The Soul Keeper

The name she'd given me had left a bad taste in my mouth. In fact, I felt so annoyed at it that as soon as I left the city and moved outside the guard's view, I looked for something to kill.

'Matriarch's Champion', as if she were my owner or something.

"Hey." Asher's voice snapped me away from my thoughts. I turned around to see him and Lucius coming towards me. "What's wrong?" He asked, noticing my irritated expression. I shook my head.

"Nothing worth worrying about. Let's go." As my wings appeared through a veil of black-crimson mist, Lucius' eyes widened. He knew about my wings, of course, but it was the first time he was seeing them. His reaction put a smile on my lips for a fraction of a second.

"I'll give us flight as well." Asher said with a sigh. Magic gathered in his hands and enveloped the two of them. As they shot to the sky, I leapt right up after them. I could hear Lucius's shriek as we rose above the trees.

I beat my wings to catch up to them and to my surprise, I didn't need to use Fallen Grace to do so. I hadn't noticed that when I was in a hurry to get to Rina and Alex. Sure, allocating those stat points had changed my body but I hadn't realised that doing so meant my body was now able to handle the weight and size of these massive wings.

As we flew through the dark skies, I couldn't help but laugh at Lucius. As Asher's magic carried him, his face was pale, and his hands shivered.

"Don't laugh!" He shrieked miserably. "You know I hate heights."

"Then why did you come?" Asher asked, grinning.

Lucius refused to answer. Instead, he fixed his gaze at the stars. I smiled, then beat my wings faster, speeding up. "I don't want to waste any time." I said as Asher used some more magic to catch up with me.

"Why are you in such a rush?" He asked after a short while.

I hesitated. "The wyvern's soul…" I said with a sigh. "It's trying to take over. It's filled with wrath and hatred." I touched my chest. "I can't control it for much longer. It's affecting my mood – I feel angry and irritated – constantly."

Asher's expression darkened. "Why did you take the soul in?" He asked as we sped up even more. I shook my head. "I didn't know this would happen."

He didn't say anything. The only thing breaking the silence was the blowing wind as we made our way to… wherever Asher was taking us. As minutes passed, I could feel the annoyance and anxiousness inside my heart rising.

We passed rivers and hills, some old ruins and even a massive hole in the earth. While I wanted to explore, I knew I didn't have the luxury of time. Despite not having slept since the night before, when dawn arrived, I was wide awake. I didn't feel the least bit tired.

"There." Asher said, pointing at a mountain on the horizon. "It's supposedly where the primal core of water is."

"Supposedly?" I asked as we approached the mountain. It was so massive, the top of it was hidden in the grey clouds covering the sky over it. The dark rocks covering the steep hills had a hint of red in them. As the sun slowly began to rise, the crimson-purple light illuminated the mountain.

"Well, I haven't personally checked." Asher said. "The previous Keeper's records indicate that at that time, the primal core of water was here." He hesitated for a moment. "…Somewhere." He added.

Looking at the massive mountain, I couldn't help but feel like this was completely pointless. How were we supposed to find a fist sized crystal in such a massive place?

We landed at the foot of the mountain. Tall, sturdy trees covered our surroundings. This area was much colder than Baile Chailce, though it didn't bother me thanks to the Matriarch's gifts. Whatever the enchantments she put on these clothes were, they were incredibly powerful.

"Oh, thank L-" Lucius started to speak, the flinched. "Thank god we're back on solid ground." He corrected himself. His knees shook as he took a few steps forward. I shot an annoyed look at him, then sighed.

"So, where is it?" I asked, glancing at the smug sorcerer. Asher shrugged as he summoned his interface and checked his map. "Well, it should be somewhere on that mountain." He said after a short while.

"You do realise that the mountain is massive, don't you?" I asked. I couldn't see the summit at all. "You do have some way to find it, right?"

He hesitated.

"No way," I said. "Asher!" Had he seriously brought us here with nothing more to go on?

"Well," He said, looking at the mountain towering before us. "I was hoping one of us would sense it." He glanced at me expectantly. I shook my head. "Nope. Nothing." With a somewhat disappointed expression his next glance was directed at Lucius. "I don't even have a mana stat." He said with a shrug.

"Oh." Asher seemed even more disappointed. He looked at the ground, then at his notebook. As he flipped through its pages, presumably looking for clues, I couldn't help but feel bad despite the wyvern's effect.

"Why don't I fly around?" I suggested. "I can let you know if I sense anything anyways."

Lucius's gaze snapped back at me as I spoke. He didn't like that idea; it was written all over his face. He motioned to speak, but I stopped him before words could leave his mouth. "Lucius, I know you mean well, but you need to stop."

He flinched. "That's not-"

"Please. I know what my responsibilities are." I said with a bitter smile. It took some effort to supress the emotions the wyvern's soul amplified.

"Do you?" Lucius asked, clenching his fists. "Because you keep taking unnecessary risks. You keep being careless." He stepped closer. Asher seemed like he wanted to stop the young man, but I shot him a deadly glance. He had no right to interfere.

"You have to survive, Kai." He said. His eyes burned with determination. "Because if you don't, the Hall will crumble."

I looked away. I knew that, of course I knew that. "You don't need to tell me that."

"But I think I do." He replied. "If you die, the Hall will crumble." He repeated. I clenched my fists. Anger welled up inside me. I didn't want to hear those words again.

"I know that." I said, forcing my voice to remain calm. "But what am I supposed to do?" I asked, looking into his eyes. "Should I cower and hide in Baile Chailce until some brave hero saves us all? As people die all around us because I was too weak to do something about it? Or even worse," My voice rose until I began to shout. "Because I was too afraid to do something, despite having the power to save them?"

"Calm down." Asher interrupted me. "Kai, you have to calm down. You aren't thinking straight."

"My thinking is fine!" I shouted. Birds flew their nests in panic as my shout echoed all around us. I didn't notice the crimson flames bursting out, or the purple glow surrounding me. Or the darkness of the souls spreading out.

"What would you have me do, Lucius?"