The Soul Keeper

As my flames slowly dimmed, then disappeared, I figured out what the golden light I glimpsed was.

None of the Ereth were hurt in the slightest. As golden barriers protected them from my flames, they probably only felt mild discomfort because of the heat.

"Want any help now?" Dorith asked as I scoured the battlefield. "I'll let you know when I need it," I said as I searched for the caster who created those shields. It had to be an inquisitor – if it were a Divine, I would have sensed their presence way before the spell was even cast.

It didn't take me long to find them. Three robed figures were standing right before the large Divine Pillar. I gritted my teeth. How the hell was I even supposed to get to them? 

"That is enough!" One of them shouted. Her voice was elevated via magic. It echoed throughout the battlefield, and as it did, the battle on the ground grinded to a halt. Once she had everyone's attention, she spoke again. "You have defiled the sanctity of this city for long enough – lay down your weapons and surrender, or you shall taste our wrath!"

I felt the air around me electrify. 

"I don't think this is working as planned," Dorith commented. "I couldn't agree more." I replied as I glanced at Asher and the others. Erik and Lucius were stepping back, taking a move defensive position. 

I gritted my teeth. I had to reach those three inquisitors somehow, but there was no way the soldiers surrounding me would ever let me pass. My grip around the hilt of my sword tightened – it was time to use one of the two trump cards I had.

"Dorith – can you take these soldiers out?" I asked, my voice but a whisper. 

As soon as those words left my mouth, I felt darkness seep out of my chest. The silence covering the battlefield shattered with the sound of distant rumble.

"What is that?" Asher shouted as Dorith's power freed itself from my body. As his ethereal form began to take shape, I folded my wings slightly and flew slightly downwards, directly towards one of the Ereth pointing his spear at me.

"Stop him!" The Inquisitor shouted. At the same time, I felt Asher's magic form a barrier around me. That and whatever chaos Dorith was creating up there was enough for me to break out of this situation.

I used Fallen Grace to empower my body as I approached the Ereth soldier. Moments before our weapons clashed, I turned my body and beat my wings in such a way to just narrowly avoid his spear and brushed past him, breaking out of their formation.

Without even a second of hesitation, I flew towards the three inquisitors standing at the steps around the Divine Pillar of Baile Chailce.

Behind me, I could hear the result of letting Dorith take care of the soldiers – as soon as I broke out, their screams began to echo over the city. Perhaps moments later, the sound of metal hitting metal joined them as Lucius led the charge against the Ereth forces on the ground.

Once again, as much as I wanted to see how well the group fought, I simply couldn't – these three inquisitors were the greatest threat against us right now. With their support, the Ereth forces could become near immortal really quickly.

As soon as I approached them, the shorter one standing to the left of the speaker raised her hand, creating barriers around the three of them. Despite knowing those barriers were strong to overcome my flames, I didn't slow down and hit the foremost barrier with my blade.

The clear clang echoed throughout the battlefield as my sword bounced off, leaving only a vaguely visible crack on the golden surface of the barrier.

"You try in vain!" The inquisitor on the right declared as she also raised her hand. The Divine Pillar let out a golden glow as she began casting a spell. I gritted my teeth – I had defeated inquisitors before, now wasn't going to be any different.

In response to her spell, I cast my own, deciding to trust Asher's barrier. Purple and black flames covered my blade as I struck the foremost inquisitor's barrier once more. The previous crack spread a little. I grinned – all I needed was a moment of weakness in the barrier.

I cast Death's Scythe, then fed more mana to my flames.

"Look out!" Someone shouted in the back – it was Erik's voice. A loud clang followed his shout, then I heard someone shout a thanks. They didn't have it easy either – only one of the inquisitors was focused on me after all, the other two were busy supporting the remaining Ereth forces with their spells.

I struck the barrier again and again – I knew that I could break it if I used everything I had, but if I did so, then I'd basically be out of commission for the remainder of the war. I couldn't afford to do that.

With each strike, the barrier weakened some more. Just a few more seconds was all I needed, but the sudden surge of Divine magic that I felt alerted me to the completion of the rightmost inquisitor's spell.

I leapt back and away from her just in time before a golden beam of light cut through the air where I was standing half a second ago. As soon as the beam of light disappeared, I dashed forward and struck the barrier once more. The cracks were now easily visible to the eye – I needed to hurry before the leftmost inquisitor noticed her spell was about to be broken.

The other one began casting a spell again. I grinned; she was never going to make it in time. While her spells were devastatingly powerful, the long cast times and the mana surge right before they activated gave me enough time to evade them and focus on something else.

Something hit me in the stomach just as I finished that thought, sending me tumbling down the steps.

"Filthy demon." I heard a woman's voice as my vision blurred for a moment. My head hurt from hitting the marble ground. I felt another mana surge, coming from behind me. A fourth inquisitor stepped closer. I could see her unforgiving golden eyes through the holes of her mask.

"Time to die."