carriage back on track. As they travelled on a trail leading them through a forest, Abe fed Barry a story about a time he escorted a lost penguin stranded in a desert back to its home up north. And to be honest, Barry was invested in it, yet he wouldn’t admit to it, but Abe could tell it piqued his interest.

  Abe described the wild challenges they faced on their journey, the friendships they made along the way, and the character development that changed the penguin into becoming an even better individual than it was before. Although the story came off as being insane in the beginning, how a penguin somehow ended up far from home, Barry was drawn in further and further with every milestone mentioned until the very end.

  There was a bit of silence on Abe’s end for a moment, pushing Barry to ask for what happened next. “So…what happened after you guys arrived in the north?” Barry asked with a boring expression, hiding his fascination with Abe's story.

  “Well, for a while I thought I was boring you to death. From the way you look, I would have thought you weren’t paying attention at all.” Abe teased, he really wanted Barry to admit he was invested in his story.

  “Hey, I was listening the whole time. It’s just crazy to me how a penguin was randomly warped far away from his homeland to a dry ass desert by some spellcaster’s mistake. I at least should keep listening since you’ve talked my ear off for this long.” Barry replied in a mellow and uninterested tone, which was really just him making an excuse to know the end.

  His comment made Abe grin, he knew that his next couple of words would definitely get a reaction out of Barry. “Alrighty, since you’re so kind to let me finish the story, I’ll tell you…” Abe paused for a moment, sensing Barry’s anxiousness radiating from his body. “...the penguin’s clan died.”

  “WHAT!?” Barry shouted out as he looked at Abe with a shocked expression before realizing he broke his composure and quickly went back to his usual manner. “I mean, that’s fucking stupid. All that travelling and the penguin finds out his family is gone.”

  “Indeed, his family was wiped out from battle between two wizards. It was a tragedy how my penguin friend experienced such a great loss…” Abe reminisced about the good times he had. “...but that is not quite the end of the story.”

  Barry glanced at Abe with a curious look before he continued speaking. “Although it was sad, I was able to reconnect my dear friend with his family’s spirits just before passing them off to the afterlife. They were able to converse with one another for one last time before going off on a journey of their own, their will to persist was strong enough to wait for my friend’s return. It was truly…beautiful.”

  From the look of Abe’s expression, Barry thought he was seeing things when he saw Abe form a tear rolling down the side of his cheek. “Well…at least the penguin got some closure thanks to you. I’m sure he appreciated it very much.”

  “Oh I know he does.” Abe smiled happily. “You can even ask him yourself for more details on our journey to the north. He’s in the tundra biome set up in my carriage, you’ve probably already met him.”

  “Wait, what!? He’s still with you?” Barry was surprised to know this. “You mean to say that he’s…dead? A spirit just like you that’s still lingering as is? Wouldn’t he want to…you know, reincarnate? How did he die anyway?”

  Abe laughed, recalling his friend’s last moments of living. “Well, to answer your last question, right after finding out the truth about his family. He always wanted to fly and decided to test that theory out no matter how many times I told him it wasn’t possible. And uh, you can assume how that worked out. But regardless, before he realized how flightless he was, he told me that he would continue travelling with me as a spirit even if he died. So that answers how he’s still with me.”

  The thought of his flightless bird friend sliding off a mountain cliff and plummeting to his demise was just ridiculous as Barry imagined. He was then curious if this was how Abe was able to form bonds with animals who were filling to aid him in his travels. “I’ve been curious about how death works in this world. I honestly don’t have a clue if there is an afterlife in my world. Ghosts, spirits, specters, whatever you call 'em are unique to me.”

  Abe gathered his thoughts to explain to Barry in a way for him to understand. “I’ll put it simply. When a being dies in this world, they move on to the afterlife where you are placed in a deep slumber basically and wait for your turn of reincarnation. However, they are judged by advisors from some of the gods. So wicked people that have done horrible actions during their time of living, get delayed more than others. But even still, if a person's will is incredibly strong, or even have any regrets or goals that they wish to accomplish, then they can remain who they are as a spirit. There are a couple of other things that I won’t go into detail about, but that’s the gist of it.”

  He paused for a moment, letting Barry digest the information before continuing. “I, for example, wanted to keep helping out animals wherever I go. So I declined the option to move on to another life because I believed being the way I am now made my way of doing things easier. Also, depending on what sort of gifts you had when you were living, might carry on with you. That said, I resulted in being the free-spirited animal handler that I am. Hehe.”

  “Alright, that makes sense. If you’re a spirit, you wouldn’t need to worry about the potential dangers of death or bodily upkeeps. It would be easier and useful to be a spirit rather than reincarnating into a random being. And if you were a bad person, you have a longer wait time than others.” Barry accepted his explanation, but he was still curious about one thing. “Then, how did you and Calista encounter each other? You gave her your bell, what’s the story behind that?”

  “Ah, I was expecting one of you to ask me one of these days. In short, I got myself in a bit of a pickle fending off a bunch of poachers trying to capture a family of delicate kiwi’s. And these were no ordinary kiwi’s, mind you, I’m talking majestic and sacred critters. Cute little magical birds.” Abe started coddling his hands as if he was holding one. “But anyways, Calista happened to be nearby and helped me scare the bastards off. From then on, I tagged along by her side with the Nightwalkers and grew fond of them all. So, I handed off that bell to her as a way to call me if they needed assistance.”

  “I see…” Barry’s impression of how Abe and Calista met each other wasn’t too far off from what he had thought. “You do strike me and the group as the type of person to drift to different places, helping others. Though, that sounds like a hassle in itself.”

  Abe laughed, he figured Barry would say something like that. “Haha, yeah, I’m just a drifting spirit with a heart to preserve Mother Gwendalia’s children.”

  “Gwendalia? Is that some sort of goddess? I remember you mentioning that name before when we rescued that Unicorn.” Barry questioned, wondering if that was one of the gods who were spectating the game they were in.

  “You can say that. A lot of people here in this world tend to take this beautiful land and its precious animals for granted. I only hope that those people open their third eye and- Oh, hey there chatterbox!” Abe’s personal raven had returned, landing on his shoulder and started making bird noises. “Uh-huh…oh…really?” Abe looked behind them as they drove, possibly trying to find something.

  Barry noticed his change in attitude and scanned their surroundings as they continued to travel. “What is it?”

  “Apparently, from what my little scout is telling me…is that we might have something or someone tailing us.” Abe was more alert now.

  Upon hearing a potential stalker, Barry stood up and looked behind. He charged up his pulse scanner and sent out a couple waves of blue pulses that washed over the vegetation that they were leaving behind and around. “I’m not seeing anything unusual. It could be that they’ve noticed they’ve been caught and are hanging back.”

  “Don’t worry about it, I’ve dealt with my fair share of stalkers before.” Abe cackled. “It could be a bunch of lousy ghost hunters trying to abolish the Great Abe from existence. They soon realize that I’m too good to catch and give up. I’ll send a couple of our friends to watch our backs as we go…”

  Suddenly, Abe produced a multitude of different animal noises which summoned all sorts of critters and flying avian friends to have more eyes on the scene. “There, I’d like to see our stalker try to get around this type of security. I’ll make sure to provide our friends some extra treats during our downtime.”

  “I thought spirits don’t eat or drink anything?” Barry asked, remembering what Abe told him when they had breakfast.

  “Yeah, that still holds true. But that doesn't mean that we can’t or shouldn’t, there are ways for us to taste the type of foods we like. There are places that make nourishment for spirits like me, they're just not common. Here look…” Abe reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a pale gray misty food tablet. “Hold this.”

  Doing as told, Barry grabbed the tablet off of his hands and was amused by the texture of it which was cold and oddly crumbly despite its looks. “This is so weird. Is it safe for me to eat?” He asked, genuinely wanting to test that theory out himself.

  Abe grinned. “Care to find out?” He really wanted to see Barry try it.

  Barry didn’t like the look Abe was giving and shook his head. “Nevermind, I think it’ll end badly for me if I did so.” He then noticed his raven eyeing the food tablet with hunger, Barry decided to feed it to the spirit raven who happily accepted.

  The two continued venturing through the night, Abe sharing a bit more about the life of a spirit before switching topics. Barry was intrigued by the information he learned from Abe, even though he would never truly admit his interest in the world he was in.

  But as they rode down to their destination under the light of the moon, an unknown figure that was tailing them from afar had halted their advance due to being found out. It paused behind a thicket of trees, waiting a bit before continuing to follow them.

  ‘Damn spirits, I was careless to think that I wouldn’t get caught. I should have been more cautious…’ The mysterious being reflected on his incompetence. ‘No matter, I know exactly where they are at any given time. So I can take my time following them.’

  The ominous being looked up at the moonlight sky in deep thought for a moment. ‘I’ve found you now, and I’m not letting you get away. You will return back with me, for that is my mission.’