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Authors: Nicole Martinsen
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first."
"Fine."
I took our hands and pressed the back of his
to my lips, leaving a warm and gentle kiss on his skin.
"Miraj..." he warned.
Oh Marvin, you're so naive at times like
this.
One by one, I kissed his fingers. First the
knuckles, then the tips, finally propping one in my mouth with the
tip of my tongue.
He swore.
"Two years," I repeated sweetly. "Two whole
years of holding hands. Every. Single. Night."
We remained that way for many minutes until
exhaustion washed over me in a great tide. I fell asleep, eager for
my first night in a safe haven since all this began. I sought to
dream deeply and I did.
…for about four hours.
" Miraj . I
know you can hear me ."
I rubbed my eyes. The blackened
room was filled with fog. I glanced down at Marvin, asleep at my
side, but he was distant somehow. I'd drifted into the realm of
spirits.
"Miraj." I saw a pair of sandaled feet,
grimacing at the demon attached to them. Koronos smirked in his
usual condescending way. "I have a surprise for you."
"I'm not interested."
"Don't be like that. Wouldn't you
like to hear from Lady Galatea?"
The name jerked me awake faster than a pale of
ice water. The devil was doing a fine job of getting under my
skin.
"I already have Marvin's heart," I
said, my voice clipped. She was his past. I'm his
future."
He pressed a finger to his lip, chuckling.
"How precious. Marvin is a good man. Good men know pity. And you,
my sweet, are quite the pitiful character, aren't you?"
It was incredible how quickly my joy plummeted
through the floor. Koronos had a point. Marvin was kind; it was one
of the qualities I liked most about him. And... I did see pity in
the way he looked at me. Not last night, but before. Doubt mocked
my happiness, and the demon reveled in its loss.
"It's simply a little chat, my Shaman. No
bargains to be made here," he said, holding out his empty hands as
a gesture of good faith.
I narrowed my eyes at him, still suspicious,
but his offer appealed to my need for answers.
"Just a conversation," I said, taking his
outstretched hand. "This is for closure, and then I'm
done."
"Of course, of course," he repeated, escorting
me out the door.
I looked to either side of the empty hallway.
A low laugh rumbled out of his throat.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"You, my dear. You needn't worry about being
caught. Only the spiritually inclined can spot you in the
Grey."
"The Grey?"
"The Grey is the dimension that
resonates with earth-bound spirits. Shamans, and a few
exceptionally talented individuals, can slip into the Grey as they
please. There are even certain pockets in this world, and those
beyond, called Greyzones. The Grey bleeds out into the physical
realm. Most call these places sacred... or cursed."
"I'm invisible in the Grey?"
Koronos made a musing sound at that question,
turning round a bend.
"Invisible is much too simple. Think of it as
slipping between layers of space. You no longer exist in the
physical world, Miraj. Call it a talent unique to
Shamans."
"Explain yourself."
"Most people would need some help entering the
Grey. Usually with certain herbs, to fall into a trance. We call
that astral projection. Shamans, on the other hand, access the Grey
with little to no effort at all -and their physical body comes
along for the ride."
I thought about how Jiki had transformed us
into water in order to traverse Purilo's caverns. She also said
that the reason she could do such a thing was because I was Shaman.
Was this what she meant by it?
"Is it possible to borrow the abilities of
spirits while I'm in the Grey?"
The devil's face lit up with a great smile.
"Precisely." He clasped his hands behind his back. I watched as
several skeletal servants made their way in the opposite direction.
Tiny black orbs trailed the space behind them, connected as though
by an imperceptible thread.
"They're criminals," I noted, nodding my head
at the human bones. "Or at least they were, once. Why weren't their
spirits bigger? I
first."
"Fine."
I took our hands and pressed the back of his
to my lips, leaving a warm and gentle kiss on his skin.
"Miraj..." he warned.
Oh Marvin, you're so naive at times like
this.
One by one, I kissed his fingers. First the
knuckles, then the tips, finally propping one in my mouth with the
tip of my tongue.
He swore.
"Two years," I repeated sweetly. "Two whole
years of holding hands. Every. Single. Night."
We remained that way for many minutes until
exhaustion washed over me in a great tide. I fell asleep, eager for
my first night in a safe haven since all this began. I sought to
dream deeply and I did.
…for about four hours.
" Miraj . I
know you can hear me ."
I rubbed my eyes. The blackened
room was filled with fog. I glanced down at Marvin, asleep at my
side, but he was distant somehow. I'd drifted into the realm of
spirits.
"Miraj." I saw a pair of sandaled feet,
grimacing at the demon attached to them. Koronos smirked in his
usual condescending way. "I have a surprise for you."
"I'm not interested."
"Don't be like that. Wouldn't you
like to hear from Lady Galatea?"
The name jerked me awake faster than a pale of
ice water. The devil was doing a fine job of getting under my
skin.
"I already have Marvin's heart," I
said, my voice clipped. She was his past. I'm his
future."
He pressed a finger to his lip, chuckling.
"How precious. Marvin is a good man. Good men know pity. And you,
my sweet, are quite the pitiful character, aren't you?"
It was incredible how quickly my joy plummeted
through the floor. Koronos had a point. Marvin was kind; it was one
of the qualities I liked most about him. And... I did see pity in
the way he looked at me. Not last night, but before. Doubt mocked
my happiness, and the demon reveled in its loss.
"It's simply a little chat, my Shaman. No
bargains to be made here," he said, holding out his empty hands as
a gesture of good faith.
I narrowed my eyes at him, still suspicious,
but his offer appealed to my need for answers.
"Just a conversation," I said, taking his
outstretched hand. "This is for closure, and then I'm
done."
"Of course, of course," he repeated, escorting
me out the door.
I looked to either side of the empty hallway.
A low laugh rumbled out of his throat.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"You, my dear. You needn't worry about being
caught. Only the spiritually inclined can spot you in the
Grey."
"The Grey?"
"The Grey is the dimension that
resonates with earth-bound spirits. Shamans, and a few
exceptionally talented individuals, can slip into the Grey as they
please. There are even certain pockets in this world, and those
beyond, called Greyzones. The Grey bleeds out into the physical
realm. Most call these places sacred... or cursed."
"I'm invisible in the Grey?"
Koronos made a musing sound at that question,
turning round a bend.
"Invisible is much too simple. Think of it as
slipping between layers of space. You no longer exist in the
physical world, Miraj. Call it a talent unique to
Shamans."
"Explain yourself."
"Most people would need some help entering the
Grey. Usually with certain herbs, to fall into a trance. We call
that astral projection. Shamans, on the other hand, access the Grey
with little to no effort at all -and their physical body comes
along for the ride."
I thought about how Jiki had transformed us
into water in order to traverse Purilo's caverns. She also said
that the reason she could do such a thing was because I was Shaman.
Was this what she meant by it?
"Is it possible to borrow the abilities of
spirits while I'm in the Grey?"
The devil's face lit up with a great smile.
"Precisely." He clasped his hands behind his back. I watched as
several skeletal servants made their way in the opposite direction.
Tiny black orbs trailed the space behind them, connected as though
by an imperceptible thread.
"They're criminals," I noted, nodding my head
at the human bones. "Or at least they were, once. Why weren't their
spirits bigger? I
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