The Soul Keeper

I didn't even get the chance to be surprised before the owner of the cracked voice yanked my arm. I found myself in the air as I passed through the sphere's surface and hit the ground with a thud.

"Look who's here." The dry voice spoke. My eyes widened as I noticed – I wasn't back in the castle where I had left Asher and Lucius. I was somewhere else, and it was Delthur who was standing over me.

Frozen in place, I couldn't do anything but stare at the tall demon before me. What had just happened? How did I come here? Where was I? How had he found me? As such questions whirled in my mind, my gaze fell on the black sphere behind the tall demon.

"I did not expect to see you so soon, Kai Friseal." The familiar, soft voice sounded from alarmingly close by. Surprising enough, Vixia's bewitching voice was what alarmed me enough to get moving. "You-" As she was still speaking, I rolled to the side, grabbing the shaft of my scythe in the process, and rose to my feet.

"What the hell is this?" I hissed through my gritted teeth. Disregarding their surprised expressions, I glanced around, trying to find a lay of the land.

I was in a large circular room. I could see five more dark spheres, each floating above a sigil on the ground. There were a total of seven sigils, arranged in a circular pattern. One of them was empty, there was no sphere there.

"Where am I?" I hissed, anger burning in my eyes. I was so close to getting the primal core – why had they butted in right now?

A moment of awkward silence followed. "What?" Delthur asked. Vixia hesitated, then suddenly laughed. "Really?" She asked as a dark mist spread out from her hands. Two massive wings stretched behind her – they were almost as large as mine, though they lacked the embers the phoenix had given me.

"You came here without knowing?" Her intoxicating smile threatened to pull me in a daze. I averted my gaze and instead looked at Delthur. "What do you mean?" I carefully stepped away from them, holding my scythe in a defensive position.

"Oh my…" She chuckled. Purple flames illuminated the room – she wasn't messing around, despite her demeanour. "Well, this works out quite nicely." She raised her hand, dark tendrils leapt towards me.

"No, no it really doesn't!" I shouted as I cut through the tendrils with my scythe. As her power, cut off from the source, dissipated, Delthur dashed towards me. As if the massive greatsword he wielded with two hands wasn't intimidating enough, a pair of wings stretched behind him as well.

Their dark, demonic powers filled the room, making it difficult to breathe. I held my breath as I leapt up – my wings also appeared behind me. A burst of purple flames threatened to consume me as I barely blocked Delthur's strike.

We landed on the ground, perhaps halfway across the room. Vixia, standing at the centre, laughed. Her laughter echoed through the room, making the atmosphere even more tense than it already was. "Oh, you've grown!" She raised her hand black-purple flames gathering in her palm. "You're almost ready!"

I leapt back with a powerful beat of my wings as more purple flames appeared around me. I gritted my teeth – I had to get back to the sphere and get the primal core – now!

"Ready for what?" I asked, trying to keep both her and Delthur in my line of sight.

She smiled; it was a beautiful, mysterious smile filled with a dark, evil power. She didn't intend to give me an answer. "Fine, "I said with a sigh.

"What do you think you will accomplish?" Delthur's cracked, dry voice sounded. He glared at me with what could be interpreted as anger and hatred in his eyes. "Drop that weapon."

"I don't think so." I hissed as I raised my scythe, holding it in my right hand. I wasn't going to roll over and die here – I had people waiting for me.

"Don't get cocky!" The tall demon shouted as he dashed towards me. I couldn't help but grin as he approached. What kind of a battle cry was that?

As my body filled with the power of Fallen Grace, I focused and channelled a similar spell – Death's Scythe. Flames burst around me as I left a trail of fire behind me. Black and crimson flames enveloped us as our weapons clashed.

As soon as our weapons locked, time seemingly stopped. I saw it in his eyes, the hatred and wrath. I didn't have time to try and figure out why he hated me so much. All I could do was to withstand his and Vixia's combined assault. As her purple-black flames clashed with mine, I pushed Delthur back.

"You're trying in vain; you know that don't you?" She asked with a bewitching voice. As she spoke, her flames and tendrils made of black mist followed me. Once again, I cut through her powers with the pale blade of my scythe. "I don't think so." I replied, slowly stepping towards the dark sphere I'd come from.

"Even if you take the primal core, you won't be able to leave this place." Delthur warned me. He stopped and cleared his throat. Vixia continued in his stead. "As soon as you remove it from its place, the spell will break, and you will remain trapped here." She smiled. "So, why don't you make things easier for yourself and give up?"

I tightened my grasp on the shaft of my scythe. I didn't doubt her words, I could see myself getting trapped in here as soon as I removed the primal core. But that fact didn't stop me. I dashed towards the black sphere, narrowly avoiding Delthur's massive sword.

As soon as I passed through the sphere's surface, I grabbed the primal core. Cold wind blew my hair and clothes as the spell broke – now, there were only five spheres left in the large, circular room.

"You-"Delthur began to shout, but Vixia raised her hand to stop him. Her power spread, enveloping the entire room. "So," She said with a faint smile. "Now what, Kai Friseal?"