The Soul Keeper

"There are, or used to be, thirteen of them."

I blinked. I was more confused than surprised. Up until now, I always had the assumption that a 'Divine' was an Ereth who had become powerful enough to take up that position. I never thought their number really mattered.

Asher, on the other hand, looked like he had just learned he was a father – or something as shocking as that, anyways. "What?" He asked, his eyes wide and his face pale. 

"Now, only seven – no six, remain in power." Mona continued. Her voice was heavy, and her expression filled with uncertainty. This wasn't the Mona I knew – she wouldn't doubt herself like this.

"Out of the thirteen, this is the fifth the Demon Lord has killed." 

Now, it was my time to be shocked. No wonder he hadn't hesitated even a moment as he slit that Divine's throat. No wonder she didn't even attempt to fight back. No wonder she feared for her life the moment he stepped out of that rift.

I felt sick to my soul – I was no lover of the Ereth or their Divines, but seeing someone killed in cold blood like that was… It had a certain impact. And now, learning that this was nothing special to the Demon Lord… I felt horrible. 

"What happened to the twelfth and thirteenth?" Asher asked after a short while of silence. That's when I noticed the numbers didn't add up. If five had died and six were in power, who was the thirteenth?

"The thirteenth is alive." Mona said with a faint smile. She raised her hand and pulled her long sleeve back to reveal a tiny mark on her arm. It wasn't anything special looking, just an X with three horizontal lines crossing it. "He is in hiding from the other Divines." 

Asher's eyes shot open. "What? Why?"

"Because not everything that the Ereth told us when we first came here are true." I mumbled. "Right?"

She nodded. "That's one way to put it." She hesitated – maybe she was still unsure of what to share with us, or maybe she was simply trying to find the right way to tell things.

"What happened to the twelfth?" Asher asked after a moment of silence. 

"I don't know." Mona said, shrugging. "All I know is that her views didn't match with those of the Divine Matriarch, so the Divine Mother and she had a fight. The twelfth was never seen again, and she is considered deceased by the Ereth."

I flinched. "The Matriarch may have killed her own kind?" I asked. I knew Aelith wasn't a good person – anyone could see that – but to think she may have murdered one of her own in cold blood…

"I'm sure she tried, but I doubt she killed her." Mona sighed. "If she had, the Thirteenth would know about it. She was his brother, after all."

Once again, both Asher and I were stunned. Mona had a wealth of information that I couldn't have dreamt of acquiring – how had she learned all this? Who was she? Why was she sharing all of this?

Questions whirling in my mind, forced myself to remain silent for now. I wanted to let the crimson haired druid to finish telling us what she wanted to tell first. Then, we could start asking her what we wanted to know.

"Anyways, the twelfth isn't around. She doesn't matter to us right now. What matters is that the war between demons and Ereth isn't really as one sided as it seems."

I nodded. I had noticed that as soon as I met Vixia and Delthur for the first time. Much more than just a struggle for land was going on.

"Indeed," Asher chimed in. "We were told the Ereth had been invaded – the demons took their lands and destroyed their Divine Pillars." He raised his hand and summoned his map. "Yet I've visited the locations where the Divine Pillars should have been – some of them at least – and found not a single trace of them."

Mona nodded. "It feels off, doesn't it?" Her gaze lingered on me as I nodded.

"Kai, you're the only one who ever spoke with a demon – you should have an idea already." 

She wasn't wrong. The thought that had been gnawing at the back of my mind finally surfaced. I finally allowed myself to entertain it, even if only for a short moment. "I don't think the Demons invaded the Ereth – or this world – at all." I finally said. "I found not a single Ereth ruin, not a single trace of the great cities they claimed to have."

And that wasn't all. "I have no memory of such things either," I added, glancing at Asher. "None of the souls I've taken in remember such things, yet I remember the lives demons led. I remember how they were always the losing side – how the Ereth, usually led by Divine Matriarch Aelith came to kill them."

Silence followed my words. Eventually, it was Asher who broke it. "So, can we agree on this?" He asked as the map he showed us disappeared. "The Ereth aren't what they seem."

We both nodded. "There is something else going on," I said with a sigh. 

"The Thirteenth Divine will want to meet you." Mona finally spoke. "I can take you to him, but I can't take Erik or the others. They have their own patrons, and we can't take such a huge risk."

I hesitated. I didn't like the idea of leaving those four out here in demon territory. "Can we take them back to a safe place first?" I asked after a moment of hesitation.

Mona nodded. "I was about to suggest the Torchlight Woods." My eyes shot open while Asher seemed just a tad confused. "Why the middle of nowhere?" He asked in his confusion. 

"That's where we were teleported when we first started the game. Most of the creatures there were weak and there is a nice, protected place where they can rest for a while. Stonepatch Village isn't too far away either – they can go there if they need to." I glanced at Mona. "But how did you know all of that?"

"The Thirteenth told me a lot. He's been watching different groups since the day we arrived here." She chuckled. "Us meeting was entirely luck though. He had no hand in that."

"Anyways." Asher clearly wanted us to get back to the subject at hand. "We should return and-"

A woman's scream and a low rumble interrupted him. Not too far away, something had exploded, I think. We all felt it through the ground – the entire forest shook as we tried to keep our balance.

As soon as the shaking stopped, the first thing I did was dash back, to the cave where Erik and the others were.

By the time I arrived, Mona had just caught up with me and we'd both left Asher in the dust.

My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat as we stopped before the stop where the cave entrance used to be.

"Erik! Vincent!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, fear gripping my heart. The cave entrance had collapsed entirely. Now only a pile of rocks was to be seen. A few seconds passed with no answer. I felt a lump in my throat – this couldn't be it, right?

"Anyone!" I heard Erik's voice faintly. 

"Erik!" I shouted back at him, rushing to the pile of rocks and stones. "Are you ok? Can you hear me?"

I heard him cough. "I'm fine – both of us are alive." He hesitated, then shouted again, just as Asher arrived, somewhat out of breath. "Vincent has his legs crushed though – he's unconscious." He coughed again. The air inside was clearly not very clean right now.

"We'll get you out of there!" I shouted, glancing at Asher and Mona.

"Where is Alina and Joshua?" Erik shouted. "I heard her scream. Are they ok?"

We glanced at each other. What little relief I felt had disappeared now. "They're not here." I replied a few seconds later. "Where were they when this happened?"

Erik hesitated; he was probably trying to remember. A short while later, he finally replied. "Joshua was taking Alina to the small creek right there."

I glanced to my left, where the creek was. It wasn't even ten meters away from the entrance. 

"I don't know what happened to them – I just heard Alina scream." 

I bit my lower lip while Mona began to check the rocks blocking the entrance. I approached the creek to find some clues. What had happened to them?

"It will be difficult to move these away." Mona said, glancing at Asher. "I can't do it alone – the whole thing could collapse. I'll need your help."

The blonde sorcerer nodded. "You have it." He glanced at me, worried.

As I stepped away from the creek, another scream sounded. My eyes shot open and my wings appeared on my back.

"Kai, wait!" Asher shouted as I leapt into the air. "It could be a trap by the demons!"

"I can't let them die, Asher!" I shouted. "I just can't! Get them out of here, then follow me!"

I dashed towards Alina's scream. I wasn't going to let her – or anyone else die. I didn't trust them one bit, but I couldn't find it in myself to abandon her or Joshua.

I had to do this for myself.