Chapter 13 -- Kindred Spirits

Sometimes I wonder about myself lol.

13

KINDRED SPIRITS

 

Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
- Oscar Wilde

 

 

 

 

 

 

“All right, Emma, this one’s a little stronger, but you did fine yesterday, so you should be able to handle it. You ready?”

          Emma nodded; she had been through this all before. Every day Telliandra had a new spirit for her to capture. Emma couldn’t figure out where they were all coming from.

          They were staying at a place called The Wanderer’s Inn, and it was the month of November, 1166.

Telli opened the jar, and the familiar form of a Spirit flew out of it, bouncing against the walls like mad, trying to find a way out.

          Emma flung just enough of her magic around the thing’s cor, and reeled it in like a fish, bringing it towards her. The usual images came, visions of places that couldn’t possibly exist in her dimension. But there was something else this time…a feeling. A feeling of fear, of desire, of a passion and a will to be free, to escape, and then sorrow, a deep sorrow in its very soul. Emma almost cried out in pain, for its sorrow combined with her own was almost too much to bear.

          Later she could only say that it was like locking eyes with someone, even though there were no eyes to look at. She knew exactly how it felt, because she felt it every day, and she had no wish to keep it here when it, at least, had the chance to be happy once more. 

She let it go.

“Emma! What are you doing?! That was the best capture you ever performed and you let the blasted thing go! What’s gotten into you?”

Emma shook her head. “It didn’t want to be captured. It wanted to be free. I have the right to set it free since I captured it.”

Telliandra stared at her apprentice, remembering something that had happened to her many years ago; she had had that same look on her face.

“Alright Emma. It’s fine.” She said quietly.

          Emma felt something tugging on her heart. You’re close, the voice whispered, so very close…

          And white gates appeared in her mind.