The Soul Keeper

Mona found us about an hour before dusk. She quickly opened her map and explained the layout of the place. With each word she spoke, the grimmer our situation seemed.

"What do you mean they have dozens of soldiers?" Lucius asked with his eyes wide open and his complexion pale. "How are we even supposed to take them on?"

Asher sighed. "If it's just normal soldiers, then we should be able to take care of it." 

I pondered. "If there is even a single inquisitor there, we're in deep trouble." I mumbled. They could draw power from the Divine Pillars – near unlimited power. With so many soldiers who could support them, it would be near impossible to get even close to them or the Pillar they would be protecting.

"I didn't see any robed people." Mona chimed in, though she didn't sound too certain. "I think it was just soldiers." She added after a moment of hesitation. "I could go have another look."

I nodded. "Please do, we can't risk this." Both Lucius and Asher seemed surprised as I spoke, but Mona simply nodded, turned into an eagle, and flew off.

"That was unexpected," Lucius said after she left. "How powerful are the inquisitors?" He asked after a moment's hesitation.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Last time we fought one, Rina was keeping her busy while I cut off her connection with the pillar. But then, there were only a handful of soldiers and she wasn't a full-fledged inquisitor quite yet, I believe." Even if she was, her control over her own magic seemed lacking.

"I can do the same if need be." Asher suggested. "You guys would need to take care of all the soldiers and destroy the pillar on your own though, because I don't think I can keep her busy and support you."

I quickly shook my head. "No, that's too dangerous." The Ereth wouldn't hesitate to kill us. "We want to play this as safe as possible – none of you are allowed to try and become martyrs. We need every single one of us to be alive to end this whole ordeal." I glared at them. "Is that clear?"

Asher met my gaze without hesitation. "You do realise those words apply to you as well, right?"

I took a deep breath. "I know. We all need to survive." That was why I was doing that, wasn't it? Because I didn't want to die? I wasn't some hero – I was the opposite really. A selfish person who just wanted to escape. "Just a bit left until dusk," I said in an attempt to change the subject. "Mona should be back soon. We need to come up with a plan."

Asher nodded. "Alright, let's do that." He opened his interface and navigated to the map panel. "So," We started planning.

Come dusk, we were as ready as we were going to be. We had all taken our positions – all that remained for us to do was wait. Wait for Mona's signal.

I took a deep breath as I waited above the dark layer of clouds. Below, I could hear the crackle of lightning and the roaring thunderstorm. The air up here was a bit thinner and much colder than I was used to. It was my first time flying quite this high up.

"Alright," I mumbled to myself as I glanced at the piece of rock in my hands. I was now flying directly above the location of the first of the three Divine Pillars. A few moments passed with nothing happening. 

I was feeling anxious – what if something went wrong on their end? What if Asher didn't get the chance to cast the spell?

As my mind was filled with worries, the piece of rock in my hand lit up. My lips formed a smile as I let go of the rock and stretched my hand to the side. Darkness formed around my hand as I pulled my sword out of it. I folded my wings and quickly began my steep descent.

As I passed through the dark clouds covering the world, I felt my body chance as I took on the form of the Corrupted Demon.

I released my magic gradually as I flew out of the clouds. From the distance, I probably looked like a slowly growing ball of purple flames.

As soon as I exited the layer of clouds, the battlefield below stretched before my eyes. It was utter and complete chaos – Ereth soldiers scrambling to find the source of whatever chaos was happening, and a robed person, standing before a golden pillar, channelling power through it to create a barrier around the whole area.

As a golden light began to form around the area, I reached the battlefield, surrounded by black and purple flames. I thrust my sword into the shield as soon as it formed, shattering it with ease and landing safely on the ground, only mere steps away from the pillar.

All eyes turned on me – I was the only visible enemy after all. The obvious culprit.

"Kill him!" The robed Ereth shouted as she pointed at me. With true inquisitor fashion, she wasn't carrying a weapon with her. Instead, she once again drew power from the pillar.

I grinned. "You're welcome to try!" 

Before they even got the chance to make a move, one of them shouted, just before falling down. Only a flash of lightning could be seen just before another one of them fell.

I didn't hesitate a single moment as I dashed towards the inquisitor. Lucius could take care of the rest.

As the roar of a bear sounded, I quickly glanced towards the source of the sound. A massive black bear was tearing through the Ereth ranks. I promptly corrected my thoughts – Mona and Lucius could easily take care of the rest.

And that trust and confidence in them freed me up to direct my whole attention to the inquisitor. I knew she was strong – she had the power of the Divine Pillar supporting after all – but I also knew I had more tools at my disposal than she did.

I released my flames in an outward circle to help out Lucius and Mona, forcing the Ereth soldiers to back off and freeing up some space for my own battle as well. 

"You won't get out of this alive!" The robed Ereth shouted. I couldn't see her face – she was wearing a mask – but that didn't stop me from guessing her move. She raised her hand, creating a shield around herself. As soon as the golden shield formed around her, she began casting another spell.

Without a second of hesitation, I dashed forward and thrust my sword into the shield. At first, I felt some resistance as it refused to bend or crack under the pressure. Then, gradually, the golden light began to fade, and the smooth surface began to crack.

The inquisitor didn't budge – she concentrated on her own spell as the barrier around her slowly crumbled. I gritted my teeth – my strength wasn't enough to break through the barrier before she completed whatever spell she was casting. 

Indeed, she finished casting her spell just as I broke the barrier. A deafening explosion sent me flying as soon as our eyes met. Purple flames formed a cocoon around me as I landed on the ground a little farther away and shook my head, trying to regain my hearing. I wasn't hurt at all aside from the temporary deafness.

A golden light flashed, and I felt my mana quickly drain for a split second as my flames protected me. I wasn't too worried – I had more than enough mana to last for this fight. As soon as the assault on my own protective layer of magic stopped, I let my flames dim and dashed forward.

The Inquisitor seemed more surprised than anything as she pointed at me. Her motion made no sense at first, but then I noticed the spark of golden light forming at the tip of her finger.

I also felt something else – the crackle of lightning around me as Asher's magic formed a protective shield around me. I decided to trust his strength and his ability to stop the Inquisitor's spell and didn't evade her attack.

Golden lightning met the silvery blue shield around me at about the same time my sword pierced her heart, killing her in an instant. Her soul appeared and moved towards me, but then quickly got sucked into the Divine Pillar's light before her body even hit the ground.

For some reason, the sight of that left a bad taste in my mouth. We still didn't know what happened to the souls of the Ereth. I made a mental note to ask Fetheion about it at some point. When I got the chance. 

"Good job," Lucius' voice sounded. I turned around as the other souls also floated past me and entered the Divine Pillar's light.

"I should be telling that to you – I did nothing this time!" Neither him nor Mona had a scratch on them. "None of them escaped, right?" I asked. Lucius shook his head. "Nope, they're all dead. Mostly thanks to Asher." 

I nodded. I had noticed his magic around us constantly as I fought. He was the one who enabled Mona and Lucius' aggression. "Yeah," I mumbled as I noticed the blonde sorcerer walk out of the woods.

"Well," He said with a smile. "That wasn't too hard." His gaze turned on the Divine Pillar, still brimming with magic. "What happens to that?" 

I took a deep breath. "I'll destroy it."