[Mkguild] Life As We Know It III

[Jack Moore]

Life As We Know It - III

Past – 698/9

Somewhere South of Metamor
You’ve twice heard my dream.  I tell you so you understand this point.  In
my opinion there is literally nothing worse than sleep deprivation.  It
robs you of thought.  It makes every sensation unpleasant.
Hot is too hot.  Cold is unnatural.  Every noise comes from inside of your
head.  Sounds are explosions.  And it never seems to end.  When you do
finally sleep, you collapse into it.  You’ve reached that moment where your
body finally says “Enough” and forces you down.  The worst thing is when
you do this to yourself, you know you are approaching that moment but you
try to delay it a little more.
I was rapidly approaching that moment.  The moon was full and the sky
cloudless.  The air carried that chill of one last push by winter as it
loses ground to spring.  My body was for the most part bare.  I was allowed
thin clothing for modesty sake but I wasn’t allowed anything to strengthen
me.
I stood in a clearing on the stump of a tree.  The tree had been dead for
Eli knows how long.  I felt I would soon be joining it.  I’ve never liked
the woods because they’re chaotic and unstructured.  In that moment I hated
them.  Oh if I could have asked Eli for anything in that moment, I’d have
asked for a wild fire.
All around me echoed Mr. Sotto’s footsteps, each splashing in the mud.  The
trees created bands of shadow in the pale light.  I could see movement in
the underbrush around me.  Constantly twigs and branches snapped. 'Why
won’t they stop?'
I held myself in the same position I had for twenty-three hours now.  When
it had started to drizzle, I hadn’t moved.  Mr. Sotto was kind enough to
divert the rain from me.  When the sun set, I hadn’t moved.  Even when
those wasps landed on my arm I never trembled.
Because I couldn’t move.  That was part of the test.
The point of this test was for me to be at my weakest.  As Mr. Sotto had
made clear many times, our powers depend on our minds.  That’s all well and
good when we’re rested and well fed.  But we aren’t always going to have
the luxury of rest.
“I’m so tired.” I rasped out.  My lungs had become two weights attempting
to pull my head off.  My legs wobbled on the stump and every splinted
stabbed me like a knife.  “Can’t I stop yet?”
“Not yet Janelle.”  Sotto said.  Even in the dim moon light I could see him
puff out his chest.  “I designed this test for our organization.  When you
succeed, you will be allowed to take the final test.  Then you will be a
full member.  We are Avolbe.”
“We are the loonies.” I mumbled.  Avolbe was a word Mr. Sotto had found in
a manuscript from a dead language.  Supposedly it meant The Enlightened.
In truth he didn’t know and neither did I.  I just knew I had splinters in
my feet as the clock approached midnight.
Again I felt the unnatural chill that every Channeler does.  That feeling
where a spirit tries to force their way into your mind.  It’s comes from
between your skin and your bones and runs through your blood.  It leaves a
feeling of almost sparks inside of you.
And it’s hard to get rid of it.
When a Channeler channels a spirit, they pull the spirit into their body.
Into the place where their own soul resides.  The spirit alters the body in
turn, altering it more the further in it goes.  You can gain knowledge you
never had, memory of events you’ve never done, and even access to magic.
But you always must be careful.  The further into your own core you pull a
spirit, the harder it is to get rid of.  If you’re not careful, you may
find it doesn’t want to leave and can keep itself in.  It may even take
control of you.
At that point you’ve passed the point of channeling.  If a person is taken
control of by a spirit they channeled, or a spirit forces itself in, it is
a Possession.  Just the thought of it made my blood turn to ice.
My test here was to keep myself from being possessed for twenty four hours,
while in bad shape.  Now as another spirit began to bore into my mind, I
wondered how I would do it.
'Concentrate.' I breathed out. 'Find your balance Janelle.' I spread out my
feet and cleared my mind.  The entire would vanished, all that was left was
me and the spirit.  Wild spirits do have a physical presence as well as a
spiritual one.  They still exist in our world, they must to effect it.
This one was coming from behind.  It was entering somewhere along my back.
The where didn’t matter, all I needed to know was which side the spirit was
on.
'Got you.' Channelers like me have few weapons, but one we do have is a
technique Mr. Sotto calls Snapping.  When we channel, think of it as
reaching out with spiritual arms.  We can touch your minds and your souls,
and pull spirits into our bodies.  We can also focus though and hit a
spirit with the force of our soul.  Essentially, we spiritually punch them.
The spirit welled with anger as I Snapped at it.  Instantly I felt it fly
off from me, the sensation of cold wet air returning.
Snapping doesn’t kill spirits.  While that no doubt is possible, it is not
one of our few talents.  Snapping will stun a spirit and leave it unable to
possess for some time, depending on how weak it is.  That one was a weak
one, yet I could feel my legs beginning to droop.
“No fear Janelle.” Mr. Sotto said.
“I’m not afraid.” I whispered.  “I’m exhausted.”  And afraid.  Afraid of
failing while this man who raised me up watched me.  Afraid I wasn’t strong
enough.  I snapped my drooping head back up.
“We are entering the final ten minutes.” Mr. Sotto said.  “From midnight to
midnight.”  Somehow he always knew the time.  He could even fall asleep and
wake within seconds of his desired time.
I want that super power too.
Another spirit charged at me, trying to get through my front.  Again I
Snapped at them and left them reeling.  Mr. Sotto stopped behind me.  I
forced my limbs to stop shaking.  I wanted to turn and smile at him, but I
doubt I had the energy.
“You-you know I’m not as tired as I thought.” I stammered with a grin.
“You’re very strong Janelle.”  My heart skipped a beat.  “You’re doing even
better than I did.”
“Thank you sir.”  Now I was blushing so bright I probably glowed in the
dark.  Then the wind blew my red hair into my face, leading me to spit out
a wad of hair.  'Thank you for that Eli.'
Back to silence.  Spirits crowded around me and I was Snapping as fast as I
can.  Front-back-back-back-front-front, I wiped drool off of the corner of
my mouth. 'Eli how much longer?'
Mr. Sotto was silent now.  I think he had stopped moving.  An owl screeched
above me, followed by a shriek from something small.  That distracted
allowed a spirit to penetrate my body.  'Shit, not this now.'
This forest had been the scene of a bloody battle.  Every spirit had been
reduced to a pile of raw emotions.  This one was rage, using it to try and
break me.  And the worst part is, I could feel it succeeding.  My legs
started to wobble.
'Find your balance Janelle. Concentrate.' With all the effort I was capable
of, I stopped my legs from shaking.  Images from the spirit began to
overwhelm my mind, coming from the spirit.  'Oh Eli help us.....'
Running, they died running through a rain storm.  All around them was
screaming and they were wielding a spear.  An arrow struck them from behind
and sent them face first into a puddle.  This was followed by a spear into
the back, through the spine.
'
Your last moments were spent drowning in a puddle.' I swallowed.  'I am so
sorry.  But I can’t let you in.' I closed my eyes. 'Forgive me.' I reached
out and Touched the spirit.  I drew back, then thrust my spirit out with as
much force as my mind could muster.
Instantly the spirit was repealed from my body and sent flying.  It’s last
sensation was not rage but fear.  I think that was the worst part of my
test.  Mr. Sotto cleared his throat.
“Good job Janelle.”  I could feel the warmth in his voice.  “It is now
midnight.  You have succeeded.” I forced a grin.  “I know you must feel
exhausted.  But you can rest now.”  My legs buckled.
“Re-rest.” I laughed softly.  The last thing I remember was the world
spinning around me and Mr. Sotto’s arms catching me as I collapsed.
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