The Soul Keeper

As the three charred corpses fell, Alex's opponents also breathed their last. The tall fighter had made short work of them. 

Now, all that remained was the robed Ereth who was still defending against Rina's attacks. The green haired wizard wasn't giving the Ereth any room to breathe as her continuous lightning strikes pushed her back one step at a time.

Yet, I couldn't help but feel like Rina was the losing side during this exchange. The way the Ereth carried herself made me doubt the reality of the situation. After perhaps a second of pondering, I decided that the Ereth was much more dangerous than she let us see.

I glanced at the three charred corpses, then shrugged. Honour had no place in this fight. I ran towards the robed Ereth, ready to strike her down with my sword.

As I prepared to swing my sharp blade, the robed Ereth glanced at me and flicked her finger.

I felt something hit my chest and crush my ribs as her power sent me flying. The world spun around me, then I hit the ground on the far side of the crater with a thud. A low scream escaped my lips as pain jolted through my body.

"I thought as much." The Ereth spoke as she blocked another one of Rina's lightning strikes. "You may be a force to be reckoned with, wizard, but I can't say the same about your allies." 

As Soul's Respite began to slowly heal my wounds, I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Was she floating in the air?

"It's a shame about the guards – I'll have to explain that to the Divine later." Her voice echoed. I forced myself to rise to my feet as the Ereth's gaze turned on Alex. She pointed at the fighter and a flash of light blinded me momentarily.

"Hell no, you witch!" Rina's shout startled me. Alex remained standing; a quite potent barrier visible around her. I could see Rina on the side – her eyes burning with anger, she raised her staff. Infused with lightning magic, it crackled. I could feel the electrified air even from this far away. 

I wondered for just a moment. Was she perhaps stronger than Asher?

Her next strike unfortunately proved that she was, in fact, not stronger than Asher. Not even close. I felt a little disappointed, but quickly shook my head to get rid of that. Asher was an exception, not the norm.

"Who are you calling a witch?" The Ereth shouted back as a golden barrier appeared around her. The air grew heavier as breathing became more difficult. I felt the power drain from my legs as I slowly moved closer to the group. The half completed pillar began giving off a bright golden shine.

I clenched my fists as Alex ran to the Ereth. As she swung her cutlass, Rina cast a spell, infusing the tall fighter's blade with her magic.

Sparks flew in the air as the lightning infused blade hit the golden barrier surrounding the Ereth. She only laughed at their effort. 

Somewhat out of breath, I had to stop. Something felt very off. If she had such power under her command, why hadn't she used it before we killed her accompanying soldiers? Why hadn't she even lifted a finger to protect them?

None of her actions made sense. But now wasn't the time to sit and ponder either – I couldn't let Rina and Alex do all the fighting. Not because of something simple such as my pride, but because I needed to be strong enough to take these kinds of enemies on if I wanted to ever be able to get my power back.

Souls swirled around me as they tried their best to heal my cracked ribs. My steps were still slow because it hurt, but also because I didn't want to reach the fight before I was back to my best condition.

Alex struck the Ereth's protective barrier again, yet not even a crack appeared. "You see," The Ereth spoke. "Only the Divines and their chosen inquisitors are allowed to draw power in such magnitude from the Divine Pillars." She raised her hand. Expecting another blinding flash of light, I quickly covered my eyes and turned away. The flash was so bright that despite all that, I still noticed it.

I heard Rina grumble as the barrier around Alex began to crack. "Of course, I'm not a full blown inquisitor." The Ereth spoke, "But I'm not going to let that stop me!" Was that a flash of red in her eyes?

"Is that why you let them die?" Alex chimed in as she took a strep back. While it did look like she was retreating, I was fairly sure she was just preparing for something. "Because you couldn't let them see you use all that power?"

The Ereth chuckled. "They couldn't handle trash like you – they deserved what happened to them." 

She was so full of herself! Calling us trash, speaking like that about her killed allies… She pissed me off so much!

The last of the souls melted back into my chest as the last bit of pain disappeared. Soul's Respite had finally finished healing me. 

Grasping the hilt of my sword tightly, I motioned to step towards her, but suddenly noticed the continuously strengthening glow of the Divine Pillar.

I wondered, could I destroy it before she had a chance to stop me?

A quick glance at her quickly made me decide not to try. She was glowing with golden power, and her eyes were a bright crimson that reminded me of the tendrils of the Divine. I was sure of it – this person wasn't just any soon to be inquisitor, she was a servant of the Divine that had orchestrated my death.

My gaze shifted between the Pillar and the Ereth – I could see the power being supplied to her when I squinted. Unlike the Divine, she wasn't able to directly use the Pillar's power. She needed to convert it to her own first. 

A wicked smile appeared on my lips as my blade began burning with black and purple flames. I dashed forward, not to the Ereth, nor to the Pillar, but aiming right between them, where I could see the flow of power was the weakest.

The Ereth noticed me as she opened her mouth to answer Alex. Her eyes widened as she pointed at me. "No, you don't!" She shouted as I felt the air around me grow thicker.

"Kai, go!" Rina's scream echoed. As my steps slowed down because of the constantly thickening air around me, I felt Rina's magic envelop me. The Ereth's power scattered, and at the same time sparks flew in the air as Alex hit the golden barrier protecting the robed Ereth. 

My blade and the flames it carried cut through the tether of power. I didn't feel any resistance from the blade – it passed through the flow of power like it was just air. Worried that I failed, I glanced at that spot, only to see my flames stalled around the tether.

The Ereth screamed as she fell on the ground with a thud as soon as the tether snapped. 

"You demon!" She shouted. "You will incur the Divine's wrath if you kill me!" She shouted. "Let me live and your transgression may be forgiven!" Despite the fancy wording she used, I could see the fear of death in her eyes. She was terrified, just like me moments before my death.

"I don't fear her," I said as my flames returned to me. They danced on my skin, growing darker with each step I took towards her.

"Kai?" Rina asked with a low voice. "You're not going to-"

I put my sword against the Ereth's throat. "Go back to where you came from!" I slit her throat with a quick, precise strike. 

Rina gasped and Alex drew a sharp breath as the Ereth's lifeless body joined those of her allies'.

I didn't look at the two – I knew exactly what kind of expression they had right now. Shock, sadness and maybe even terror and some fear mixed in. Instead, I approached the Pillar.

I had destroyed the other one with quite a lot of difficulty. And that one wasn't anything more than the symbols on the ground. This one was more than that – I could see seven focal points instead of the three I had seen in the other one.

The three corners of the symbols, the three corners of the golden structure and the centre of it all.

I took a deep breath and raised my sword.

"Kai, hang on." Rina began to speak, but I had already begun moving. I brought down the sharp blade to the first of the seven focal points. As my hands touched the golden light, I felt my skin burn. A fraction of a second later, I heard that satisfying crack as my sword dug into the stone surface and shattered the crystal.

I stepped away and moved to the next one. 

I raised my sword again, but then felt a cool touch on my wrist. Alex pulled me away from the pillar. "Stop it!" She said, somewhat out of breath. "Your hands!"