PRL Serials

The soul dragon was smooth transportation and Ishe wished that he always had one at his disposal as they flew through the air. They were headed to Charleston, though Ishe was not aware of this; he had ordered the dragon to take him to Wendy who happened to be there. He was eager to see her, to see Anesuishe and Great uncle who he feared may have forgotten his existence. 

The dragon was a construct of the boy Rhode; a powerful, yet novice medium who had aligned himself with one of Ishe’s enemies; and he was subservient to Ishe who was a powerful spirit with extensive knowledge of the arts of spirit energy manipulation. They sailed over John’s Island and the soul dragon landed gently on the lawn of a house that was close to a river. Despite it’s care, and lack of a physical body, the ground underneath the dragon catered slightly, like it weighed a ton and shifted the Earth down. 

Ishe hopped off the dragon and ran into the front door of the home where he was met with confused looks on familiar faces. The dragon outside returned to the physical body of Rhode.

“Anesuishe!” he said excitedly. He was so relieved to be back to something familiar after his journey from the extremely unfamiliar and his encounter with the beings that he had met along the way. 

She looked at his face closely. She remembers me, Ishe thought to himself. He approached her slowly.

“Uncle,” she said and looked to Great uncle who Ishe also hoped was remembering that he had been gone from their vadzimu for months now.

The old man smiled and cocked his head curiously.

“Isheanesu!” Wendy, the Brave Chimutengwende, said and ran to stand in front of him. “Where have you been?” She stopped and looked up, she was thinking for a moment, and then she continued, “I just realized you were gone though. I’m sorry I forgot you.”

“It wasn’t your fault Anesu,” Ishe said tearfully. He was overcome with relief. “I was so far away, and the suck was so sudden and traumatic that it was easy to forget. I was so far away that I lost my influence. But I’ve made it back.”

Great uncle hugged Ishe and he expected the same embrace from Anesuishe who had ushered him into the responsibilities of his afterlife and had been by his side the entire time. But Anesuishe was distant. She hugged him, but they did not have the reunion he hoped for. 

“It’s good to have you back, Ishe,” Wendy said and she introduced him to Kyrie and Ivan who were also in her living room. “It’s not the best time for reunions though. There’s some yellow sparks…”

“It’s here?” Ishe said, cutting her off. “The yellow sparks are here?”

“You know them?”

“It’s the Voice. It brought me back here. It tried to use me to bring curses, but I guess it found another soul to do it. I wonder why it is here.”

Wendy explained what Ishe said to Kyrie and Ivan who could not see ghosts. 

“If it’s not from around here,” Kyrie said, “then it came here because Charleston attracts weird things. Most likely, whatever it is got stronger by coming here and stayed. I want to go find it.”

Ishe nodded at the man. “I will go with him, I know the source of this and I can help him find it. Will he allow possession?”

Kyrie agreed after Wendy explained. They decided that while Wendy and the others worked to scatter the yellow sparks loose in the city, Kyrie and Ishe could turn them off at the source. When Ishe entered Kyrie’s body, the two met in the control room of his mind. It was like the cockpit of an airplane and the view through the front window was the view through Kyrie’s eyes.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Kyrie said.

“You as well. The Voice made a body for itself from the yellow sparks when we were in the light realm. It brought me here to the physical realm and said it had plans that I knew would be nefarious. This is what it looked like when I left it.”

A screen appeared and showed Ishe’s memory of the Voice taking power from the Angel of the light realm and using it to fuel an almost light speed journey back to the physical realm. It showed Ishe’s rejection of the Voice and the screen paused on the last image of the female form that was created by the yellow sparks.

Ishe grabbed the screen and pushed it toward Kyrie’s view of the world outside his mind and when it collided, Kyrie absorbed the memories of Ishe and he felt the energies of the Voice.

“It’s faint, but I think I can feel it,” Kyrie said as his body activated. They watched the view as the body moved out of Wendy’s house and then took flight.

“You take control of your body,” Ishe said, “and I will be a voice in your head.”

Kyrie maneuvered the repulsive force to fly in the direction that he felt the Voice was located and when he was over a swamp, Kyrie landed. He could see the source of the yellow sparks issuing from the form of a man. 

“Be careful, the Voice is around here somewhere,” Ishe said in Kyrie’s head.

Kyrie looked around and saw no one, “Whoever that is, is bringing more of the curses. I’m gonna start there.” He sent the blue energies of the repulsive force at the yellow sparks and where they met, there was a haze of green, like the area was glowing radioactive. 

The form of the man changed and Kyrie could see his face. 

“You have to stop the woman,” the man struggled to say.

Suddenly, Kyrie was punched from behind and it felt like someone smashed a brick into his neck. The scene returned to normal, the form of the man issuing yellow sparks, as Kyrie recovered from the blow and he confronted the glowing form of a woman.

“Ishe, you have returned with a friend. You cannot hope to stop me. I am so much stronger in this place.”

Kyrie incanted with the help of Ishe and it caused the woman to explode into the air. She was surprised as Kyrie flew into her with both his fists extended. She wasn’t hurt when he connected, not exactly, she could not feel pain. But the energies that comprised her form shifted as he passed through her and she felt slightly lighter than she had been. Kyrie continued to fly at her, circling back to crash into her over and over again, and the Voice slapped him away when she could, but Kyrie was relentless. He took a beating, but eventually the form of the woman was half its original size; Kyrie had knocked so much away. He landed on the ground to catch his breath.

“That was tough,” he said to Ishe out loud.

“It’s the manual way to break a curse,” Ishe said. “It works, but your body will feel ten pound heavier tomorrow, it takes a lot from your muscles.”

The form of the woman came to rest on the ground and Kyrie looked down at her.

“I just wanted to matter,” she said angrily. “Like you all here. It gets so boring in the light.”

“Killing people isn’t a purpose,” Kyrie said.

“It means that I matter. If the maker is so concerned with the life here, then I matter if I can impact it. What is more impactful than taking life?” The Voice asked it as a legitimate question.

“Creating it,” Kyrie said and he used the repulsive force to disappear the form of the woman.

When she was gone, the form of the man stopped channeling the yellow sparks and he collapsed on the ground. 

Ishe left Kyrie’s body and they smiled at one another.

“Can I see ghosts now?” Kyrie asked.

“You will always be able to see me,” Ishe said. 

The two went to find Wendy who was at the old jail in downtown Charleston. Great uncle and Anesuishe were with her.

As Kyrie filled everyone in on their exploits, Anesuishe pulled Ishe to the side.

“I’m sorry that I was distant before,” she said. “I was just so embarrassed. I failed you Ishe. We have walked together for many years and when you were in trouble, I just forgot you and moved on like you were never here. I am truly sorry for that.”

Ishe was relieved. He had worried that the distance between them was irreversible.

“The memory of you, of my mission with my family is what gave me the strength to find my way back.”

“I’m glad you’re home,” Anesuishe said.