The Soul Keeper

We had fun that evening, despite the looming threat of war over us. We decided to leave the planning, the worrying and the anxiousness to tomorrow. After all our battles, the Divine Pillars we destroyed and the Ereth we killed, we had deserved a day of rest.

And so, we ate, we drank, we chatted and went to sleep fairly early. For the first time in months, I felt like I didn't see some weird dream. No memories of lives long lost, no nightmares, nothing.

I woke up at dawn well rested and ready to face whatever the world decided to throw at me.

Or so I thought.

I was not prepared for the horrible thunderstorm that followed the clear, cloudless sky. I gritted my teeth as I looked through the windows.

"Damn…" Mona mumbled. "It's as dark as night." 

"Can Victoria even find this place in such weather?" Laura asked, worried. I honestly couldn't answer. I was worried about the same thing, and from the looks on their faces, so were the others.

"Maybe one of us should go and find them?" Mona suggested as she glanced at Laura. 

The blonde woman shook her head. "How will we find them? It's the same issue." She bit her lower lip, then glanced at Asher. "Can't you do something about the weather?" She asked. 

Asher hesitated. "I could try, but I don't really think I'm anywhere strong enough to stop this." He made a vague gesture towards the sky. "It's not a local storm – this thing is massive." He glanced at me. "We might be able to do something about this though." He mumbled. "Come on, let's give it a try."

I followed him upstairs while the others just stood there, confused.

"Let me guess," I said as he closed the door of the study behind us. "You want to use the primal core of wind to stop the storm."

Asher nodded. "Yeah, that's all I could think of."  He glanced at me with a somewhat surprised look. "How did you know?"

I chuckled. "Because if all you needed was more magical power, you would have asked Rina and Laura's help – they have much more refined control on their mana and their magic isn't demonic like mine." 

Asher grinned. "That fair."

"Sorry, Asher, but I don't think it will work." I suddenly said. His grin shattered as his expression quickly darkened. "You don't know that." He said with a low voice.

"Well, not for certain, no. But remember why I needed the primal cores: to fuse certain powerful souls with them so that my own soul wouldn't get consumed. Their power is bound to those souls, and a Divine ran off with them." 

Asher's eyes glimmered with understanding. "Oh." He had clearly not thought of that. "Can't you use their power at all?"

I shook my head. I had tried before – to create those crimson flames, to move the air around me without resorting to using my mana… I simply couldn't. Not without the Phoenix' or the Wyvern's souls.

He clenched his fists. "That is… unfortunate. Do you mind if I try to use the core?" He then asked, with little hope in his voice. I sighed. "Go ahead," I said as I raised my hand before me and focused. 

A bright crystal slowly formed in my palm. 

"Beautiful as always." The blonde sorcerer mumbled as he carefully reached out and touched the thing. "How it remains pure despite your demonic presence is beyond me." 

"Well," I showed him a bitter smile. "It is the purest form of wind after all."

He nodded, though I doubted he had even heard me. He inspected it for a few minutes as I took a seat on one of the chairs. Laura and the others had been kind and awesome enough to put some pelts on the chairs here as well, so this place had become quite comfortable as well.

"I see," Asher mumbled after a while. "From what I understand, their power is still in them. It's just that the souls have become the keys to unlock that power." His brows furrowed as he glanced at me. "Say, which Divine took the souls, Kai?"

"The one Alina works for. I don't know her name." I should have probably asked Fetheion about it when I had gotten the chance, but for some reason, I always believed he wouldn't have given me the answer I needed.

"I see." Asher mumbled. He seemed a little troubled as he gave the primal core of wind back to me. "So, in this plan of yours to storm Baile Chailce, do you think you will come across her?"

I shook my head. "No, the Demon Lord said the Divines would leave the city to defend against him." I could see that happen with ease. Even without knowing the full extent of his powers, I could easily see how Aelith would need all the help she could get to fight him off.

Asher seemed a little relieved. "Good. I'd rather not see you die once more. Especially now that Fetheion is nowhere to be found."

I chuckled, albeit nervously. "I'll be fine, don't worry so much." My gaze fell on the painting of my predecessor. "I never got to learn his name either." I clenched my fists. 

"He wouldn't have told you even if you asked." Asher said with a bitter smile. "I did, and all he told me was that his name could only be uttered once he walked upon this world once again." He grinned. "I thought he was just being dramatic at the time, but I guess he did really want to bring the guy back to life."

"I guess so." I shook my head. "But let's not focus on that. If we can't do anything about the weather, we should go back downstairs." I didn't want to make the others worry or give them false hope that we were working on something.

Asher was out of ideas as well, so we went back down only to find the storm getting worse by the minute.

"I'll look for them." Mona said as we watched through the window. "I can turn into a bird and search – the wind won't be an issue and I can see pretty well despite the dark and rain."

Laura was quick to protest. She even beat me to it. "Don't be silly. It's near impossible to find them in this weather. We just have to wait a bit. Victoria isn't stupid. She probably had them take shelter somewhere. There is no way they are traveling in this weather."

She had a point. Victoria wouldn't risk it. She must have found an old ruin and camped inside. With Erik and Vincent by her side, I doubted much would be able to harm them. At least normal cave dwellers would be too weak to get through their defences.

"You don't know that." Mona protested. "Maybe she did decide to chance it. What if they're wandering outside, lost? Do you really want to take that chance?"

I shook my head. "No, they wouldn't do that. Victoria is smart. She knows her own limits better than anyone. There is no way she would risk her life, or Vincent's life just to get here on time. Put some faith in her abilities."

Mona folded her arms and grumbled something. I could see she was worried. And I think she was also uneasy because we were stuck in this small building. The crowd was probably bothering her somewhat too. 

"We could take a short walk." Theresa suggested. "Without going too far, along the river, towards Baile Chailce." She glanced at Asher, who was quick to nod. "That way we could find them and even if we don't, we can get some fresh air."

Mona's expression quickly softened. "Yeah, we could do that." She glanced at Laura, almost as if she were trying to see if the blonde woman was angry about it. Laura simply shrugged. "I don't see why not." She said.

"Alright!" Mona said with a grind as she dragged Theresa outside. "Come on then!"

As they stepped outside, Asher gave Theresa a small rock. "Works like an umbrella, just having it on you is enough." The young woman nodded with a thankful smile, then hurried off after Mona. As they stepped outside, I could see the raindrops basically change their direction to avoid hitting the two women.

"That's neat." Laura said with a chuckle. "Thanks, Asher."

The blonde sorcerer shrugged. "Simple spell. Don't even mention it." He glanced at the rest of us. "Does anyone else want to go for a walk?"

We all shook our heads. No one was looking forward to leaving in such a dark weather. 

"The timing is really poor though." Alex mumbled. 

Rina jumped off her chair and stepped closer to the window. "Damn right it is." She said, her gaze fixed outside.

Alex mumbled something else, but Rina quickly cut her off. "No, I mean it. Look – they're here!"

My heart skipped a beat as I looked outside.

"Damn, they're actually here."