Rune

Amrunela could tell from looking at her best friend's face that this place bothered him. It bothered her too, but she figured it was messing with his oracle senses much as if she had stumbled on a major magical energy source. And it already made her feel suffocated enough being here – she was worried about Jaekel.

Talon had said this was a place of birth and of death. She was afraid to ask exactly what had been born here – and what had died. To leave behind such an intense feeling of – she could only assume it was the divine because of Jaekel's reaction.

She had to agree with what Niliah had said earlier that the fact that Talon was so good with this place made one wonder just who was he truly? Well, he had so far proven very difficult to figure out – but it felt like the more she found out about him, the more she felt like was completely unknown about him.

As they were walking, she fell behind to walk in last - mostly so she could keep an eye on Jaekel. She was quite worried about him. He was being quiet – and his shoulders were slightly slumped as if a great weight was bearing down on him.

Suddenly she realized that her intruder had come out of her amulet. However there was a difference to him now – a difference she was sure came from the energy within this place.

Instead of a dark misty form he looked more like a person. More like he had probably looked in life. Those vividly green eyes were still there, but his pale face looked less see through. His hair, no longer shrouded with darkness, was a dirty blond that fell just lightly into his eyes. The clothes he wore – most likely what he had been wearing when he had died – seemed to be clothes made for traveling in.

She slowed down her pace a bit as she regarded the wraith like being. He turned and smiled. There was something incredibly soft in that smile – strangely affectionate and warm. He suddenly spoke, "Perhaps its because I am already dead – but I seem to feel this place different than you all do – its quite comforting, and there is a warmth to it that makse a longing came bubbling up."

"Are you ready to answer some questions now?" She sighed.

"I'll trade some answers for answers." He winked.

"Fine." What did he want to ask her? "Who are you?"

"I'm – or was – Zilanius Lokhaven." He chuckled, "How large is your family?"

She was a bit puzzled by the question and wondered why he was curious about that. "I have my parents and fifteen siblings."

"Sixteen kids!?" He seemed a bit surprised but he grinned. "I hope it was filled with lots of love."

"It was…" She decided against asking how he died. Instead she asked, "What help did you think you could give me?"

"Well…this is a bit complicated to explain – but there are not many people with a similar wavelength of magic to yours – well, to your secondary magic that is." He tilted his head. "Hmm… well, you see… you are of the bloodline you already know… but you have another bloodline lying a bit dormant… and I can help you learn to use it – I had the same bloodline when I was alive."

"You can't have two bloodlines." She furrowed her brow.

"There's an exception to most rules. Especially magic rules. I'm no great export on it – for quite a bit of my life I was unable to use magic due to my curse." He gazed forward at Jaekel then asked, "You seem quite close to that young man."

"We've been together since childhood."

"He seems sweet. A nice young man. Are you courting?"

"Huh? No. He's my best friend." She furrowed her brows.

"Oh. Well. I like him." He nodded. "Oh. You could also ask me questions about your two companions – I know most of what's been going on in this land."

"You know of them?" She blinked.

"Most of my talking companions are spirits – and their favorite topic happens to be him. Not to mention I actually knew his father – though only in the last years of his life. Oh, and his aunt was the one who performed the ceremony at my wedding – she was the only priest around. I hear her niece has taken a few more priests under her but-"

"You were married?" Amrunela asked out of curiosity.

"Yesh." He looked very happy for a moment, eyes crinkling into crescents. "She was absolutely wonderful….She's still alive actually – I'd visit her, but I fear I'd only bring hurt now." He coughed, "You know love can be such an amazing thing – so, once you fall in love, hold him tight."

"You sound like a romantic."

"I think I became more of one after my death." He admitted, "I loved my wife dearly, but I seem to love her even more now. I only have a few concerns now, and all of them are about the family I left behind. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I'm still here."

For once, Amrunela found it difficult to ask any more questions after hearing this. Her throat felt a bit tight as she suddenly felt emotional. But she decided that it seemed that Talon was right – this wraith like creature would not harm them.