Yenni’s eyebrows rose. Well this was new. What was so important it needed to be shielded so? There was little chance of Creshens being able to read their discourse in Yirba, so what were her parents trying to hide? She unrolled the scroll and found a message in her mother’s tight handwriting. Yenni devoured the letter with her eyes.

Oh, my brave and precious child,

It was a day of joy to rival the awakening of the sun when you were placed in my arms. Because of your counsel, your n’baba has regained his strength. You were right to go abroad, my daughter. This concept of divine ach’e leading to sickness is not something we Yirba could have fathomed.

On your advisory, I gently suggested to the men of the Healers’ Guild that drawing on ach’e could be contributing to the chieftain’s fatigue, and through their testing they discovered something quite alarming. It is not ach’e that causes this illness, but a spirit that feeds on it.

Yenni paused at that. “A spirit?” she whispered.

The more ach’e runs through the body, the more this spirit feeds and grows, but it is never sated. When the host is not pulling on runes, this evil spirit will simply turn to the body’s network for ach’e, weakening it, so that by instinct the body turns to muscle, breaking it down to bolster the body’s waning magical system. We have not yet discovered a way to destroy the spirit, only to lure it to another host.

“Oh, Iyaya, no,” said Yenni aloud, gazing sadly at her mother’s faded rune. She sighed and continued to read.

By the time this message reaches you, you may have noticed that the rune of linking from me has faded. Be not afraid, my sweet child. I have simply taken on your n’baba’s burden, to give him time to heal and rest. He has been pulling runes for many moonturns, fighting a threat we have been forced to hide. Even shielded as this missive is, I dare not say too much. I will simply leave you with the wisdom of our ancestors, who say to be wary of encountering malicious spirits, for where there is one there are four more.

Oh, my Yenni. My heart cries out to have you home again, but you may well be safer in Cresh. If nothing else, you have pledged a year abroad to the Sha, and you must complete your Orire N’jem. But we will see each other again soon. Your n’baba sends his love as well.

May the Sha smile in your direction.

Your iyaya,
Jadesola Iyunde-ola ka Yirba

“What?” Yenni whispered to herself. What was her mother talking about? What threat? Why would she be safer away from home? She dove back into the papua rolls. Perhaps one of the other messages, from her father or maybe Dayo, would provide some answers.