The Soul Keeper

"Wait." Asher grabbed my wrist before I could do anything. "Last time this happened you gained those wings and the ability to control your flames, am I right?"

I nodded, though I had to add; "The primal core of fire also played a big part in that." Honestly, it was a combination of the development path, the phoenix's soul and the primal core of fire.

"In that case, we should be careful." He pointed at the interface. Just like before, there were three symbols.

The first was shaped like a serpent. The second one was clearly a spider and the third one looked like a raven.

"Oh, not again!" I cried out as Lucius scratched his head. "What do these even mean?" 

"I don't know, that's the issue." I ran my finger through my hair and pushed the loose strands away from my eyes. "Last time I picked, I did so randomly." 

"What happens if you don't pick anything?" Lucius asked. I hesitated. "Nothing?" 

We pondered a while, lost in though and undecisive. Eventually, I sighed. "I went with a feather last time," I explained. "It feels right to go with the raven."

Asher shrugged. "There is no data at all, so I can't suggest anything."

Oh well, I thought as I slowly touched the raven symbol.

'Path Chosen. Please note that this process will take time. Do not attempt any strenuous activities until the process is completed.' 

Asher furrowed his brows as we looked at the pale blue text.

"How long does this take?" He asked after a short moment.

"Days, at the very least, I assume." I said, pondering. I couldn't remember exactly how long it had taken last time. "But I don't even know if time is the only requirement. Last time, I had to kill the phoenix and get the primal core of fire."

Lucius shrugged. "I guess we'll see." He suddenly flinched and looked at the sky. I glanced at the direction he was looking at. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I thought I saw something." He mumbled. "It's just a bird though." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit on edge since…" He hesitated. 

"It's fine." Asher raised his hand to create a barrier around our little camp. "We should all remain vigilant." He glanced at me. "Would you mind keeping watch first?" He asked.

"Fine by me," I said with a faint smile.

With that, they went to sleep. Though I could see how uneasy Lucius was, I couldn't think of anything that I could do for him. 

Hours passed quietly as I stood watch. On one hand, I was somewhat relieved to be alone for a bit. On the other hand, this time allowed my mind to wander off to distant memories. Memories I didn't want to remember right now. So, I focused on tomorrow.

We were probably going to have to kill that plant. I came up with ideas on how to kill it to keep myself busy until the time came to wake Asher up. Once his turn started, I welcomed the darkness of sleep.

Come morning, I was woken up by Lucius. The young man seemed well rested. I was glad to see the dark circles under his eyes gone, and his usual smile return.

"Feeling any different?" Asher asked me as we had out breakfast. I moved my arms and stretched my wings, then shook my head. "Not yet." I didn't expect the changes to happen quite so quickly.

"Why are you squinting so much?" Lucius asked. I covered my eyes with my hand. "The sunlight hurts." I mumbled. While I had slept, it was an uneasy sleep, filled with dreams that I couldn't quite remember. I was fairly sure that the burning in my eyes was eventually going to turn into a headache. Now that, I wasn't looking forward to.

"So," I said, changing the subject. "What do we do about the plant?" 

Asher shrugged as we slowly made our way over to where the castle once was. 

"Ugh, the smell!" Lucius said as he almost gagged. "It's awful." He was right – it smelled of sweet flowers and vanilla. While the smell would, under normal circumstances, be pleasant, it was so dense here that it was just horrible.

"Cover your noses." Asher said as he used a piece of cloth to do so. I used my cloak and Lucius grabbed a piece of torn cloth.

As we approached the plant, it hit me just how damn big it was. The 'leaves' were large enough to easily lie on. The massive tendrils were thicker than a person's waist. While the singular pieces of it weren't too intimidating, the sheer amount of space the god damned thing occupied was enough to leave us stunned.

"So," Asher said after a few seconds passed. "How are we supposed to enter the castle? Because, as far as I'm concerned, there is no castle left." 

Lucius nodded. "And how are we even supposed to find the source of this demonic magic? It's probably buried under the rubble." 

"Only one way to find out." I mumbled as I stepped towards the plant. The first order of business was to find out whether it was hostile or not. I took a few steps, then watched its appendages gently swaying in the wind. It didn't seem to react to my presence at all.

"Careful." Asher warned me as I took a few more steps. I could see Lucius tightly grasping the hilt of his sword. He was ready to come to my aid at a moment's notice.

A sudden rumble beneath my feet alarmed me just before the ground gave in, exposing the massive root system underneath. I leapt up as the massive plant's tendrils lashed at me. My wings appeared on my back and at the same time, a wave of flames covered the ground beneath me. 

I glanced at Asher – he was doing this. His eyes shone brightly as flames spread from his extended hands.

"I am done with surprises!" He shouted as the flames spread through the roots below. My eyes widened as even the main body of the plant caught on fire. I coughed and beat my wings, moving away from the smoke. Seconds turned into minutes as Asher's flames consumed the plant whole. After about ten minutes, noting but a very big pile of ash was left.

"Now that it's taken care of," Asher said as the flames dimmed, and his spell ended. "I think it's time we find the core the Divine Matriarch told you about."

I nodded after a short moment. I was always surprised by Asher's sheer power, though now that I also had control over fire, I couldn't help but feel like his flames were somewhat… lacking. Of course, he had much better control over them than I did, but I wasn't sure how much longer that would be the case.

"How do we find it?" Lucius asked as we approached the now charred ruins. "How did this place even become like this?" He asked, kicking a loose brick.

I shrugged. I felt somewhat… disappointed. I was expecting a fight – craving it even. I slowly stepped among the rubble. "What's that?" I asked after a short moment. The pile of rubble rose a bit higher at some point, and I was sure I could see something that wasn't brick or charred plant. I climbed over the brick and large stone slabs and arrived at the only place in the area still standing.

"Good job, Kai." Asher said as we stood before the metal bars. 

"A window?" Lucius asked. He crouched by the sturdy bars and tried to look inside. "I see a… prison cell." He mumbled. "Stand back," he said as he stood up and extended his sword arm. With a swift motion, he swung his sharp blade.

A clear clang echoed. He repeated his motion, and the loud clang was followed by the sound of metal pieces hitting stone.

"I didn't know you could do that," Asher mumbled. I chuckled as I saw the huge grin on the young swordsman's face. He had cut the metal bars like they were butter.

"I'll go first." He said, still grinning, and jumped down the newly made hole. I followed right after him, then waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness as Lucius helped Asher down as well.

We were in a rather small prison cell. It stank of mould and smoke. The walls were cracked, as was the stone ceiling. I feared this place could collapse on us at any time. Now, metal bars once again blocked our path, though these weren't in as bad a shape as the ones Lucius just cut through.

"Well, I guess I have some more stuff to cut through." Lucius said as he approached the metal gate locking us in. He cut through it with ease and we finally set foot inside Forlorn Castle. Or, well, what's left of it.