Chapter 13 Getting Information The soil was partially moist as Merna placed herself in the sitting position. Crossing her legs, she relaxed her body and mind to do her thing. Shutting her eyes, Merna allowed her mind to be her sight. Relaxing her mind, Merna could see things that she had previously looked at long ago. It took a great deal of effort to calm her nerves down. Merna’s anxiety was high. Controlling her emotions was the key to completing the task. Merna opened a link between her and the other realm. With each breath she took, things became easier! The trees and land meant her no harm; the surroundings hummed with liveliness. Merna’s mind drifted to the spirits that wandered the fatherland. There existed a blend of supremacy, hatred and dread! Merna first focused on the sensation of supremacy; it was the strongest of all the emotions. Then, she tried to visualize who was admitting such a strong emotion. ‘I see!’ Merna thought to herself. ‘Who holds so much hostility for our standing here?’ Merna thought. Merna’s mind strayed from one formation to several others. It was not just one cluster of spirits or entities but a collective of many. The more Merna focused on the collective, the more intense the hostility inflated. Their energy rippled towards her, bouncing off of her body. The hardest for Merna to investigate were those who illuminated the emotion of fear. But, the more Merna thought about the whole situation, it became clear that the souls were those who once had been living organisms. Merna could hear laughter! Bringing her attention to the laughter; she could see the individuals laughing at the group. It was possible if the group concentrated, that they could hear the snickering but due to the circumstances, probably did not catch it with their ears. With Merna’s mind, she allowed the beings to know that she could see them. The laughter momentarily halted! Five were behind Merna, three to her left, and ten scattered in front of her and to her right. There was a mixture of emotions filtering off them, shock and anger. ‘I see!’ Merna thought to herself. Merna opened her eyes and glanced around her. Now there were even more shadow people. “There was a spell cast against us!” Merna started to talk to the group. “And I found out more information about this land and who are here!” Merna informed the group. “Do you know what the intent was?” I could hear Steve ask me. “What other information did you find out?” Emma asked, wanting to know what Merna had seen.I continued to sit on the ground with my eyes closed. The effort of trying to figure out the purpose of the spell was overwhelming. “In all my years, I have never crossed anything with such power.” Merna sounded tired. “I can only make assumptions at this point of why they are doing this. To get a definite answer, this will take me a bit longer to see if the land or spirits will speak with me!” “Take all the time you need, we are not going anywhere!” Pierre told Merna in a friendly tone. “What is wrong?” I could hear Emma whispering. “Merna needs to see if the land or spirits will speak with her!” Pierre said, and nothing more. Merna was struggling; her emotions were starting to get out of control. The beginning of an anxiety attack was at the surface. Merna could feel the bag she was carrying lifted off her back, “Camile … take the bag!” Then, she heard Pierre’s voice. “Sure!” Camile responded to Pierre. Pierre rubbed Merna’s back circularly, “Just breathe … take it easy!” He was getting Merna to relax again so that she could continue working. “What is wrong?” I could hear Camile asking. “From time to time Merna has panic attacks, this happens when something bad is going to happen. It is her internal warning system!” Pierre told the group as Merna remained sitting with her eyes closed. Steve spoke with fear, “No offence bro, but it would have been nice to have a warning back before we entered the woods.” Steve was concerned and scared and didn’t mean to upset Pierre, but that is what happened. “If you remember … BRO … Merna did warn us, but none of us listened. She is having a panic attack because the threat is nearing us, and we are in much more trouble than we were at the beginning.” Merna opened her eyes, “Pierre …” “Yes … sorry … quiet!” Pierre was quick to respond. Merna closed her eyes again, trying to gain control over herself. It was the land that spoke to Merna. The ground was talking to her by using visual pictures. First, there was a vision of the group walking around the woods. Then she heard a familiar voice, “all of you leave together or none at all!” There was an image of the moon at its highest point, “all or none!”‘Are you the master of the land?’ Merna questions the voice. ‘Yes!’ He held on to the s with a hiss. Merna visibly shivered, ‘judging by the information I have collected, you have never given any other person a chance to leave! Why are you allowing us the chance to leave?’ ‘Why would you question a gift?’ He spoke harshly. ‘Your demeanour is out of character, it has perplexed me. I am wondering if this is a genuine gift or a trap?’ Merna kept her thoughts as calm and confident as possible. ‘Do you wish for me to change my mind?’ ‘Preferable, no!’ Speaking with authority, ‘all of you leave together or none at all!’ Merna broke the link, jumping up from the ground, which threw Pierre off guard. “We have to go back to the campsite and get Markous.” Steve looked at Merna as if she had ten heads, “what? Are you out of your mind?” Merna knew this was not what they wanted to hear, “the master of the land told me that we all leave together or none of us will, and we have only until the moon is at its highest.” Steve sounded frustrated, “Markous will not leave!” “This entity scares the crap out of me.” However, Merna was not scared nor embarrassed to admit it; there were many things she did not understand. “There are things I am willing to stick around for, learn as much as possible. And then there are situations that I will not fuck around and find out. This is one of those situations.” “Markous isn’t going to leave willingly!” Steve stated. “We could drug him and carry him out of here.” Emma suggested. “Normally, I would not agree to such a thing, but this is the difference between existing and death. Given those choices, I chose to live.” Merna responded to Emma’s suggestion. “One question … is he making it that we are walking in circles?” Steve asked Merna. “Yes!” Merna responded to Steve’s question. Steve bobbed his head up and down, “I will carry the fool if someone knocks him out!” Pierre slowly widens his smile, “done!” He glanced around the group to see if everyone was ready to go. “Merna, can you get us back to the camp faster than me?” “I need a flashlight!” Merna pointed to the small flashlight that was hanging from Pierre's belt. “Follow me!” Merna spoke once the light was in her hand, she now had a newfound energy. “By the way, you said you found out more information about this location, do you care to share with the rest of us?” Camile genuinely wanted to know. “I can walk and talk,” Merna was the head of the group. “The shadows are individuals that I call the people of the land. I have only come across them when I am near woods, forests, fields and places that have little interference with humans. This location has a mixture of natives, environmentalists, elementals, and the fae. A potent combination! They agreed with the master of the land; they were more workers of the land. Then there are the slaves, who have been conditioned to follow orders. Those are individuals like us who are considered a waste of flesh and bones. Those souls are trapped here until the master lets them go; this is their punishment, their hell!” “Summing up everything, if we do not get to the road, this is our fate?” Steve asked with a hint of fear but more anger. “Yes!” Merna spoke out of breath. “Pierre ...” Pierre motioned his head back and forth in irritation, “don’t worry Steve I plan on knocking the fucker out!” “Pierre, just in case, hold off on the cursing until we get out of the woods.” Merna warned, “I really don’t want to piss these entities off anymore than what we already have ... just a precaution, that is all!” Pierre started to chuckle, “does the same rule apply to you as well!” Merna turned her head slightly, “Pierre fu … yes, that goes for all of us!”