The Soul Keeper

It was early morning still as we finished our breakfast and headed to the courtyard. There would be no practice today, and nor would we try to awaken the magic within the others. 

"Are you ready?" Mother asked as we waited by the outer gates. I nervously chuckled. "No." How could I be?

Some time passed as we all waited. The wind tugged at our clothes and blew our hair back as the sun slowly climbed to its zenith. 

Then, I felt it. It was difficult to put into words. But it made my heart skip a beat. Then, a rift formed in the air before us. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I glanced to my side, I saw Vixia standing right behind me, with an expressionless face.

Time seemed to slow for a moment, the light breeze disappeared and then, finally, the first demon stepped out of the rift. Another one followed, and then another. They were in the tens at first, but their numbers quickly climbed to the hundreds.

I took a deep breath as my gaze met with a few of them. They wore darkmetal armour and carried their weapons with care. They were no ordinary soldiers; these were the elites of the Demon Lord's army.

"It begins." Vixia spoke with a soft voice. "There is no turning back now."

I nodded. The soldiers passed by us and headed inside, where Delthur met them.

It took a couple of minutes before that feeling returned. I gulped, raised my chin, and tightened my grasp around the metal shaft of my scythe.

"Welcome, your Majesty." Mother spoke in a broken demonic. I grimaced as the Demon Lord stepped through the rift. His gaze focused on Mother, a faint smile appeared on his lips for but a moment. 

He said nothing and turned his gaze on Vixia and me. I shuddered; I would never get used to his presence.

"At dusk," He spoke, raising his voice. "We go to war."

"Are you going too?" I heard Aoife ask Rina. The petite wizard shook her head just as I stepped inside the room. "No, I'm staying back to protect you guys." 

All eyes turned on me as soon as she finished her words. "What happened?" Aoife asked. "What was decided?"

I shrugged. "The plan is on." I had just returned from a meeting with Inspector John, the Lord, Vixia, Fetheion and Mother. "We set off shortly before dusk and arrive in London right around the time the sun sets. If nothing goes horribly wrong, the Pillar will be destroyed by dawn, and the Ereth will be no more."

Asher sighed. "I wish I could join you. Damn it, I should be able to join you."

I shook my head. "No, it's ok." He still hadn't succeeded in breaking that mental barrier Vixia had spoken of. He had no powers, and as such, could have no real effect on the battle. "You guys will be safe here, so I can go all out without worrying about harming any of you."

Laura stepped forward and lightly hugged me. "I'm sorry, that all of this fell on your shoulders." She whispered. "I should have – no, we should have been able to fight by your side as we did so in Baile Chailce. This is unfair, to all of us. But to you, most of all."

"This won't work!" Fetheion shouted. I gulped as I passed by Mother's room. I could hear them fighting. "You can't expect to be able to do all that from the get-go! You just got your power back!"

"It's not a question of whether I can or can't. This is war, brother. I can't allow myself to be held back by such things." Mother sighed. "No need to worry about me, brother. You should watch out for yourself. She hates you the most."

I walked past her room as fast and as quietly as I could. I swallowed my anger towards the both of them – I would have preferred if they also stayed back. 

"Kai!" Someone shouted my name. "Hey, don't ignore me." 

Startled, I glanced towards the source of the voice. It was Inspector John. He seemed as if he'd just ran down the stairs. "Are you deaf?" He asked, panting.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought." I waited for him to catch up to me. "What's up?"

We slowly walked towards the dining room at the ground floor as he spoke. "I want to come with you. To the field of battle."

I almost choked on my own breath. "What?" I said wide eyed. "Why on earth would you want that? It's dangerous!" I exclaimed.

"I need to see." He said. "If the world has changed forever, I need to be there to see it. I need to be able to provide the United Nations a proper report."

I couldn't believe he was still thinking about that. "Is that really worth risking your life? A single stray spell, a single arrow, and you could die." I was in no position to forbid him from coming along, but I really didn't want to see him lose his life because of something as silly and unimportant as this.

He nodded. "Once this whole war is over, we've still got a world to fix. If things are not done properly, fear and chaos will rule for a long time." He stared me in the eye. "Soon, people will start learning magic too, and then, can you imagine the chaos? I can't let something like that happen."

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. "I see."

Hours passed slowly throughout the day. It felt like time had come to a crawl. I visited Erik and promised him to kill Aelith. I spent time with my sister, though that proved to be quite difficult. 

And then, after agonisingly slow hours, the sun began to set.

Our goodbyes were swift and simple. A quick hug there, a tearful 'see you later' here… Aoife cried a little, and I had to hide my wet eyes with my hair.

"We will return at dawn." The Demon Lord's voice echoed in the courtyard. I expected him to speak more, but he didn't. He spread his wings and leapt up into the air.

And just like that, we set off.