’Why do I feel sad... just hearing this name?’
Azel paused mid-swing, the crystal beneath his blade cracking cleanly.
He had no reason... absolutely none to feel anything toward a name he’d never heard before.
And yet the grief that stirred inside him felt old... like mourning a memory he had never lived. It was painful and annoying as well.
He frowned. ’I don’t know him... so why the hell do I feel sad?’
"It’s probably because I feel sad as well."
Azel froze.
That voice did not belong to Mira and it wasn’t Mynes either.
It was feminine and mature... a little raspy with age, but melodic enough to be unsettling. Slowly and carefully, he turned his head.
A woman drifted beside him.
She wasn’t standing neither was she walking but rather she was floating, her form translucent as mist.
Her face looked like she belonged in her early forties with elegant cheekbones, tired but wise eyes, strands of white woven through dark hair.
Her clothes were an old-fashioned sorceress’ robe, shredded at the edges and glowing like a dying enchantment. He could see the wall through her body.
A ghost.
Mira noticed his stare and tilted her head. "Are you seeing things...?"
"Act normal," the ghost scolded sharply. "You look very weird."
Azel forced his attention back to Mira before he looked insane.
"I’m fine... just confused." He gestured at the glowing cave. "Are we going to pack these crystals?"
Mira sighed. "They aren’t part of my mission, but why not? Mynes, do these crystals have any worth?"
The ghost woman scoffed dramatically. "What kind of question is that? This is the resting place of Grand Witch Gwendolyn, of course they’re valuable! Each crystal is worth a whole city!"
Mynes plucked a red crystal and rotated it in her palm. "Maybe some silver ares. They’re good for jewelry."
Azel didn’t say anything but he absolutely laughed.
"What’s so funny?" Mynes asked. "Azel, you agree, right? Mana stones like this are used to make mana-steel swords. They’re good but not anything insane."
He kept his face straight. "Let’s harvest them."
He brought his bone sword down on a crystal. The cut was smooth; the gem slid cleanly onto the growing pile at his feet.
Mira and Mynes joined in, each swing echoing softly through the cavern.
Meanwhile, the ghost hovered like an offended librarian.
’You can hear my thoughts, can’t you?’ Azel asked silently.
"I can," she answered proudly, drifting closer. "You’re quite peculiar, you know. You look like Yarog. Well... a human version of him."
’Who is this Yarog person?’
Gwendolyn’s expression softened with nostalgia. "My lover. A fine man... though he had a small penis. But he still loved me deeply."
Azel nearly stopped cutting.
’Can’t relate.’
He resumed swinging.
’Why can I even see you? Are you Wendy?’
Gwendolyn burst into laughter, flipping upside-down mid-air.
The motion lifted her ghostly skirt and yes, she absolutely showed him her ethereal panties without shame.
"They couldn’t be more wrong. I’m Gwendolyn. And considering your strange modern clothing, this must be far in the future! I’m sure I’m famous here."
’I’ve never heard of you.’
She froze.
"You... you’ve never...?" Her voice cracked. "I practically invented shadow magic! Are you telling me I’m not considered one of the greats?! I’m FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD!"
She began pulling her hair, spinning in circles midair like a toddler having a meltdown.
Azel sighed inwardly. ’It’s funny watching an old woman throw a tantrum.’
Gwendolyn’s eye twitched.
She drifted close enough that her cold breath brushed his cheek. "That still doesn’t explain why I’m here, hmm? Why you, specifically, can see me? I’m guessing that’s your question."
Azel paused, his blade resting on the next crystal. ’Right. Why are you here?’
Her expression shifted... a sly, knowing smile replacing her frustration.
"Because," she whispered, "I’m currently haunting you."
He blinked.
’What?’
"You killed my shadow," she said lightly, spinning once like she was showing off. "And since my shadow was linked to my life, its death killed my original body. Because of that, my soul automatically latched onto you... the one who delivered the final blow. I could have gone to that woman as well but I love men so yes you were the best choice."
Azel’s grip on his sword tightened.
"I noticed you have some divine overseers lurking around your soul," she continued, waving her hand dismissively. "But I have mastered soul magic to the point that even I could be considered a god. They didn’t detect me at all."
She leaned close, her lips curling in a dangerous smile.
"And if you... or any of your gods, try to sever with my soul away from yours, mine will detonate yours. Killing us both instantly. No resurrection. No underworld return. It will be a total deletion from the world."
Azel didn’t react outwardly.
Inside, he called:
’Nyala. Is this true?’
Silence.
A terrifying, suffocating silence.
Then...
Azel collapsed.
A crushing force wrapped around his heart, squeezing with cold pressure. His lungs burned and his veins felt like molten iron.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he caught himself on trembling hands.
Mira and Mynes spun toward him instantly.
"Azel!" Mira dropped to his side, panic cracking her usually calm tone. "Your aura... it’s destabilizing!"
"What’s happening?!" Mynes pressed a hand to his back. "Did something curse you?!"
Above them, Gwendolyn smiled sweetly and kicked her legs in the air.
"Oh, this? Just proof. Try to reject me or remove me, and your soul collapses. Lovely, isn’t it?"
Nyala’s voice finally echoed inside him:
[Yes... she has a complex hold on your soul. Neither I, Kyone, nor Elarielle specialize in soul magic. If we attempt to sever her, your soul will die instantly and you will experience Soul Death. Even a god cannot restore that.]
Gwendolyn beamed triumphantly.
"See? Your goddess agrees."
Azel raised his hand slowly to wipe his mouth, forcing himself upright as the pain slowly subsided.
Mira steadied him, her hand firm against his shoulder while Mynes hovered anxiously on his other side.
Gwendolyn floated closer, cupping his cheek with a cold, ghostly hand.
"Your soul," she whispered lovingly, "belongs to me."
A system window finally bloomed across his vision though this time, it looked like a death sentence...
[You have been haunted by Gwendolyn, The Witch Of The End]