Chapter one: through the grapevine

A coup and contrecoup are brain injuries caused by trauma to the head. The coup will develop at the initial impact. The contrecoup will appear opposite the impact due to the way the brain moves within the skull. I ran my fingers from the soldier’s chin up his jaw to his ear. I could see the injuries in my mind’s eye as I looked at his lifeless face. You could run a thread through his brain from coup to contrecoup. As quickly as thread appeared it was clipped by Atropos as these injuries proved fatal. Working my fingers along his head I summoned his memories to review before I relinquished his soul from its devastated host. It was not a pretty life. The memories surged to dark places of shame and trickles of regret. There were a lot of things to regret.
“You were just a child. You didn’t have long enough to learn from your mistakes only the time to make them,” I whispered softly.

I watched flickers of beautiful isles, wildflowers, and the warm undertones of the hope of youth.

“Do you have any last requests,” I asked the spirit.

“Let me see my mother.”
So somewhere a sleeping mother dreamed of her missing son. Intermingled with her relief to see him again there would be horror as he told her he would never come home. His body lay lifeless in a foreign forest where it would remain. When she woke she would hope it was only a nightmare. As the weeks, months and years would pass without his return her horror would only be actualized. There was her coup and contrecoup.

I worked my way through the fallen soldiers. Each of their lives left unresolved in contrast to the finality of their broken parts. What was all of this for? Two men who regarded themselves so highly that their squabbles meant death for those who pledged themselves to their name?

Their final resting place would be my station. As each of the souls made their journey to Hades I started working. Like a tapestry weaver I used bits and pieces of the memories to create the haunts that would stalk this cursed ground. A scene this size was simple. I had cursed bloodier and more senseless massacres for hundreds of years.

I thought back to when this place had been assigned to me.

“Such a small and simple skirmish. Is that really befitting of my skills,” I asked.

Blue flames flickered behind of the pupils of Hecate.
“In death all are equal,” the finality of her monotone sent a chill up my spine.

So here I was in a simple town, orchestrating simple haunts. It wasn’t even a battleground just a secluded grove soon to be forgotten.
—
Due to boredom the days began to bleed together. I could count the number of villagers I had spooked on one hand. I passed my time seated on a tree stump reinventing my specters. Flicking my wrist I rearranged the features of the face of a ghost. It wasn’t quite gnarled enough. After shuffling the look maybe twenty times I realized his face was back to it’s original look. The futility of it all only echoed my growing frustration that being stationed here was an absolute waste of time. After a while I relinquished the specter to wander the forest. I walked for a little through the asymmetrical path made between trees. As I neared a clearing my attention was immediately drawn to the center of a clover field. A younger lampad might have over looked the find but I had a wealth of experience to draw on. It was a small rosette shaped flower. The center was a blush pink but as the petals grew from the center they had turned yellow. Yellow the flower nymph color for friendship. Investigating further I reached a trembling finger towards the first leaf on the right of the stem. Sure enough the flower reached out to me as well wrapping the leaf around the finger. I felt the familiar buzz of electricity from the contact. I invited in the energy that flowed through an intricate system of underground roots that connected flowers for miles and miles.
A little flower nymph voice buzzed out from the flower, “Is Ampelos going to be in firefly forest this week?”

After a few moments another nymph from another flower system responded,
“All the Hamadryades are going to be convening at the ruins this week. Are you planning some kind of party while the dryads are away?”

The first voice giggled, “maybe” in a particularly coy way. I pulled my hand away from the flower and disconnected from the call I’d been eaves-dropping on. Just as I suspected I had discovered and infiltrated a communication hub for flower nymphs and the like.
With little else to do I found myself eaves-dropping several times a day. I conjured my own black rose and intertwined it’s roots into their system for my own connivence. There were several interesting conversations and I found my days filled with the drama of other nymphs.

“Would you meet me at the waterfall at sunset?”
I recognized the dripping tone of the voice. The speaker was an naiad I eavesdropped on before.

“I really shouldn’t,” the speaker’s voice betrayed her as she spoke. Her tone flirted with the idea she might convinced to go.

“Come on Nova I haven’t seen you in a week,” the naiad pressed.

“Evangeline asked me today to bring her another jar of honey. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me,” Nova did not concede.

For a moment I stopped listening and racked my brain if I knew an Evangeline. I was certain this name was new to me.

The naiad scoffed, “I saw Evangeline down stream just yesterday she does not NEED anymore honey.”
Nova the honey nymph giggled.
“Obviously she doesn’t need anymore but I can hardly argue with her. I’ll be busy well past last light.”

“I’ll never see you again. You’ll be slaving away for eternity trying to keep Evangeline’s belly plump with honey,” groaned the naiad.

Nova let out a little squeal as she laughed.
“Seraphina! I’ll meet you tomorrow at the waterfall after last light.”

Seraphina and Nova whispered sweet nothings to each other but it fell on deaf ears. I was looking at a round dew drop that had collected in the center the black rosette I used to infiltrate the flower nymph communication system. I looked down at the fat droplet picturing in it’s place a drop of golden honey. Soft lips and the pink tip of a chubby tongue swallowing it down. The droplet then rejoining the rest of a pot of honey already rounding out the belly of a nymph. Her rounded wobbly middle shaped just like the little drop of dew. When my reverie was finally over I realized Seraphina and Nova had stopped talking and the line went dead.
——
Nova was as I envisioned her. As most of the divine creatures in this forest she was still young. She wore her liquescent golden hair down. From my limited knowledge of honey nymphs most style their hair up to prevent sticky entanglements. Leaning against a tree I watched a flower nymph approach her. The flower nymph reported which flowers were ready for pollination. Nova summoned a dance troupe of bees. With words spoken in ancient tongue, a flick of her arms and wiggle of her digits her fuzzy winged attendants were off to collect pollen. Flower nymphs came and went from Nova’s domain all morning. The honey nymph sent out several parties of bees to collect pollen and time in between was spent harvesting the hives. After a while the entire process became as riveting as my station conjuring ghouls that never spooked anyone. Still, I was determined to find Evangeline. Noon was drawing near and Nova had taken a break from her hives to fuss with her hair. I had heard her mention to a subordinate a lunch picnic with Seraphina. Suddenly, I felt a soft tug on my sleeve. It was by far the smallest flower nymph I had ever seen. Her tiny upturned nose was wrinkled.
“What kind of nymph are you? I’ve never seen anyone like you before,” she blurted out.

The look of wonder in those huge childlike eyes delayed my reaction time. However, I was only a couple seconds late on my delivery.
“Why a flower nymph just like you. The shadows the trees cast must be playing tricks on your eyes, sweetie,” I gestured up to the forest canopy above.
As soon as she looked up at the trees I enchanted my appearance. When she looked back down she saw a flower nymph staring back at her.

Her eyes grew wider still as she re-examined my face.
“B-but..,” she stammered
I smiled innocently down at her.
“Happens to the best of us,” I murmured.

“What are you doing over here in the shadowy part of the woods,” she finally asked once she accepted my new disguise.

“I got lost. I’m helping Nova deliver honey to Evangeline. Do you know which route will take me to Evangeline,” I felt my heart-rate jump as I spoke. Was this a believable enough lie?

The little flower nymph pursed her lips as she thought.

“I think I know someone who can help.”