Pan gathered in a room with five other young arcanes. For the moment, she found herself free: free of her duties and free of Detective Casimir. Though, she had yet to free herself of suspicion. She didn’t think it would happen any time soon.

Pan crossed her arms. The mentors, her mentors, had called them into a meeting. With three people from her group, it made sense for her mentors to brief them on the job. Pan bet it had to do with the reaper situation. She only awaited confirmation.

Brynn and Chara both left the room. Chara touched Pan’s shoulder on the way out, and Brynn nodded a cold goodbye. Spy had never been present, lending credence to Pan’s worry that the older woman was not long for this world.

Kat remained. She squared her shoulders and drew breath to speak, “Although there haven’t been any further messages from the reaper, we are still taking the threat seriously. We have no medical test to find a reaper and lie detection has been ruled out as well – at least until Aria can return. We’re still waiting on the final results of the familial investigation, but that could take months. What we do have is a little test we devised ourselves.”

Pan looked around the room. She wondered at the choice of this group. She’d never worked with these individuals before. To be fair, she rarely worked with anyone, but as a team, this group made no sense. A telekinetic? A fire starter? A healer? An ice shaper? A dream invader?

Kat fiddled with a handheld projector. She displayed a set of pictures against one wall. “We have an old mine, long devoid of ore. Perikop. Seventy-five years ago, the Arcanes purchased it and used it for training purposes. Fifty years ago, after an accident, we closed the mine, and haven’t used it since.” Kat pointed at the pictures. “Here you can see its entrance, a few tunnels with abandoned equipment, and some without track.”

Perikop? Why did that sound familiar?

Pan spoke into the pause, “Should we know this place? What kind of accident caused the Arcanes to shut it down?”

“I’m glad you asked, Pan. You’ve probably heard of it in your line of work.” Kat placed the projector on a table and set it to flash its way through pictures. “We sent a team into the mine, mostly girls. The goal was to help the group learn how to use each other’s powers.” Kat smiled. “And, before you ask me how they accomplished that, let me just say that one of these arcanes was a power sharer.”

Images flashed on the wall. Pan saw historical pictures of miners. She saw the team of girls. She stared hard at their faces.

Kat continued, “The power sharer could generate a wide range in which arcanes could access each other’s powers. The closer they were, the better the effect. As you can imagine, she would have been a bit of a target in a combat situation. In fact, she struggled to be useful in general.”

What an awful power. That girl’s entire job was to stand around and let people use her.

Kat stopped and watched the pictures. “That’s her.” She pointed to a picture of a girl with thick grey hair. “Another of the team members could heal, one could create portals, and the last could see spirits. By and large, they were very rare individuals.”

All eyes turned to Pan. She stiffened at the news. She hadn’t known about another ghost seer. The ghost seer would have kept a journal, so why didn’t they give it to Pan to help her on her way?

“As you can see from the image, there were more in the training group. But, those four died.” Kat bowed her head. “They were between thirteen and fifteen years old.”

Pan looked at the wall. She waited until pictures of the four girls came around. Their portraits occupied one slide together, smiling, not realizing what their lives had in store. Pan couldn’t tell which had been the ghost seer, but she knew the girl had been too young to make a journal with the basics of their craft. So, that’s why Pan never received one.

Kat straightened. “We scrapped the training program because the mines proved to be dangerous, especially to the ghost seer. No one could be sure, but old recordings suggest that she panicked. She saw hostile spirits in the mines. Her panic caused others to perish.”

Pan narrowed her eyes. “I don’t panic in the face of hostile spirits.”

“No, you don’t. Which is why, we need you to find the bodies in the mines.”

Pan frowned. “So, the bodies were left in the mine?”

Kat nodded.

“Why?”

“We tried to retrieve them, but the mines are dangerous. They’re filled with ghosts, ones that the average person can sometimes see. They’re filled with gas. It seems to affect memory and prevents a good effort towards map making. And, frankly, we lost a couple other arcanes trying to retrieve the bodies. In the end, their families and the organization pronounced the mine their grave site.”

The room fell silent.

Pan drew a long breath. “What does this have to do with reapers?”

Slowly, Kat nodded. “It’s a good question. The answer is the power sharer. She’s dead, but there’s speculation that her body is mummified. You know as well as I do that mummified bodies sometimes retain an active power.”

Pan nodded. She’d seen one mummy that perpetually coated itself with ice. Its caretakers had to scrape it clean every day. The remaining descendants wouldn’t abide by cremation.

Kat leaned against the table. “She’s dead, but she’s a power sharer still. Any arcanes that go into the mine together share their abilities. They share the abilities of the mummified remains as well. That means they all see the ghosts – to some degree. Not enough for good clear communication; but enough to be terrified.”

The team exchanged glances. Pan frowned. A body performing its magic beyond death was a creepy, rare phenomenon. But it was a product of the very thing that made reaping possible.  Powers didn’t leave the body, even when someone’s soul did.

Kat continued, “We will find the bodies and extract them. Then, using the power sharer’s ability, we will test all the arcanes in small groups. Once the reaper enters a group, he or she won’t be able to hide. Everyone in the group will gain the temporary ability to reap. In this way, we’ll find our reaper.”

That’s…a good idea.

“Who’s the reaper going to reap?” Pan asked. “The power sharer?”

Kat shook her head. “One of the other dead girls. They should be reapable. The first reapers successfully took powers from hundred-year-old bodies – under instruction of course. It wasn’t a problem till they wanted fresh ones.”

Everyone froze. Suspicious eyes wandered the room.

Hagen, an arcane man and dream invader, stepped forward. “And, why are you sending in all of us. You could just send a small non-arcane team with her.” Hagen pointed at Pan.

Kat paused and perused the group. Her eyes lingered here and there. Thankfully, never on Pan. “We chose this group based on a random sampling. A kind of quick test to see if we caught the reaper among you.”

Uh oh. ‘Random’ was not the word. This group had been picked by Detective Casimir. These people were among those with suspicious familial ties.

Kat continued, “So, go in and find the bodies – in particular, the power sharer. If you like, try reaping them as soon as you find one. Then, return safely. I will wait outside the mine.”

Pan’s heart quickened, and from the flustered, wide-eyed looks, she knew her heart had plenty of company. What a way to build a team – on distrust and fear. Kat would probably wait outside the mine with a short line to Detective Casimir and his team of investigators. They’d be ready to organize a capture.

“Pan,” Kat called.

Pan snapped back to attention.

Kat said, “You’ll serve as guide, especially since you’ll all be seeing ghosts. With two ghost seers inside, the spirits might be even clearer to those who normally wouldn’t see them. So, Pan, you get to be second in charge, but Ruair will be first.”

Pan looked over at Ruair, the oldest among the group; the man stood tall. Ruair, a healer, displayed all the hallmarks of health. Ruair looked at her and kind of smiled. He probably wanted to be a good leader and build some kind of rapport with his little group. That was fine. Pan would play along, but underneath that facade, Pan would work in her own best interest.

 

Out in the country air, wind whipped the grass. An old well lay half ruined in the distance, and ahead, the mine entrance beckoned. Perikop. Sealed by wood and metal chains, the passage hid its darkness among otherwise green hills.

Ruair and Pan walked at the head of the group. The man towered over her, and Pan did not consider herself all that short. At five four, she was thoroughly average. Ruair just used his awesome healing power to reach a gargantuan six foot three. Or maybe, he just found himself lucky, bestowed with the gift of manliness. Pan would need to do an informal study of healers and see if they really did earn a few extra inches. After all, Chara was tall too.

Behind Pan and Ruair, Uda the fire starter and Hagen the dream invader walked side by side. Pan disliked them both. Uda was Aria’s bully, and she performed the duty with gusto. Even if Aria forgave and moved on, Pan vowed never to view the fire starter as a friend or even acquaintance. Hagen, also a target for Pan’s ire, just rubbed her the wrong way. No one should see into her dreams, not that they’d want to. Pan’s dreams filled the night with ghastly visions and disembodied noises.

Further back, two young arcanes walked, another girl and guy, just barely over thirteen. Pan knew them as Lita the ice shaper and Merit the telekinetic. Too young to really know their powers well, Pan almost worried for them. But, that should be Ruair’s job. He should protect them all.

Pan should find the bodies, or as she counter-planned, not find the bodies and prevent them from ever being found.

By the car, Pan glanced and saw Kat. She waited for them, administering the little test.

“Ready to talk to some ghosts?” Ruair asked.

Pan glared at him. “No. But, I’m willing.”

“Someone could have helped them,” Uda said. “It’s really strange that they just gave up and left the bodies in there.”

Ruair nodded once. “They did give up a little fast. They couldn’t find them, and no arcanes would set foot inside because of the ghosts. That power sharer has got some range on her. We should start to feel each other’s powers soon.” Ruair looked down at Pan. “I have to admit. I’m a bit nervous. We’re going to see what you see.”

Yes, exactly why I have to lose you.

“What do you think the spirits will be like?” Hagen asked.

Before the trip, Pan had researched the mine. Kat was right. Pan had read about it. She just didn’t remember.

So, Pan had a detailed answer for Hagen, though not a good one. “The ghosts will be stronger and more disturbing than the usual fair. At least one miner was killed and left to rot for his treatment of several village girls. If he’s inside, he’ll be hostile to all of us.”

“Of course.” Uda might have rolled her eyes, but Pan never looked back.

Pan continued, “I suspect he has a special grudge. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he caused the deaths of the three arcanes.”

Pan remembered the miner’s picture. It had been old and degraded, a ghost itself. It showed a shadow of a man in the mine. She’d gotten nothing useful from it.

“What else?” Ruair prodded.

“Obviously, the arcanes. Don’t expect them to be friendly,” Pan warned.

Ruair nodded. “Anything else?”

“The usual – confused men who died in cave-ins or suffocated.”

Hagen huffed. “Wonderful. That’ll be a sight to see. Truthfully, I’ve always been curious to see if your drawings match the reality.”

Pan thought her drawings decent but certainly nothing approaching reality. “One more thing. I think we might see knockers. They’re a kind of little spirit that knocks on the walls of caves, probably just superstition, but anyone who died believing in that superstition could become one.”

Ruair almost stopped. “So dead miners essentially?”

“Not anymore.” Pan met his eyes.

He could only hold the contact so long. Ruair stopped at the mines. He removed a heavy key from his pocket and stuck it inside a lock. The locked door was large. It barred access to the mines, keeping out all who would wander in by accident or intention.

Before Ruair turned the key, Pan put a hand on his wrist.

Pan warned, “When I researched this place, I found a reference to a spirit that takes the light and plunges everything into darkness. The miners lived in terror of it. If we find it, I think we should leave and try again another time. I’m almost certain it’s not Scaldin and never was.”

Lita and Merit drew close to Uda and Hagen. Pan felt a momentary twinge of guilt. If she hadn’t been so determined to find the reapers’ murderer, Lita and Merit could be spared this excursion. Too late for that now.

“Anything else?” Ruair asked.

Pan perked up. “I just had a thought. Lita, Merit, and Uda have hard powers. It can’t have taken the three of you long to discover them when you reached the hospital. You can prove your innocence. You don’t need to do this.”

Uda smiled, not in a happy way. “I didn’t make it to the hospital before my power manifested. I became a fire starter in an ambulance accident. And, I wasn’t the only person in the ambulance, but I was the only one to live. Lita’s a similar case. She had a twin, and they didn’t make it to the hospital in time. Lita’s sister didn’t make it at all.” Uda spread her hands. “Of course, that means Lita could have murdered her twin during the ride.”

Pan frowned. She looked at Merit.

“People died on the ward when he became arcane,” Uda said.

“This is so wrong,” Hagen breathed. “We shouldn’t have to do this.”

“Ready?” Ruair looked around the group. He waited until he got a nod from all of them.

Pan nodded last.

Ruair twisted the key. The lock clicked open, and Ruair stepped back. He gestured for Merit to remove the chains.

The young telekinetic did just that. At first, Merit pulled without progress. The chains clinked and strained. Then, Merit worked through the tangle, and the chains snaked through the air. They landed behind him, with a jingle, coiled nicely.

Ruair touched the handle. He looked beyond their party. Pan followed his eyes. Kat waved. She stood stiff and looked a little worried.

Ruair took a deep breath and looked away. He pulled on the heavy door. It barely moved. Hagen helped, and together the men got it open.

Stale air wafted from inside, cool and a bit dusty.

“Alright everyone, masks on.” Ruair pulled a mask over his lower face.

Without complaint, everyone copied. Pan hated to wear the mask as it made the area around her nose and mouth too warm, but she wanted to breath without fear. Already, she had enough fear to look forward too.

“Now, lights.” Ruair fiddled with his light.

Pan got hers on faster. She flashed it inside. Dust scattered. It floated across the tunnel. Pan saw old wires and tracks that reached further than her light ever could. Lanterns, installed along the walls, remained dark.

“Do you think we can get the lights on inside?” Lita asked.

Hagen shook his head. “No, the electrical is in bad shape. We wouldn’t want to start an electrical fire inside.” Hagen jabbed Uda in the arm. “Hey, no fire from you, got it?”

Uda glared. Her mouth hid under her mask. “I know that. I just want to get this over with. I’m only here because my great grandfather didn’t want his place of origin noted. Oh, and the fact that I became arcane unsupervised.” Uda made a noise of disgust. “You’re all more likely to start a fire than me. I can control the power.”

Ruair held up a hand. “We all have a little suspicion surrounding our Shifts. Let’s try not to think about it.” Ruair gave them all a sharp look. “And, the power sharing isn’t going to be extreme. The effect won’t be as strong as the real power. No one should be starting fires. Okay?”

Indeed, Pan agreed. And, no one should be reaping my stuff.

Ruair gestured, After you.

Pan just stood there and made the gesture back.

“These are ghosts we’re concerned about. You should go first.” Again, Ruair made a motion for her to go ahead. He put his other hand on her shoulder.

Pan shrugged away. “Ah, but ghosts still present less of a threat to you. Power sharing won’t give you the full ability, remember? Besides, I should warn you. That detective kept me very busy, and I haven’t been feeling great. I doubt my tingling left foot will be the surest among us. Maybe, your strong, perpetually healed feet can lead?”

Ruair sighed. He stepped into the darkness.

Pan followed. She stayed close to his back. The closer she stayed, the less she saw, which wasn’t good for spotting spirits but worked perfect for hiding one’s eyes. Pan expected the first ghost to be shy – scary but shy. It wouldn’t approach. It wouldn’t speak. It would execute a jump scare and fade into the darkness. They would need to wait longer for a conversation. When that time came, Pan planned to be alone. She needed to lose the others.

The rest of their team followed. Pan turned to find Hagen not two inches behind her. His wide eyes took away the comforting feeling of being sandwiched between two larger bodies. Pan looked further back and saw Uda in the rear. Good, Lita and Merit didn’t have to be on either end.

“I’m going to walk until we come to a fork. Then, you can decide which way we go.” Ruair inched forward.

Pan murmured her agreement and stayed close.

Their lights bobbed over rough walls, hewn from rock. Pan sent her light over lanterns and along wires. The tunnel, only about seven feet in height, often lowered to a meager six and a half, encouraging Ruair to duck.

Each time they passed a wooden brace, Pan counted. She hit twenty-four when they found their first juncture. Pan and Ruair’s lights danced over three paths: one ahead, one left, and one right.

Pan rounded Ruair and stepped out in front. She readied herself for that jump scare. Though, she felt ready, her heart sped up. It always rose to the challenge, no matter how many times she did this.

Pan shone her light down the left. She angled it to see a bit further. Nothing. Pan shone her light down the middle and saw deep into the tunnel. Again, nothing. Pan turned her light to the right. She had to lean forward, but she got the light down the hall. Nothing.

As Pan’s light traveled lazily back to the center, it passed over the middle tunnel. Pan saw a girl there, but only for a moment. Pan didn’t jump, but Ruair bumped against her in a quick startle. Lita and Uda both squealed. Pan knew the girl would be gone, but in a jerky motion, she set her light on the center tunnel again. The girl had gone.

“This way,” Pan said. “You lead.”

“What should I do if she comes back?”

“Just stop. Do nothing else. Let me talk to her.” Pan gave Ruair a gentle press to move forward.

He did, and his boots crunched towards the center passage. He walked around an abandoned cart, and Pan did too. Inside the junction, Pan flashed her light left and right again. She still saw nothing. The path ahead definitely led to a body. Teenage girls didn’t work the mines. Pan needed to lose the others before she could talk to this girl. Unfortunately, Pan also wanted to keep them around.