The Soul Keeper

"Keep running!" Inspector John shouted, grabbing my arm, and pulling me back up on my feet. I looked for Aoife in a panic. Where was she? Was she ok? 

I felt like my heart was about to burst out of my chest. Behind us, the chopper was up in flames. Some of the debris from the explosion had landed all the way in the woods. And amidst all the chaos, I noticed Aoife shouting my name. The explosion had sent her towards the settlement.

Seeing her alive and fairly unharmed, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hurry!" She shouted, pointing at the settlement.

I didn't hesitate, and neither did Inspector John. As we neared the gate, Aoife had already arrived there. She glanced behind us, and her eyes widened.

I gulped. This familiar, yet also foreign sensation began to surface. 

"Get down!" I shouted all of a sudden, sensing something large behind me. Like… a large amount of power. Magic.

A spear made of light passed by us and struck the ground not too far away. I heard a woman's voice echo, speaking in a foreign language. It took me a moment to realise it was a language I had heard before. The language of the Ereth.

I noticed Inspector John pull a pistol from underneath his jacket. 

"That's not-" My warning was interrupted with a loud bang as he turned back and shot at the Ereth woman.

My heart skipped a beat as the shot almost deafened me. I looked at the Ereth with little hope – could a gun even kill her? Floating in the air she showed us a wicket smile as a golden barrier calmly rippled around her.

"How?" Inspector John exclaimed in shock.

"Run!" I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the gate. "Aoife, get everyone out of here!" 

Before she could even say anything, another spear struck the ground by the gate. 

"Come on," Inspector John attempted to run past it, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him as I noticed an unusual glow on the spear.

"What are you doing-" He began shouting, but I ignored him.

"Aoife, get away from it!" Thankfully, my sister listened to me. She dashed away from the spear of light just in time before it exploded.

I felt the Ereth's presence draw closer. She was approaching us. What did she want? Why was she targeting us? Was it because of me?

I gritted my teeth and turned towards her.

"Kai…" Inspector John muttered under his breath. He aimed at the Ereth with his gun, ready to shoot. "When I tell you to run, run!" He warned me.

I shook my head. I couldn't run from this Ereth. "I might be dead," I mumbled, surprising Inspector John. He glanced at me, wide eyed as the Ereth stopped perhaps ten meters away from us.

She was wearing a mask that covered only the left half of her face. Her white and golden robes reminded me of the awful colour scheme of Baile Chailce. Was she in inquisitor? No, she was more powerful than that – perhaps a Divine who hadn't quite finished her ascension yet? That was more like it.

She spoke something in the language of the Ereth and pointed at me with her spear. Inspector John immediately stepped forward, shielding me with his body.

"I'm not letting you touch him!" He warned her, fully aware that he had no chance against her. "Stay back."

I clenched my fists. If only I had the power I had before. If only I could call upon my flames and my blade. But I had lost all of that. I was no longer the Keeper of Souls, or a player in a game. The real Kai Friseal was powerless against the Ereth, or anyone.

"You're like an insect – just waiting to be killed. How awful of an existence." My eyes widened as I understood her words. She wasn't speaking English – this was Ereth. I knew it! "Allow me to free you of the burden of life!" She raised her voice as a wicked smile spread across her face.

"I said stay back!" Inspector John shouted in response, not understanding a word of what she said.

I heard footsteps behind me. Aoife was running towards us, a blade in hand. A dull blade, one of those we had for display at the entrance of the Dojo. She couldn't do anything with that.

As she approached, the Ereth raised her hand. The spear in her hand glowed with golden power. The moment she threw that at us, all of us were going to die. There was no escaping that.

I gulped, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat. Gathering what was left of my courage, I brushed past Inspector John and stepped forward.

"Stop!" The foreign words sounded much weaker as I spoke them. Hoping I didn't say something like 'Food' or 'Jump', I stepped forward and glared at her. "What do you want? Why did you immediately come to this place?"

I'm not sure who was more surprised; Aoife and Inspector John, or the Ereth? It didn't matter either, as my words were enough to at least delay our ends. 

The Ereth raised her chin and lowered her spear. The magic gathering around her seemed to weaken for a little while as her smile widened. "So, you can speak our language. I would have though the Matriarch's spell wouldn't continue on after you left our world."

I gritted my teeth. It was a challenge to find the right words because unlike what this Ereth thought, I was not still under Aelith's spell. 

"You're underestimating her power," I spoke, hoping to stall for longer. With my hand, I motioned the other two to back off, but they were too dumbfounded to notice that. 

"Of course, you would know best – you fought her after all." Her expression hardened all of a sudden. "You killed so many, destroyed our city, our Pillars, killed our Divines!" She raised her voice once more. The spear in her hand shifted, turning into a blade made of light. "I will take your life, Kai Friseal, and offer it to The Divine Matriarch as a gift, for leading us to this world. This world, which will take the old one's place!"

It was then that it hit me.

She wasn't chasing us because I was a player. She was after me. Specifically, me. She knew who I was, she knew what I had done. The blood on my hands, the lives I had taken, the Pillars I had destroyed.

"Run!" I shouted at Aoife and Inspector John. "Get out of here – now!"

The Ereth raised her sword arm as I felt a golden light illuminate our surroundings. "Kai – no, let him go!" Aoife screamed at the top of her lungs as she dashed forward. A loud bang deafened me as Inspector John fired his gun again and again.

As they fought for me, all I could do was watch the blade nearing my heart.

'Such weakness,' Another voice echoed in my mind. 'Your soul belongs to me, I will not let a Lightbringer collect it.'

Something within me broke.