Word Count: 1696

~Aspen

Kastriv is in shock. Serious shock.

So much so that I've booked us into a ancient inn in the centre of the village, because there is no way he's going to transport us out of her.

"I think we should leave soon," I tell him, looking out the window at a storm is rolling in.

Thick, dark crowds crawl through the sky, casting ominous shadows over the village. This inn is hardly clinging to life, so the sooner we get out of here the better.

"We can't leave yet. I can't leave them," Kastriv mutters.

He sits on the end of the rickety bed, head in his hands. I can't even begin to imagine what thoughts are passing through his head. His parents, who he has spent his whole life protecting, don't even remember him.

"Let's go now. Maybe they are still in the field." I motion stupidly out the window, knowing they would have been chased off by the nearing storm by now.

Kastriv's eyes are torn apart by emotion as he looks up at me. "What are we going to say? Atari has shredded apart their minds."

"We don't know that..."

The alternative is that they didn't see him properly...but he looks so distinct. Or they lost their memory in another way, but even that is far-fetched.

"We do know that. She knew she wouldn't be able to control me forever, so she took their minds so they wouldn't remember me." Kastriv sounds, starting to pace.

I chew on my nails, trying to think.

"I'll find a way to fix this."

"There is already so much to figure out. Like this spirit..." Kastriv drifts off, ruffling a hand through his hair.

I look around the room, swallowing uncomfortably. "Is she here?"

"Yes. Over there." Kastriv points to the corner of the room. To me, it's empty, but I know that the spirits lurk. I saw it for myself when I got into Kastriv's head.

"Should I try talk to her again?" I ask.

I'm not sure I want to, after what happened last time. It's eerie, talking to a mirror image of myself, especially when they were crying, in desperate need of help.

"If you want." Kastriv shrugs, clearly wanting to take his mind off his parents.

I stand up a little straighter. "If this is too much-"

"I'm fine. There is nothing I can do about my parents right now," he assures me, sitting back down on the bed.

I follow his lead, crawling onto the bed so I am facing him. I'm not sure if I'll be able to accomplish anything new with this spirit, but Kastriv isn't going to be able to rest until they stop haunting him.

"Alright. Give me your hands," I instruct.

"Be careful," Kastriv warns quietly. I entwine my fingers through his, holding onto the feeling of sparks, of the warmth he offers.

"I will," I assure him.

My eyes flutter closed. It doesn't take much to grab a hold of the magic I use to delve into Kastriv's mind. The more I use it, the easier this gets, which is kind of terrifying.

My eyes - Kastriv's eyes - open. Sure enough, the spirit that looks exactly like me is standing at the edge of the bed, clearly waiting for me to get into my mates head.

For a moment we just stare at each other.

"You need to tell me what you want," I say slowly.

There is no guarantee this spirit is going to be able to communicate. What happened last time could have been what I wanted to hear...

"You're in danger," the spirit blurts out.

I blink. They even sound exactly like me. But what is more frightening is that Kastriv hasn't been able to communicate with this spirit before, and now, they are standing before me, talking as if they actually exist in this world.

"From who?" I ask warily.

"From Atari," she says frantically.

My blood chills. This is about Atari? This spirit clearly isn't panicking for no reason, not when she knows who Atari is. This is even worse than I thought...

"How do you know about Atari?"

She frowns a little. As that what I look like when I do that?

"She is a Demon, like you," she says, as if that answers any of my questions. I'm not surprised she knows who I am, considering she has taken my appearance for whatever reason. But what does Atari have to do with this?

"Who are you?"

"I am just a part of this earth who has gained the ability to communicate with you," she tells me lightly, the tears once streaking down her face now dried.

"Why do you look like me?" I fold my arms over my chest, eyeing her up and down. Almost everything looks exactly like me. This cannot be a coincidence.

"It's the only way Kastriv would take me seriously. I needed him to find you," she explains, rubbing her hands together.

I let that information wash over me. What other forms can this spirit take for the purpose of communication?

"What do you need to tell me?"

"Atari has a terrible plan to kill all Demon's, including you." The spirit takes a step forward, but I flinch back.

It would probably be valuable to find out whether I can touch the spirit or not, but right now, I'm not sure I want to have that added stress.

"How do you know this?" My head is starting to hurt with all this information, and maybe because of the magic I'm using.

She spirit taps her temple. "Spirits hear all, know all."

I'm not sure how literal she is being, but I shudder regardless.

"What's her plan?"

"She has gotten hold of a spell that can kill all the Demon's. She doesn't even need to be near them, she just needs to release it into the air," the spirit says gravelly.

My throat dries out. Does Keo know about this? If he did, I'm certain he would do everything to kill Atari, and he hasn't yet. If this is true, and he does hear about this...

"How do I stop this?" I ask.

I'm not even sure why I'm consulting with a spirit about this, but if they really can do something to help, then I should probably take it into consideration.

"You need to kill her, but she is powerful. It will not be easy," the spirit insists.

I'm so overwhelmed by this, my head is spinning. I'm wary of trusting them, especially since they have been haunting Kastriv for his whole life. I'm not sure how spirits work, but how they knew about what was going to happen in the future is crowding my mind, making everything more confusing.

"Do you know how?"

The spirit looks over her shoulder, as if someone else may be listening in. "You need to draw energy into your magic."

"I have Kastriv and Keo to help me with that." If she knows about me, she knows about Keo...

She looks frustrated, shaking her head frantically. "It's not enough. You need earthly magic, which I can help you connect to."

"How do I do that?"

"I can help you. You can use my energy force to make your magic powerful enough to get into Atari's head to kill her," they explain.

I shake my head a little, trying to make this settle in my mind in a way that makes sense. "What will happen to you?"

Their expression drops, a sense of unease coming about them.

"I have watched on for far too long. I have sensed you and your power, while being unable to communicate with Kastriv. I knew once you used your powers to get into Kastriv's head, I would be able to grasp onto your Demon nature to talk to you. I've always known my purpose was to help you," she tells me.

I press my hands to the side of my face. "What do you mean?"

"I will die. But as a spirit, I am not exactly alive anyways." She doesn't smile though, to put me at ease. I'm not certain she is capable of it.

"You're going to sacrifice yourself?"

"It needs to be done. To save the Demon's," she tells me.

What will happen when I back out of Kastriv's head and have to explain this to Kastriv and Keo? Will they be willing to believe this spirit, to let them help us?

It sounds like this problem is too close to avoid any longer.

"What do you get out of this?" No one, even a spirit, can be that selfless.

She looks wistfully toward the window. "I've never had a purpose. I exist only to wander these lands and wish I were one of you. Now, I can do something beyond what I ever thought myself capable of."

"This isn't fair. You don't deserve to die," I insist.

"And the Demon's do? Like I said, I've never been alive anyways," she exclaims flippantly.

I sigh. I know she's right, that she isn't alive and so many Demon's are. Demon's Keo has fought his entire life to save, and now their life is in my hands, since I'm the one with this knowledge.

"I need to talk to my mate," I say suddenly. He's reasonable...maybe he will know what to do.

"Fine, but remember you must be fast. Atari is close to completing the spell," the spirit warns.

I nod. "Alright. Thank you."

Closing my eyes, I let out a long breath, feeling the magic crawl around Kastriv's mind, removing me from it. When I open them again, I'm staring back at my mate, the spirit nowhere to be seen.

He blinks a little, rubbing his eyes as he comes out of the haze of magic that I put over his mind.

"What happened?" he asks, noticing the grave look on my face.

"I spoke to the spirit," I whisper. "Atari is going to kill me."

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