Chapter 11

A Krasue.

The first one was a woman said to have been betrothed to a nobleman yet she didn't love him. She had loved another man, a commoner. When her fiancé had discovered that she was sleeping with another man, she was ordered to be executed for her promiscuity.

Before she was set to burn at the stake, she was involved with magic in one way or another and it went poorly. Some say she had asked for a magician to cast a protection spell on her and it activated too late. Another version says that she was using magic herself and as a result of her failed experimentation she died before she could get executed. Either way, she had to live her next life as a ghost hungry for meat.

Pranee stood in front of the fenced enclosure, uncertain of what will greet her. The rain had stopped earlier, leaving the grounds slippery. The only thing running through her mind was the tales of the ghastly ghost.

"Are you sure she'll come back? She already visited for the night." Pranee looked to Shashi with hope.

They stood next to her, their eyes looking into the distance with their staff in their bag. Their neutral expression quickly extinguished her hope.

"She came yesterday night. She's probably still hungry as well since the cows are still unharmed."

"It's been a long night. Can't we do this tomorrow?"

"She only comes out at night. If we leave her alone, who knows who will be her next meal. As long as you follow my instructions from earlier, we'll be alright."

Pranee could feel her body tremble as she scanned the darkness for any signs of the creature.

"I saw a glow."

"Glow? Where?" She turned her head around in confusion.

"Over there."

She strained her eyes to attempt to see what Shashi was staring at but there was no luck.

"Calm down. Your eyes are darting too fast to really catch the glow. Don't let fear consume you and allow yourself to process."

Pranee scrunched her eyebrows together and frowned before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She opened them again and she could faintly see a green glow in the distance. Pranee's eyes widened with glee and shock.

"That's her?"

"Seems to be."

"You must've dealt with ghosts a lot to know what to look for," Pranee commented.

"Nope," Shashi calmly said. "This is my first time."

"Wait, what?" Her face became slack. The statement shocked her to the point that she swore she was hearing things. It sounded like a low growl.

"I never met Krasue before. Honestly, a monk should be doing this."

"Then how are we going to beat her?" Pranee swore the growl was getting louder. Did cows growl? Maybe it was from them.

"With magic."

Before Pranee could get another word in, Shashi was jumping over her shoulder with one leg extended into a kick. She froze briefly before turning to see Shashi face to face with a floating head with long silky black hair. As Pranee stared at it longer, she realized that organs were hanging from the head. The most prominent organ being the beating heart.

"Pranee!"

Shashi's panic snapped Pranee out of her shock. She began to stutter the Sanskrit stanzas that she had heard over and over again during her visits to the temple. She should've known the words but she couldn't help but blank every so often as she was too focused on Krasue's appearance.

Shashi continued to cast fire spells at the Krasue but somehow, she kept managing to evade each attack. Only one attack managed to singe the tips of her hair but she didn't seem to notice the damage at all. Shashi let out a cry of frustration and turned to Pranee.

"Keep going! It won't back down."

The head slowly turned towards Pranee to reveal her jagged bloody teeth. Pranee's breath caught in her throat and her recitation stopped immediately.

A low growl-like garble came out of the creature. Pranee stumbled backwards, desperate to be as far away from the spirit as possible.

"A young woman of noble blood. Why are you staying overnight in a commoner's home?"

Pranee couldn't speak.

"Did you fall in love with a commoner?" She laughed. "Looks like they abandoned you. Left you to die. Isn't that a familiar tale?"

Pranee glanced to where she had last seen Shashi. They weren't there. The Krasue inched closure to Pranee with a mocking grin. Pranee's heart began to beat even faster and her breathing became shallow and quick.

"I see that you've been around magic as well. Our karmic paths may not be so different."

Pranee suddenly remembered what Wipa had said earlier. This was what happened to people if they used magic incorrectly? They were reborn into a dangerous ghost?

She could only whimper and hold back tears as the ghost continued to eye her.

"You should pray for your next life to be a better one."

The creature unhinged her jaw ready to bite into Pranee. Pranee held her arms over her head to brace herself.

Before the Krasue could get any closer she released an unearthly shriek. Her heart expanded and contracted sporadically. Pranee thought for a moment that this was how the creature attacked but it began to writhe on the ground.

"Hey, I found this."

Shashi was on their staff and what seemed to be a headless body was slumped over on it. The body dropped from the staff and laid next to the Krasue as it continued to writhe in agony. The body seemed to be burned in certain areas and the Krasue began to wiggle towards the body.

"Pranee. Please recite the words with me."

She could only nod as she couldn't find her voice. She gathered her course as she began to chant the prayer again. The end of Shashi's staff lit with fire and the Krasue screamed louder. Shashi quickly brought the fire to the body and it began to burn along with the head.

"May you find peace in your next life," Shashi whispered before they joined Pranee's chant.

They chanted until the fire extinguished, leaving only a small pile of ashes of where the Krasue once was.

Pranee let out a sigh of relief and fell onto the ground. Her knees were shaking and she couldn't stand any longer. That was too close for comfort for the princess.

Shashi suddenly sat next to her, falling in the same manner which caught her off-guard.

"That was scary. I really thought we were going to die there." Shashi laughed breathlessly. Pranee could see that the encounter took a toll on them physically.

"If you hadn't told me this was your first time, I don't think I would've been as scared."

Shashi paused for a moment before speaking. "Oops."

Pranee was going to give them an irritated look until she saw their expression. They seemed to be lost in thought as their eyebrows were furrowed together and their lips were pressed tightly together. Shashi must've realized how quiet it was as they looked to Pranee. Their eyes met hers and they quickly looked away before letting out a sigh.

"We should bury the ashes before going back inside. We need to pay our respects if we want to ensure this doesn't happen again."

Pranee nodded before gathering the ashes. Perhaps she was too tired to retaliate or perhaps she could sense something was off with the wizard. Either way, she doubted she could sleep much for the night.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Embrace the Sky by indigosa