The Soul Suckers
...or "Souleater" or Narúne:
There is a rotten hack between Taboo Moor and James Town - right by the Mad Faces' little grove. There live the Narúne, which means soul-suckers: a group of witches who are true masters and mistresses of physical healing. They say that if your body is as good as destroyed and the healers in Taboo Moor shake their heads, you can still try these witches. They never say no. First, they suck the soul out of the almost dead body and breathe it into a jar. After healing, they breathe the soul back in. If all goes well.
Two weeks ago, Cicilia Mayham, the daughter of the president of East India was hit by a bullet. The bullet hit her lung and Sir Mayham ordered his men to take her to the Narúne lodge. When the men returned, they were as white as a sheet. One said:
"Sir, the glass shattered. It fell down... We don't know how that could have happened... but your daughter's soul was already in the glass!"
Cicilia, however, stood upright beside the men and Sir Mayham ignored the matter of the glass: his daughter was alive! She was breathing!
But it soon became clear that something was missing: she did not speak a word and no one heard her once sweet laughter. She did not eat or sleep. After two days, Sir Mayham quietly said, "My little flower has withered." Later they burned Cicilia's body, which is very unusual for the settlers.
Last night one of the night marchers told the trappers:
"I heard a sweet and bright laughter in the forest that night. I swear by all the saints, it sounded like little Cicilia's laugh!"
