58 Spirit Vision

"Okay...... sure I would like to know what's going on."

Jason stared back at Nero, unsettled, staring into a near-identical copy of his face.

"Then follow me."

Nero got up off the couch as a swirl of dark black clouds started swirl around the room, blanketing everything in black.

Suddenly, a wave of vertigo struck Jason as he felt a lurch and closed his eyes, but they were no longer in the apartment when he opened them. The condo and stack of bodies were all gone. Instead, it was replaced by a thick forest with towering trees as far as the eye could see. Birds flew through the air darting around the lush forest and singing as they passed. The sun streamed through the leaves, lighting up the green surroundings. It was a magical sight.

"Where are we??"

Jason looked around him, craning his neck up and down left and right, just soaking in the view and the abrupt scenery change.

"Well, you wanted to know what's going on, so I thought I would show you directly since seeing is believing."

Nero was still wearing a smug smile as he stood there, arms crossed, watching everything with a glimmer in his eyes.

"Look, the show is about to begin."

Nero pointed to the right, where you could see a horde of black spirits, a mass of shadowy black figures wrapped in dark mist storming through the forest, their very presence sapping the life out of the forest around them. Grey plant life followed in their wake as thousands of black wraithish spirits continued to fly into the woods, their destination unknown. As the spirits approached, you could hear the wailing of souls echoing from them.

Shock filled Jason at the appearance of such a large crowd of spirits. It was his first time experiencing something like this. Ghosts were indeed a real shocker.

"Where are they going?"

Jason looked to Nero for an answer to what he was seeing. He knew there was a reason why he was shown this. He just needed to figure it out.

"Why don't we follow them and find out?"

Nero was already on the move walking casually in the spirits trail, admiring the dead plants caused by the spirits.

Jason reluctantly followed as well. He was curious to know what was going on. Whoever or whatever those spirits were after should be interesting.

The pair followed the spirits until they arrived at a large clearing. A small witches' hut stood in the middle of this meadow. The spirits surrounded the cabin from all directions as they circled it around in the air. Then with a bright light, several blazing red runes ignited on the roof of the hut, emitting a fiery blast around it, forcing the black spirits back. The black shades hit by the explosion caught on fire and quickly burned to ashes as the other spirits backed away.

Seeing that it was impossible to get close to the hut, the spirits circled around it. Then out of the crowd emerged an immense wraith. It seemed to be the leader of them as it hulked over them with an intense aura. The shade had black fire arising out of his eyes and mouth as black clouds circled his body, guarding him. The leader raised his arms, and suddenly a blast of dark energy emerged and smashed into the hut's protective shield. Seeing their leader's action, the rest of the spirits started to follow his lead and launch their abilities at the cabin. Blast after blast of black energy rained down upon the hut. The runes on top glowed in response, burning away each bolt of darkness before it could land upon the cabin.

Seeing that they were in a stalemate once again, one of the shades spoke out to the hut owner.

"Witch we have you surrounded your shields will not last forever surrender yourself, and perhaps you may be spared some suffering."

The Shade's raspy voice echoed through the air as silence came as the only reply to its offer.

The Shade stood there waiting further in hopes of a reply from the witch.

"Witch, you will regret your decision if you do not surrender. There is no hope for an escape."

The Shade spoke in its creepy raspy echoing voice once again.

As if his words had annoyed the hut or, more likely, the inhabitant of the hut, the red runes on the roof ignited once again as a beam of fire was launched at the provocative Shade.

The Shade barely escaped death as the red beam sliced past him, diverted from its path by a shield of black clouds. The leader of the Spirits had commanded the clouds out to block the attack.

The Spirits leader stepped out, commanding the black clouds around him to circle his body, defending him.

"Witch of the Raging Sun, we have you trapped. In respect of your husband, give us the Soul Pearl, and we shall let you live. He can not save you here."

The only response was another beam of fire that was scattered by the black clouds around him.

"You chose this Witch."

With a cold declaration, the clouds around him stopped circling around him as they floated up over the hut—the black clouds forming into a pair of clawed hands bearing down onto the hut's protective shield. The formation flaring up as it defended against the assault. The claws continued to press down, trying their best to pierce the shield.