The Soul Keeper

Asher stepped forward, with his head tilted. His gaze followed the carvings as his brows furrowed.

"Bear..?" He mumbled. "I'm not sure if I'm reading this correctly." He shook his head. "It's a much older form of writing than the books I found before."

"Beware thee, who would seek the knowledge of the Ancients. Pay the price of blood – an oath to protect. May the Lord and Keeper guide thee through the forbidden." I whispered softly.

"Kai?" Lucius began to speak, but Asher suddenly stopped him. I felt somewhat dizzy. The Keeper… that was me, wasn't it?

"Let's head inside." The blonde sorcerer said, softly patting my shoulder and pulling me out of my dazed state.

"We don't have the guidance of either of them." Lucius protested. "Who is the Lord?"

A smile flashed across Asher's lips. "What are you talking about? The Keeper is right here with us." His expression hardened as his gaze fell on me. "Kai, we'll need you to focus for this one. Think you can do that?"

I took a deep breath to clear my head, then grinned. "Who do you think you're talking to?" Now wasn't the time for self-pity, hesitation or second guessing myself. I'd have time for all that later when things calmed down. I pushed the smug sorcerer aside and approached the door.

"Blood, huh?" I mumbled as I raised my hand. I took a small knife out of my inventory and made a small cut on the back of my hand. "Let's see what these forbidden things are." I wiped the blood on the carvings. A crimson light shone, illuminating our surroundings. Not a moment after, the large wooden door creaked open, revealing one of the most interesting places I'd ever seen.

It took me a moment to understand what I was looking at. At first glance, it was a library, laboratory and forest, all in one place. Looking up, I could see the sky and the stars. It didn't take me long to realise it was fake. All the stars were in the wrong place.

The room was filled by a forest, yet it wasn't completely natural. The trees' trunks and branches had formed in such an odd way that they also doubled as shelves for various objects. At first glance, I spotted books, potions, some rocks and even weapons laying on these living shelves. These same plants also formed the various tables and workshops. And all of these were illuminated by glowing flowers, hanging from the shelf-trees.

"It's beautiful." Lucius whispered as I stepped inside. He was right, this place was absolutely amazing. I could hardly believe my eyes as I walked among the living, breathing furniture. I was scared to touch anything – what if I disturbed this place?

But soon, that fear was replaced with a much more real, petrifying one. At the centre of the large, circular room was a sphere, floating in the air. It was about three meters in diameter. As I approached it, I could feel the magic that formed it. The entire thing was made of magic. The dark, almost opaque surface constantly shifted and moved.

"What is that?" Lucius asked as we stood a little ways away from it. "There's something inside."

I squinted, trying to see what he saw. I could just barely see a shadow in there. "Could it be the primal core of water?" Lucius continued as he stepped closer to it.

"Wait – don't get too close." Asher grabbed his arm. "Remember what was written on the door."

I raised my eyebrows. Was this the 'forbidden' thing it talked about? Was this what we needed to steer clear from?

"But what if this is something important?" Lucius insisted. "What if there's some great power that we can use to defeat the demon lord and call it a day?"

While his words were full of hope, I knew that the chances of something like that happening were slim, at best. Was it a risk worth taking? I wasn't sure. How could I be?

"We'll check everywhere else first." I said after pondering for a short while. "If we don't find anything else, we'll return here."

Asher sighed a breath of relief as we stepped away from the magical sphere. "Thanks," He whispered as Lucius headed off to check the shelves. I shook my head. "I will check that out, Asher. I have to."

He looked away, biting his lower lip. He knew it just as well as I did that the Keeper of Souls was once important to this place. "I know what you're trying to do." He softly spoke as we stopped before one of the shelves. He gently reached out and took one of the books.

I read the title at a glance; 'An Extensive Study of the Fauna of Erdrin'

"I want to get out of here just as much as you do," He continued as he flipped through the book's pages. "But you can't be careless. That warning must have been on that door for a reason."

I chuckled. "I'm not careless, Asher. You can teleport me out and heal me, remember?"

His expression darkened. "You can't rely on that."

"I will if I have to." I glanced at Lucius as he carefully took one of the weapons and gave it a swing. "Look at him – he doesn't belong here. None of us do." When I looked back at Asher, my eyes were filled with determination. "I'm not letting anyone else die."

Asher closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then another one. When he finally spoke, I could hear the desperation in his voice. "I get that, Kai. I understand, I really do. But all of that is meaningless if you die." He tilted his head towards Lucius, who was trying out another weapon. "What will he do if you die? Have you thought about that?"

I didn't want to hear any of that. I didn't want to imagine it. As anger – meaningless, useless, stupid anger – welled up inside me, Lucius's voice caught my attention.

"I don't see anything like a primal core here." He sighed as he approached us. Asher chuckled, somehow getting rid of the heavy silence. "I guess we'll have to look at some other places." He glanced at me with worry in his eyes. He was afraid – afraid of losing a useful tool.

"Yeah." I said, forcing a smile. "Let's check out the rest of the castle. We'll come back here if we don't find anything else." I turned my back on the sphere and left the room.

"Where to now?" Lucius asked as we stepped back into to long hallway. I shrugged. "Well, only one way to go, right?"