11: How to Defeat Your Ghost

Before the ghoul could jump and attack me, somebody cuts it down. The Swordmaster has arrived in time to save my day. “I need your help, Masked Assassin.”

I catch my breath from that close encounter with the ghoul. “You don’t have to keep calling me that. My name is Kiera. What is yours, Swordmaster?”

“I’m Gideon.”

I ask, “What’s wrong, Gideon?”

Gideon says, “I don’t know. Something is preventing me from attacking the undead. It’s like a blockage within my spirit, I don’t even know the best way to describe it.”

I say, “You’ve just encountered the Wraith.”

Gideon says, “So this Wraith is actually real? What does it do?”

I say, “The Wraith’s first attack isn’t physical. It attacks your mind in a form of mental fear. Each one of us has different moments of life when we were seized with fear. The Wraith will recreate those moments in your mind. Each person may react differently—some may simply freeze in fear, some may run away.”

Gideon tries to recall something. “That explains why when two of my squad members encountered the Wraith, one was fearful of it, another didn’t see a single thing. But if I encountered one, then how come I don’t remember anything about how it looked like?”

I say, “Our human mind has a function that suppresses unpleasant memories from surfacing in cases of traumatic experiences. Apparently, the Wraith can turn on that part of our human mind whenever we encounter it. Because your encounter with the Wraith is so fearful, your memory of the Wraith’s look will bury itself together with your other memories you’re trying to suppress. Because of that, you cannot remember how a Wraith looks like.”

Gideon says, “This is ridiculous. How does the Wraith travel around this mansion without us spotting it earlier?”

I say, “The Wraith is invisible to our naked eyes when it’s not attacking its target. If you can see a Wraith, that means it is attempting to attack you. In other words, if the Wraith walks past you and chooses to ignore you, then you will not see it.”

Gideon asks, “How does the Wraith kill its victim?”

I say, “The Wraith’s touch of death. One touch is all it needs to kill you instantly.”

Gideon nods. “Now I understand how Maleek and Driesen’s squads got wiped out by the Wraith. The Wraith is intending to break into the armory where the rest of my squad members are waiting for my return. How am I supposed to rescue my squad members when I can’t even face the Wraith head to head?”

I say, “You cannot defeat it alone. But with my help, you can.”

Gideon says, “You’re trying to get me to free you so that you can escape. How did you know so much about the Wraith?”

I gesture at an old book on the table. “The Paladins had faced the Wraith before. I had read through the methods of how they can defeat it.”

Gideon picks the book and flips through the pages. “Can you summarize the Paladin’s methods to defeat the Wraith? I don’t have the time to read through such a thick book.”

I say, “Only the Paladin’s Light magic is strong enough to protect us from the Wraith’s fear attack.”

Gideon sighs. “Then we’re out of luck. We don’t have any Paladins in our City.”

I say, “We don’t need the Paladin’s Light magic. I had stared into the face of the Wraith when I was helping Nisa to navigate through her emotions. I believe I have found a way to defeat the Wraith.”

Gideon says, “What strategy do you have in mind?”

I say, “According to the Paladins, it’s easier to kill a Wraith as compared to a ghoul. A ghoul is strong and may put up a fight. As for a Wraith, all you need is to get close enough and stick your sword into it. And of course, avoid the Wraith’s touch of death.”

Gideon laughs. “Easier said than done. I can’t even overcome the first mind attack from the Wraith to get close to it.”

I say, “Here’s how we are going to do it. You will allow me access to your emotional energy. When you confront the Wraith again, it will attempt to induce traumatic and fearful memories in you. My job is to create a shield around your emotions so that the Wraith’s mind attack doesn’t completely overwhelm you.”

Gideon says, “You have the power to manipulate a person’s emotions? So you’re an Empath. It’s rare to find your kind here in our City.”

I say, “You need my power to help you defeat the Wraith.”

Gideon says, “If I let you access my emotions, I need to be certain you won’t toy around with my feelings. You can make me sad, angry, depressed—whatever you want me to feel. The last thing I want is a girl messing around with my emotions, literally.”

I chuckle at Gideon’s joke. “I help people to navigate through their emotions. I do that a lot while helping the Marked refugees to overcome their traumatic experience. I don’t manipulate their emotions because ‘manipulate’ sounds very sinisterly manipulative.”

Gideon still looks doubtful about my strategy. “But have you done this before? How certain are you that you can successfully shield me from the Wraith’s mind attack?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know, Gideon. I’ve never fought a Wraith before in my life. But if you want to rescue your squad, you need to take a leap of faith and trust in my abilities.”

Gideon takes a deep breath. “This leap of faith is going to kill me and everybody else if it doesn’t work. I can’t believe I’m putting my trust into my enemy’s hands. So how are you going to access my emotions?”

Finally, I sense that Gideon is willing to take my help. I need to plot my escape thereafter. “You need to untie me first. I need to be in a meditative position, so I can’t help you in this restricted position.”

Gideon unties the ropes around my hands and feet. “So be it. The first step of faith—untying the Masked Assassin and hoping she doesn’t kill me in a blink of an eye.”

It feels good to be able to move again. I hand over a pendant to Gideon. “Carry this pendant with you. It allows me to access your emotions.”

Gideon takes the pendant, wears it around his neck, and gives me a worried look.

I say, “What’s wrong?”

Gideon says, “Would you promise me that you won’t go poking around at different parts of my past memories? There are certain history which I’d prefer permanently buried.”

I say, “I have no control over which memories the Wraith may choose to resurface from your mind. I can only see what your emotions choose to show me. In other words, the only memories I can see would be tied to your emotions.”

I settle into my meditative position and attempt to tune into Gideon’s emotions. “Wait! It doesn’t help if you’re subtly trying to push me out from your mind. You know I have to work extra harder to get inside of you.”

Gideon is reluctant. “You know, Kiera, this is as awkward as letting a doctor check inside your pants.”

I laugh at his choice of words. “Relax. Please do this warm-up exercise with me. Listen to what your heart is telling you. Shut the noise from your chattering mind. Your mind never stops bombarding you with worries and anxieties. What is your heart telling you?”

Gideon says, “My heart tells me that if I don’t do it, then my squad members who are waiting for my return will perish. My heart tells me that I’m the only one that can fight the Wraith.”

I say, “Good. You’re ready. One more last thing. I have a favor to ask from you. If we successfully kill the Wraith, will you let the Marked Ones go?”

Gideon says, “If we manage to defeat the Wraith, I will let your people go.”

Somehow, I can’t sense if Gideon is telling the truth on that matter. “When you go out, please close the door to this room. You know when I’m inside your emotions, I am in a meditative state. If anything distracts me, my connection with you might break. Now let’s get out there and face the Wraith.”

* * *

It’s been a few minutes since Gideon left the room. I can sense the dark presence of the Wraith growing stronger as he approaches the armory.

Here I am sitting by myself in the quiet corner of the Paladin’s Strategy Room, attempting an empathy link, a heart-to-heart communication with Gideon who is currently roaming the mansion to fight the Wraith.

I tell Gideon, “That pendant you’re wearing allows me to communicate with you heart to heart. If you break contact with the pendant, my connection with you will break as well. I cannot see what you see, but I can strongly sense the emotion you are going through. So whatever that is happening with your surrounding, you have to communicate directly with me.”

Gideon says, “I am nervous of what I may face out there. How does the Wraith look like?”

I say, “You have seen it before. But you can’t remember it. It’s a floating dark-robed figure.”

Gideon says, “When I was much younger, I frequently had recurring dreams about encountering a floating dark-robed undead killing my best friend. Each time I dreamed about it, I would wake up in cold sweat.”

I say, “The Wraith can sense human emotions. Your feeling of nervousness can intensify the Wraith’s attack on you. Try to relax. Just know I’m by your side and won’t allow any harm to befall you.”

Gideon says, “Feeling nervous cannot be turned on and off like a switch, Kiera. Of all people, you’re an Empath, you should know better.”

I say, “You’re right. I’m the one who is nervous for you actually. Here’s what we’re going to do next. I’m going to create a shield around your emotional energy. Once you see the Wraith, your reactionary fear would kick in. You will need to stand strong for a moment till I help you to block whatever attacks it attempts on your mind.”

Gideon says, “I’m approaching the Wraith’s position.”

I feel a sudden tremor within Gideon’s emotions. The fear from the Wraith is kicking in. Darkness is enveloping my sight. The Wraith’s power is trying to shut out my connection with Gideon.

“Kiera, I’m losing control over myself. I feel like I need to back off. Please…”

I’m trying my best to push back the darkness in Gideon’s emotions. “Don’t move away from the Wraith. You need to stand your ground. I’m doing my part to fight back its power.”

The Wraith’s power is stronger than I thought. Even with my sheer emotional strength, I find it hard to push against its power. I’m going to find the right part of Gideon’s memories to associate his emotions with so that his emotions could help him to fight back as well. But there are so many fragments of memories floating around. Which one shall I go for?

* * *

I see a young Gideon, ten years old maybe, standing and looking at a lady, donned in the armor of a Paladin.

Little Gideon says, “Mum, how long are you going to be away?”

Gideon’s mother is torn between choosing her family and responding to her Paladin’s duty. “To live is to serve—you know I have to join the other Paladins to fight the war.”

Little Gideon says, “Then we’re going to be separated as a family.”

Gideon’s mother says, “We Paladins have a duty to push Hezekiah’s army of darkness back. If not, darkness will consume our land—we will no longer have a place to call home.”

Little Gideon says, “I’m going to miss you. When will I ever see you again?”

Gideon’s mother says, “I promise you. When the war is over, I’ll come back home. And we’ll live happily like a family again. Me, you and your father. Meanwhile, I have a big task for you. I want you to do your part to protect your city. You have the heart and courage of a true Paladin. Our city needs people like you.”

Little Gideon says, “But I’m just a boy. I wouldn’t know how to protect anybody.”

Gideon’s mother says, “Don’t let people underestimate you because you’re young. No matter what your age is, you can choose to serve and protect your people from Hezekiah’s evil Undead forces. Join the Paladins. One day, when the time is right and if the war against Hezekiah has not yet ended, come and join me. Together as a family, we will fight the Immortal Lord’s army. We will save this land from darkness.”

* * *

It’s working. I’ve associated the right memory to trigger Gideon’s emotions. That part of Gideon’s memory is causing him to fight back the Wraith’s dark power.

I say, “Gideon, you’re doing well.”

Gideon says, “Kiera, I felt a sudden surge of courage rising in my heart, something I’ve never felt since my childhood days. I remembered my final moment with my mother before she left for the war.”

I say, “You have an interesting childhood and a loving mother, of course.”

Gideon says, “About ten ghouls are coming towards me right now. Give me a moment and I shall take them down with ease.”

I cannot see what Gideon is doing, but his sudden surge of newfound courage is certainly impressive. One man takes down ten ghouls on his own?

Gideon says, “Now that leaves only the Wraith for me to take care. I’m not running away in fear. That means whatever you’re doing in me works.”

I say, “Gideon, you shouldn’t have much difficulty killing the Wraith once you overcome its fear-inducing power. However, remember to avoid the Wraith’s death touch. In Nisa’s memories, I saw it killing the Swordmasters as it touched them. As long as you don’t let it touch you, you should be safe.”

Gideon says, “I’ll kill it before its touch of death can reach me... arghh!!!”

I feel a strong tremor within Gideon’s emotions again. “What’s wrong, Gideon?”

Gideon screams back at me, “I can’t do this! Get out of my head now! I need to back off!”

I say, “You can’t back off now. There’s nothing standing between you and the Wraith right now. All you need to do is to kill the Wraith with your sword. You’re almost winning the fight.”

Ahh!!! I’m being pushed out from our communication link. “Gideon, you’re not supposed to fight me. You’re supposed to fight the Wraith.”

Gideon says, “You can’t force me to do this, Kiera. I can’t do this. I’ve failed before. I can’t...”

Oh no, Gideon has fallen back into a frozen state. I sense his being has been paralyzed with fear from the Wraith’s latest attack. He’s not moving. He’s not even responding to me through our communication link.

But yet, I’m still connected to him through my Empath’s pendant. I can sense the Wraith’s presence approaching Gideon. If he doesn’t snap out of his fear, each ticking second would bring him closer to the Wraith’s touch of death.

Come on, Gideon. Why are you shutting me out? You were doing well before this.

Fragments of his memories float around me. One of them is triggering the panic attack. I need to figure which one.

Wait, there’s something weird about that memory fragment. It’s from Gideon’s teen days.

I see the Wraith inside the memory fragment. How did the Wraith enter Gideon’s memory? That shouldn’t be possible. I need to access that part of his memory.

* * *

I see a younger Gideon, his teen self, standing terrified in fear as he watches a Wraith drains the life out of his best friend.

So Gideon had encountered the Wraith before. Is that what he meant when he said he frequently had dreams about a floating dark-robed figure attacking his friend? It’s a suppressed memory, no wonder he doesn’t remember.

In another moment, the Wraith is already gone. Gideon stands over the lifeless body of his friend. He merely stares blankly.

This incident happened when Gideon was thirteen years old, three years after his mother had left to fight in the war. Gideon seems stuck in this particular memory and is unable to move on. The question is, what’s keeping him here?

“What happened here, Gideon?”

Gideon says, “Twelve years ago when Hezekiah’s Undead army attacked my former city, I convinced my friends to rescue a group of students trapped in a school. Our rescue mission was successful. We managed to rescue more than fifty students from the school. Filled with confidence that we could rescue more students, we attempted our rescue mission on more schools. But at the third school, my best friend Xing encountered a Wraith. I wanted to help him. But I froze in fear and just watched him die.”

I say, “So you felt guilty over your friend’s death?”

Gideon says, “I was the one who suggested to go back and rescue the students. Xing gladly agreed but little did I know that my idea would cost him his life. If I had never suggested anything heroic, my best friend would still be alive today. But you know what was the worst part? For twelve years, I didn’t even remember what killed Xing. People asked me, how did Xing die? I was the only one who supposedly witnessed his death, but I couldn’t remember because I didn’t remember anything about the Wraith. I kept thinking that Xing died due to my incompetence.

“At first, people blamed me for my failings. But later on, everybody moved on. But I still couldn’t move on from that incident. I didn’t know why. When you unblocked the Wraith’s power over my memory, then everything became clear. I had encountered a Wraith before, it sent me off like a failure. I couldn’t muster the courage to defeat it back then. I don’t think I would have the courage to do it now.”

I say, “Gideon, don’t be so hard on yourself. Your courage had saved the trapped students. They were thankful for what you did.”

Gideon says, “I know. But I couldn’t get over the death of my one friend that matters to me. What makes me think that I could trust my own judgment and leadership decision? What if I make a wrong call and a person close to me has to suffer the consequences? I’m afraid that the Wraith would kill my entire squad just like what it did to my best friend twelve years ago. I have failed before and I will never be able to defeat it this time.”

I say, “I want to tell you that you’re not a failure for not being able to save your friend’s life. You probably have been afraid of carrying the mantle of leadership because you wonder if somebody else would die because of your mistakes? You live your entire life thinking that if people were to come under your leadership, they would experience nothing but suffering. You see that while others are lauded as heroes who rescue others, you often see yourself as less than a hero. That is not true, Gideon. You have the heart of a courageous leader. Your action proves it over and over again. You need to snap out from that lie that you have been telling yourself.”

This is bad. Gideon is not overcoming his guilt. I can sense the Wraith’s presence growing stronger as it approaches him. His life could end any moment the Wraith touches him.

And if I’m still attached to Gideon’s emotions while he dies, the same pain may kill me as well. Shall I disconnect from him and find other ways to save the refugees? Perhaps it will be better to save my skin first.

No. I can’t do that. I won’t disconnect from him now—not when his life is relying solely on me.

Gideon says, “Xing chose to put his trust in my leadership. But I caused him to die.”

I say, “It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is there are people right now depending on you to save them. Think about your squad who is waiting for you to defeat the Wraith and rescue them.”

Gideon says, “We cannot defeat this Wraith. You have no idea what misery it has brought to my entire life. To live with nightmares of the Wraith killing my friend for the rest of my life.”

I say, “Xing made his choice to join your rescue team. He might have died during the mission but it was purely his choice to participate in the mission. You cannot bear that responsibility on your shoulders. Xing died knowing that he did the right thing. He is proud of what you have done. And if given a choice, he would follow your leadership again.”

Gideon says, “The world judged me for my failed leadership. Xing’s brother was furious with me. I asked for his forgiveness. Until today, he still has not forgiven me.”

I say, “No, Gideon. Xing’s brother might have already let go and moved on. It’s about time you let go and forgive yourself.”

Gideon says, “How can I forgive myself when I’m still angry with my own past failures?”

Oh, Gideon, do you know you’re as stubborn as a rock? Just wake up and fight the Wraith...

But who am I to judge? In my counseling cases I have done with many traumatized war refugees, it takes them weeks and months to overcome their past traumas. Now I’m asking Gideon to overcome his past ghost in minutes, because if he doesn’t do it now, these will be his final ones.

Oh no! I can sense the Wraith is about to grasp Gideon. If Gideon still doesn’t wake up, he will die. I need to improvise my method. What shall I do? I need to think fast.

I change the mental projection of my looks into his best friend Xing’s.

My projection of Xing stretches out my hand to Gideon. “Take my hand, Gideon. I just want to say that I do not hold you responsible for my death. I forgive you for your mistakes.”

Gideon says, “How can you forgive me when I can’t even forgive myself for the past twelve years?

My projection of Xing says, “Do as I say. Take my hand now, Gideon. Hurry.”

Gideon takes my hand but won’t look into my eyes. “Good, now look into my eyes.”

Gideon says, “I can’t stare into the eyes of a person whom I’ve caused the death. It’s difficult. Don’t ask me to do it.”

My projection of Xing says, “No, Gideon. Just slowly look into my eyes.”

Gideon looks into my eyes. Slowly, I can sense his guilt being released. But he is still not waking up to his reality to fight the Wraith. Based on my calculation, I think Gideon is about ten seconds away from the Wraith’s touch of death. We are running out of time. I have one more last trick up my sleeve.

I don’t even know if I should do this. My mind tells me that I could suffer great injury if I don’t pull this off correctly. But my heart says this is the right thing to do if Gideon were to survive. I’m going to do it anyway.

In Gideon’s mind, as he holds my hand and gazes into my eyes, I quickly change my projection into the Wraith.

Gideon is shocked and immediately plunges his sword into me.

* * *

Before Gideon could stab his sword deeper into my projection, I quickly break my communication link with him. My consciousness rushes back to where I am currently at—the dark corner of the Paladin’s Strategy Room.

This is it! If this doesn’t help Gideon, I don’t know what else can. My stomach feels a sharp pain from being ‘stabbed’ by Gideon while connected to him. It’s all in my mind. The pain shall pass.

A few minutes later, Gideon stands in front of me with his thumbs up. I nod back at him, acknowledging his victory over the Wraith. My Parallel Technique is well applied—manifesting something that happens in the realm of the mind to the realm of the physical. As he killed my projection of the Wraith in his mind, his body responded the same to the Wraith in front of him.

Gideon offers his hand and help me get up to my feet. “Thanks for your help, Kiera. I wouldn’t have defeated the Wraith without your help. Now let’s get back to our people.”

Wait, my intuition doesn’t feel right. I’m trying to discern the signs from Gideon’s voice.

He’s torn between two different decisions—choosing either duty or integrity. He wants to repay my favor by letting us go. He also knows that if he does that, he’s committing a treason against his government. If his actions are found out, he would end up exactly like how Itoshi did.

I know it will come to this. I don’t want to make things difficult for you, Gideon. You are truly a good man among many cold and ruthless Swordmasters I had met. I can’t bear to see your future ending up like Itoshi’s—executed by your own government. Therefore, I’m going to take matters into my own hands. I hope you will forgive me for what I’m about to do to you.

I say, “Are you still having my pendant?”

Gideon takes out the pendant from his pouch. “The very instrument that helped me to kill the Wraith—here, you can have it back. Thanks.”

I smile at Gideon. “Very good. Keep holding it.” Using my Empath powers, I send a wave of emotional blast into Gideon’s being, triggering his pain senses in a sudden jolt.

Gideon grimaces in great pain and then blacks out.

I take the Portal Stone back from Gideon. I put on my Assassin mask. “I’m sorry. In a better circumstance, we could have been comrades fighting together on the same side. I want to say that I don’t regret the friendship we made here. But the priority of my refugees comes first. We need to catch the portal home in time. Farewell, my friend.”

Next: 12: The Most Difficult Choice →