The Soul Keeper

It clicked. Why Delthur was so surprised to see me, why Vixia never left me alone, why the Ereth always seemed to have their eyes on me. It all clicked. 

I stared at my bright silvery purple eyes and pale skin, the white hair that ran down my back, the pointy ears. I looked just like them. 

Suddenly the nickname the tournament announcer gave me seemed so appropriate, I couldn't help but laugh. The Pale Demon. Literally.

"Kai?" I heard Lucius' voice. I couldn't take my eyes off my reflection.

I look just like them!

The thought refused to leave my mind. I couldn't push it away, to the back of my mind as I did with everything else. 

"Kai?" Lucius called my name again. I blinked – I had to pull myself together. Asher was still sick, and the demons were probably still looking for us. 

I filled the small canteen I had with water and returned to the others. 

"What took you so long?" The swordsman asked as soon as he spotted me. "I was worried!"

"I was just washing my face, sorry." I forced a smile, then approached the sorcerer and knelt besides him. Asher's complexion had somehow gotten even worse. He was white as a sheet of paper. "How is he?" I asked, full well knowing the answer.

"Not good." Lucius said with a tired sigh. He took the water canteen and used it to wet a piece of cloth. As he wiped the blonde sorcerer's face, I glanced at the sky. "We can't stay here for long." 

The young swordsman nodded. "I know." 

We sat in silence for a while. Asher's shallow breathing was the loudest thing around us. "Kai," Lucius said after a while. "You seem a bit… different. Are you ok?"

I nodded. I was fine, physically. Mentally, not so much, but Lucius didn't need to know that right now. "Try to get some sleep." I said after a short moment. "I'll keep watch."

He hesitated, then nodded. He was just as exhausted as me, if not more. While I knew nothing of his stats, I knew he had no magic to help him. I could stay awake for one more night – he couldn't afford to do that. 

As the sun set and the stars began to shine, I sat on the ground with my back leaning against the tree. Four hours, then we would be on our way again. I opened my map and checked our surroundings. Because we had come by flight, I couldn't estimate how long it'd take to walk back.

I checked my status panel absentmindedly.

'Kai Friseal – Level 80 Soul Keeper | Exp: 69096/70000 - - Souls 100/100 + 999- - Mana: 1940

Fallen Grace Lv. 5 | Death's Scythe Lv. 5 | Dark Bolt Lv. 5 | Soul's Respite Lv. 5 | Keeper's Haven Lv.1 | Explorer | Crystal Sage

STR: 10 – CON: 10 – DEX: 100 – INT: 100 – WIS: 91'

I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows as I looked at the number of souls I had gotten. Why hadn't I levelled up at all? And just how many birds had we killed? 

Hours passed as I forced myself to stay awake. Eventually, after what I estimated to be four hours passed, I woke Lucius up.

"We should get going," I said, nervously glancing at the blonde sorcerer. I could feel through our connection that he was not getting any better. "We have to find a healer."

Once again, Lucius picked Asher up and we set off, towards Baile Chailce. I was thankful for the forests – they hid us from prying eyes and any demons that might be flying in the night sky.

"This is so annoying," Lucius said with a sigh. "How did they even arrive so quickly?"

I shrugged. "They have flight and who knows what else." We already knew they even had a form of teleportation. I remembered five more black spheres in the room I fought Vixia and Delthur. Any one of them could lead to a location not too far away from here.

We ran with a steady pace until we came across a long stretch of grassland. 

"Damn." I mumbled, as I stared at the massive open area before us.

"We should hurry." Lucius said finally. "We have a better chance at night." I hesitated; I wasn't so sure about that. We didn't know how well the demons could see at night.

"Isn't there another way?" I mumbled as I tried to see if the forest stretched that way anywhere close by. 

"Even if there is, does Asher have that kind of time?" Lucius asked, glancing at the unconscious sorcerer. I bit my lower lip – he was right. We were racing against time. 

"Let's go." I said after only a moment. "Hurry."

Almost as if he were waiting for my signal, Lucius dashed forward with an incredible speed. I followed right after him. I couldn't see the other side of this sea of grass – it was massive, stretching over hills, only interrupted by a shallow river not too far from us.

We ran, hoping to make it to safety before dawn.

Sometime later, Lucius' steps began to slow down. He was tired, with only a few hours of sleep and carrying Asher, I could see how he was so exhausted. 

"Kai, these fields are going on forever." He said, breathing heavily. I nodded; I hadn't noticed it when we flew over them, but this stretch of the land was incredibly vast.

Despite his tired expression, Lucius didn't stop. "How far away are we from the castle?" He asked as we made our way through the tall grass. I checked my map, "Quite," I said after a moment. "But I don't feel like we're safe yet." 

"Agreed." Lucius sighed. Once again, silence set it. 

That was when I suddenly froze mid step as a familiar sound became noticeable. 

Fear struck my heart as I turned around and looked at the night sky. There, two silhouettes approached us.

"Run!" I said as my scythe materialised in my hands. "Lucius, run and don't turn back."

The young swordsman didn't understand at first. "What-" He started asking, but then he also spotted the silhouettes. "Bloody hell." He whispered – the two demons were clearly a sight to behold as their massive wings carried them closer. "Kai-"

"You heard me!" I hissed as my wings appeared behind me. Lucius was too tired to fight and with Asher out of commission, we didn't stand much of a chance if more demons arrived. "I'll take care of them and follow you, so go and find someone to heal Asher!"

The young man hesitated, then cursed and dashed away. That was also my cue to take off. With my wings carrying me to the skies, I rose to the air to meet the two demons. 

As they approached, I could see them easier. Their dark grey and blue armour fit the paleness of their skin perfectly. One of them was a woman – she was the first to arrive. Her weapon of choice was a long spear – I could feel the magic coursing through it.

"So, it is the truth." She said as we floated a few meters way from each other. "You are back, Keeper." Her lips formed a bitter smile. "Yet it seems we are enemies."

"Such a twisted turn of fate." The other demon added. His eyes shone purple – he was already using magic. 

"I don't suppose you'd turn back and leave?" I loudly said.

Below, I could see Lucius stop and look at me wide eyed. He hesitated a moment, then dashed away. I turned my attention on the woman. "No." 

As soon as the word left her lips, she dashed towards me. She became a blur – she was faster than anyone I'd fought so far!

I folded my wings and let gravity be my escape. She flew right above as her spear stabbed the air. Her lips formed a thin line as I approached the ground. The man followed right after me, his sword arm extended to his side, ready to slash at me at a moment's notice.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I leapt back. The ground before me cracked as the woman struck it with her spear. 

That singular moment, where her spear was still in the ground was my best chance to attack. I used Fallen Grace and Death's Scythe simultaneously, leaving crimson and black-purple flames behind me as I dashed towards her.

I saw her eyes widen as I moved as a blur – with my magic, I was just as fast as her, if not more. I swung my scythe at her exposed neck as she finally freed her spear from the ground. 

A black blade stopped my strike. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the field as the other demon grinned. He had reached us just in time to save his ally's life.

I leapt back – I was at a disadvantage. We stared at each other, gauging, thinking and waiting for an opening.

Then, they dashed at me.