The Soul Keeper

I heard them scream as they cowered behind Rina's shield. My crimson flames spread across the stone surface, burning everything in its path. The bodies of the dead creatures turned to ash while the still alive monsters fell soon after my flames swallowed them. 

"Kai!" I heard Rina's shout, but I didn't stop. I could feel the unclean magic in these creatures. It was oily and muddy. Disgusting. My flames spread as I fed them with my anger. How dare these creatures hurt my friends? How dare they trap them here?

Then, like someone flipped a switch, I came to my senses. My wrath disappeared and my flames slowly dimmed and eventually dissipated.

The black miasma was gone, as was the hint of purple. The glow in my eyes faded as I took a deep breath.

"That should have cleared at least some of them." I said, tightly grasping the shaft of my scythe with both hands. I couldn't let the others see them tremble. "Return to what you were doing – I thinned them out enough." 

They hesitated a moment, then returned to their previous positions. 

They all seemed like they wanted to say something, but none did so. Instead, all I received was a reassuring look from Vincent. He and Joshua waited at the back while Alex and Erik were once again holding the tolls and orcs back, though with the monsters' temporarily thinned numbers, they weren't having much trouble at all.

I took deep breaths as I felt Asher approach. Moments later, he and few others landed next to us.

I raised my eyebrows as Mona, Laura and Theresa came along with Asher and Lucius. 

"Kai!" Mona shouted and ran up to me as soon as her feet touched the ground. She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around me. "I was so scared!" She whispered. "When we saw flames engulf the peak, I thought you'd all died!"

I froze for a moment. Then, I forced a smile and gently touched her shoulder. "I'm fine. We're all alive." I glanced at her friends. Both Laura and Theresa smiled. That was when I noticed the barrier surrounding all of us. The entire peak was covered by this yellow shine that clearly kept the monsters at bay.

"What's going on?" It was Erik's voice that sounded. As the group gathered by us, Mona quickly let go of me. "Is anyone wounded?" She asked, glancing at everyone else.

"No." Vincent said after a moment's hesitation. "Who are you people?" He asked.

"Wait, I know you!" Joshua shouted at the same time as Rina's eyes widened. "You're Asher! The guy who was spying on us!" 

Mona, Laura and Theresa's expressions showed how confused they were as Rina began casting a spell. 

"Rina, stop." I said as Asher's magic also stirred. "He is who brought everyone here."

"What?" Erik said, his glance shifting between Asher and me. "How do you even know each other?" He asked. I could hear the distrust he had against Asher. I didn't blame him, but right now wasn't the time for such meaningless discussions.

"We met again in Baile Chailce." I calmly said. Asher blinked once, then his eyes glimmered with understanding. "And decided to put our differences aside." He nodded, going along with my lie.

"And he's the guy you defeated at the tournament finale!" Joshua shouted, pointing at Lucius. The young swordsman had remained silent until now, but as he stared at the finger pointed at him, he sighed. "Kai and I know each other already. Can we get to the part where we discuss how we survive?" 

Erik seemed ready to argue more, but Mona was quick to stop him. "Asher, your barrier – how long can it hold them back?"

The blonde wizard sighed. "I'm not sure. A few more minutes maybe." He glanced at me. "What are these creatures? They seem… odd."

I quickly explained how they had no souls and didn't seem to feel any pain. As I talked, I saw Mona and Laura exchange looks. I clenched my fist as my heartbeat quickened. They didn't know what I was – they had no idea that souls of the dead were what made me stronger. "So," Mona asked after a short moment. "What do you suggest we do?" 

I glanced at Asher. "Can you fly us out of here?"

The blonde sorcerer's shoulders dropped. "Sorry, Kai. The best I can do is five people." He glanced at everyone else. "And it takes over half of my mana to cast the spell. Even if I were to do several trips, I'd have to wait quite some time in between for my mana to refill."

"Got it." I said, then glanced at the barrier. "I guess our best chance is to defend." And wait for Aelith's forces to arrive, I thought, but remained silent. I didn't even know why the Divine Matriarch was taking so long. She was able to send me here in a heartbeat – why wasn't she doing the same for her own troops?

"Kai." Mona tugged at my arm. "Can I have a moment?" 

Somewhat worried, I nodded. "Asher, let us know when the barrier is about to break. Guys," I said as I glanced at everyone. "Take this time to rest a little." As they nodded, I followed Mona to the edge of the peak. We stood by the cliff, next to the glowing blue barrier.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. She hesitated. "These creatures are unnatural." She explained after a short while. "Do you remember the little girl Laura and I told you about? The one who was in a similar state to your friend, Asher?"

I nodded. "You saved her, right?" I asked. What did she have to do with anything?

"Yes. I also learned something. You know how there are some special classes?" She asked. As she spoke, she glanced at Erik. I nodded. I was one of those, after all.

"Well, she wasn't just a sorcerer." Mona reached down and took a handful of ashes from the ground. "She was a summoner." 

"What?" I froze. I didn't even know 'summoner' was a class. "Wait, you don't think she's doing this, do you?�� I asked, glancing around. How and even more importantly, why would a young girl decide to trap Erik and the others here?

"I don't know." Mona said with a sigh. "But I do know that the golems she summoned didn't have a mind of their own. They never seemed aware of anything but what she wanted them to be aware of." I could see that this wasn't an easy thing to talk about for her. I reached out and lightly squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks for letting me know, Mona. Really." 

She smiled. Despite our rather grim situation, her smile was as bright as the midday sun. I couldn't help as my lips also formed a smile, though only for a moment. 

"The barrier is breaking!" Asher shouted. My eyes widened. We ran back to the group, as visible cracks appeared on the barrier. "This isn't the monster's doing!" The blond wizard shouted. 

As those words left his mouth, the barrier shattered into pieces. I hadn't even gotten the chance to ask what he meant. My eyes widened as a disgustingly twisted creature showed itself.

"That's a griffin!" Samantha shouted. 

"No, that's a manticore." Mona calmly said. "Laura, Theresa, with me. The rest of you, make sure to kill off the little guys."

"They're coming!" Vincent shouted as hundreds of monsters scaled the cliff and stepped on the peak. 

To my surprise, it was him and Alex who dashed towards the horde of monsters. As they did so, Rina's protective magic enveloped them. The green haired wizard glanced at Asher, then at me. Her distrust of him was clear as day. Though thankfully, she didn't act on it. 

Alex was the first to reach the horde of monsters. Trusting her friend's protective spell, she didn't hesitate as she leapt towards them, sword in hand. As she cut through the spider-wolf hybrids effortlessly, Vincent had found himself standing against a rather tall, slow but clearly immensely powerful orc. The orc had no weapon, so it used its long, somewhat deformed arms as weapons. With a long wind up, it motioned to punch Vincent. The agile young man stepped aside, letting the creature punch the ground. As it tried to regain its balance, the young man leapt up and cut its head off.

I couldn't help but be impressed. Vincent had grown a lot more confidant in his swordsmanship just in these last few days. I wondered, had something else happened, or was this just part of his natural growth process?

Joshua was the next to dash forward. His dagger let out a golden glow as Alina cast a spell on it. He dashed towards a troll, leaping into the air and slicing its throat before it even got a chance to strike back. The young man was fast – almost as fast as me. If we were the same level, I wasn't sure if I could still be faster. 

Samantha hooked an arrow and released it. As she repeated her motion, either a troll or an orc died with each arrow. 

"And now, die." Asher whispered. His cold tone sent a shiver down my spine as lightning crackled around him. He raised his hand as his eyes shone bright blue. Lightning began to rain down all around us as a wicked smile appeared on his lips. He was enjoying this. 

"Ok, my turn." Mona said cheerfully. "Laura, I'm counting on you." With those words, the crimson haired woman dashed forward, towards the manticore whose body had just now fully entered our view.

"Mona?" I whispered as my heartbeat quickened. She didn't intend to fight that massive creature on her own, did she?

Before I could even finish my thought, she leapt towards its massive lion-like face. The monster reared on its hind legs and used its scorpion tail to hit Mona. As the massive black tail hit the ground where Mona stood, my heart skipped a beat.

"Mona!" I shouted as the ash cloud settled. She was nowhere to be seen. Was she…?

An eagle caught my attention. As I watched, it flew out of the ashen cloud and just as it was above the monster's head, its body suddenly let out a green shine.

My eyes widened as what was once an eagle, turned into Mona. She dropped on the manticore's head, spear in hand.