The Soul Keeper

"I don't know!" The young man shouted. "If I knew, I'd have told you already!"

We glared at each other as I couldn't find something to say. As seconds began to turn to minutes, Asher finally broke the heavy silence.

"Kai," He said with a low, warning voice. "Supress your power."

Only then did I notice the flames and purple mist around me. The souls I'd taken in circled around me. I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down. It took a few minutes for everything to return to normal.

"That's better." Asher said, sighing a breath of relief. "So, what is this hall you were talking about?"

"None of your business." I looked at the mountain. "We should get going."

"No," He stepped in my way. "I think it is my business." His bright green eyes focused on mine. "Tell me."

A heavy silence covered the land. We were locked in a staring contest. I was adamant about not telling him. It had nothing to do with him.

"The training hall, run by Kai's family." Lucius' voice sounded.

"Hey!" I took a step towards him, but his glare stopped me.

"He needs to know, Kai." Lucius looked back at Asher. "Kai is the heir of the Friseal Training Hall. Once the Lady passes away, he will be the one taking over."

"Heir?" Asher asked as confusion filled his voice. "I don't think I follow."

"You don't need to know the details." Lucius continued. "There are reasons as to why he is so important. Reasons none of us were told. I'm sure even Kai himself doesn't know."

It was probably clear as day from my sour expression that I, indeed, had no clue as to why all the elders of our hall deemed me so important.

"Wait – but it's just a martial arts training hall." Asher said, glancing at me.

"I know!" I sighed. "That's why I'm so annoyed. It makes no sense, none of it!"

"Yet that doesn't change the fact that you have to survive this." Lucius said, glaring at me. Silence followed his words as I brushed my hair back.

"Let's go together then." I finally said. "It will be slower, but safer. Are you happy?"

Lucius grinned. Whatever dark and serious expression he had previously vanished, allowing his usual bright smile to take its place. "Let's go."

And thus, our long climb to the mountain began. At first, the climb was easy. I didn't have to exert any effort worthy of mention. The same could be said for Lucius as well, though Asher was out of breath mere hours later.

"I can't…" He wheezed. "I'm a sorcerer, not a fighter. I need a break." He collapsed before he could even finish his words. If not for Lucius catching him, he could have hurt himself on the sharp rocks.

"Fine, let's take a break." I said after pondering for a short while. "Once you feel somewhat rested, we'll be on our way again."

He nodded. We sat on the ground and leaned our backs on the large rocky formations. Despite the short time, we had climbed quite high.

"It's pretty." Lucius said after a while, watching the forest beneath us. Asher nodded, while I didn't react. My mind was filled with ghosts of my past. I looked at the bright blue sky to get these thoughts out of my mind, but that didn't help much either as all it did was remind me of the good times with grandfather.

"So," I faintly heard Lucius's voice. He was talking to Asher. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift away as they talked. "You were supposed to be the one designing the flagship game for PORTAL?"

Asher sighed. "Yes. How much do you know?"

"Almost everything Kai does." I couldn't stop the faint smile that appeared on my lips. Lucius continued. "I was wondering, none of the Ereth are players, right?"

Asher hesitated. "No, I highly doubt that."

I snapped back – the conversation had suddenly piqued my interest. "Why do you ask?" Asher said, straightening his back. Through my narrowed eyelids, I could see his serious expression. He was focused on Lucius's words.

"Well, if they aren't players, then they are… AI, right?" He scratched his horns. "Uhh, I mean… they're not real people?"

Asher nodded. Now, we both stared at Lucius. What was he getting at? Yet, all he gave us was silence as his mind wandered off.

"Hey, Lucius?" I chimed in. "Why did you ask?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing, really. I was just curious." He got back up on his feet. "Ok, time to go."

I hesitated, then nodded. "Fine,"

Asher didn't seem all too happy about our decision to keep climbing, but he reluctantly got back up on his feet too.

Our climb continued and thankfully, it was eventless. The most dangerous thing that happened was Lucius tripping and falling in some bushes. While that didn't mean anything but something to laugh at for Asher, I couldn't help but worry. Being careless wasn't like him. Whatever those previous questions were, they were clearly part of something much more present in his mind.

"I still don't feel a thing." Asher said with a sigh. We had reached the halfway point by now. "Let's rest a bit more."

I nodded, despite not feeling tired at all. I supressed the anxiousness I felt and sat down by the large rocks.

Lucius, however, didn't seem to like that idea. He glared up, towards where the peak probably was. The dark grey clouds blocked our vision.

"What's wrong?" I asked after glancing at the sky. He shrugged. "Not 'wrong'…" He mumbled. "But are you absolutely sure that this primal core of water is somewhere here?"

Asher stopped fiddling with his cloak and looked away. "Well, I can't say I'm 'absolutely' sure but…"

"Asher!" I cried out. "You said you knew it was here!" Despair creeped into my heart. Was there really no way to supress the wyvern? Were all our troubles really in vain?

"I said I 'think' it's here!" Asher tried to defend himself. "Come on, your predecessor wasn't exactly the most open book type of guy! Lay the blame on him if you have to!"

I rolled my eyes. "Like blaming some long dead guy will be helpful at all."

Almost as if the universe heard my words, a drop of water fell on my extended hand. I looked up as more drops began to fall.

"Are you serious?" Lucius shouted as the rain picked up. Within minutes, we were soaking wet. And that was also when I learned that the Matriarch didn't put any waterproof enchantments on my clothes.

"We should get moving and find a cave or something." Lucius said as he helped Asher up. "Or we'll get sick."

Was that even possible in a game?

Despite my doubts, we began to move. The heavy rain blocked our vision as we tried to find some cover from it. As if the rain wasn't bad enough, soon mist covered the mountain. Not being able to see more than a few steps away finally broke Lucius's nerves.

"Oh, for gods' sake!" As soon as the words left his mouth, a loud rumble echoed. I could swear I heard someone say "Hmm?"