The Soul Keeper

With her crimson hair blowing in the wind, the druid took a single step forward. As soon as her foot touched the ground, the earth beneath our feet shook. 

As the two inquisitors turned their attention towards Mona, I couldn't help but watch her in awe either.

With each step she took towards them, the ground beneath our feet trembled. I could sense her magic doing its work under the cover of the earth. It neared the surface, just out of sight, hiding until it was too late for the inquisitors.

"You two," Mona spoke loudly as she raised her hand. "Can just go to hell!" Her eyes flashed green and at the same time, the ground before her broke.

I leapt back, into the air and beat my wings to escape from the braking, shattering earth. The two Ereth Inquisitors didn't have flight however, and their magic wasn't quite enough to save them from something as simple as gravity.

They fell into the pit Mona's magic created. I watched wide eyed as the pillar let out a golden glow, allowing them to use their power to soften their fall. 

"Bye!" Mona giggled as she struck her spear into the ground. The earth trembled again, and I noticed the broken ground slowly cover itself up. As I watched on in horror, golden lightning struck from above, but Mona easily sidestepped the Inquisitor's spell.

"That won't hold them forever," She said, glancing at me. "Can you destroy the Divine Pillar?" 

I gulped, then nodded. "Cover me from the remaining soldiers." I said, then landed on the ground near the pillar. Was it just my imagination, or were those distant, muffled screams I heard among the sound of battle?

I shook my head. Being buried alive like that… It must be terrifying. Why the inquisitors had no flight while normal Ereth soldiers did, I could not tell, but that little difference had doomed those two today. I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus on the here and now – They weren't dead yet and with the Pillar constantly suppling them with more power, they would free themselves from that grave eventually.

Once again, I inspected the ground around the golden structure. I could see seven focal points where magic gathered. Four at the corners of the pillar and three, in a triangle around it. Two layers of protection instead of the usual single layer.

I glanced at my surroundings first – I didn't want to be surprised by a soldier who somehow slipped through Alex, Lucius, and Mona. Thankfully, none of the Ereth soldiers seemed to have the time or will to attack me as Alex's massacre showed no signs of slowing down. They were preoccupied with that, so to speak.

With a sigh of relief, I turned my attention back to the Divine Pillar. Destroying these was always an unpleasant and painful process. I gritted my teeth and tightened my grasp around the hilt of my sword.

"Here goes nothing…" I whispered as I raised my sword and struck the first of the three focal points.

I heard lightning crackle as the Divine Pillar's magic began to weaken. Divine magic burst outward, threatening to harm me. My flames gathered around me to create a protective field as I was startled by the Pillar's much more powerful reaction. None of the Pillars I had destroyed before had actively tried to protect themselves like this. Why was this one acting so differently?

Was it because the two inquisitors were still alive? Was it them who were trying to stop me? I felt some anger inside – they were eating up what limited time we had. I needed to hurry, we still had one more pillar we needed to destroy before the war between the Demons and Ereth began.

I gritted my teeth and destroyed the second focal point. 

"Kai, you need to hurry!" Mona shouted as I circled around the golden structure to reach the third one. "They're about to break free!"

"I know!" I shouted back – I could feel their magic all around us. They were slowly but surely pushing back Mona's spell. I didn't have more than a minute at best.

The third focal point resisted the sharp end of my blade more. With a deep breath, I poured more of my magic into my blade. I felt the crystal focal point crack, then break. The Divine Pillar once again radiated with golden light, forcing me to back off.

I used Soul's Respite to heal the burnt skin on my hands as I waited for the Pillar to return to normal once more.

"Hurry up!" Mona shouted. I gritted my teeth, it wasn't like I was waiting here cause I wanted to – I couldn't step into the golden light. It hurt like hell. Unlike her, I was a demon, I was weak to Divine magic.

"I know," I hissed through my gritted teeth as the golden light began to dim again. I rushed to the fourth focal point – a small, colourless crystal embedded in the corner of the Pillar. 

I felt the ground shake beneath my feet as Mona quickly stepped back. The Inquisitors had finally broken through her spell, and they were now breaking free of their earthen prison. I had only mere seconds left to get this done before they had the chance to stop me.

The fourth crystal broke with relative ease, and so, I rushed to the fifth one. I could feel the magic of the pillar begin to lose its potency. Just a little bit more and we would be rid of this. Then, only one more would remain.

The fifth focal point put up some more resistance – enough to make me want to shout out in frustration. The sixth, I just barely destroyed before the ground exploded and the two Inquisitors surfaced, with anger and hatred.

With only a single focal point remaining, I quickly circled around the Divine Pillar. I knew that if they got the chance to stop me now, this fight would be prolonged, and the second part of our plan would be compromised.

I noticed the Divine Pillar begin emitting a golden glow once more as the gaze of one of the inquisitors focused on me. Her eyes were filled with scorn and hatred. She raised her hand, pointing at me as the golden glow strengthened.

"Hell no!" I summoned my flames, creating a wall of purple and black fire between the two of us. There wasn't much I could do against the Pillar itself, but I was strong enough to stop her. Whatever spell she was casting was stopped by my flames as I turned my attention back on the pillar.

Gritting my teeth, I tightly grasped the hilt of my sword and struck the sharp blade into the crystal focal point of magic. 

"No!" The inquisitor shouted as the crystal cracked under the pressure of my blade. She dashed towards me, forsaking her own safety. I could see the anger, the wrath and the helplessness in her eyes as the crystal shattered into pieces.

She stumbled as the pillar's light faded. The other inquisitor who was in the middle of casting a spell let out a loud scream as her own magic backfired. Caught in golden flames, she wailed about as her the smell of burnt skin and hair set in.

"I'll give you peace," Mona mumbled just before thrusting her spear through the wailing inquisitor's throat. The lifeless body fell to the ground with a muffled thud.

I glanced around. Perhaps half a dozen Ereth remained. The inquisitor before me and five wounded, exhausted and terrified soldiers. I gritted my teeth. I had no choice. 

With a single motion, I cast Dark Bolt. As the lifeless bodies of the soldiers fell to the ground, the inquisitor stumbled back in fear.

"You wouldn't!" She cried. "You wouldn't kill defenceless people. You are supposed to be merciful!"

"That was my predecessor." I replied before thrusting my sword into her heart. She died at that moment – a relatively painless death. Better than being buried or burned alive.

"Sorry, Mother." I whispered as I took a deep breath. I watched as the souls of the Ereth disappeared alongside the last speck of light of the now destroyed Divine Pillar.

"That was unpleasant." Lucius' voice sounded. "You didn't need to kill the soldiers. They wouldn't have recognised you."

I tried to calm my racing heart as I shook my head. "Not worth the risk." I glanced at him. "It's fine, Lucius. You're not to blame. It was my choice, my action and my responsibility." I turned my back on the battlefield. "We should leave." With that, I walked away towards the distant woods where Laura, Theresa, Asher, and Rina awaited.

I felt sick. Sick, because I knew the Ereth I killed after the battle was over were harmless at that point. It was a selfish murder, nothing more, nothing less. Selfish, because I knew they would recognise Alex, Lucius, and Mona with ease. They would identify them, and the Divines would come after them.

No matter what the cost, I wasn't going to let anyone else face the same fate Samantha did. No matter what.