The Soul Keeper

The Ereth inquisitor, enveloped in a bright, golden light landed before me, perhaps five meters away. 

"The hell is this monster?" I heard Inspector John mumble. 

"Time to die," I whispered as I tightened my grasp around the shaft of my scythe. The pale crystalline blade reflected the golden light as my flames danced on it. 

I dashed forward as soon as the Ereth's feet touched the ground. I had no wings, no way of flying. I had to defeat her while she was on the ground, still within my reach. 

The sound of metal clashing with metal echoed across the hills and cliffs. We exchanged no words – we both knew this was a fight to the death. Instead, I leapt back as soon as our blades touched. 

The Inquisitor clicked her tongue and took a step forward, chasing me. I furrowed my brows – so far, none of the inquisitors had actually tried to fight me one on one in a melee battle. They had always relied on their immense power and ability to draw near infinite strength from their Divine Pillars.

"Ha!" I said as understanding dawned on me. She wasn't close enough to a Pillar. The one in the Gallagher Mansion wasn't able to give her power, so she was fighting with limited power! 

An almost wicked smile appeared on my lips as I dashed forward. I heard Aoife draw a sharp breath as I ducked under the Ereth's sword swing. I spung my scythe around my wrist and hit the Ereth's sword arm with its dark metal shaft. 

The Inquisitor moaned in pain but didn't retreat. Instead, pressed on, forcing me back into the defensive. She was about as fast as I was, and her smaller, lighter blade gave her the advantage. The scythe was slow and clunky compared to her sword.

I gritted my teeth while blocking every single one of her strikes. She wasn't bad with a sword, but she was nowhere as good as some other opponents I had fought. But she was able to cover that weakness with her magic.

Every swing of her blade left behind a streak of golden light that lingered in the air, not vanishing as it should. At first, it didn't matter much, but as I started pushing her back once more, the streaks of light began blocking my vision.

It was annoying, but more than that, it was actually working. I couldn't keep up a continued offense without sacrificing my vision, and that was simply too dangerous as it could spell my death. And I didn't intend to die just yet.

After exchanging blows back and forth like this for a short while, I finally leapt back and struck my scythe to the ground. I noticed Aoife and Inspector John slowly step back, though my sister's hand rested on the hilt of her sword. I could see it in her eyes, she wanted to come and help me so badly.

But I couldn't let her do that. Not against an Inquisitor. She would stand no chance.

"What are you doing?!" I heard her shout as I glared at the Ereth Inquisitor. The smile on my lips widened. I was itching to go all out. This thrill of battle, the danger of actual, real death and the sheer excitement of being able to use magic…

I ignored Aoife's shout as I extended my hand forward. Flames danced all around me, then leapt forward. They consumed the grass around us, tugged at the Inquisitor's clothes and tried to break through the golden light that surrounded her.

I picked up my scythe once more, as she was busy trying to get rid of my flames. I used Death's Scythe, though the name of the spell was now meaningless. Coating the crystalline blade of the scythe in black and purple flames, I dashed ahead.

My first strike was blocked by a barrier of golden light, though I shattered it with ease. Then, the Inquisitor tried to block me with her blade, but that only protected her from the sharp blade aiming for her neck. The flames tugged at her clothes and burned her skin, releasing the awful smell of burnt flesh and hair.

A golden light flashed around her as she dropped her blade, unable to hold on to it as my third attack landed. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed, and a victorious smile formed on my lips. I raised my scythe one last time, and as she released her own spell, I cut off her head.

The ground around me exploded, sending me flying. I hit the ground moments later with an audible thud and a crack. 

"Kai!" I could barely hear Aoife's voice over the ringing in my ears. The smell of burnt flesh filled my nostrils and I felt my stomach turn. It was disgusting.

"Hey, kid!" Was that inspector John? As I pushed myself up, Soul's respite had already started healing my wounds, though with no souls, it was going to take a bit longer than it used to.

"Oh my god!" Aoife knelt beside me. "Y- your arm!" She exhaled in shock. Her hands trembled as she looked at my right arm. 

I glance at it. "Oh…" I mumbled. "That's why it hurts like hell." I showed her a bitter smile. "I thought I heard something break."

"We need to get you to a hospital." Inspector John said as he also knelt by me. "You're burnt all over too…" He looked at me from head to toe, then shook his head. "Damn it – you're losing way too much blood." He took of his jacket and motioned to tear off a portion of it, but I quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "I'll be fine in a bit, don't ruin your jacket." It took me a second to realise how absurd I just sounded.

"Did he hit his head?" Aoife whispered.

I couldn't help but laugh, though it quickly turned into a pained moan. "I'm fine, really. I'm already healing my wounds. I smiled and pointed at my right arm. The skin was still torn apart, but the bone wasn't showing anymore.

"Five minutes, and I'll be fine. I have magic."

The look on their faces was almost worth it all.