The Soul Keeper

After a simple breakfast, we set off. Thankfully, the jokes about my death had stopped, though probably only temporarily. 

We walked since Mona and I were the only ones with flight. While Laura did have the ability to use magic, from what I understood, her spells weren't exactly combat oriented and didn't provide her with the spell Asher had.

I didn't mind walking; it was a nice change of pace and walking with these three was fun. Though our conversations had died down by now, we had laughed and chatted quite a bit in the past couple of hours.

Now, I was retelling the story of my death to them. I skipped most of the irrelevant parts and simply explained Alina and Joshua's betrayal and the Divine's trap.

"So, now you lost most of your power and you need to get it back?" Theresa asked, slightly tilting her head. I nodded. She pondered for a while as Laura clearly was fuming.

"How dare they – you risked your life to protect them so many times!" She hissed. Her red eyes let out an unnatural glow. A crimson mist began to from beneath her feet.

"Has anyone told you that you're terrifying when you're angry?" I asked with a grin. "Just remind me not to piss you off."

Her anger vanished as she chuckled. Well, maybe it didn't vanish, but she seemed to have it under control now. "It's just so wrong." She said, shaking her head.

"How will you get your power back?" Theresa chimed in; her voice filled with curiosity. 

I shrugged. "I don't know yet. First, I need to figure out where it's kept."

Many possibilities came to mind. It could be in the palace in Baile Chailce, it could still be in the hands of that Divine. Even Alina or Joshua could have hidden it somewhere. "Worst case scenario is if it's kept somewhere in the Palace in Baile Chailce." I didn't think we could pull off a heist and if we tried to break in by force, I was fairly sure we'd all end up dead.

Theresa fiddled with a few strands of her shoulder length black hair. "Indeed, that would be troublesome." She mumbled. "Perhaps…" Her voice faded as her mind went off to her own world.

"What if the Divine has it?" Laura asked after glancing at Theresa. "What will you do then?"

I shrugged. There wasn't much to my so-called plan anyways. "I'll kill her and take it back."

Laura seemed surprised for a moment, but then she chuckled. "We'll be there to help." She said with a smile. Mona was quick to nod. "No way we're letting them get away with this."

"Thank you," I couldn't believe how lucky I was – I hadn't expected them to lend their aid like this. I hadn't even dared expect their acceptance. I was lucky to have met them. "It means a lot, really." And because I felt like this, I wasn't going to let anything happen to them. 

"I'll try to think of a way to break into the palace." Theresa's low voice startled me. "But yes, we'll help. Mona will get angry if you try to do any of this without us."

A quick glance at Mona was enough to prove Theresa wasn't lying.

"I'll make sure everyone is on the same page and ready to go before I try anything." I glanced at the crimson haired druid again. She showed me a wide, oh so innocent smile. I breathed a sigh of relief. 

"By the way." I said after a short while of silence. "Where exactly are we going?"

Laura opened her interface and showed me her map. It was a topographic map, just like mine. "See," She said, pointing at a valley between two tall mountains. "Something's going on here, apparently. The adventuring guilds and such had loads of quests about this place back in the city, but since the danger level was higher than usual most players skipped it."

I flinched – where they still doing those quests? Was it even a good idea?

"Don't worry," Theresa said with a flat voice. "We haven't been doing quests since the thirteenth Divine told us not to do them. They aid the Divine Matriarch and her subordinates. We simply use the guild as an information centre."

"That's… a very good idea that hadn't crossed my mind." I mumbled, feeling somewhat guilty for doubting them.

Laura chuckled. "Remember though – this isn't Divine magic that's spotted there. It's demonic." Her voice grew more serious as her expression darkened. "We now know the Divines and some Ereth aren't as innocent and pure as they made it seem, but that doesn't mean the Demons are the good guys."

I nodded. I knew how sadistic and terrifying the Demons were – I had suffered plenty in Vixia's hands. Despite the months that had passed since then, I found it impossible to forget those moments.

"Are we going there to cleanse the demonic magic?" I asked to get back to the issue at hand. Laura shook her head. "No, our first goal is to assess the situation. If it's not too dangerous and if there aren't any players nearby, we can try to cleanse it."

Theresa sighed. "Other players are a fairly big concern right now." She said, shaking her head. "Nearly everyone knows you as the Pale Demon and the Matriarch's Champion from that tournament. No way they won't recognise you if we run into anyone. And your funeral was a grand one which the Divine Matriarch herself attended."

I rolled my eyes. "I hadn't realised my death would be such a huge deal in Baile Chailce." Aelith hadn't stopped using me even when I was dead. For some reason, that annoyed me a hell of a lot more then most other things she'd done.

"Well," Mona chuckled. "You are the Keeper of Souls. You aren't just a powerful player but also a symbol, both for Ereth and the Demons. No way she'd let that chance go."

Silence enveloped us as we continued walking. At dusk, Laura suggested we set up camp. We found a water source – a narrow, shallow creek and set up camp there.

Theresa immediately began preparing dinner while Mona and Laura set up their tents. 

"Don't you have a tent, Kai?" Laura asked. I shook my head. "I like the night sky." I wasn't lying – the fresh air and the sounds of the night were blessings in my eyes. I had more trouble sleeping inside than I had outside.

Soon, our dinner was ready, and we dug in. It didn't take us long to finish it – Theresa's cooking, even with the limited number of tools and ingredients at her disposal, was excellent.

Once finished, we sat and chatted for a bit. After a short while passed, I noticed Laura glaring at Mona. Somewhat confused, I glanced at Theresa, who was watching the other two with a mild grin on her face. Mona, still not aware of Laura's glare, was still talking about the fish we say the night before.

"Speaking of nature and beautiful things," Laura spoke, her voice calm. Too calm. "You skipped your rituals again, didn't you Mona?" 

The cheerful druid flinched. "Ah," She awkwardly giggled. "Well, you see," Her voice faded as whatever will of resistance she had crumbled under Laura's gaze. "I'll go do that now."

She pushed herself up and walked a few dozen steps away. Just like before, as soon as she raised her hand and her beautiful dance began, I felt like something was suffocating me.

It reminded me of how I felt in the alcove back in the Torchlight Woods, but much more powerful, and much more suffocating.

With each step she took, with each turn of her body, the life magic gathering around her thickened. The plants bloomed beneath her feet. With each second that passed, I could breathe less. It was dangerous. More so than before.

I forced myself to get up. "I'll look around for a bit," I said with a weak voice and quickly walked off. Only once I was far away enough that I couldn't sense her magic did I breathe a sigh of relief. 

I knelt by the shallow, narrow creek and splashed some water on my face.

"So, her magic affects you?" Laura's voice startled me. I jumped to my feet and only relaxed when I saw her standing a few meters away.

"You could say that," I said, looking away. "I didn't think it'd be this bad."

The blonde woman shook her head. "You're much more of a demon than you were before, Kai." There wasn't a hint of blame or disappointment in her voice. Yet I still felt guilty. "I'm worried about what will happen to you if this keeps up."

I shrugged. "I don't know." I didn't want to think too much about it either. "I am more of a Demon. You're right about that. But there isn't much I can do about it. I'll handle it somehow, so please don't worry too much."

"Mona worries, and as such, so do I and Theresa." Laura's voice was filled with sorrow. "When you died, Mona only learned of your survival a while later. She was devastated. Theresa and I also mourned you of course, but it hit Mona different. I don't want to see my friend go through that again, Kai." She stepped closer and gently touched my shoulder. "I know you'd sacrifice yourself if it meant getting us out of this virtual world, but please remember that you won't be the only one to suffer should you die."

She stepped back again. "Remember, we're all here to help. This isn't just your fight."