Thirteen

Iwandered along the narrow path for hours, surrounded by dense forest, vines and tall grass. The only direction I could go was straight ahead. When I was tired, I sat and rested, but I didn't feel thirst or hunger even though I'd done nothing but walk. One of the perks of being outside your body. "Then why am I tired?"I said out loud.

Bran's words came to me then. "The body suffers without a soul. It will deteriorate while the spirit is outside it and if you stay out too long the body will no longer accept you."

"Only throw your spirit outside your body when there is no other choice," I repeated the last part myself. A noise in the distance got my attention, drawing me out of my thoughts. I listened again but wasn't sure I was really hearing what I thought I was. Then I was up and running in the direction of the noise, crashing through vines and overgrown bushes that tried to hold me back but were no match for how motivated I was to get to where the noise was.

I stopped a few times and listened, making sure I was still going the right way before moving as fast as possible through the dense growth. It felt like I ran for miles, but it was probably only a short distance because of how hard it was to travel at any speed. Bursting through a vine that tried to hold me back, I crashed into an open area, and there in the center was the next best thing to Bran. "Buddy!" I yelled before running to him.

He froze, his feet spread wide and ready to react, before his tail started wagging and he ran in my direction. "Oh my god, how are you here?" He licked my face as he whimpered and jumped around trying to contain his own excitement. "Bran. Did Bran send you?"

Buddy stopped then and his eyes locked with mine. He huffed out a bark that I took as an answer to my question. I hugged him close once again and kissed the top of his head. "Thank you, Buddy," I whispered. Then he was up and bolted down the path. "Buddy, wait." I ran until I finally caught up with him and he stayed with me while the two of us walked.

After a while he stopped in front of me, forcing me to stop too. "What is it, boy?" A low growl registered from him, and he lowered his head and planted his feet. I looked around but didn't see anything. A flash of color moved through the trees, but it was too fast, and the foliage was too thick for me to see exactly what it was. Buddy growled and backed up to where he was touching my feet, protecting me as best he could.

"Are you the empath?" a voice asked from behind a large tree.

"Who are you?" I yelled back and tried to sound stronger than I felt. The bushes moved and I was terrified of what was back there, but then a woman appeared from around the tree.

"You know me as Edith," she said as she slowly walked toward me. Buddy didn't growl but he didn't let down his guard either.

"How can that be?"

"I'm sorry, the body I have inhabited the past five decades has declined. Since I had attached to that body, I was unable to leave until Edith died, and then I was confused. I knew only you and the necromancer could help but I was unable to communicate. That changed recently, and when I crossed over the boundary to come here everything became clear again," she said as she slowly approached us. She had a slight build, and I could recognize parts of Edith, but the spirit in front of me was not an old woman.

"You're not Edith. I know her and I know what her spirit looks like." I was never more thankful that Bran had used the ceremony to make her visible to me, even though the spirit was transparent and barely visible, it was enough to know what she looked like.

"You know what her body looked like. Edith was challenged with accepting my spirit into her body when she was quite young. I am one of a few old ones. We share the same blood from many generations ago, long before you or your line of the family came into reality."

"I don't understand. My father was destined to be the seer, but he chose not to accept the power."

"Your bloodline is different than mine, but we're the same. Edith was the last so our power will fade away. With my help she kept the wraith locked away, but as her memory faded so did her ability to contain it. The wraith will be free to collect all the souls and all the fear it can feed on if you decide not to take up the power your family has been handed."

"But I don't know how to do any of that. I've tried to learn. But anytime I'm exposed to a spirit it feels like my head is going to split apart. It's a blinding pain that I've tried everything to alleviate but nothing works for long." She walked closer to me then and reached her hand out. I could see now that she definitely wasn't Edith, but there were definitely similarities. Buddy moved closer to my side and watched every move she made. When she was just in front of me, she extended her index finger and tapped my forehead.

As soon as her finger made contact, a blinding light ripped through my vision, and I was thrown back against a tree. Buddy yelped in shock as I crumpled to the ground. The rushing sound of the wind blew all around me and when I was finally able to open my eyes, Edith stood close looking down at me. "What happened?" I asked and tried to get up but was overcome with vertigo.

"Don't try to stand. I've enabled you to see as you're meant to with no pain. You'll be able to decide now if you want to inherit the power that is meant for you."

I blinked my eyes and tried to make sense of her words, then I was conscious of the weight of Buddy laying across my stomach. "I'm okay, boy," I said to him, and stroked my hand down his back. I sat up and Edith stepped back, and as I looked around, I was shocked at all I saw. Balls of light floated around the forest. Some of them zipped around like they knew exactly where they needed to be while others floated around like bright specks of dust slowly being pushed by a gentle breeze. "What is this?"

"This is what you're meant to see. The seer is not only able to see spirits that choose to stay tethered to Earth, but the spirits who move on. These are all the spirits that are passing through this plane on their way to their final destination. Some will choose to return to Earth and be reborn anew, while others will go on to find whatever it is they desire in their afterlife. But all must pass through here," Edith said, and I didn't miss how happy she looked as she watched the magical show that played out around us. "While you are living, you will always be among the dead, and they will look to you to guide them to the veil and beyond."

"Is there only one seer?" I asked, and couldn't stop watching all the sparkling specks of light we were surrounded by.

"No, child, there are many. This is just a small number of spirits who need to be guided, all spirits will look to a seer to find their way. But you need to understand, once you decide you cannot change your decision, and you cannot abandon your duties."

"What happens to them if I choose not to be seer?" I knew why Dad had turned it down, but I didn't have a child, and Bran understood better than anyone how the world outside our own demanded that the living acknowledged the dead.

"These spirits will wander until they finally reach their destination, but some will be lost along the way, and if the wraith is set free, it will be able to use them as it chooses without fear of a seer."

"Why would it worry about a seer?" I asked, and wished I'd paid more attention.

"That's what I'm here to show you," she said with a grin. "Now come on, are you ready to learn?"