The Lunar Ray Guild

An eerie night besets the forest outside Vanheel. Mist pervading every inch of the forest, the moonlight bleeding through it like water through fabric, causing the ground to shimmer. The old woman moves through the forest at a cautioned pace, watching her every step. The leaves crackle beneath her feet and the wind howls its somber song. She finally reaches a deep point in the forest far off the worn path. Just as she starts to settle herself, she hears a long wail from behind her. She turns and there stands a young girl who shimmers under the moonlight. So much so that it's hard to focus in on her. Almost as if the woman can see right through her. "M-mommy?" the young girl cries. The old woman backs away slowly while clutching her chest. Without paying much attention to where she's stepping, she backs into a log and it knocks her off her feet. Her head collides with the ground and she falls unconscious…

 "And that's what happened last night. The next morning, I came to feeling cold, damp, and a little detached from reality. I managed to stumble my way back home and rest. This girl…she was a ghost. A spirit that still walks this world."

 "Clearly the ole' crone was just seeing things. Now can we get back to the issue at hand. What are we to do with this blast embargo!?"

 The voices start to rise again as the mayor tries to grab everybody's attention, "People, please! Town hall meetings are so that we can resolve issues, not argue among ourselves and leave everything in the air!"

 "I'm sorry, Ms. Kean. It doesn't seem like they're going to take your dilemma seriously," says Neville Gaylen, speaking above the uproar of the townsfolk. Ms. Kean frowns staring down at her cane, an object she hasn't been in need of for months. However, she still feels a bit weak from her ordeal. "Don't give me such a sad look, ma'am. There are other ways to get people to help you, have you tried the local mage guild?"

 The old lady sports a tiny half-hearted smile, "Unfortunately, I don't have much. When Rob left me, his lumberjack business was all that he had."

 "Well, it's Lunar Ray we're talking about. There is no job too big or small for them. The guild master himself once went out of his way to track down a murderer and brought him to justice. He did it out of a sense of duty and not payment."

 "Is he here?"

 "No. You will have to approach him yourself; the guild sits on the east side of the town on a hill. If you want, I can give you a ride in my wagon to ease the journey along."

 "Thank you, young man. You are too kind," she answers. They exit the town hall together, leaving the townsfolk to their bickering. 

 "No. Can we please find another quest to do? I'm already tired of dealing with creatures. First there were the naiads and then the melon guardian. I don't want to deal with a nest of basilisks."

 Shanna rolls her eyes, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Don't be such a big baby. Right now, this sequence of quests will help you get used to it. Plus, it seems we're already growing accustomed to these types of quests. Might as well do this one. We may even complete it more efficiently than we have done the last two."

 Xander sighs while shaking his head, there's no arguing with Shanna. She's set on this basilisk quest. "Plus, I'm immune to poison," Shanna adds before walking the quest over to Gridlock.

 "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I'm not?!?" Xander exclaims. 

 Gridlock sits at the bar counter, Frizz hanging onto his arm and rubbing her face lovingly against his. He smiles and wraps an arm around her rubbing her arm with his hand and asks the barmaid the same question, "So nothing yet? You haven't heard from the Solari?"

 The woman shakes her head silently with a frown on her face, "My connection has always been broken since that day. I can't sense anything celestial of any kind. And my control over cosmic energy still hasn't fully returned." Gridlock nods his head while sighing, "I'm sure something will make way eventually."

 "Excuse me, master, I-" Shanna starts to say but he holds up a hand. "It seems we have a visitor." The guild hall quiets down as he turns on his stool. There stands Ms. Kean.

 "What can I do for you, miss?" he asks.

 She slowly approaches the bar at a painstaking stroll then presents Gridlock with a few Aris, "This is all I have. Please. I tried to appeal to the townsfolk for help, but they wouldn't listen to me. There's a ghost girl in the forest."

 "I heard rumors about that," Xander speaks up. Several turn his way. "Many people came into our eyeglass shop mistakenly because they believed their eyes were going bad. Although, all of them gave the same explanation. They believed they saw an apparition wondering through the forest stalking them. They would often see it in the corner of their eyes or hiding behind a tree. However, every-time they focused in on the spot it would be gone. They weren't sure if their eyes were going bad or if they were hallucinating."

 "This was no hallucination," the old woman insists, "I'm afraid this ghost has been wondering the forest for years."

 "Usually, a request like this would go for 90,000 to 100,000 Aris, not 10,000," Gridlock says with a raised eyebrow.

 "Please, do this for me. I promise to pay whatever is owed over a period of time." Gridlock smiles, "No need to fear, ma'am. I won't make you pay." He hands the money back to the old woman and stands. "Our guild isn't just here for the money or the power. It's here to be a beacon for all who needs help." He turns to Xander and Shanna, "How would you two like to fulfill this woman's request?"

 "Absolutely n-" Shanna starts to say but Xander blurts out, "Of course!" She narrows her eyes at him, but he just ignores her. "Just point us in the right direction."

 "Very well. I'm counting on you two," Gridlock says with a nod of his head, "I have to go." He gives Frizz a quick peck on the lips before vanishing in a mist of dark purple particles. 

 Shanna and Gridlock ride in the wagon with Ms. Kean and Neville back to her house at the edge of the forest. On the way there Neville asks the two of them, "So, I've known the guild has been around for quite some years, but I never understood why the guild master never attended any of the town hall meetings."

 Shanna speaks up, "There would be a conflict of interest. The town already has officers and other offices to enforce the law and uphold the order of the town. They also get paid for it. So, involving the mage guild would mostly take away from the work of those people. Although, there's not much those people could have done about a ghost in the forest. You were right in coming to the guild with the issue."

 "Can either of you banish a ghost?" Neville asks.

 Both Shanna and Xander look at each other. "I think we'll climb that hill when we reach it," Xander replies while scratching the back of his head.

 "Do you have enough crystals?" Shanna asks with some concern.

 "Of course, I always make sure I have plenty on hand."

 "Good, 'cause we may need to use them." 

 Upon reaching the old woman's house, all three of them exit the wagon and walk around to the backside where the forest meets the house. The old woman points off in the northeast direction of the forest, "That's the direction I took when I ran into the spirit."

 Xander nods his head with a smile, "Thank you, ma'am. We'll take it from here. You can rest easy tonight."

 The old woman nods her head while pinching his cheek, "Such a sweet young boy."

 Xander bites back his tears, for an older lady her pinch feels like a crab has taken a hold of his face, "Much obliged, ma'am."

 Shanna just stares at the older woman, a puzzled look taking over her face. "I'm sorry, miss…" 

 "Ms. Kean."

 "Yeah. What were you doing wondering the forest?"

 The old woman looks down, "I suppose I should tell you…My husband used to be a lumberjack. He absolutely loved the forest. We used to take long walks at night with each other. At least, that was when he was still alive. I guess I'm just carrying on the same tradition."

 "Right," Shanna answers while nodding her head, "Let's go, Xander."

 The two of them walk away deeper into the forest. By the time they move out of earshot from Ms. Kean she says, "There's something off about that old woman. There's something she's not telling us. Also, she seems familiar…Like I used to know her before but by a different name."

 Xander waves her off, "You're just suspicious of everything. She's a sweet old lady who's probably just rattled about what happened last night."

 "Still…we have to be careful. This spirit may come off as a ghost girl, but it may be a demon."

 "What now." Now she has Xander's full undivided attention.

 "Sometimes demons take on the form of dead children to appeal to the human instinct of protecting children. They then feed on the feelings of people until they grow strong enough to reveal their true nature."

 Xander turns pale, "That sounds much harder than 100,000 Aris."

 "There's no need to worry about that now. We should just keep it in mind as a possibility."

 Xander nods his head as they continue walking along. Shanna finally starts in a different direction. "Wait where are you going?"

 "We're going to make base at my house," Shanna explains, "I have a feeling this will take longer than a single night." 

 Just before the sun sets, the two of them head out and start investigating the forest searching for anything that may give them a clue about what's going on. For the most part, their search remains peaceful. Nothing comes out to greet them, and the way the setting sun breaks through the foliage of the trees paint the ground a magnificent golden color.

 "I never knew the forest could look so beautiful."

 "Isn't it." Shanna stops walking which causes Xander to stop walking.

 "What's wrong?"

 "Shh." She turns her ear as she listens carefully, but only the sound of rustling leaves in the cool breeze answers her caution. She closes her eyes and tries to focus in on the energy in the area. "I can sense a strange energy…" she says, "Something nearby but I can't tell where."

 Xander's heartbeat starts to pick up when he sees it. He quickly taps on Shanna's shoulders. "What!?" she says irritably. Xander points and there stands a young girl before them not too far off.

 She stands among the shadows of the trees, walking along aimlessly. As she passes through the breaches of sunlight, her entire form seems to vanish. Shanna watches with bated breath. The ghost girl doesn't seem to notice them, she just continues to creep along until she disappears into a thicker sheet of sunlight, vanishing altogether.

 "Well," Xander says to finally break the silence, "We know she's real. Now what do we do."

 The next few hours, Shanna stands there channeling her magic power to sense the different energies in the area. Though she still struggles with this technique.

 "So, you're trying to sense the ghost's energy?" Xander asks from the rock he currently sits on, "How do you that? What kind of energy does a ghost even have?"

 "Soul energy," Shanna replies while keeping her eyes tightly closed shut.

 "How many more energies are there…" Xander mumbles to himself.

 "Four altogether. Now will you stay silent? I'm trying to concentrate."

 "Sorry," Xander answers sheepishly. He looks off into the distance where the sun is now hidden by the horizon. He squints his eyes and notices multiple pair of eyes staring back at him. A dozen or so tiny little creatures flutter just below a tree branch off in the distance watching them. Upon noticing him staring they disappear behind the tree. If Xander doesn't know any better, he just saw a bunch of fairies.

 The two of them eventually return to Shanna's house after she didn't find anything amiss. Wherever the ghost girl had went she's long gone by now. Xander stays up a little later to continue forming new batches of crystals. Shanna lays in her bed restlessly. Her mind is starting to race trying to figure out what's going on with this ghost girl and why she has these suspicious feelings about the old lady. She tosses and turns for a few more minutes before finally falling asleep. 

 She has a dream where she wanders through the forest herself. However, everywhere she walks, the plants in the environment start growing exponentially. She tries to outrun the growth as it quickly chokes out every bit of open space in the forest, but it moves too quickly and bears down on her. She is surrounded by plants and no matter how much she tries, they don't listen to her. Vines and roots wrap around every limb of her body. Leaves and branches cover every inch of her torso, scratching her skin and squeezing her tightly. As she wrestles in the thick of this onslaught of nature, she hears a voice. That same voice she despises. A woman's voice, taunting and spiteful. You cannot resist my young little flower. The day is coming where I will finally have your body. Your powers are my awakening, you cannot fight it any longer. Shanna struggles harder as tears begin to well in her eyes. In the distance she notices Lunar Ray sitting on its hill overlooking the sea. She reaches out towards the guild, wanting to warn them, to protect them. But the effort proves futile as the entire guild is swallowed whole by plant life from every direction. She hears the loud splintering of wood, the screams from the inside, a crimson mess spilling from the wreckage and bleeding onto the plants that had crushed the building. 

 Shanna wakes in a cold sweat screaming. Xander soon comes bursting through her door with his crystal swords at the ready, "Is everything alright, what's going on?!"

 "It's nothing! Just, go back to bed," Shanna says.

 "Are you sure everything is-"

 "Get out!"

 He listens, quickly leaving her room. She slams the door behind him and leans against it while panting. She stares at her nightstand, at the potion Frizz had handed her. The biting pain wraps her veins in a rage that reverberates throughout her body. She quickly runs over and grabs the potion downing it completely. Her nerves and the rest of her body quickly calms down and the pain subsides.

 She pulls up her sleeve and examines her arms in the moonlight filtering through her curtains. A green growth has consumed a majority of her skin up to the point of her wrists. This same growth has also spread across the rest of her body. She manages to keep it hidden with her turtlenecks and pants and other clothing that conceals most of her skin. Soon she will be completely covered by it with no chance of hiding it. The more she uses her magic power the more it seems to grow.

 She sits on her bed and hugs her knees to her chest. She has faith in the guild master. He will stop at nothing to fix anything and everything, especially when it involves his guild members. She silently cries to herself as not to alert Xander this time. Up until she finally falls back asleep, too tired to dream. 

 The next morning, Xander and Shanna set out into the forest again, heading in the same direction of the area they were at before. Xander feels tempted to ask Shanna what was going on last night, but he also doesn't want to upset her even more, so he stays quiet about it.

 Upon reaching the area, they move further along, deeper into the forest than they had gone last time. Then Xander notices the fairies again, "Hey Shanna, there are a bunch of fairies stalking us."

 "So, you noticed them, too," Shanna answers, "We need to question them. Keep moving, I'll circle back around."

 He does as she told him, he continues walking along and the fairies start to realize Shanna is nowhere in sight.

 Before they have time to react, Shanna comes up behind them raising a hand as several roots wrap around each individual fairy, keeping them leashed to the tree they were trying to hide behind. "Is there something you're looking for?" Shanna asks them.

 Xander approaches and gawks at the little creatures, having never seen a fairy up close before. These fairies look like miniature humanoids from the top half. However, their lower-back half resembles that of a flower's stem. At the tail of this stem there are two tassels that seem to flap in the air as they flutter about, as if they act as both wings and tails.

 One of the fairies speak up, "Please human, we didn't mean any harm. We just wanted to ward you off from the secret area."

 "What secret area?" Shanna presses.

 "We-we'll show you if you let us go," another fairy speaks up. Shanna releases the roots, and the fairies start flying in the direction they themselves were headed in. However, they then suddenly change direction and fly through vines growing from the tops of the trees. Long vines that seem to cover a secret entrance raised on an incline.

 The two of them follow in close pursuit. They stumble upon a secret grave site. Two stone slabs stare them in the face, covered with moss. The names are still barely visible. "Emily and Mark Parish…" Xander reads them.

 "The Emily one is much older but according to the years…"

 "They were most likely father and daughter."

 "The Parish'…The Jensons used to take me to their house when I was a little girl. I would play with Emily out here in the forest." 

 Shanna squeezes her hand hard, and she bites down on her lip.

 "What's wrong?" Xander asks.

 Shanna replies, "Ms. Kean was keeping this from us. She's actually-"

 Shanna feels the air rapidly grow colder and Xander quickly tackles her. A wave of dark energy washes above them and slams into the trees opposite them. The trunks are turned black and the greenery growing around them start to wither away. The two of them turn and there stands, or glides, the ghost girl.

 Her eyes are now replaced by black hollows, "My mommy. Why did my mommy leave me!" The ghost girl flies in their direction. Xander and Shanna regain their footing and leap out of the way. Xander thrusts his hand forward, "Crystal Thorns!" A stream of sharp miniature crystals shoot from his palm towards the ghost but they fly right through her.

 Shanna attempts to grab the ghost with her vines, but they pass right through her as well. "Okay, this is not gonna work out in our favor…" Xander says, starting to look pale. The ghost shrieks and another dark wave of energy bears down on them. Shanna uses her vines to whip the energy and causes it to disperse while Xander takes cover behind a tree.

 Shanna tries to think of a sensible strategy to deal with this spirit, "Xander try to absorb the ghost!"

 "How?!" he calls from behind his tree.

 "Ghosts are purely made of Xynian Energy, you should be able to absorb her."

 "Right." Xander pulls out an Absorption Crystal and runs at the ghost girl.

 She sends another energy wave and he's forced to leap behind another tree. "She won't let me get close to her!"

 Shanna picks up a rock and sends it flying through the ghost girl's intangible body. Though it does nothing, it does grab the ghost girl's attention. "Quick while it's distracted!" Shanna calls, the ghost girl flying straight for her.

 Xander once against tries to rush the ghost girl from the side. The ghost sends another wave his way but this time he uses an Absorption Crystal to capture the dark energy. The energy seeps into the crystal though it does lick at his hand causing it to darken slightly.

 He attaches the Absorption Crystal to his belt and pulls out another one. He sprints after the ghost as it tries to fly into Shanna who leaps out of the way. The ghost turns and before he can slam the crystal into the ghost's form it flies straight up into the air.

 He misses and slams into a tree hard. He cries out as his shoulder makes a nasty CRUNCH sound and the crystal shatters, the pieces falling to the ground.

 The ghost turns on Shanna again, clearly unhappy. Xander pulls out his last Absorption Crystal. This one has a particularly higher clarity than the rest of the crystals on his belt. He actually spent a longer amount of time forming this crystal. Usually this results in a deformed crystal that doesn't work. But this one just seemed to refine itself. As the ghost flies down towards Shanna once again Xander sprints forward to meet it. He thrusts the crystal into the ghost girl's chest and this time it gives. The ghost girl feels as the energy seeps from her spectral form, the Xynian energy being absorbed by this enhanced crystal. However, she also experiences another situation, her and Xander both, something completely new. Xander somehow taps into the ghost girls memories…

 Emily runs ahead of her parents, the Parish' walking through the forest at sunset. The golden grass welcoming them, beckoning them to explore the forest further. "Don't move too far ahead, sweetie," Mrs. Parish calls out, "Stay near us."

 For a moment, the young girl listens, coming back to her mother and father, taking her father's hand. Then she sees a shadow, one that resembled a woman. The little girl became curious. The shadow stayed there for a moment, as if observing them, before disappearing into a split in the trees.

 Emily followed the shadow, leaving her father and mother behind. "Emily," Mrs. Parish protests, but her father says, "Let her be, she probably knows this forest better than the both of us combined."

 Mrs. Parish sports a smile on her face, "I wouldn't be so sure, honey."

 Emily chases the shadow down as it moves from tree to tree. It finally comes to a giant oak tree, one that is clearly older than any other tree in the forest. Its thick roots seem to reach the core of the planet itself, the leaves licking at the clouds, the trunk greyed by the ages that passed along. A massive hollow just above the ground swallowing all light, leading into an incomprehensible darkness.

 The young girl walks over to the hollow and looks down inside. She doesn't pay much attention and accidentally falls into the hollow.

 The world above disappears, and she finds herself in the bottom of a deep hole. She hurt herself on the way down and finds she is unable to stand. She tries to call out to her parents, but her voice doesn't reach the hollow. Instead, the darkness itself seems to swallow it as well. 

 The vision ends and Xander falls back against the ground. The crystal he carries is now filled with the same dark energy as the first Absorption Crystal, however, the darkness seeps out of the crystal and dissipates into the ground, as if it were contaminating the actual source of energy. "Let's return to Ms. Kean. I feel she will have an explanation for us," Shanna says decisively.

 The two of them trek back to Ms. Kean's house. "You two are back!" the old woman says brightly, "Would you like some cookies?"

 "Unfortunately, we don't have time for that right now. We need you to tell us the full truth about what's going on."

 "I have nothing to tell you dear, I don't know-"

 "Your little girl…Emily. She disappeared from you and you guys couldn't find her. She fell through a tree hollow and was trapped and couldn't escape."

 There's a moment of silence between the three of them.

 "How would you know that…" the old woman inquires.

 "When I absorbed the energy from your daughter's spirit with this enhanced crystal, I was exposed to memories of her disappearance."

 Ms. Kean sits down in her chair, letting the cane clatter to the ground. "Can I see my daughter?"

 Xander pulls out the crystal in question and releases the energy from within it. The ghost girl reappears, however, now she no longer carries a dark and sad energy. The young girl smiles at the older woman, "I've missed you, mommy."

 "My little girl." Ms. Kean tears up, reaching out to touch her. But her hand passes right through the hand of her daughters. The ghost girl looks at her mother sadly, "I'm sorry for worrying you. I fell into a hole. I should have stayed with you and Daddy. Daddy found me one day! But he never came back…"

 The old woman covers her mouth with her hand, "We went searching for you every day after you disappeared…for weeks. Eventually, I stopped. I couldn't torture myself any longer. Your father, on the other hand, kept going out there, searching for decades. One day he went out, even in his old age and never came back. When we found him, it turned out he had died of a heart attack."

 Xander and Shanna listen to the sad tale and reunion. Ms. Kean starts to cry but her daughter places a tentative hand over her mother's shoulder. Though the touch doesn't directly interact with the older woman, she can feel the warmth and glow radiating from the spirit. Ms. Kean smiles before her daughter finally disappears to rest in peace. The only unfinished business she had left…wanting to see her mother's smile again. 

 Xander and Shanna return to the guild again, taking with them a batch of Ms. Kean's cookies she had offered them before they left. Xander scarfs them down as if he hasn't eaten in days. Shanna stares at him, deep in thought.

 "What's up?" he asks. "No, it's nothing," she answers and turns away. Gridlock welcomed them when they returned to the guild, elated to hear of their success. Marlo welcomes himself to the cookies they had brought. While he and Xander stuff their faces in the back, Shanna decides to go down to the guild's library.

 She pulls out a book she reads over and over and over again, wanting to perceive some kind of answer to questions she's had for years. The story is called, "Daughters of the Sun Queen."