days.
"I won't be gone long. I want to be back for the Harvest Festival."
The Harvest Festival was one of the few times the citizens of Burbon allowed themselves a small break from order and structure. For several days, the town would celebrate with parades, feasts, and parties. Children would create masks and wander through the streets hoping to scare treats from neighbors and merchants alike.
It was a time the delver enjoyed, a time when he could race through town at top speed and add to the fun of a little bedlam. As Ryson considered that part of the festivities, he placed a request on the apparition before him.
"Sy, I think you should make several appearances during the festival," Ryson suggested. "Think of it... a ghost captain leading the late night haunts. The kids will be thrilled."
Sy Fenden smiled and nodded but offered no further words for Klusac to relay to the delver.
Ryson found the spirit's eagerness to comply with the request beyond comforting. The essence of his friend had been separated from his mortal body, and yet, Sy remained willing to participate in celebrations such as the festival. Ryson felt such a connection bolstered his desire to seek more information regarding spiritual existence.
The delver would have liked to question Sy directly, but such efforts were cumbersome at best. Even though Sy could speak through Captain Klusac, previous attempts at asking detailed questions failed to generate suitable responses. Frustration rose quickly in both Klusac and Ryson as the apparition avoided certain issues which were at the heart of the delver's curiosity.
"Eventually, we're going to have to find a better way to communicate," Ryson acknowledged.
Sy nodded one last time and then disappeared.
With the ghost gone, Ryson considered the spirit captain's appearance. Sy did not materialize often, but many had seen him. The town had accepted the bizarre circumstances without hesitation, for the unyielding spirit of Sy Fenden had saved them while he was living and again after he had died.
It was a challenge to their ordinary lives, but Sy's return came after the return of magic to Uton. With the energy creating so many spectacles across the land, the ghostly appearance of their protector was not quite as demanding on their collective perspective as it might have been in earlier times.
Ryson, however, questioned almost everything, and he could not help wonder about Klusac's ability to communicate with the apparition.
"How is it you can hear him?" Ryson asked, his curiosity temporarily delaying his departure.
"I have no idea," Klusac admitted. "Actually, I'm not even sure I would say that I hear him. He talks, but then again, he doesn't. There's a voice that comes into my head. It's kind of like when you read words in a book. They're not your words, but as you read them, you understand them one word at a time, and they become a voice. That's what it's like. I get a message from him one word at a time."
"Do you have to focus on him?"
"No, I don't have to do anything. The words just come to me."
"But they don't come to me. I think he's trying to talk to me, but I can't hear him, not with my ears... and not with my mind. As strange as it sounds, he's not even the first spirit I've come across. I've dealt with others... and I could hear them ."
"I don't know what to tell you. It's not like I understand it. I just accept it."
"Do you think that maybe that's my problem? That I'm not completely accepting it's him? That maybe I believe he should just remain dead?"
"Do you?"
"No, not at all."
"Then why did you bring it up?"
"Because I still think there's something that I'm missing. When he first appeared in Burbon—as a spirit I mean—I knew it meant something more than just some ghost returning to protect his home. I understood more when I went to Demonspawn. I saw how the present could turn into a reflection of the past. I still think Sy's past is influencing his existence here, but I can't be sure.
"I won't be gone long. I want to be back for the Harvest Festival."
The Harvest Festival was one of the few times the citizens of Burbon allowed themselves a small break from order and structure. For several days, the town would celebrate with parades, feasts, and parties. Children would create masks and wander through the streets hoping to scare treats from neighbors and merchants alike.
It was a time the delver enjoyed, a time when he could race through town at top speed and add to the fun of a little bedlam. As Ryson considered that part of the festivities, he placed a request on the apparition before him.
"Sy, I think you should make several appearances during the festival," Ryson suggested. "Think of it... a ghost captain leading the late night haunts. The kids will be thrilled."
Sy Fenden smiled and nodded but offered no further words for Klusac to relay to the delver.
Ryson found the spirit's eagerness to comply with the request beyond comforting. The essence of his friend had been separated from his mortal body, and yet, Sy remained willing to participate in celebrations such as the festival. Ryson felt such a connection bolstered his desire to seek more information regarding spiritual existence.
The delver would have liked to question Sy directly, but such efforts were cumbersome at best. Even though Sy could speak through Captain Klusac, previous attempts at asking detailed questions failed to generate suitable responses. Frustration rose quickly in both Klusac and Ryson as the apparition avoided certain issues which were at the heart of the delver's curiosity.
"Eventually, we're going to have to find a better way to communicate," Ryson acknowledged.
Sy nodded one last time and then disappeared.
With the ghost gone, Ryson considered the spirit captain's appearance. Sy did not materialize often, but many had seen him. The town had accepted the bizarre circumstances without hesitation, for the unyielding spirit of Sy Fenden had saved them while he was living and again after he had died.
It was a challenge to their ordinary lives, but Sy's return came after the return of magic to Uton. With the energy creating so many spectacles across the land, the ghostly appearance of their protector was not quite as demanding on their collective perspective as it might have been in earlier times.
Ryson, however, questioned almost everything, and he could not help wonder about Klusac's ability to communicate with the apparition.
"How is it you can hear him?" Ryson asked, his curiosity temporarily delaying his departure.
"I have no idea," Klusac admitted. "Actually, I'm not even sure I would say that I hear him. He talks, but then again, he doesn't. There's a voice that comes into my head. It's kind of like when you read words in a book. They're not your words, but as you read them, you understand them one word at a time, and they become a voice. That's what it's like. I get a message from him one word at a time."
"Do you have to focus on him?"
"No, I don't have to do anything. The words just come to me."
"But they don't come to me. I think he's trying to talk to me, but I can't hear him, not with my ears... and not with my mind. As strange as it sounds, he's not even the first spirit I've come across. I've dealt with others... and I could hear them ."
"I don't know what to tell you. It's not like I understand it. I just accept it."
"Do you think that maybe that's my problem? That I'm not completely accepting it's him? That maybe I believe he should just remain dead?"
"Do you?"
"No, not at all."
"Then why did you bring it up?"
"Because I still think there's something that I'm missing. When he first appeared in Burbon—as a spirit I mean—I knew it meant something more than just some ghost returning to protect his home. I understood more when I went to Demonspawn. I saw how the present could turn into a reflection of the past. I still think Sy's past is influencing his existence here, but I can't be sure.
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