Song Ran had fallen a long way from being the daughter of the wealthiest family in the village.
She wasn't see through or anything, but she was a bit faded in places, almost like patchwork quilt.
Her eyes were dark and maybe they'd been that color when she was alive, but Eirian doubted the malice that made them gleam had been around then.
She swayed in the doorway, her head tilting left and right at a degree that would be too painful for a living person. She kept muttering, "Nononono." over and over.
"Song Ran." Eirian interrupted her. "What are you-"
"NO!" Song Ran screamed and the strength of it shook the manor. "This is my house! GET OUT!"
"We're ju-" Another scream cut Chenzhou off. "We just need information!"
Song Ran flew at them and Eirian, Chenzhou, Yuze, Fox and Snake threw themselves to one side as Li and his guards threw themselves in the other. The floor where they'd all been standing exploded when Song Ran went through it, leaving a huge hole.
"Don't let her touch you!" Yuze snapped as they all scrambled to their feet, circling back up on opposite sides of the hole.
"Where'd she go?"
"I can't see her!"
"Keep your heads down."
Song Ran floated down through the ceiling, face twisted into a sneer. "Intruders! This is my house!"
"Song Ran! We're just looking for the village records. That's all we need and then we can leave you in peace!"
Eirian could give Chenzhou credit for enthusiasm and optimism, less so for common sense.
Song Ran spun wildly and lunged at him.
Eirian pulled at her magic, sent a wave of it out to try and knock Song Ran back, but she wasn't sure it would work.
How did you hit something that went through walls?
Her magic definitely didn't hurt Song Ran when it collided with her, but it did knock her back several feet before is dissipated. And it didn't leave a mark on her.
Which Eirian immediately realized she should have expected.
She also should have realized it would make her Song Ran's target.
The ghost turned to her with a shriek. "You! You think magic will hurt me?" The manor started shaking again. "I'm already dead! Nothing you do can hurt me."
"We don't want to hurt you!" Chenzhou tried. "We just need to find the village records."
"Gone! It's all gone!" The shaking increased. "Left them like they left me!" The shrieking got louder with every word. So loud it was like being stabbed in the ear with a dagger.
"Where are Miki and Kang?" One of Li's soldiers yelled. Stupid enough to be brave.
Song Ran laughed and her head started to spin in one direction and her body in the other. The wind picked up again and this time it was too strong to withstand.
Despite bracing herself, Eirian began to slide across the floor. She clawed at the floor trying to hold on. The wind was so loud it drowned out the yelling of the others. She felt hands try to grab her, to try to hang on, but it was too strong.
Eirian couldn't focus enough to call her magic as the wind and debris buffeted her and a chunk of door finally hit her with enough strength to loosen her grip.
The next thing she knew she was airborne and then she was crashing through a wall and there was a clear blue sky above her.
The impact from hitting the ground knocked her breath from her lungs and choked trying to get it back. She rolled over as she gasped for air and heaved until she was able to breathe again.
When she could finally breath again, she looked around. Chenzhou and Yuze were sprawled out next to her and beyond them she could see Li and his soldiers.
"Eirian!" Finn rushed over, frantically checking her for injury. "What was that? What happened? You came flying through the wall!"
Eirian glanced back at the manor. There was no sign of the whole that Eirian and the others should have made when they were thrown out.
"We didn't hear anything all night and then-"
"Wait, all night?"
She looked up at the sky as Finn's friends and the guards Li had left outside rushed over to help the others.
The sun was high and bright. It should have been setting, if not set by now.
"How- how long were we inside?"
"The entire night. It's nearly noon." Marian answered. She had dark circles under her eyes as she joined them and started brushing dirt off Eirian where she could. "Lord Yin and Lady Yang sent for reinforcements, but they won't even be halfway back to the Camelia by now."
Said Lords appeared, looking pale and worried.
Chenzhou looked around. "Where's Lord Zhao?"
A groan echoed from the other side of Li and then Mingzhe sat up. He looked like he'd been thrown around by a troll.
Yuze blinked and muttered. "Was he with us the entire time?"
Chenzhou nodded and immediately winced as Anna used the sleeve of her robe to wipe a smear of grime off his cheek. "What about the guards?"
"Kang! Miki!" Li scrambled to his feet and called out. "KANG! MIKI!"
Eirian climbed to her feet with the rest of them, looking for any sign of their missing guards.
"Where the hell did they go?" Lord Yin demanded.
"They didn't go anywhere," Chenzhou snapped. "Song Ran took them."
"Song Ran?" Lady Yang repeated. "From the ghost stories? She's real?"
"Very." Eirian growled. "She's taken over the manor somehow."
"She's been there for such a long time." Finn offered. "Some stories say that if a ghost dies traumatically, they can become anchored to a place. The longer they're there, the more powerful they become."
Eirian sighed. "According to who?"
"The stories!" Finn defended, animated. "They can't all be wrong."
"Well, we know Song Ran is real. She threw us out of the damn house." Eirian frowned. "My magic didn't do much to her either."
Finn looked confused. "What can your magic do to someone who's already dead?"
Eirian glared at him, unwilling to admit her pride was a bit injured. "Well apparently not much."
~ tbc