The Soul Keeper

"Wait, what?" I asked, glaring at Fetheion. "You promised!"

We were in the forest, not too far away from Fetheion's home. He stood on a large rock; his gaze fixed southeast. "I know," He said with a soft voice. "But Lucius insisted." The Divine took a deep breath. "You can't blame the man, Kai. He needs this."

I clenched my fists. "What if something happens to him?" I hissed through my gritted teeth. "Then what? Can you bring him back too if he dies?" I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I lost my best friend. Despite our differences, we had known each other since we were mere kids. No way I would let that idiot die in a god forsaken virtual world.

Fetheion hesitated. "No, I can't." He finally said.

"Then why would you let him risk his life like that?" I shouted.

"Why did I let you risk your life?" The Divine replied, finally turning to face me. His cold, blue eyes sent a shiver down my spine. "Would you rather I lock you, and all your allies somewhere?"

I averted my gaze. No, of course I wouldn't want that. "Do you see my point now?" He asked. 

I took a deep breath. "Yes." It was a hard truth to swallow. "But do you see my point?" I asked after a moment. "I can't leave him alone out there."

"That's your choice to make." Fetheion said with a faint smile. "You can go and help him, but remember – despite being unable to defeat you, he is an incredible swordsman in his own right. Don't underestimate him." 

I shook my head. "I know that, but swordsmanship isn't everything. If he freezes in front of a foe like he did before, or if he comes across a magic user…" I clenched my fists. "If he comes across a demon, he wouldn't stand a chance. Just swordsmanship isn't enough to defeat them, you know that!"

Fetheion nodded. "He is smart enough to avoid them." His gaze wondered aimlessly as he fiddled with his braided hair. I stepped back as I noticed something. I knew that pose. Uncle Eion would do that whenever he was slightly unsure of something. 

The similarities were truly striking. And unnerving too.

"I'm going after him." I said, glancing at the Divine. "Where did he head off to?"

He pointed northwest. 

I didn't waste any more time. I leapt into the air and let my wings carry me.

I didn't have to fly long before the geography changed drastically. I had never come this way before, so the sudden shift from thick, green leafed forests to a dark brown coloured pine forest surprised me. This place seemed almost unhealthy, like the world itself was sick.

For some reason, that thought bothered me a lot more than I thought it would. I felt more anxious as I looked down, scouring the ground in hopes of spotting Lucius.

"You'll never find him like this."

Fetheion's voice startled me as darkness formed before me. Unsurprisingly, it was the Divine who stepped out of it mid-air. He floated before me. I rolled my eyes as he tilted his head slightly. "You could have just said you'll come with." I said as I beat my wings slightly faster and set off again.

He almost effortlessly floated by me as we moved through the air. "I wasn't planning to, but Asher seemed rather angry so I thought it would be best to give him some time to cool off."

I chuckled. "Cool off, right." I said with a grin. "You know he'll only be angrier."

Fetheion's lips formed a mischievous smile. "Not if we return with Lucius and actually have that match." He pointed to out left. "He's that way." He added.

I adjusted my course before asking. "How do you know that?" 

He whistled and looked away. "Uh, just call it a Divine's intuition." 

I stared at him with a blank face. He tried to ignore me for a bit, but then finally relented. "I cast a little spell on him before he left. You know, just in case…"

I almost burst out laughing, but a thought stopped me. "Do I happen to have any similar spells on me?" I didn't like the idea of being watched at all.

He chuckled and shook his head. "The spell is a crude and simple one. You'd notice it right away if I tried to cast it on you. The only reason Lucius didn't is because he doesn't have any magical abilities." He pointed slightly to the right and we adjusted out flight accordingly. "I think that's one reason he needed to go off on his own."

I shook my head. "I talked with him about this already. He doesn't need magic to be 'useful' as he likes to call it. He and Asher just need to learn how to fight together."

Fetheion tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

I sighed. "Fighting one on one is almost always easier than fighting in groups." I explained. "Because, when you're alone, you are the one who decides everything – when you attack, when you back off, when you are defensive and when you go on the offense." I made a vague, meaningless gesture. "But when it's a say… two on two battle, that suddenly changes. You don't need to just follow the enemy's movements, but also those of your ally. That's how most accidental injuries happen actually – friendly fire that could have been easily prevented."

Fetheion didn't say a word when I stopped. I took a deep breath before continuing. "When we fight – me, Asher, and Lucius, I mean – we don't have that teamwork. It usually goes in one of three ways. Either Asher casts a spell to destroy everything, I do something to destroy everything, or we have individual battles in close proximity with little to no teamwork." I sighed. "That's actually one of the reasons we wanted that match against you."

"I see," The Divine mumbled. "You do have a point – even when those two fought against you, they didn't really seem to be working together."

I nodded. "That's exactly my point." It wasn't just their fault, of course. I was to blame as well. "I need to learn how to fight together as well." I looked away. "I never did get to learn that back at home." 

Mother had taught Aoife how to fight like that. She and the other trainees of her age would spend hours learning to fight together. To cover for each other's mistakes, to strike as soon as someone else created an opening. 

I don't know why, but I never received those lessons. 

"I see," Fetheion mumbled. 

I glanced at the Divine. He seemed a bit lost in thought. "Anyways," I said with a sigh. "I think that's what needs to be fixed. We all need to learn to fight together if we're to defeat Aelith. Or, well, anyone else." Like the Demon Lord, I thought, but didn't say it out loud.

"Ah, this way." The Divine suddenly spoke as he pointed at a rather tall hill not too far away. "I think he's there."

I furrowed my brows. What could have possibly prompted Lucius to come to a random hill? "What is that place?" I asked after a moment's hesitation.

Fetheion shrugged. "An old demonic settlement, but it's long abandoned, and I already searched through it, I know there's nothing of value or danger left there." He didn't seem as worried as I was. I guess that wasn't all that surprising considering everything.

"Does he know there's nothing of value there?" I asked as we began descending towards the old settlement. Fetheion shrugged. "I don't know," He said after a moment. We landed right at the edge of the settlement.

I felt the dying land as soon as my feet touched the ground. The world itself was unhealthy here – I could see it before as we flew from the brown, dying pine trees. But now that my feet had touched the ground, I could feel it within me. 

It wasn't a curse; I didn't feel any magic from it. It was just… sickness. Like an infection, slowly spreading with time. With no treatment, I felt as if it could take over the entire world.

"I always disliked coming here," Fetheion mumbled. He was looking at the settlement. I took a deep breath and did the same.

The settlement was clearly old. Very, incredibly old. The buildings were made from large stone blocks, and despite that, the years had taken their toll on them. Most of them didn't have roofs anymore. A few had even lost some of their walls. 

"This place was long gone before we came to this world." The Divine spoke with a voice filled with sorrow. "I never learned the history of this settlement. I wanted to ask your predecessor, but I never got the chance to." His gaze wondered around as I remained silent. "Let's find Lucius." He finally said after a while.

"Which way?" I asked. He pointed dead ahead. "Come on," His voice was but a whisper.