Spirits in the Forest

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The men hovered towards the direction of the gatehouse. Phoenix was being careful to avoid the skeletons. More of the citizens had emerged from their huts just outside of the keep, following the patterns from their previous lives. There was a chatty atmosphere across the place.

As they finally reached the drawbridge, Phoenix skirted around Guard Belony's corpse once again, before running out in front of the two hunters. The huts surrounding the castle were in worse disrepair than the Great Hall. Most had their roofs gone and walls crumbling. The citizens didn't seem to mind too much however, as they headed across the drawbridge into the keep. Some could be seen lounging on the field past the huts.

Phoenix made her way to the edge of the forest, excited to stretch her legs. Once she arrived, she strung her bow skilfully, testing the pull of the string. As Trevor and Morty finally caught up to her, she threaded loosened the string, ready for the stealth of the hunt.

They hovered past her. The lifeforms of the forest could sense the death from the life imprints, but they made much less noise then her. Phoenix slightly crouched, stepping into the forest as lightly as she could.

They travelled for what seemed like a very long time, before up ahead Morty put his finger up. The signal for prey. Phoenix crouched even lower, going as slow as possible. As she reached Morty, he pointed into a small clearing. There, grazing lightly was a deer.

Phoenix quickly tightened her string and threaded an arrow into the nook of her bow. She brought the sting past her ear, eyes pinpointed to the deer's head. Taking a deep breath, she let the arrow fly off the bow. It whistled in the air for only a moment, before striking the deer right behind the eye. The deer stilled, before falling to its side.

Phoenix gave out a little cheer, before making her way into the clearing. Morty whistled.
"Risky move going for the head. Why didn't you just go for the chest as normal?" he asked, and Trevor hovered in from the opposite side of the clearing. Phoenix crouched down next to the fallen deer, admiring her handiwork.
"I left my knife in the keep." Phoenix admitted as she tugged the arrow out of the deer's skull with little ease. Finally, the arrow came loose, intact. Phoenix wiped it clean on the grass, before placing it back in her vice.

"And we are only finding about this now?" Morty asked, obviously a little pissed.
"I only remembered when we saw the deer." Phoenix answered sheepishly. Trevor laughed. As Morty opened his mouth to teach Phoenix a lesson, the life imprint of the deer burst from the deer's chest. It looked at the three in absolute terror, before leaping off.

"Sorry!" Phoenix called out after it. It didn't answer back. Morty sighed.
"Alright, let's get this thing back to the keep." He ordered. As Phoenix went to grab the legs of the deer, a sudden glint caught her eyes past the clearing. She stood in interest.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing towards the glint. Trevor looked over in interest, furrowing his eyebrows.
"I'm not sure." He answered, before attempting to go through the trees. A couple of metres in he stopped, pushing up against what seemed to be an invisible barrier. He stepped back in shock.
"This must be my edge." He explained in shock.

Each life imprint had a limit of where they could travel, determined by where they had travelled throughout their life. Trevor and Morty didn't usually have an issue with being stopped by their edge as the hunters of the keep.

Morty frowned, before joining Trevor by his side. He attempted to push at the invisible barrier, with no luck.
"Must be." He agreed. In life Trevor and Morty had hunted together, so their edges lining up would make sense.

Phoenix joined their side now, walking past the barrier.
"Phoenix, come back here." Morty growled.
"I'm just going to check out the glint, you'll be able to see me the whole time." She defiantly answered, stepping over a large root. Morty growled but accepted it. Both men looked on worriedly.

As Phoenix approached the glint, she saw that the glint was caused by metal poking out of the ground. As she wiped away the soil, she unveiled part of a shoulder plate.
"It's some sort of armour!" she called out to the two men. Their eyes went wide as they looked at each other.
"Phoenix, get back here, now." Trevor called, fear filling his voice.

Phoenix immediately stood, confused but making her way back to the men.
"What's wrong?" she called. Before they could answer, a whooshing noise Phoenix recognised well came from behind her. She turned in confusion, to see a young man in armoured plating, looking down at the metal in the ground in confusion.

He looked over at Phoenix, eyes narrowing.
"What did you do to me, witch?" he spat at Phoenix. Phoenix's eyes went wide at the man's apparent disgust at her. His voice carried a sharpness to it that Phoenix had never heard before.
"What do you mean? I just found your body." Phoenix answered, crossing her arms crossly.
"My body?" the man asked, looking confused.

"You're a life imprint." Phoenix answered coldly.
"Just like us." She continued as the man stared in horror at his armoured shoulder plate sticking out the ground.
"I'm... dead?" he asked, voice cracking. Phoenix nodded.
"Haven't you apparated before? Looking at your armour you died quite a while ago." Phoenix commented, but the solider wasn't listening.

"You killed me, you witch!" he suddenly yelled. Phoenix looked at him like he was crazy.
"Your kidding me, right?" Trevor called from behind her. The soldier only had eyes and ears for Phoenix however, as he began to storm towards her.
"I'll kill you, you monster!" he screamed, eyes wild.

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I do like this story in shorter excerpts, I'll probably update more often in that case. Anyway, shorter chapter, shorter signoff.

The song, 3rd Eye, is a good one I think to represent the coming back of life imprints. It would be a very confusing and scary process in my opinion if it went on. Espically after so long. 

Remember to vote if you liked what you read and comment your thoughts. Keep your soul close, but your heart closer. 

- Owlie

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