The Soul Keeper

As air filled my lungs and my heart started pumping my blood once more, I felt dizzy. Soon, my consciousness faded as I felt someone pick me up from the ground. Familiar darkness enveloped me, but this time I had my heartbeat and shallow breathing to accompany me.

When came to, I was wrapped in something warm. I slowly opened my eyes to see a dark, wooden ceiling. A very dim light illuminated the room. I blinked a few times, then looked at myself. I was wrapped in a blanket, laying on a bed.

I slowly pushed myself to a sitting position. 

Just that simple motion was enough to send jolts of pain throughout my body. I flinched with the pain and took a few deep breaths as I waited for the pain to subside. 

Where was I? How was I still alive? Had I even died in the first place?

Were those memories truly mine?

My mind filled with such questions, I couldn't help but feel anxious. I took a deep breath, then pushed the blanket off me. 

I was wearing a simple robe. A… nightgown? Whatever it was, it was made of an awfully thin fabric. I shivered as the thin air touched my skin. Seriously, where the hell was I?

I couldn't really sense anything.

I furrowed my brows. I couldn't even sense Asher. I searched the depths of my mind – what had happened to the connection? 

I motioned to summon my interface, but nothing happened. I could feel my heart grow heavy. Worry and fear filled my mind. I tried again – where was it? Why wasn't it appearing? Where was that god damned pale blue text that proved we were in a game?

It took me a while to give up. And some more time after that to attempt to get off the bed.

As soon my feet touched the ground, I shivered with the cold. My muscles screamed in pain – they had lost their strength completely. Just taking a simple step was a greater challenge than I anticipated. 

I looked around the room. There was really nothing else besides the bed and a fairly dim light source, an orb of magic. There was also a door, but no windows. The floor, walls and ceiling were all made of some kind of wood – unpolished and raw, it almost looked natural. Almost.

I stumbled towards the door, though I did need to get some support from the wall. I hesitated as I reached for the handle. Who had saved me? What was I going to face once I went through this door?

I pushed these questions away – no matter what, the only thing I could do is try and keep going. So, I grabbed the wooden handle and pushed it down.

My already dim hopes shattered as the door didn't budge. I pulled a little harder to no avail. 

Tired from even that tiny bit of effort, I sat back on the bed. 

"Just great," I mumbled to myself. Was I a prisoner here? What even was this place?

Tried, I wanted to sleep. Instead, I folded my legs and leaned my back on the wall as I sat on the bed. I pulled the blanket to my chin to escape from this annoying cold and began my long wait.

I don't know how much time passed before my consciousness drifted away. When I woke up once more, my back hurt from sitting like that. The first thing I did was look at the door, only to see it closed, just like before.

I thought about getting up and trying to force it open but gave up as soon as I even tried to move my legs. My whole body felt stiff.

I tried to summon my interface again, but to nobody's surprise, nothing happened. The only time I could use magic properly was when I first met Aelith – was this her doing as well?

My hand instinctively touched my right ear. The earring she'd given me wasn't there. Maybe this wasn't her doing after all. I didn't think she'd take that off willingly. Though I did feel somewhat relieved to see the earring gone, now I had yet another thing to worry about.

Who was it that saved me, then locked me in this tiny room? 

Since sitting here wasn't going to give me any answers, I decided to find out what else I had lost. 

It didn't take me long to figure that out. I couldn't feel any souls. None. Not even the phoenix who'd been with me for such a long time.

A lump lodged itself in my throat as a I felt something new. Emptiness. Where there should have been thousands of souls, there was nothing but an empty void. 

I only noticed a tear flowing down my cheek after a while. I wiped it with the blanket. Now wasn't the time to be sentimental – what I lost wasn't just souls, it was power I desperately needed if I was to survive.

I clenched my fists. Whose doing was this? The Divine's and Alina's? Or the person's who saved me?

A thought popped into my mind. I jumped off the bed – almost fell to the ground when my knees gave out – and unveiled my wings.

The familiar black mist appeared, and I felt the weight of the massive wings on my back. My happiness was soon overshadowed by the fact that I immediately collapsed on the ground due to their weight.

And even then, I knew something was off. A simple glance at the wings was enough to make that clear. The feathers had lost their shine, the wings themselves looked like some of their feathers had been plucked away.

It wasn't too surprising, though it still saddened me. Even if my body was strong enough, my wings were in no shape to fly.

I let them disappear in the mist and forced myself to get up. I climbed back on the bed and tried to use the powers that I had learned. I tried to create a flame in my palm, I tried to use my magic to empower my body, I tried everything and anything I could think of.

Yet I could do nothing. 

The primal stones of both flame and wind were still with me – I could feel their power pulsing. Something just prevented me from using them.

Frustrated, I laid down and pulled the blanket to my neck. So what, was all of my struggle, every bit of progress I made in vain?

And besides all of that, I couldn't believe Alina and Joshua basically walked out unscathed. No one knew of their betrayal, did they? The two of them could easily fake everything. Hell, I doubted anyone knew I had died. Or almost died. Or whatever happened. I wasn't even sure of that anymore.

Honestly, aside from Asher I didn't think anyone could know. Even then, now that the telepathic connection linking our minds together had disappeared, he had no way of knowing I was alive. 

And it was all because of Alina and Joshua.

The sight of her, thrusting that sword into my chest was burnt into my mind. The genuine smile on her face, the glimmer of excitement and satisfaction in her eyes. In a way, she was way worse than Joshua. At least he had the courage to try and kill me properly, without resorting to traps. At least he had the guts to take a risk.

The sight of Alina running through my flames flashed across my mind. She knew full well I wouldn't have the chance to react to her. She knew she was only risking mild burns if anything. 

I only noticed I was clenching my fists when I felt my nails dig into the skin of my palm. I took deep breaths to quell my anger. I was going to take my revenge. No matter what – I wasn't going to let Alina and Joshua walk away from what they did to me without consequences.

Though, to be able to do that I would need my power back – and I'd also have to be able to leave from this room.

Almost as if someone heard my thoughts, a noise sounded from the door. I jumped up on my feet, my knees slightly bent. I wasn't too good at hand to hand combat and I honestly didn't believe I could do much to any Ereth or Demon – or anything in between – but I still readied for myself.

I heard the sound of a key turning in its lock. Then, the sturdy wooden door slowly creaked open.

"Oh," Said an awfully familiar voice. "You're awake. I didn't think you'd wake up for at least a few more weeks."

My eyes wide open, I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Why did he look so much like…?

An Ereth, though more human looking than any other I'd seen, was standing at the doorway. He was tall and slender. His skin was pale – white as a sheet of paper, even – with no scales to be seen anywhere. His bright blue eyes seemed to be piercing my very soul as he looked at me. His long, crimson hair was braided. It nearly reached his knees; it was probably even longer when free. A pair of white, elegant horns were visible on his head, though they were much smaller and less… ridiculous than those of Aelith or the other divines.

He wore simple dark grey clothes, he had none of the other Ereth's showy stile. 

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet." He said with his nostalgic voice.