Pierre The place was finished, everything where it belonged. Hoping online I had finally sent the information to Camile. “Was one of the females that were to be captured named Camile?” I asked Merna when I entered the sunroom. “Yes!” She glanced up from what she was reading. “Why?” When I told Merna what was going on, she became silent. I suspected what was going on. Each hour that went by, Merna was slipping further into the darkest part of her mind. To continue the conversation, I brought up a topic that Sadragon said he had with Merna a few days ago, yet she had not given him a straight answer. “So … have you given Sadragon an answer about letting the Master and his offspring enter here?” Merna placed her book down, “I just need fluid that is from Chaos … it will cover everything that is needed!” “He will be here tonight!” I started, “I will tell him your answer!” Merna smiled at me, “Okay!” Picking up her book she continued to read some more. In the morning Merna was still wandering around the place silently. Half of me wanted to leave her alone to her thoughts, the other part knew I needed to get Merna out of her shell. A walk in the woods always did her some good! "I plan on surveying the land one last time before the group gets here tomorrow!" There was no response. "Do you wish to join me?" For a couple of seconds, Merna said nothing, "Sure it is a lovely sunny day!" She looked out of the window. After we had our outside clothing on, we decided to just walk to the sight. I had my bag filled with food and water. The majority of the walking there was not speaking. Both of us are stuck in our minds. Whenever I would start a conversation Merna’s responses were short. Her words were not harsh but spoken softly. If I had not been so close to her, I would not hear a thing come out of her. Getting to the woods I finally was tired of Merna being stuck in her mind. "What is bothering you?" I asked as we came to the location where the tents would be set up. “I do not even know where to start!” Merna broke her vow of silence, "It never settled well with me how things happened when it came to Camile. If there is one person that never deserved any of this shit ... that would be Camile!" Merna was still glaring at the field. "I know in the end things work out in her favour ... getting there is pure insanity!" Bronkes bumped Merna's hand with his head knowing Merna was not in the right place of mind. "I guess I have empathy towards Camile ... that is all!" Merna rubbed Bronkes head. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and with a smile on my face, I did not have to turn my head to know that Sadragon was nearby. Merna pivoted, "Eh Sadragon!" She waved at him, "How are things going?" Merna started to chuckle, "Do you have the new place set up yet?" I was pleased that even here I could see Sadragon. The more he is around the better it is for my sight and hearing. "Pierre and I had decided to wait and build the place together!" Sadragon's tone of voice was joyful. For the first time in days, Merna gave a genuine smile, "that is great to hear ... if you need anything let me know and I will help you out!" Merna pulled out a ball for Bronkes to chase. "I will give you two times before we leave!" Reminding us, "You do not have much time!" Sadragon said. “It is possible the Master would overlook this … yet it still does not look good if he shows favour to one and not the others.” With a smile, "no worries Sadragon!" Merna giggled, “I can have us out of here the second the sun goes down!” Sadragon placed his arm around my shoulder, "Do you have any second thoughts?" He sounded worried. "About us?" I began, "Not a chance!" I watched Merna playing with Bronkes, noticing how Merna was not herself. "Merna ... She is slowly shutting down. We have spent most of the day here! I was able to get her to say more than two words once we stepped into this field." "Sorry for not coming by last night!" Sadragon started, "Did you speak with Merna about letting the Masters kin onto the domain?" "She needs fluid from the Master! This will include me as well right?" I was prompted to add. Laughing, "Yes … you will be part of this as well!" We both glanced over at Merna! There she was tossing the ball and Bronkes happily trotted the ball back to Merna. “She is strong, you should not worry a whole lot about Merna!” Sadragon told me. “I can see the energy around her … In a short time she has gotten more comfortable with her skills and talents.” I exhaled! I knew she was gaining more confidence in her practice … that is not what worries me so much. It is the fact that when Merna wants to or has the need to do so, she will resort back to her old ways. When she does that she is hard to get back.“You do not understand where my concern comes from!” I stepped back a bit not wanting Merna to hear our conversation. “It is not her skills or talents that I am worried about … it is her habit of … deep diving! When Merna deep dives it is difficult to bring her back. It takes a while for her to go into the back of her mind. She will struggle to remain normal. But once she is in her dark place it could take months or even a year to get her back. Merna has always struggled to stay afloat with her emotions.” Attentive Sadragon listened to me talking, “What are her triggers?” “Continued attacks from the Parasites!” I began. Giving more contacts to the subject. “I told you how we met, what I did not tell you was why she was on the bridge … just enough so that you could understand. See!” I paused to make sure that Merna and Bronkes were still in the general location. Taking Sadragon closer to the tree line. Continuing with my tale, “Merna is no stranger to spiritual attacks! If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would have thought that Merna made these stories up. After she got out of the Mental institution, she started to record interactions with her family and those around her. Merna had a need to prove to me that she was not treated with fairness. All Merna was wanting was someone to believe her. It did not matter if she was telling the truth, she just wanted someone to believe in her stories. Majority of the family told her to stop acting out and grow up. That she was only wanting attention and they were not going to give her what she wanted.” I exhaled remembering the day she allowed me to view the recordings. “See! Things in the house would be moved around … they believed that it was Merna messing with the things in the house. Objects would move in front of them and somehow Merna was to be blamed for things. Her mother told her she needed to allow Jesus into her Heart and everything would stop. Others said she needed an exorcism. As you already know, things did not get any better. Once she finished high school she left and never returned. There was occasional contact … not a lot! She stepped back in the house six more times before her mothers death.” I cleared my throat, “that alone was not enough for me to be a believer … things moving around her were! When she told me that she always saw in reflections dark mist around her, I shrugged it off. Until one day I saw the mist coming out of her eyes, nose and mouth! After that I paid attention to everything she did. I learned the difference between Merna moving objects and a spirit doing it. Temperature change was the indicator!” Sadragon had his eyes glued on Merna, “She has always been like this?” I bobbed my head! “Crazy as it may seem … Merna believed that if she did not allow her nature to take over, all the attacks would stop! In a way that helped, but only for so long. When the attention would become too much … Merna hides! Have fun finding her when that happens!” For a bit, we both stood there watching Merna and Bronkes have some fun. “Did Merna ever tell you who the attackers were?” I thought about it, “No! I gave them the nickname, parasite! Since Merna told me they try to leach on her and take her away! She did tell me the attacks started to happen once she hit puberty!” “The fact she was able to get them off of her is enough to talk of her strength! I will make sure that I tell the Master about this … we might need to make sure that there is someone with her at all times. Especially when she is off the domain.” Sadragon appeared angry, “They have been hunting her down illegally for a while. And now that she has been labelled a hybrid, they will not stop.” “What does this mean for Merna?” I tried not to allow my fear to be evident. “It means she will receive more protection if the Master commands it!” "Good boy!" Merna said to Bronkes. Glancing at us, "I think the old man is tired!" She started to stroll towards us with Bronkes trailing close behind. Glancing up at the sky, dusk was upon us, "We should be going ... It took us an hour to walk here! The old boy must be more than tired, since we spent all afternoon here!" Merna started to chuckle, "I know!" Merna glanced around the location slowly. "I have a faster way to get home!" Merna spent a lot of time studying the trees. Rotating her wrist, a translucent object appeared in front of us. "Do not panic, it is only my personal portal. It will get us home faster!" Merna smiles proud of herself, “Pretty awesome!?” My jaw dropped! Merna was laughing hysterically, "The look on your faces is priceless!" She wheezed out. “She is a rare gem indeed!” Sadragon clapped his hands together.