Ghost Lilies Novels & Stories

Milrac takes the letter carefully from my hands and reads it once. His face doesn’t change. That scares me more than anger would. I stand abruptly and start pacing. “I’m running out of time.” “Ava—” “The antidote should already be finished but the stabilization keeps collapsing and every version either degrades too fast or turns toxic and I—” I stop. Completely. The realization hits so suddenly it feels physical. Milrac notices instantly. “What?” I turn toward him slowly. “The lilies.” His eyes sharpen slightly. “The black frost lilies in your northern garden.”

--- Preparations and Promises Baylee spent the morning with Melody and Lilly, picking out flowers and herbs for the ceremony. “Moon lilies for purity,” Melody said, arranging white petals along a basket, “and wolfsbane for strength.” “Isn’t wolfsbane poisonous?” Baylee asked, wary. “Only if you eat it,” Melody said cheerfully. “Or set it on fire.” Baylee laughed. “Remind me to keep you away from the bonfire.” Across the room, Lilly rocked baby Lacey, humming softly. The child’s moon-shaped mark glowed faintly in the daylight.

literal ghost music, echoing faintly through the air. “Rule number one of ghost dancing,” he said, sliding toward me dramatically, “you don’t walk. You glide. Glide like you are in zero gravity with swagger.” I laughed despite myself. “Swagger?” “Yeah. Ghost swagger. You have got to float like you own the damn afterlife. Now... hands up, shoulders loose.” I copied him, sort of. “Good,” he said, circling me. “Now imagine your feet are smoke. You don’t step... you drift. Like this.”

“And the child?” “Awakened. Already powerful. And bound to the flame.” The shadow growled. “Then burn the mother. Break the bond.” The Priestess smiled. And dipped her hand deeper. “Let’s see what happens when we send her a ghost.” The water shimmered. A face appeared. Beautiful. Pale. Dead. Lily’s mother.

She hovered her left hand above them quickly to see if she could sense something coming from them and pulled it back to grab a black glove out of her jacket. “Were they by the graves that got raided? I will take these. We just started our investigation. It’s too soon to tell if they’re related to our case, but we will look into them. Thank you for bringing them to our attention.” Coralis knew exactly what these marbles were, but she couldn’t tell what they were to the caretaker. They were not marbles: they were spelled cages containing thick and highly concentrated smoke. If someone breaks any one of them, upon contact with the ambient air, its content will materialize into a ghoul.

The sky was a bleak gray, mirroring the melancholy mood of the occasion. Florence and Chaos stood by the graves, their silhouettes etched against the gloomy backdrop. The drizzle fell gently, a somber melody that accompanied their silence as he made sure he was there for her. Florence, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and remembrance, placed a bouquet of lilies on the three graves in front of them. The white flowers, symbols of purity and innocence, contrasted starkly against the dark earth.

they broke into a loud laugh as they shared some joke. Merindale did not care. She followed the seniors around, admiring the intricate details on the walls. It was painted beautifully with stories from Immortal history. “Hey there, newbie. You know about the ghost that haunts these halls, right?" Merindale was taken aback at the sudden question directed at her. She paused and looked back at the senior questioning her. Her eyes wide open. "A ghost?" "Oh yeah," he continued, his voice dropping to a dramatic whisper. "Legend has it that the Ghost of Lysandra prowls these very grounds. She's said to snatch unsuspecting newcomers like you.”

I take in my surroundings at once to see that I’m in a garden-like cottage with trees and flowers scattered around. A healer must have lived here, I reason, plucking the flower the leaf came from and recognizing it at once. It’s Ghost Dahlia, a rare flower with healing powers. It’s said to be extinct, so what is it doing here? I pluck the dead-like flower, which blossoms into a beautiful yellow flower in my hands. Legend says it only blossoms for the pure-hearted, which warms my heart. “The moon goddess has come to our aid, and you must save me with the flower,” Bailey says, and I feel a pang in my chest. “I do not know how much time I have left, and the potion you took is just temporary,” s

He stood straight with a serious face as he began his explanation. "Ghosts are the souls of dead humans who... well, aren't ready to rest in peace. They don't have powers. All they can do is move from one place to another without being seen. Well, not by everyone though." "But... if you're a demon, why then are you in this form?" She couldn't help but ask.

Nox rolled her eyes at me, "You got it IN the gardon!" "No! I'm saying he should smell like the mark on--Wait, what?!" I gasped in shock. "I smell like your favorite flower?!" That's what Kirsch said. "Lycoris Radiata is red spider lily?!" That's what I said. "And Taran smells like it, too." And that's what Nox said.