The Soul Keeper

It took me a while to reach the bottom of the seemingly endless staircase. If it weren't for Fetheion's warning, I would have flown down there for sure. 

I took a deep breath as I stepped on the last step. "Well then," I whispered as I looked around. I had expected another long hallway with a carpet on the floor, many doors on both sides and the treasury at the end of it perhaps.

Instead, I was met with a large, circular room with a door on the opposite side of where I was standing. The dimly lit room was as empty as it could be, with only a few large paintings hanging on the walls.

I furrowed my brows as I approached the first painting. It seemed wrong at first, though it took me a moment to figure out. For the first time in a while, I was seeing colours aside from white and golden. A quick glance at the contents of the paintings made me immediately dislike them. 

They were portraits of the Divines. There were a total of thirteen spots on the walls, though two of them were empty. 

"Fetheion and the Divine that died," I mumbled. I The one who had fought against Aelith and was no longer in this world. Aelith must have had their portraits removed out of spite. 

I took a deep breath, then headed to the large, golden door. As I pressed my palm against the cold, metal surface, I felt the flow of magic within it. It was sealed, and if I didn't know how to undo the spell, I would have been stuck down here for a while trying to break it.

I closed my eyes and gently nudged the flow of magic with my own. It didn't take long for me to find the focal point Fetheion had told me about.

As the magic dissipated and the seal shattered, I put my weight into it and opened the door. The loud creak startled me, though not as much as the piles of treasure within.

"Damn…" I mumbled as my gaze wandered about. "That is…" 

The treasury was a massive, circular room, filled to the brim with stuff. And it wasn't just gold or valuable items that were stored in here – I could see all kinds of things, ranging from piles of varnished hardwood to human sized crystalline formations.

"What the hell is all this?" I whispered as I walked among the piles of things. Why were the Divines stockpiling all these? The Ereth already had a wealthy, beautiful city. They didn't need some rocks or wood planks.

My confusion only increased as I walked further inside. The place had more ordinary items than valuable things. I couldn't make any sense of it. As I reached the centre of the room, I closed my eyes and let my magic scour the room for me.

It took only a few moments, but I was once more met with nothing but disappointment. Where the hell had Aelith hidden my predecessor's soul? With clenched fists, I decided to look around without the help of magic as well. Perhaps she had done something to it to make it undetectable by magical means.

With only that sliver of hope in my mind, I walked around the room, looking through the piles of stuff, hoping to find it. Not knowing what kind of a thing, I was looking for only made things more difficult. Was I searching for vial, a crystal, a box? Without knowing, it took a much longer time to comb through the treasury.

In the end though, I emerged from my efforts empty handed, annoyed and somewhat tired. Eventually, I left the treasury with slow steps, walked up the stairs and used the sigil in Aelith's library and teleported back to the throne room. As I left through the golden gates and walked through the dimly lit hallway, I only grew more anxious.

"Kai?" I heard Rina's confused voice as I opened the gates leading to the outside and walked down the stairs of the palace. "Did you find it?" She asked, her eyes glittering with hope.

I shook my head. Seeing the glitter in her eyes fade hurt. it felt as if I had failed her, and everyone else who came here today. 

"What's the situation?" I asked as I stepped forward and gazed upon the battlefield, only to find the Ereth bodies laying lifeless on the ground. 

"Um, Fetheion killed them." Alex mumbled. She shook her head. "He didn't really show them any mercy either. It was brutal."

I nodded. He had already told me that he wouldn't let anyone stand in his way. I hadn't doubted his words, though seeing the lifeless bodies of the Ereth forces down there did catch me off guard a little.

"Let's join them," I said as I glanced at Fetheion and the others, gathered at the foot of the stairs leading up here. Rina and Alex nodded. They hurried after me, and we soon arrived by the others.

"You're back!" Mona exclaimed with a huge smile as soon as she noticed me. Her eyes glimmered as she jumped up and down with excitement. 

"Did you find it?" Fetheion asked, though from his heavy voice, I could tell he already knew the answer. 

"No. I searched everywhere you told me about and some more." I looked at the Divine Pillar. "I fear Aelith has it with her." If that were the case, our only option would be to somehow take it from her, and I found that to be much harder than infiltrating the palace.

Fetheion hesitated.

"If that's the case, we're pretty much out of options." Asher chimed in. "In any case, I believe we're done here. Fetheion, do you mind?"

The Exiled Divine shook his head. "Go ahead, it has no place in this world anyways." 

I raised my eyebrows as Asher glanced at me with a dark expression. He had an almost wicked smile as he spoke.

"Kai, can you destroy that Pillar?"