The Soul Keeper

"Wait, hold on." I said raising my hands, slightly alarmed. "You do realise Asher can probably kill me fairly easily, right?" I was sure I couldn't match the bold sorcerer's strength yet. Maybe if I hadn't lost all of my souls. But now? No way.

"I don't think so. Besides, he'll be there as my support." Lucius grinned. "Since trying to fight back against demonic magic harms him so much, he has to stay back when we're fighting demons anyways. He could use his magic to help me out like Rina did with Alex."

It wasn't a bad plan. In fact, he had a really good point, and I couldn't think of a reason as to why it wouldn't work.

"Fine," I said, smiling. "Go get Asher then. I'll be in the opening by the hideout."

Lucius darted off as soon as I finished my words. I, on the other hand, was much slower. I headed to the opening and glanced at the sky. Not a single cloud could be seen. The bright sun hurt my eyes, so I retreated into the shadows of the trees.

I didn't have to wait long for them to arrive. 

"I'm fine! I don't need to stay back!" I heard Asher's protests before they even entered my vision. 

"No, you're not and we all know it. Besides, this is a good chance to get to use those skills you never use, right?" They stepped out of the woods, and as soon as they did, I left the shadows as well.

"Kai, tell him something." Asher's desperate voice made me chuckle. 

"He's right though." I said with a grin. "Besides, I only stand a chance against you two if you're not going all out."

He shook his head in defeat as Lucius' sword appeared in his hands. "Ok, so… First blood wins?" He asked.

I hesitated. I didn't really want to accidentally hurt either of them.

"It's fine," Fetheion's familiar voice sounded. "I'll make sure none of you get hurt." I glanced towards his voice, only to see him sitting on a thick, sturdy branch of one of the nearby trees.

"Thank you." I replied, unsure of what else to say. Then, I glanced at Asher. "Remember – no thunderstorms."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I won't cast any too powerful spells but don't expect me to just sit here and do nothing."

I couldn't help but feel somewhat anxious as a wicked smile appeared on his lips. He had something nasty in mind, didn't he?

"Alright, Fetheion, can I ask you to be the judge?"

"Of course," He smiled. "Take your positions." We did as he said and faced each other across the field. I extended my hand as my sword appeared out of a shadowy darkness. 

"Begin!" Fetheion's crystal clear voice echoed.

Lucius dashed towards me and at the same time, Asher began casting a spell.

Who was the greater danger here? Asher, of course. Unlike Lucius, I had no idea just exactly he was capable of. Sure, I had seen him fight many times, but each and every time he had only used less than a handful of spells.

Lucius reached me in no time and our blades met with a loud, clear clang. His sheer physical strength startled me as he pushed me back almost effortlessly. He had so much power with no spell support from Asher yet? Had he put all of his stat points to strength?

I rolled back and then swung my sword to block his next strike. He was almost as fast as I was. This reminded me of our match during the tournament in Baile Chailce. It was fun. Now, however, I knew that this was much more important to Lucius. He needed to prove to himself that he could defeat spellcasters.

I needed to provide him the challenge he needed – I wasn't going to hand him a win in a silver platter. That would serve no good at all. Instead, I decided to go all out. Knowing Fetheion could stop us the moment things became too dangerous, I felt at ease as I leapt back, rolled to the side to put some distance between us, and then used Soul's Aspect.

Lucius froze mid step as my body began to take the shape of the Corrupted Demon. Seeing his surprise, I grinned, showing my sharp fangs.

"You wanted to fight a demon – why the hesitation?" I asked. My voice echoed as a gentle wind pulled at my long, white hair.

Lucius chuckled nervously. 

I raised my hand as black- purple flames danced on my skin. This was the most I could do for him – anymore, and I feared I would lose myself. "Come on then!" I shouted as I dashed forward, leaving a trail of flames behind me.

I swung my flaming sword at the young swordsman, only for him to block it. Wide eyed, he quickly stepped back and tried to put some distance between us. I didn't let him – following his every step, I forced him to defend.

This went on for nearly a whole minute, until a bolt of lightning struck my sword. Startled, I dropped the blade as my right arm went numb. I glanced at Asher, who pointed it me again. I threw myself aside as soon as I saw a light at the tip of his finger. A lightning bolt flashed right over me, hitting a tree in the distance.

I rolled, got back up on my feet and blocked the next lightning bolt with a wall of flames. Our magic clashed for a moment, but Asher quickly stopped forcing the fight – he knew he couldn't take too many risks against my demonic magic, lest something like what happened before could happen again.

Instead, he shouted at Lucius at the top of his lungs. "Hey! Pull yourself together – how am I supposed to sit in the backlines if you're like this in a real fight?"

The young swordsman tightened his grasp around the hilt of his sword. I could see him trying to pull himself together. With a wide swinging motion, I threw my flames towards him. He needed to pull himself together now – he wasn't going to have so much time in a real fight.

A crackling barrier of lightning formed around him as Asher shouted again. "Lucius!" He pointed at me, sending a few weak bolts of lightning where I was standing. I moved out of the way with ease, then sent a bolt of fire towards him. While he was busy blocking that, I dashed at Lucius again.

My sharp, deadly claws lashed out at him as he just barely blocked my strikes. I could see the shock in his face. If it were under normal circumstances, I wouldn't stand a chance against him without my sword. 

Another bolt of lightning illuminated out surroundings, forcing me to back off. I felt magic gather to my right, where Asher was standing.

"If you're not going to fight, then I will!" The blonde sorcerer shouted. His voice echoed, accompanied with thunder. His eyes let out a blue-silver shine as lightning crackled and danced on his body.

"Hey, wait –" I began to speak, but had to immediately shut up and focus on stopping his spells. Lightning rained on me from the sky, now covered in dark, ominous clouds. I threw myself aside as lightning struck where I was standing. I had to immediately get moving again as soon as I touched the ground as only more lightning and thunder followed.

I knew I couldn't keep just evading his attacks – I knew his mana pool was vast and he could keep his concentration for a very, incredibly long time.

Instead, I raised my hands and fed more power to my flames. As the next bolt of lightning fell down, my flames roared up to meet it. A flash of light nearly blinded me as our spells met.

Lucius shouted as the resulting shockwave sent him flying. I noticed Fetheion jump down from the branch. His expression had darkened.

But I couldn't watch them for long as Asher poured everything he had into our duel. His power roared and thunder echoed across the land as I felt my flames slowly dim. I gritted my teeth as I stood there, my arms raised, feeding the pillar of flames. What could I do against such enormous power?

I couldn't think of anything. Asher was on a wholly different power level than I was – why was that? Despite my curiosity, now wasn't the time to think about it.

Fetheion's words rang in my ears. How powerful was an Ancient Demon? Why couldn't I tap into the same power the Demon Lord could? I forced myself to remember what it felt like to face him. His sheer presence was enough to freeze me, even time seemed to obey his commands. How did he do that?

I felt my power being pushed back, my flames scatter. I couldn't lose, not like this. I wasn't about to lose to that smug sorcerer who couldn't even hold a god damned promise!

My eyes flashed purple as my wings formed on my back. That dark, shadowy miasma spread from me, covering the entire area within seconds.

Fetheion's eyes widened. "No, wait!" He reached for me.