I start to walk after them, but when the ghost moves into my path, I accidentally look him right in the face.
He gets excited.“Aha, faodaidh tu pothes!”
That's anaha, gotchaif I've ever heard one.
Peeking behind the barely translucent fae to make sure no one else will overhear, I look back at him and hiss, "Sorry, but I don't know what you're saying. Excuse me."
He waves his hands frantically to stop me, frowning at my mouth as if he's trying to understand. He motions as if he's urging me to talk again.
“Nach, répéter sih te plaît?”
"I really don't think I can help you, but my sister-in-law can," I tell him, anxious that Everett or Silas might see me talking to a ghost and start asking questions. Luckily, they're very engrossed in whatever a fae is animatedly telling them from far away enough that my shifter hearing isn't doing me any good.
The strange ghost tips his head as if thinking hard before clumsily attempting, "English?"
His accent is thick, but I blink in surprise. "You know English?"
"Thae.Yes," he amends, relief obvious on his face. "Many years have passed since I last rose from these depths and learned this tongue from the captives. With what English I wield, perhaps I may speak with you. You are…" He thinks hard. "Elise, the Feeling One?”
6
HEIDI
Wait.How does this thousands-of-years-old ghost know the name I prefer to go by?
I've chosen to go by my middle name ever since I started living among humans, along with avoiding using my surname, Murley, whenever I can. I don't mind when Everett or anyone else calls me Heidi, but most of the time, it's just nice to have a different name from what my parents called me.
Again, I check to make sure no one is looking. Everyone is wrapped up in whatever is happening up ahead, which makes me hopeful that we're about to make some serious progress. I look back at the purple-draped ghost.
"Um…yes? I'm an empath," I add, so that he can have the right word in his vocabulary.
"Thae, I have seen this," he nods. "But the mark is absent?"
He gestures at the left side of his own face to indicate mine. My heart trips, my hand nearly lifting to where makeup perfectly hides the port stain birthmark on my face, as usual.
"How do you know about that?"
"As I said, I beheld you. In my mortal life serving as a priest of Galene, she blessed my vision to see eras afar. I foresaw youguiding searchers to this place, to seek the lost ones. I also saw your charm, which brings the voices of spirits to your mortal ears."
Realizing how helpful a coherent ex-seer ghost might be with understanding this place, I do another quick scan to make sure no one is watching before whispering, "Who are you? What do you know about them?"
"I am Athanis, and I am one of the many who sealed our peoples' knowledge and thechruthadihuneiin slumber," the ghost tells me, gesturing to the other blurry spirits roaming this rough-hewn stone and dirt tunnel.
"The chr…" Who am I kidding? There's no way I can pronounce whatever he just said. "The what now?"
Athanis thinks for a moment. "Those altered within this laboratory. In your words, perhaps they would be called…altered ones? Subjects?" He waves off his translation attempts and focuses on me with intensity. "The great corruption upon this land. It is over at last, yes?"
I nod. "The Entity was killed eight months ago."
Relief fills his face. "He will be safe, then."
"Who are you talking?—"
"Heidi? Over here," Everett calls me over, checking over his shoulder for me.
I quickly look away from Athanis. Doing my best to ignore his attempts to get my attention again, I hurry to Everett, Silas, and the fae gathered in an alcove-like indentation off the side of the newly-dug tunnel. As soon as I step over a mound of dirt to join them in this space, I see what they're excited about.
An intricately engraved metal door is lit dimly by the mage lights. They've carefully cleaned the indentations in the ancient metal, and now Silas is translating the ancient fae engravings into a notebook in real time.
