Chapter 3: Ether Hunter

Everyone had their eyes on Vivi. Sheer bafflement filled faces. Vivi had been chosen? Fellwater’s cursed child, the useless runesmith, chosen by the legends? Out of everyone, Vivi was the one to become an ether hunter? How was that possible? Was it a dream?

That was what Vivi herself was thinking, at least. Why me? Why would I ever get chosen!

“Simple,” the spirit responded, speaking inside her head. Vivi felt a smirk from its tone. “You’re interesting. I like you. Our adventures will be amusing, I know already.”

Amusing? Vivi thought. The spirit, it seemed, could read her thoughts. My life is not entertainment! You chose me to defend humanity, to fight monsters and defeat storms. I can’t fight!

“You wish to grow, don’t you?” the spirit asked with full seriousness. “To earn ether and get yourself out of debt?”

Vivi paused. Could she really become an ether hunter?

Bero and Jude were pushed aside by a frowning spirit wielder. Serena Goldbridge faced Vivi with clear disapproval. Gods, if the contract went through, Vivi would earn the same surname. Vivian Goldbridge. A true blessed name? For her?

The thought of a name change was oddly… scary. Vivi’s name was fake and embarrassing, but it was hers.

“To think a spirit would break the laws of its own God,” Serena said. “I have never witnessed something so treacherous. This spirit had a reputation of troublemaking with its past owner, though I would not have believed it would take things so far. The spirit will have to be brought to Ythar for punishment.”

“Uhm, yes, of course!” Vivi said with a bow. Finally some words she could understand. This was all a mistake, after all. She would return the spirit, and she’d get back to runesmithing with Grandpa.

“Hmph,” the spirit cat said out loud. Its figure appeared from Vivi’s chest. It floated upright and crossed its upper paws, as if mimicking a human expression. “Idiots, both of you. That Ythar guy is not going to give me any punishment at all, and you, my wielder, you certainly aren’t going to give me away! Are you stupid?”

“Ythar is your Creator, and the Emperor of all humans!” Serena scowled. “Your words can be taken as abandonment of the pact. Ythar will sever your right to live.”

“Bla bla,” the spirit said. “You humans make funny noises.”

“She is right!” Serena’s fairy spirit pouted. “You can’t abandon the pact. Ythar will be mad!”

The cat licked its paws. “Miss Runesmith, can we go now?”

Vivi didn’t know who or what she should follow. Her years of practice in runesmithing never taught her how to deal with problematic spirits or annoyed hunters. She glanced at Serena, hoping the experienced spirit wielder would know what to do.

Serena took a deep breath, then called her powers. Her spirit turned into a sword. “Vivian, was it? Do you know how spirits are severed from their owners?”

Vivi gulped. “No?”

“Death,” Serena said. “Death is the only known method to undo a tie formed by a spirit. Ythar required our contracts to be strong and betrayal free. Thus, he made the ties irreversible. Perhaps it is a shame he did not offer us a contract to peacefully remove spirits from unwanted bodies, but I am not one to question our God. I am sorry, but there is no other solution than for you to die. In the name of Ythar, I must retrieve this spirit from your core.”

Vivi’s heart dropped, muscles too frozen for decisions. Townsfolk watched from the sidelines, close enough to have heard Serena’s proclamation. Nobody laughed—even Beru and Jude appeared shocked more than amused—but nobody rushed to defend Vivi either.

“You should probably run,” the cat-spirit said. It laughed in her thoughts, as if Vivi’s fears were simply hilarious.

“I’m sorry, cursed one,” was all Serena said before swinging her spirit sword from overhead. Vivi closed her eyes and held out her arms in an useless attempt to block. I’m dead!

She heard a metallic ding, and her eyes snapped open. The cat-spirit had blocked the swing with its claws. Serena’s eyes were wide open in surprise.

“Don’t you want to live?” the spirit asked. “They’re going to kill you if you sit still.”

The command finally registered. Vivi stumbled to her feet and ran. But where? The doors? The cloister was guarded by plated men. She couldn’t run through spears!

The spirit’s cat-like laughter continued to ring in her head. “The windows,” it said. “I have a few thousand ether remaining from my previous wielder. Most of them are dim, but I can assist you. The Goldbridge human is only an examiner, not a real hunter. We can escape. Follow me!”

Vivi saw the spirit’s red figure fly towards the cloister’s line of tall arched windows. She ran after it, saving her thoughts for later.

Behind her, Vivi heard a whoosh from Serena’s sword. The spirit wielder was many steps away. In no world should Serena’s sword have reached. Yet, Vivi’s instincts flared a warning. Something was coming for her.

“Duck!” the cat-spirit yelled in her mind.

Vivi didn’t need to think twice. She dove to the ground just as a slash-shaped projectile flew past above her head. The slash, glowing blue and made of pure ether, smashed into the window ahead, shattering glass and cutting through the stone frame like nothing.

Heart racing, Vivi glanced above her shoulder. Wisps of white mist-like ether flowed from Serena’s eyes. Her silver hair fanned out and glimmered with gold, as if she had ascended to a higher being. Vivi wouldn’t have been surprised if Serena took flight like an angel. Behind Serena, townsfolk and Fellwater’s teens watched in horrified admiration.

And the cat called her only an examiner?

Serena swung her sword a second time. Another projectile shot forth with the swing, aimed at Vivi. She was too late to dodge. The projectile glowed in her vision like a death sentence flying her way.

A red figure blocked the blow. The cat-spirit swung with its claws, cutting Serena’s swing in half. The two halves flew astray, collapsing against the church’s walls. The building rumbled concerningly.

The cat’s claws glowed red with ether, power welling up. Then, the cat released the attack at the dirt below. The blow landed with enough force to blow Vivi’s eardrums. The ground exploded, and a cloud of dirt covered the courtyard. Townsfolk were shouting, panicking toward the doors.

“Run,” the cat said with a little more volume. “Go!”

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“Stop at once,” Serena shouted from behind the dirt dust, “and offer yourself to Ythar!”

Vivi stood and sprinted for the shattered windows. Run now, apologize later, she thought. And run she did. If there was one thing growing up with Fellwater’s bullies had granted her, it was fast feet. She could outrun the angriest of mobs with the right amount of adrenaline. With the spirit’s presence in her head, her legs felt unnaturally fast.

Serena’s figure bolted after her with the speed of a wolf, strength enhanced to superhuman levels by her spirit’s ether. Two more slashes flew from Serena’s sword. Vivi didn’t glance behind, trusting her spirit to deal with attacks. Luckily, the cat-spirit redirected the blows away from Vivi’s skin.

The cat grunted in her thoughts. “I’m running out of ether,” it said. “That was the last I could block. That stupid urn dimmed out my powers.”

Vivi bolted through the opening in the shattered window just as another slash flew over her head, missing by inches. She was welcomed outside by a raging downpour.

“Viv!” a deep voice called from the side. Vivi’s eyes opened wide, hearing Grandpa’s voice. Grandpa stood by the window with the hood of his raincoat down, letting rain flow down his neck.

“Grandpa!” Vivi gushed, pausing her run. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw everything,” Grandpa said, frowning. He turned around and began running. He spoke as they ran. “You’ve done well. You deserved to be chosen. Run, and make a life for yourself. I’ll protect the escape!” From his scabbard, he pulled out a glowing green-tinted runesword, very similar to Vivi’s broken one, though Grandpa’s one had five runes. Vivi knew the sword was Grandpa’s favorite. He always carried it around “in case he needed it.”

“What, no!” Vivi said. She grabbed his arm. “You don’t know how to fight! We’re runesmiths, not swordsmen. You’ll get yourself killed!”

“So be it,” Grandpa said. “I’ve taught you all I could. I’m old and useless. You’re where my legacy lives. Go spread our name in the world below. Long live runesmithing!”

No… Vivi thought. This was insanity. Grandpa wasn’t yet deemed a criminal to be killed. He wouldn’t get punished. If he helped Vivi he would likely get him executed. Assuming Serena didn’t kill him right there and then.

Grandpa frowned and turned around to point his sword at Vivi. “If you’re not going, I’m cutting you down myself. And… I’m sorry I couldn’t pay your debt. Runismithing was a terrible path. I know you hated it. I’m sorry.”

Vivi’s mouth hung open in an attempt to tell Grandpa to keep his life, when Serena’s figure flew out of the window behind them. Grandpa stopped the run and faced the divine hunter, not one bit of fear showing in his stance. From his posture, one would think he truly intended to win.

She hesitated, pausing with him.

“Let’s go, my wielder,” the cat-spirit said. “He will defend us.”

Grandpa grinned proudly. “Go.”

Vivi grit her teeth. Staying wouldn’t help. Grandpa was the most stubborn person she had ever known. She could only pray Serena was compassionate enough to knock him out without killing him.

But I don’t hate runesmithing… Vivi had wished to say. She loved the craft, just as she loved her idiotic Grandpa. Tears tried to flow from her eyes again.

“We need to get out of town,” the cat-spirit said. Its red figure glowed in the rain. Vivi rushed after it. “Do you guys have a teleporter?”

The teleporter? Vivi spoke in her thoughts. We can’t use that! It costs ether. And we require permission from the Chief.

“Oh, really?” the spirit asked, amused. “We require permission to escape a chase to the death? A teleporter will get us out of here. I have a few thousand wisps to spend.”

Vivi bit her lip. It wasn’t that she needed to ask kindly to use the teleporter. Problem was, she had no idea how to operate the machine. She ran to it regardless, in the heart of town, hoping the cat had some sort of plan.

“I’m not just a ‘cat spirit,’ by the way,” her spirit said. “My name is Lucius! A name from the deepest caverns of the earth! A magnificent name, don’t you think? I’m a he, not an it.”

Sorry, Vivi thought between heavy breaths. The cobblestone path was littered by rain puddles. Mud splashed as Vivi ran. From above, rain tapped against her head; a cold stream flowed down her neck. She held the hood of her raincoat up. The rain was rampant enough to have sent townsfolk inside or underneath canopies.

The teleportation ring was a large slab of stone with intricate patterns carved into the surface, protected from rain by a wide marble canopy. Fellwater’s teleporter rarely saw use beyond receiving the hunters’ yearly visits, but the ring was treated as a sacred piece of infrastructure nonetheless. It was always kept clean and never trespassed upon. Adults feared the teleporters for the possible danger of stepping onto one at the wrong time, while children feared the punishment for being caught playing on Ythar’s platform.

To lead a crazed spirit to such a monument broke every instinct ingrained into Vivi. For most of her life, she had been an obedient child, never getting in trouble where she didn’t already attract it. Disobeying the hunters felt incredibly wrong.

“How does this thing work?” Lucius asked as he flew around the ring. “You humans build the weirdest contraptions.”

“I don’t know!” Vivi took heavy breaths and glanced behind. Serena and her spirit-sword were already by her trail, trotting through the mud-stained paths. Serena’s battle-dress was muddy, and her boots clearly weren’t built for the weather. She sent a deathly grimace at Vivi.

“Nevermind, I’ll figure it out,” Lucius said. He dove into the glyph at the core of the ring, and his figure disappeared into the teleporter. The patterns on the teleporter lit up in a bright red, similarly to how runeswords lit up when imbued with ether.

Serena stepped closer, only a few paces off from the canopy. Vivi stood around, heart racing. She couldn’t step out of the ring if she wished to get teleported. Hurry up! she thought. At this pace, Serena would cut her in half.

“I think I’m doing something,” Lucius said. At that moment, the teleporter rumbled, as if an earthquake had hit the ring. The patterns glowed brighter. “We’re going down.”

Serena’s mud-stained figure paused outside the ring, sword up. She could have cut Vivi right there and then, but something made her hesitate. “Step out of the ring, girl,” she said. “Your spirit can’t leave without you. It’s trying to escape. If the tie is severed now, the spirit will teleport. Gods know where the spirit will end up. We might never retrieve a stray spirit from the lower levels. You must step out!”

“Uhm, will you still kill me?” Vivi asked.

Serena kept her sword up. “The teleporter will kill you. Your spirit does not know how to operate it. There’s no telling where you will end up. It’s likely you will wake up inside a storm, or perhaps suffocate inside a mountain. Offer yourself to Ythar, and I promise to bless your family. I’ll try out your family’s runeswords.”

“Stupid human,” Lucius said. His voice echoed in the air. “Why don’t you join us on our adventure? Are you afraid of my skills? I have plenty of experience operating teleporters, mind you.”

Serena ignored him completely, speaking to Vivi. “Escaping is a mistake, even if the teleporter doesn’t kill you. Spirit wielders must defend humanity from storms. We are humanity’s only hope. It is our duty. You, with a hundred thousand ether in debt, are not strong enough to defeat storms. Your spirit must be retrieved, and offered to someone who can fulfill the pact. The hunters will be after you.”

Behind Serena, Grandpa limped into the canopy with a wide grin on his face, dragging his sword behind. Blood ran down his forehead and into his mouth. He’d received a bump in the head, but it was clear Serena had gone easy on him.

“That’s my girl,” he said like the proudest man on earth. “Go, Viv! Don’t worry about the business. I’ll keep the smithy alive. Go become the strongest of the strong!”

“Crazy old man!” Serena shouted. “The girl will die! Nobody can survive the underground in debt. Step out while you still can!”

Lucius? Vivi asked in her thoughts. Can you really help me out of debt?

She received no response. At that moment, Serena’s figure blurred out of Vivi’s vision. Red glow filled her vision as her body disappeared from Fellwater. Her senses spun in circles. It felt as if her soul was being ripped apart.

“Goodbye, Fellwater… Goodbye, Grandpa…” she muttered out, unsure whether anybody could still hear.

Lucius’ chuckles resounded in her head as Vivi lost consciousness.