The Soul Keeper

The screeches of the approaching birds sounded as we readied our weapons. I was the first to dash forward since I was the only one who could fly naturally. As I felt Asher's magic gather around him and Lucius, I reached the first eagles.

They weren't called giant eagles for no reason – they were as large as a small van and they were fast. Much faster than what I thought. As soon as I was close enough, they extended their claws, revealing their sharp, deadly talons. One of them could easily tear my head off if I wasn't careful.

As they dove towards me, the sunlight reflected off their talons. I narrowed my eyes and with a powerful beat of my wings, brought myself to the same height as the first few birds. I extended my hand as magic gathered in my palm. Several volleys of Dark Bolts leapt towards the large birds approaching me. As they got hit with the dark magic, they screeched in pain and fell to the forest below.

I felt their souls melt into my chest as I beat my wings. 

Several bolts of lightning struck the remaining birds, sending them too, to the forest below. I looked back to see Asher – his eyes let out a green shine as he raised his hand. Lightning bolts leapt towards the creatures, killing them in an instant.

"Asher?" Lucius asked with a wary voice. He was floating behind the blond sorcerer. While he had his sword in hand, he couldn't really do much.

Asher's gaze focused on the remaining few birds. "We don't have time to waste." He said calmly as more bolts of lightning leapt towards them. His expression and cold, calm voice sent a shiver down my spine as he killed the creatures one by one. With each bolt of lightning that leapt out of his hands, another soul joined its brethren within me. The coldness in my chest grew as the wyvern's soul became restless.

A short while later, their quest was completed, and we were free to leave. 

"Let's check this shiny thing you were talking about," Asher said, glancing at Lucius as they floated past me. I remained stationary as I tried to wrap my head around that show of power. I shook my head and flew after them to the birds' nest.

To our surprise, it was really no different than a normal nest, except for its size. It was large enough to fit several of those large birds. As our feet touched the ground, the horrible smell made me want to puke.

The other two were clearly feeling the same way as they covered their noses almost immediately. "I really hope the shiny stuff is worth this stench." Lucius mumbled as he slowly made his way over to the pile of stuff at the middle of the nest.

With each step he took, the entire structure of the nest shook ever so slightly. I looked at the ground more carefully – how had the birds even brought such massive twigs and logs all the way up here? Some of these were larger than the birds themselves.

"Is something wrong?" Asher asked, shooting me a worried look. I hesitated – something felt off. "I'm not sure."

As soon as the words left my mouth, his expression darkened. "Lucius, wait a minute." He called to the swordsman. Lucius froze mid-step. "What is it?"

"Asher, it might be nothing." I said, somewhat confused about his reaction.

"It may be something." He replied, glaring at me as his eyes let out a shine. I felt his magic spread around us, creating barriers around each of us. "Lucius, hurry up – I don't want to waste any more time here."

The young swordsman rushed to the large pile as Asher turned his attention on me. "Now tell me, what is it?"

I shook my head. "Something about this is just very… familiar?" I said, almost as if I were asking. "I remember a similar nest to this one – we came across it with Rina and Alex. It was in an old demonic ruin on the cliffs near Stonepatch village."

He raised his eyebrows. "Similar animals may be living in different places, it's only natural."

I nodded. "That's why I said it might be nothing." I hesitated. "But Asher, the bird that lived there was much larger than the ones you just killed." I quickly described the massive eagle we'd killed there.

"We hit the jackpot!" Lucius suddenly shouted, interrupting Asher's thought process. I looked at the young swordsman to see him point at a rather large, wooden chest.

"What's that?" Asher asked, stepping closer. I couldn't help but smile, despite his older age, composed appearance and serious, goal oriented personality, even he couldn't resist the thought of unknown treasure.

We approached the chest and Lucius, who has trying to pry the thing open. "I don't know – it's stuck!" He said, clearly annoyed. He tried for a few more seconds before giving up. I could see why he wasn't able to open it.

"It's protected by magic." I said. Asher nodded, then added; "We need to break the spell on it."

Lucius pouted. "I'm getting really annoyed with all the magic stuff around. What's a simple swordsman like me supposed to do?" 

I chuckled. "Simple, you say?" I grinned. "I thought you could 'see everything', what happened to that?" I waved my hands around and mimicked the spooky tone he'd used before.

"Kai." He turned and glared at me with a deadpan expression. "I'll duel you." He threatened me. 

"And promptly lose." I said, still grinning. He clenched his fists – he was fuming. "You-"

"Got it." Asher interrupted us. His eyes once again let out a jade glow as I felt his magic envelop the chest. "Oh." He said, somewhat disappointed. 

The chest's surface glowed for a split second as a few lines of writing appeared. Lucius hesitated, then raised his eyebrows. "It doesn't seem like you got it." He commented.

Eager to learn what's inside, I knelt besides the chest and read the carved inscription.

This Belongs to the Daughter of Forlorn House. 

"I don't think this will be of much help." I mumbled. "What's the 'Forlorn House'?"

Asher hesitated, then took his small notebook out of his inventory and flipped through its pages. "It used to be an old demon clan, I think." He said with some uncertainty in his voice. "They were the rulers of… uh…" He opened his interface and checked the map. "This area over here." He pointed at a hilly area not too far from here.

"So, do you think that's where we'll find the key?" Lucius asked with anticipation.

"There is no lock, Lucius." I said with a sigh – we needed to find another way to open it. "Asher, can you break the spell on it?"

The blonde wizard hesitated, he fiddled with his ponytail as we waited. "I'm not sure." He finally said. "The spell isn't particularly powerful, but I think it's keeping the contents of the chest safe. I don't think we should try to break the spell here."

Lucius' shoulders dropped. "Aw, I thought we'd get some treasure." He said with a sigh, then shrugged. "Let's do this then," He mumbled as he opened his inventory. He knelt besides the chest and with some help from me, placed it in his inventory.

"Well then," Asher said once we were done. "If there isn't anything else, let's go. Our quest should be completed." 

"Let me check, just in case," Lucius mumbled as he opened his interface. "We missed one," He said after a short moment.

As Asher furrowed his brows and checked his own interface, I couldn't shake the feeling of imminent danger. "Guys-" Before I could finish my words, the ground below us shook.

This is too much for a coincidence, was what I wanted to say, but honestly, I had no time to say anything as the ground we were standing on broke. The nest shattered – as twigs and large logs fell all around us, we found ourselves falling. 

Among all that chaos, I saw a massive bird take to the skies – it was larger than the one we killed with Rina and Alex.

"Kai, hide your wings!" Asher shouted as we plummeted to the ground. It took me a moment to realise why he'd said that. It was to make sure they wouldn't get impaled by the large, broken pieces of wood falling all around us.

"Guys!" Lucius screamed as Asher's spell enveloped him, slowing his fall. I looked at him, then at where he was pointing. Two massive, very familiar talons extended towards us from the sky. 

"Where did that come from?" I shouted as a piece of debris nearly impaled me. It bounced off of Asher's shield, breaking it in the process. The talons drew closer as my heartbeat quickened. My sword materialised in my hand as Asher shot a few lightning bolts at the massive talons.

The massive eagle didn't even flinch – it followed us as we plummeted to the forest below. "Asher!" Lucius screamed. "It's going to catch Kai!"

My eyes wide, I swung my sword and hit its long, sharp talons. I did no damage as the sharp blade of my sword bounced off. I gritted my teeth as I lifted my arms for the little protection they might provide. I could see the beak of the massive creature aiming for me – I had no time to evade that. 

"Kai!" Asher cast a protective spell around me, but the creature shattered it with ease and caught me by my right arm.

I braced myself for the pain – I couldn't imagine anything but a torn arm at this point.

A moment passed where I only felt a very faint sting. I opened my eyes and looked at my arm and the creature's beak. My eyes widened as I noticed the pale, silver scales surrounding my arm. 

Not a single drop of blood was visible as the creature's sharp teeth couldn't penetrate the scales – the gift the wyvern had given me.

My fearful expression turned into an almost evil grin as my scythe materialised in my left hand. This bird was as good as dead.