The Soul Keeper

We learned two things in the United Nations' base. First, the communication network was completely down. We had no clue how that happened. Second, the last communique they received was warning them of an army spilling out of the golden light.

Even now, the words on the screen the agent showed us were fresh in my mind. 

"You said we should look for tall cliffs, right?" Inspector John shouted. I could barely hear him over the noise and rattle of the chopper. 

"Yes, I think it's near an old, almost ruined lighthouse." I searched my memory for more details, but it had begun to become foggy once more. "I can't remember for sure."

I felt Aoife tap on my shoulder. The wind blew her long hair around as she shouted something. I couldn't hear her over the sound of the chopper.

"Louder!" I shouted. She took a deep breath and shouted into my ear. "I'm worried about Uncle and Mother. Do you know where they went?"

All I could do was shake my head. They had left without telling us anything. I didn't even know if they were on the island anymore. Aoife just sighed and fiddled with her hair as I turned my gaze back outside.

We were now flying over the sea, a little ways away from the land. The cliffs were clearly visible from this distance. As we flew around the island, I couldn't help but constantly glance towards the open sea.

"What's wrong?" Inspector John shouted. I shook my head – there was no need to tell him of my worries. There was nothing he could do anyways.

Perhaps half an hour later, Aoife suddenly grabbed my arm. "There!" She shouted, pointing at a distant cliff. "Isn't that a lighthouse?"

My eyes widened. Was it? I couldn't see – it was too far away. As Inspector John searched around the chopper, I let some of my mana work its way to my eyes. My vision became sharper as I felt a mild sting in my eyes. 

"It is," I said after a moment. "It's partially ruined, I think that's it!" 

Both Inspector John and Aoife shot me a surprised look. "How can you see it from so far away?" Aoife asked as Inspector John notified the pilot to fly towards the lighthouse. I shrugged as a response to Aoife. "Magic." 

She rolled her eyes. "That was helpful."

I sighed. It was magic! How could I explain it? I wasn't sure of how I was doing this either, it was instinctive at this point. 

The sting I felt in my eyes grew stronger. I furrowed my brows and stopped using magic to enhance my eyesight. Was it damaging my body, or was this something else? 

The sting didn't disappear. I rubbed my eyes and looked away, towards the sea. Magic wasn't of this world, and this body of mine wasn't used to magic. Was that what the Keeper meant when he said my soul belonged to him?

A bright light over the sea caught my attention as we neared the lighthouse. I narrowed my eyes and watched it for a while. Was it getting closer, or was it just my imagination? Moments later, I felt it. Magic – Divine magic. An Ereth was on its way.

"Land the chopper!" I shouted immediately, startling both my sister and Inspector John. "Now!" The Pilot glanced at Inspector John, who nodded after a moment of hesitation. As we neared the top of a cliff still far away from the lighthouse, my gaze was fixed on the bright light on the horizon. If that Ereth came, I'd have to fight, I knew it.

"What's going on?" Inspector John asked as soon as we touched the ground. I took a breath of relied as Aoife and he jumped out of the chopper. "Why did we land so far away?" Aoife asked.

I glanced at the pilot. "You might want to get off too. Hide somewhere safe – don't fly up no matter what." I jumped down to the ground as well, then turned my attention back to the horizon. "You see that bright light?" I asked, pointing at it.

Aoife nodded. "Yeah, what's that?"

My grip around the shaft of my scythe tightened. "An Ereth. We should go the rest of the way on foot. It's too dangerous to fly."

Inspector John was very clearly not pleased by this. We all glanced towards the lighthouse. It was at least two hours away on foot. "That's going to take a while." He mumbled. I nodded, he was right, but flying simply wasn't worth the risk.

"Let's go." I started walking at a fast pace. We needed to get away from the chopper, both to keep it intact and keep ourselves and the pilot safe. Yet, despite our fast pace, we didn't make it to the lighthouse before we had to stop.

"It's still so far away!" Inspector John said, out of breath. He wasn't used to strenuous physical activity as Aoife was and I was using magic to keep myself going. "Kai, are you sure we couldn't keep flying?"

I shook my head. "Did you forget what the Ereth did to the other chopper?" I asked, annoyed. I could feel it – I was running out of time. Once Aelith created her stronghold like she did with Baile Chailce, it was going to be near impossible to defeat her. Now, while she was still weak was our best and possibly only chance.

Pain jolted through my body as I felt magic gather in the distance. My eyes widened. The Ereth had noticed us. "Uh," I stopped in my tracks. The light was fast approaching. "Aoife, Inspector, start running and don't stop till you're at the top of that hill." I pointed up the sloped surface. "And don't try to interfere – especially you." I glared at the inspector. "Don't fire that gun."

"What are you going to do?" Aoife asked, her eyes wide. She gripped the hilt of her sword. "If you're fighting, I'll help." 

I laughed. "No, no you won't." I closed my eyes. I needed to get back in shape. 

Black and purple flames danced on my skin as the other two stepped back in shock. I raised my hand slightly and watched the dancing flames, then turned my attention to the Ereth, now visible through the bright golden light enveloping her.

My next words echoed as I shouted in the language of the Ereth.

"Come at me!"