36

As he got closer, he could see more clearly. It was a woman in white robes and a toddler. Jason frowned and wondered who would leave a mother out here dressed so thinly in this kind of weather. And how come the others hadn’t noticed this woman and her child with their superb hearing and sight. Of course they noticed her. Jason was sure of it. But they didn’t care because they were too absorbed in their stupid quest to bother about a poor woman and her child. What were they on a quest for again? Jason couldn’t remember exactly but he still didn’t think it was enough reason not to help those in need. But Jason wouldn’t do that. He would never abandon those who needed help, not even if he had to drop everything he was doing.
He finally got to the woman and heard that she was weeping. She had long black hair and shockingly pale skin. Along with her clothes and her skin, her dark hair was a shocking feature.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” Jason asked, “you seem to be distressed.” He was already taking off his coat and offering it to her when she looked up at him. Her eyes were so tearful and soulful that he stopped and took a sharp breath, making the cold pierce his lungs painfully. Her eyes were huge on her small face and slanted upwards at the ends. They were green, but not a rich bottle green like Barine’s eyes. These were a pale green that appeared translucent and almost ghost-like, while Barine’s eyes reminded him of the lush Amazon rainforest, these eyes reminded him of old watercolor. She was fresh-faced and appeared to be about nineteen years of age. Damn, probably had been abandoned here by a vicious lover.
But then his gaze went to the child. A baby with the same eyes and hair as his mother, along with the pale skin. He was also swathed in white cloth but he had to be freezing.
“Sir, would you be kind enough as to help me carry my baby?” the mother asked in a voice like water passing under a bridge, “he’s terribly heavy and I’ve been carrying him for so long.”
“Of course,” Jason said eagerly and held out his arms for the toddler. At that moment, Zemar turned and saw what Jason was about to do. She screamed out for Jason to stop but the mother quickly deposited the baby in Jason’s arms and smiled at Zemar in triumph.
The instant the baby was dropped in his hands, Jason went down with a loud curse. The child was excruciatingly heavy and Jason could immediately feel the weight on his arm muscles and bones. He was sure twenty car batteries weren’t this heavy but he didn’t want to drop the baby. Babies weren’t supposed to weight this much, were they? They’re tiny.
Zemar dropped beside him on her knees and spoke into his ear, “I wish I could help you, Jason but you have to do this yourself. Whatever you do, you must not drop that baby. It will get heavier but you must not drop it.”
Jason nodded and held on the baby for dear life. True to Zemar’s words, the baby started getting heavier and heavier until Jason could feel the pressure in his spine.
“Fucking idiot,” Jaye muttered from behind him, obviously pissed at Jason’s actions.
“I don’t understand,” he said through gritted teeth, “it’s just a baby and I just wanted to help.”
“It’s not a regular baby and neither is that a regular woman,” Zemar explained with what sounded like anger in her voice, “they’re both spirits and you must not drop that child.”
He looked up at the young mother with considerable effort and if not for Zemar’s warning ringing in his ears, he would have dropped the child right there and then. Gone were the translucent eyes and in their place were completely black eyeballs that looked polished. She stood above them and Jason could see that she did not have feet. She just floated a few inches above the ground and stared at them with those obsidian eyeballs. Gone was the tearful disposition and in its place was cool indifference at Jason’s pain and the loss his friends stood to bear.
Jason gnashed his teeth and held on to the child. He felt like he was carrying a Jeep in his arms and his entire body vibrated with the effort. He was sure he was red all over and he could feel his veins popping out of his skin. It was torture and his bones burned (a nice effect in the Frozen Islands). He hardly heard the words of encouragement Zemar was muttering in his ears.
When he thought he was just about to give up, drop the baby and damn the consequences, the weight started to ease. The relief on his body was instant, even though he still felt the aches and pains from the effort. Before long, the baby actually felt like a regular baby again and Zemar was cooing words of congrats in his ears.
“Now, hand her the baby and you’ll be fine,” she said and Jason did what she asked with trembling arms. She took her baby and immediately the baby was out of his grip, darkness engulfed Jason.

He came to with Jaye peering over him with a teasing smile on his face, “If I knew you were going to keep losing consciousness, I’d have suggested we leave you with the tree elves at Irewood.”
“Bug of,” Jason grunted, trying to push himself up with his arms. Surprisingly, they didn’t ache at all. He stood up with little to no effort and was pleasantly shocked to find that he did not hurt anywhere at all. He had expected to be riddled with sores by now but maybe it had something to do with the spirit he had encountered. Speaking of the spirit, he had to ask Zemar what was up with that. For a second there, he had been completely dumb, only wanting to help the woman he had seen, forgetting about the mission to find Muna and even hating his companions for not helping the woman. It was some kind of brainwash.
He saw Zemar a short distance away setting up camp around a small fire with Barine. Their sleeping bags were there and there was some roasted meat softening in a small pot of water and spices over the fire. He could also see that dried berries had been put out and he scooped some on the way to Zemar, suddenly very hungry.
He was still munching on his berries when he got to Zemar so his mouth was preoccupied when she started talking. “I am very angry at you, Jason but so you will leave me alone, I will answer your probable questions. That spirit is called yuki-onna. She lures people into her trap by brainwashing them from a short distance into thinking she is a mother in distress. Then she gives you her baby and he gets amazingly heavy. If you drop the baby, she will kill you but if you successfully hold the baby and give it back to her, she will give you great strength,” she looked right at Jason, “the strength of seven warriors.”
Jason stopped chewing, “So, I’m freakishly strong right now?”
Zemar dropped the wooden spoon she was using to stir the meat, “I knew that was the only thing you would be bothered about. You can be so STUPID,” she seethed with her gold eyes flashing orange in the light of the warm fire, “do you realize you could have DIED? And there was nothing any of us could have done to save you. I couldn’t even feed magic into your muscles. We were terrified for the few minutes you held that spirit child and all you care about is super strength?”
Jason really did not know how to react. He was not used to seeing Zemar like this. She never lost her cool and her displaying her anger to him out him in an awkward position. He looked at Barine and Jaye for help but they both avoided his gaze like the plague. Damn, he had really messed up this time.
But Zemar wasn’t done yet, “What were you even THINKING, walking off on your own like that. I specifically drilled it into your head to. Stay. With. The. Group. Why would you walk off by yourself without a word? We saw the yuki-onna but we ignored her because that’s the best thing to do. But you just had to get close didn’t you?”
Jason’s head started ringing and he felt a flare of temper, “If you all saw the yuko-whatever, why didn’t you tell me about it?”
Zemar narrowed her eyes like she was trying to imagine his audacity, “You cannot expect to be informed of every little thing. These things are normal to us. It can’t come to our minds to tell you everything like you’re some sort of journal.”
Jason wasn’t having it, “You can choose not to tell me everything but at least I expect to know when something dangerous to me is close by. Do you think I don’t love my own life? I am in a strange land that is apparently supposed to be my home but I feel so lost. Your senses are so well tuned to this place but I'm the ass here; the one who is being dragged along. The least you can do is tell me when I'm walking into a life-threatening situation.”
Zemar’s features softened a bit and she nodded regally, “Very well then. I apologize and we will try our best to incorporate your differneces.”
Jason fought the urge to bow, mumbled his thanks and shuffled over to his sleeping bag which was in between Jaye and Barine’s bags.

A hot meal and a few hours later, Jason lay staring at the stars, unable to sleep and still feeling like those soulless black eyeballs were fixed on him.\
“I know you’re not asleep, Jason,” Jaye whispered from beside him, “what’s up?”
Remembering his comment earlier about fainting like a girl, Jason decided not to tell him he still felt haunted by the yuki-onna. “I’m just a bit bothered about the argument I had with Queenie over there.”
Jaye snickered and Jason wasn’t sure if it was because he was bothered by an argument or because he called Zemar ‘queenie’.
“Yeah, she can be scary sometimes.”
“You got that right.”
“It’s just funny really…” Jaye started but trailed off.
“Funny that what?” Jason prodded.
“Well, the Tiledonians have posed a threat to the Erogonian throne for millenia but they’ve been content in their independence and social life. They probably had a better chance than Madua’a at seizing the throne,” he took in Jason’s bewildered expression, “yes, they were THAT strong as a society. That’s another reason why Madua’a struck there first. But anyway, what’s funny to me is that as the last living Tiledonian, the entire race is going to come from you and you are going to rule it all. You’re a threat to Zemar and her throne by just being here because you could decide to take your descendants and usurp her throne at any time. But of course, you wont be able to do this once you’re sworn to her court.
“I don’t understand why she hasn’t given you the Binding yet. She’s waiting for you to see Tiledonia and actually decide? That’s funny to mee. She’s a queen and she knows what she’s doing but it’s just strange. If I were her, I would’ve made you swear to me the second you arrived in Erogon. When you were too clueless to know any better,” he turned his head to the side and looked directly at Jason, “as her mate, it irks me to see her giving you any sort of preferential treatment but you should know: my mate is a genuinely good person. Sometimes she will make tough decisions for the betterment of her subjects but she is the most selfless person I know and you should remember that, Jason. Never take advantage of that fact.”
Jason could do nothing other than to gulp and nod.