The Soul Keeper

He shouted something as the weapon was perhaps and arm's length away from him. A brilliant, golden light enveloped him. The spear struck the light, only for the weapon to shatter to pieces. 

"What…?" Asher whispered as Lucius stopped mid dash. The golden light disappeared soon after, only for Fetheion to chuckle. "I'm a Divine – darkness isn't the only power at my disposal. And Light isn't the only power in theirs." 

He raised his hand, and I found myself flying as the ground beneath out feet exploded. My wings appeared on my back as I regain my balance mid-air. I noticed something move beside me. Mona, Asher, and Lucius were holding on to an oversized blade of grass.

"Not the best plant to enlarge!" Lucius shouted at Mona as the blade of grass started to bend under their weight.

"Well excuse me for not having time to find another plant while the floor exploded!" She shouted back. Asher looked like he wanted to punch both of them, but before he could even say a word, the plant quickly began to shrink, and they found themselves on the now overturned ground.

I also landed – being in the air would make me an easy target for any spell Fetheion wanted to cast. 

Despite moving quickly, it was as if he was expecting me to land. As soon as my feet touched the ground, darkness spread from him. Asher clenched his fists. "This is just getting annoying now," He mumbled. 

"Agreed." Fetheion's voice sounded. For some reason, that one word was enough to send shivers down my spine. "Asher, shields!" I shouted. The blonde sorcerer shot me confused glance but began casting the shielding spell anyways. Yet, despite him quickly following my command, he wasn't fast enough. Something – a power I hadn't felt before – hit us, sending us flying a few meters away. 

I hit the ground with a thud. I quickly reached for my sword, but the Divine's voice stopped me. "I don't think you want to try that." He leaned the sharp tip of his sword against my cheek. "And I win." I felt a slight pain as he scratched my cheek with his blade. 

His weapon disappeared, as did the darkness and the barrier around the arena.

"Mona!" Theresa and Laura shouted as they ran towards us. 

"What was that?" I asked, looking at Fetheion. I wanted to know what that last spell he used was. How could he cast it so quickly? The more powerful a spell was, the longer and more difficult it was to cast.

He chuckled as he bent down and helped me get up. "A little something I had prepared." He glanced at Asher and Lucius. "Your teamwork wasn't bad," He said as those two also got up. They looked just as beat up as me. That last spell had caught all of us by surprise.

Lucius just sighed while Asher shook his head. "We still lost a four against one match." He glanced at me. "Even with him we couldn't even put a scratch on you."

Fetheion chuckled. "It's not all that weird," He said as he fixed his hair. "I'm much more experienced than any of you and I know almost everything you're capable of. The same can't really be said about you – the only person who knew a little about my power was Kai, and what he did know was limited." 

I nodded. "I only knew he was good with a sword, really." I sighed. I hadn't really expected to win – I knew Fetheion's power was comparable to Aelith's. But I hadn't expected to be wiped out as quickly as that. It made me feel like he toyed with us the whole time. 

A soft light shone on us as Asher cast a simple healing spell. Those few levels into a healer class were proving to be quite useful. "Thanks," I said as the scratch on my cheek and the bruises from the explosion healed.

"We need to grow stronger." Asher declared as shook the dirt and grass off his robes. "And we need to hurry." He glanced at me. "Kai's power grows with each soul he gets, but I doubt the difference is quite large enough unless you get the soul of a powerful being, am I wrong?"

I shook my head. He was right – the big jumps in power were always when I took in the souls of powerful creatures, such as the phoenix, the wyvern, or the corrupted demon. Each of those souls had allowed me to do things I couldn't before. If only I could get those that I lost back…

"That's true," Fetheion said with a more serious tone. "All of you need to grow stronger if you're to fight Aelith, or any other Divine." He glanced at Lucius. "You need to learn to work with Asher better – he did a fine job shielding you, but you didn't try to strike during any opening he created with his attacks."

Lucius looked away and nodded. He knew Fetheion was right.

"And Mona," He called the cheerful Druid's name. "You can't keep trying the same thing over and over again. The first time you tried jumping me, it was enough to catch my attention. You shouldn't have tried it the other times though." 

Mona sighed. "I know, I'm sorry."

Laura patted Mona's shoulder. "You still did kind of fine though – those huge plants of yours did help quite a lot." Theresa nodded while Mona chuckled. "I guess," She mumbled.

Fetheion also nodded. "Your teamwork needs to be better." He finally said, glancing at me. We had already talked about this before. We understood each other perfectly.

"All of you should get some rest." Fetheion said as he looked up. The sun was halfway towards the horizon. A few hours later, it'd be dusk. I took a deep breath. "Yeah, we really should. Let's talk about our next move tomorrow."

Asher nodded. "Let's." 

With that, we scattered. Asher left for the pond along with Lucius, while I chose to just go to my room and sleep. Mona left with Theresa and Laura for a walk while Fetheion started fixing the now overturned arena. He clearly wanted the peaceful grass area to return.

Once I was in my room, I shut the door and lay down on the bed. Only then did I notice just how drained I was. The fight had taken a much larger toll that I thought it did. I fell asleep soon after.

"No!" I heard shouting from afar. "You can't!"

"I can, and I will." A familiar voice sounded. "Don't interfere with my work, brother." I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. My vision was slightly blurry. It fixed itself when I blinked a few times, though the weird haze was still around.

I looked around. I was in the training hall, a dull sword in hand. I felt somewhat nostalgic – was I dreaming? There was no way I had returned home, was there?

"I will if it means-" The voice silenced as the door to the training hall opened. Mother stepped inside, along with Uncle Eion. "Oh, Kai." He said, swallowing whatever he was about to say. "What are you doing here so early?" He asked, shooting an awkward glance at Mother.

I remembered this! This was a few weeks after Aoife won her tournament. I remembered this fight Uncle Eion had with Mother clearly. For some reason, it had struck me as important even then, at such a young age. 

"Are you ok?" Uncle Eion approached me. "You look a little pale, do you have a fever?" He leaned down and touched my forehead. "Doesn't look like it." He glanced at Mother, then looked back at me. "Have you eaten yet?"

"He can take care of himself," Mother's voice sounded. She glanced at me, her expression cold as always. "Take a break Kai."

I felt the sting in her words. 

"Hey!" Uncle Eion raised his voice at her. "Stop that,"

"Kai, leave." Mother's emotionless glare was enough to cause me to run outside. As I shut the door, I heard Uncle Eion shout. "What in the name of all holy is wrong with you? He is your son! Your only-"

Their voices faded as I ran farther away, only to find myself back in the training hall. The dream had shifted – I was older now, though only by a couple of years. 

"Hey, don't get lost in thought now." Aoife's voice sounded. She stood before me, her longsword in hand. I barely reached her shoulder when we stood across each other like this. "Or do you want her to get angry again?" She asked, lowing her voice slightly.

I flinched. I could feel Mother's eyes on my back. As always, she silently stood by the entrance. She'd always do that whenever Aoife was around.

"Let's begin." I forced myself to speak as I readied myself. My sister chuckled. "Let's." She said with a cheerful voice. She was happy, while I felt tense.

With no hesitation on her part, our duel began.