The Soul Keeper

I looked up. I already knew who it was, yet my heart still skipped a beat when I saw Vixia. She floated a few meters above us, her wings stretched wide and her hair blowing with the cool breeze.

"Who is that?" Erik whispered as I clenched my fists. 

"Erik," I whispered, hoping I was still speaking English. "When I tell you to, grab the others and run."

"What? Why?" He asked, his voice filled with determination and defiance.

"Why indeed?" Vixia chuckled. Her bewitching voice filled out ears. "Could it be that you fear me?" 

"Who are you?" Erik shouted. "And why are you here?"

By now, Vincent had also gotten up. He stood by Erik's side as Joshua pulled Alina back a little. "Answer the question!" He shouted, tightening his grasp on the hilt of his sword.

"Aw, they are adorable." Vixia chuckled, then turned her gaze on me. "Don't you think so too, Kai Friseal?"

I heard Erik draw a sharp breath. "Wait – how do you know his name?" He asked. His glance leapt between me and her. She ignored him, instead choosing to glare at me.

I shook my head. "No, they're not." I stretched my hand as my scythe appeared in my palm. "I think they're ready to fight you." Wings appeared on my back. "What did you come here for?" Despite my threatening voice and battle-ready posture, I was praying for her to leave without a fight. I didn't have the resources to fight her. 

She laughed out loud. "This is our territory, remember?" She extended her hands to the sides as purple flames leapt from her fingers to the ground. I clenched my fists – she had trapped us in a circle of flames.

"Who are you?" Erik asked again.

"She's a demon." I said, stopping him before he could take any more steps towards her. "You need to get the others out of here." I hissed. 

"Oh, don't worry." Vixia suddenly said. She raised her hand as purple strings, just like those she used to try and trap me before, extended towards us.

"Look out!" I pushed Erik back, towards Vincent and then threw myself aside. The strings missed me and instead got wrapped around some loose branches on the ground. I glared at her. "What the hell do you want?" 

She thew something at me. A vial. I caught it in fear of it breaking and releasing some unholy, deadly poison or something.

"Delthur sends his regards. He thanked her." Her gaze focused on my chest for a fraction of a second. I could feel Rhia's soul stir, was she… happy? "I also know you didn't break the core, back in Forlorn Castle. You'll need that vial if you want to take good care of it." I glanced at the vial. It was filled with a purple fluid. "Condensed mana." She explained with a half-smile. "Consider it my thanks for not killing Delthur."

I gritted my teeth. "Not exactly by choice." 

"I know, he told me." She looked up, at the sky. "Has the sun began to hurt your eyes yet?" She asked. I didn't answer, but seeing my expression, her lips formed a wicked smile. "As for the two you killed – I would make you pay, but my brother has disallowed it." The purple flames surrounding us roared. "I will warn you, however. Next time we meet will not be so peaceful."

"Next time we meet, I won't be so weak." I replied. "You know it as well as I do – the only reason you approached us is because I just exhausted all my mana on that beast."

She chuckled. "I know – you did almost kill me once, after all." She sighed. "The war is nigh. The time when you'll have to choose is nearing. Do not disappoint me, Kai Friseal."

With her heavy words still hanging in the air, she left, flying north. 

I collapsed on the ground as the purple flames slowly dissipated. Just speaking with her was exhausting. Throughout our whole exchange, all I could think of what how bad it would have been if she decided to attack us. 

"What was that all about?" Vincent asked as they crowded around me. I shook my head – I didn't even know how to explain this to them. How much would be safe to tell? 

"I think it's pretty clear!" Joshua shouted as he stomped towards me. Before any one of us could react, he grabbed me by my collar and lifted me up on my feet. "You're working with them, aren't you?" He shouted as he shook me back and forth. "You're working with the demons!"

I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing. 

"Don't be stupid." It was Vincent who grabbed his brother's arm and pried his hands off me. I staggered and took a few steps back. Vincent's gaze focused on me. "Now – what the hell was that all about?" 

I hesitated. How was I supposed explain? "Can we get out of here first?" I asked, gesturing at the creature's remains. "Scavenging animals will probably come soon and I'm out of mana. None of us are fit to fight right now."

Erik nodded. "Let's set up camp in the woods." Though reluctantly, Joshua also agreed with him. It didn't take us long to find a place to set up camp, but that small amount of time was all I needed to contact Asher and inform him of what had just happened.

The sorcerer quickly came up with a plan. As he explained it to me, I felt relieved, even if only a little. 

"So," Erik glared at me after we finished setting up camp an sat around the small firepit. Alina had just finished healing the others, though with Joshua's influence, she had steered clear of me. "Care to explain?" The young paladin finally asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

I took a deep breath. "Her name is Vixia. She's a demon, one of the stronger demons." I only had to tell them some of what I had been through. "I met her a while ago, she thought of me as… fun, and let me live."

Vincent's frown darkened. How much he disliked this was obvious from his expression. I continued, choosing my words carefully. "Since then, I knew that I had to at least match her strength if we wanted to have the slightest chance at beating the Demon Lord. So, that's why I've been constantly leaving the city – to gain more power so we can at least stand a chance."

"I came across her again, a short time ago – a couple of days before the fight at the Howling Hills, actually. I fought her and her ally, but ultimately had to escape because another demon came." Just thinking about that demon sent a shiver down my spine. I had to match his power if I wanted to have even the slightest chance at winning.

"And you almost killed her?" Vincent asked. I nodded. 

"I didn't know you were that powerful." Erik mumbled. I shook my head. "It was more luck than power. But she is at least a bit wary of me." I hesitated. "Erik, this was why I said coming here wasn't a good idea. None of you can stand a chance against her, or others like her."

The young paladin sighed. "I know. Just breathing the same air as her was suffocating. Though, she isn't a match for the Divine Matriarch, is she?" He asked with a cold expression. I shook my head. "No, the Divine Matriarch is on a whole different level." That wasn't a lie – the simple fact that she could prevent magic entirely was enough proof.

"I still don't trust you." Joshua suddenly declared. His knuckles were white from clenching his fists too much. "Don't any of you see it?" He asked, pointing at me. "Look at him. I mean, actually look!"

I flinched as I realised what he was talking about.

"He looks like her! His skin colour, his features, his general shape – he looks just like her!" He shouted.

Silence followed his words as I felt four pair of eyes focus on me. 

"You know that's bullshit." Vincent said with a sigh after a few seconds passed. "What if he looks like them? We have definitive proof that he's Kai Friseal – the same guy who joined us for breakfast that day in uni."

I narrowed my eyes. "Lunch." I said, carefully. "It was lunch." I knew he had done that in purpose.

"See?" Vincent said with a grin. "Satisfied, Joshua?"

"No, I am not." His brother said, still glaring at me. "I mean, we don't know anything about Kai either! How long did we know him before we ended up here? A few days at best!"

Honestly, his words stung, a lot. He wasn't entirely wrong – they knew very little about me even before we ended up here. Expecting them to trust me was quite a tall order.

"Alright, that's enough." Erik said. His glare was enough to shut Joshua up. "It's getting late – we should rest for tonight. I'll take first watch, everyone else – go to bed." 

His cold voice was enough to inform us that not listening to him would be a bad idea. 

Vincent was the first to nod and lie on the grass. Joshua helped Alina get to her tent, then headed off to his own. I sighed and lied on the grassy ground as well, using my cloak as a blanket. 

Not even minutes had passed when the dark embrace of sleep welcomed me.