The Soul Keeper

I placed the notebook back on the desk with a sigh. Nothing, I could find absolutely nothing in here. In this entire library, there wasn't a single string of words that spoke of what the 'price that must be paid' was. My predecessor hadn't left a single clue behind.

Then again, he probably didn't expect to die. I sat on a chair and fiddled with an empty piece of paper. I wondered, when had the Keeper passed away? Was it soon after that memory, due to the price he paid, or was it unrelated to that?

Why had Dorith's soul chosen to show me that particular moment? Did it mean something? Was I supposed to discover something?

I shook my head. I was reading too deeply into it. Dorith's soul was just that, a soul. He wasn't even conscious enough to speak to me, unlike the soul of Rhia, Delthur's sister. 

I suddenly lifted my head. What if he did regain consciousness? Would he be able to do what Rhia did at the time? She had, even though only for a moment, wrestled control away from me during my battle with Delthur. What if Dorith also did something similar?

My gaze focused on my hands. What if I was waking him up every time I used Soul's Aspect to assume his form? No, that wasn't possible, was it?

I quickly summoned my interface and navigated to the skills panel. As I read through the description, the lack of a good explanation didn't help with my worries at all.

Yet, before I could ponder on the subject anymore, I heard the creaking of the door as Asher stepped inside. He seemed lost in thought as he wandered inside and only noticed me when I stood up.

"Oh, you were here?" The blonde sorcerer asked, clearly startled. "What's up?" 

I furrowed my brows. "Yeah, I just wanted to read through some of the old notebooks." I tilted my head slightly. "What's wrong, Asher? You seem a bit out of it."

The blonde sorcerer hesitated. It was clear that something was on his mind. I didn't insist, instead, I waited. After a short while, he sighed.

"I'm worried." He said with a low voice. "What we're trying isn't just dangerous – it's also something that might change the outcome of the war. What if we're doing the wrong thing, Kai? What if there are still things we don't know? What if our perspective is still skewed?"

I hesitated for a split second. I understood why he doubted it this much. "What if we do nothing, and Aelith wins?" I asked.

Asher clenched his fists. "What if we do something and the demons win?" He asked.

I shrugged. "What if doing this frees us?" I asked. "Besides, what do you want to do?"

Asher hesitated. "I just wish we could talk with Fetheion before destroying the remaining two pillars." He fiddled with his long sleeve as he spoke. "It's his people we're talking about. I don't believe for a second that he wouldn't at least have some good feelings left for the Ereth."

I shrugged. "I doubt it." I mumbled. In my eyes, Fetheion had forsaken the Ereth completely. And for good reason too, though Asher didn't know the whole story.

"But we can't be sure, Kai. Besides, what if there is something we need to know? What if we walk into a trap because we didn't get a chance to talk to him?" Asher's gaze darted around the room; he was clearly trying to think of a way to contact the missing Divine.

"We don't have a way of contacting him." I said after a moment. "And we don't have a lot of time either. I'm not saying don't look for a way to find him – hell, I'd love to do that myself, but we can't focus solely on that." Not while the Demon Lord's threat was hanging over my head anyways.

Asher took a deep breath, then nodded. "You said one week, right?" He asked, then continued once I nodded. "Then give me four days." 

I raised my brows. "Why four?"

"If I can't contact him by the end of the fourth day, we set off and destroy the pillars. If I can, we talk to him, then set off and destroy the pillars." His glare focused on me. "Deal?"

I nodded. "Fine by me, I do have things I'd like to ask him too." I headed to the door. "I'll be downstairs if you need me."

"I'll let you know if I need help." He replied as I left the room and went back to the common room.

Lucius was the only one there. He raised his head when he saw me, waved, then continued reading through a small book. I didn't want to bother him, so I laid on the dusty couch and closed my eyes.

Now, I was worried. Not because I wasn't sure whether we were doing the right thing – I knew Aelith was the evil one and I wanted nothing more than revenge – but because Fetheion hadn't shown up in a while now.

I knew the Demon Lord hadn't killed the Divine. He would have told me if he did, the demons did seem to enjoy seeing others suffer after all. I shivered as I remembered our conversation. It was a scene so out of this world that I still had trouble believing it happened.

I had always though the Demon Lord would be the final challenge, the final enemy we would have to defeat to get out. Not in a million years would I have imagined the situation to change so drastically in such a short amount of time.

"What's wrong?" Lucius suddenly asked. I glanced at him with a confused expression. I hadn't talked out loud, had I? Did I really seem so troubled?

"You were looking at the ceiling like it offended you somehow." The young swordsman grinned. "Don't blast a hole in it, would you?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Ah, sorry. Nothing's wrong, I'm just trying to come up with a plan is all." I pushed myself up. "What time is it?" I asked, as I walked to the windows to look outside. The sun was almost at its zenith. 

"Noon?" Lucius asked as he turned his attention back to the book in his hand. "What are you going to do?" He asked as he noticed me head out.

"I'll go and get Alex and Rina." I replied as I opened the old wooden door. "Theresa and Laura are going to be here tomorrow, so it's about time we began gathering everyone else too."

"Everyone else?" Lucius asked, clearly confused.

"We still have other allies." I grinned, then shut the door behind me. 

The bright sun burnt my eyes, but I had gotten somewhat used to it by now. I assumed the corrupted demon's form with Soul's Aspect, then created a rift before me.

I was still somewhat worried about slowly waking Dorith up by using Soul's Aspect with him over on over again, but what choice did I have? The rifts were too useful not to use and the advantage this transformation gave me in combat was incredible.

Just a little more, I said to myself as the rift became large enough to step through. Just a few more days, then we might even be freed from this fake, virtual world. It was worth the risk, I decided as I stepped through the rift, only to feel raindrops on my face as soon as I stepped out on the other side, near Stonepatch Village.

"Oh, come on…" I mumbled in disappointment. I had seen enough rain and storm for a lifetime these last couple of days. I sighed, then then took shelter under a large, leafed tree. "Let's see," I mumbled as I glanced at the village just at the foot of the hill. Since I didn't want to take any unnecessary chances, I wasn't going to enter the village. Instead, I took a small stone out of my inventory and fed some mana into it. As it began to emit a soft glow, I put it in my pocket.

It was Rina's idea. She wanted us to have a way to let each other know we needed help, so she had linked a pair of small stones like this. When mana was poured into one of them, its counterpart would light up.

I leaned on the large tree's trunk and watched the rain. It was annoying, sure, but nothing could beat the smell of wet earth. I took a deep breath, the smell almost reminded me of home.

Sure enough, less than a handful of minutes later, I noticed two familiar figures climb up the hill. With a smile, I waved at them.

"Hey," Alex said with a grin as they arrived. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. What's going on?"

"I need your help." I said, looking both of them in the eye. "Can you come with me?"