The Soul Keeper

"How the hell does she even do that?" Theresa exclaimed as my sister swung her blade. Lucius blocked her incoming attack, then stepped back. He had no hope of reaching her speed.

"No way," He breathed out, panting. "I can't beat you." He dropped his sword, signalling the duel was over.

"Ha!" Aoife giggled. "Don't be ridiculous, you're so much better than you were just last year!" She stretched her arms, then glanced at Alex. "Do you want to give it a try?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with joy.

The tall woman seemed hesitant, she glanced at me, expecting an answer.

"Could be fun?" I suggested with a smile. "Why not give it a try?"

"Sure," She mumbled, then got up and walked to the middle of the training hall. "You wouldn't happen to have a falchion or a sabre, would you?" She asked with a joking tone.

"Actually, we do."

"I didn't know your sister was so good." Asher mumbled as Aoife found a sabre and gave it to Alex. I chuckled and nodded. "She is, why do you think I always compare my swordsmanship with her?" 

The sound of metal hitting metal echoed as Asher pondered for a while. "She's incredible, I wouldn't have thought there would be anyone who could beat your or Lucius." He hesitated. "Have you duelled her ever since we returned from the game?"

I shook my head. "No, my body never got the chance to recover enough for it. Besides, I still wouldn't stand a chance, she knows my style too well." I tilted my head as I noticed the grin forming on Asher's face. "What?" I asked.

"Why don't you try fighting her with your scythe?"

My eyes widened. "What? No! Have you lost your mind? That thing is way too deadly!" And it would probably be capable of cutting right through her normal, metal blade. "There's no way I'm using that against her."

"You'll never get better at it if you don't practice though."

I shook my head. "With only a couple of days left before we set off to end all of this, it doesn't matter how much I practice. What we really need to work on is to break whatever mental barrier is blocking all of your powers."

Asher chuckled. "Well," He mumbled. "That's true, but how do we do that?"

"I lost!" Alex announced, distracting us. I glanced at my sister, to see her standing there with a cheerful smile.  "You're so good with that sabre!" She exclaimed as she approached Alex. "Is that what you used when you were stuck in that… other world?"

Alex chuckled. "Well, I used a variety of weapons, but mostly a sabre with a buckler. They worked well with my natural abilities."

"What does that mean?" Aoife asked, curiosity filling her voice. 

"Oh, I had a tail is all." She grinned.

They chatted for a while longer before Aoife turned her attention back to the rest of the group. "So…" She mumbled. "Who else didn't use magic?"

"I didn't!" Theresa replied with a giggle. "I was an archer!"

Aoife hesitated. "Uh, I don't think we can do any practice for that." She awkwardly smiled, then glanced at me. 

"What about you, Kai? We haven't duelled in a while." She asked. I shook my head. "No need to make a joke out of myself." I grinned. "Let's get to work guys," I added as I walked to the centre of the room. "Time for magic again."

Aoife's shoulders dropped at first, but when she heard the word 'magic', her eyes sparkled with impatience. Everyone gathered around me once more, and I took a deep breath. "I won't go easy on anyone, so be ready."

My wings appeared on my back as flames began to dance on my skin. I brought my hands before my chest, then fed my flames with more power, more mana. 

Everyone watched the flame in my palms as it grew larger and brighter. 

"Oh." Asher suddenly whispered. "Kai, make it stronger."

His words made my heart skip a beat. Had we succeeded? I didn't ask for his reasoning and fed even more power into my flames. A faint breeze blew my hair back and ruffled my feathers as the black and purple flame grew ever so larger.

"What's this?" Someone else whispered. I could hardly hear them over the roar of the flame in my palms.

Suddenly, my flame flickered. I furrowed my brows, as stopped empowering it. The flame remained the same, though the flickering continued. "Is it enough?" I asked, trying to keep my voice clear of worry. "Asher?"

"I need more," He replied. His expression was one of pure focus. I hesitated. The flame was already difficult enough to control now – what if it rampaged? "Kai, hurry!" He exclaimed with a hint of anger in his voice.

I gulped, then did as he asked. The flame grew larger, large enough to envelop me in my entirety. I only felt a mild warmth from it. My palms itched as the heart of the flame remained still and strong. The wind grew stronger, and the training room grew hotter.

Someone drew a sharp breath while others moved a bit away from me. I glanced at Aoife, who looked at me wide eyed. I showed her a smile that I hope was at least a bit reassuring. 

It had become more difficult to control the flames. They were hungry. They wanted to consume things, almost as if they had a mind of their own. I gritted my teeth; did they have a mind of their own? In a way, they did. They were the result of the combined power of all the souls within me, channelled through the soul of the phoenix. 

It was different now, than it was back then. This felt similar to the times before I lost the soul of the phoenix. Before I died at Uriithe and Alina's hands. I had grown used to using my own flames, it was tough to adjust to the powers of the phoenix again.

I slowly exhaled and watched Asher's expression. My flames flickered once more.

Then, a distant thunder sounded.