The Soul Keeper

The creature's pained wails mixed with the roaring flames. I heard a distant shout. As the creature's body also burst into flames, I removed the stuck scythe from its head. Barely keeping my balance on the melting scales, I stretched my wings and leapt into the air.

As I arrived on the shore, the creature's charred body fell into the water and disappeared beneath the jade waters.

A few seconds later, a jade-blue soul surfaced from beneath the waves. I let it approach and shivered as it dissolved into my chest.

"Kai?" Erik's shocked voice sounded, but before I could even look at him, something with blonde hair rammed me. Alina sniffed as she hugged me and with a shaky voice whispered. "I thought you died when it pulled you under the waves…"

"Alina?" I exclaimed as I tried to step back, but she held on tight.

"You need to stop scaring us like that." Rina said as the rest of the group approached. Alex nodded. Only when I saw her face did I notice how much this battle had pushed them to their limit. All over them I could see scratches and bruises. Their clothes were tattered and wet. They were panting.

"Sorry," I mumbled to Alina, then gently pushed her away. It felt… awkward. "I'm glad you all made it out of this alive." I glanced at Erik. "You scared me, I thought you were dead for sure when you took the full force of that hit."

He grinned. "Thanks to Rina and Alex, we levelled up enough, so I was able to get the key skill of paladins." His smile shattered as he glanced behind me. "I do believe you've got some explaining to do. What's the with the flames and the wings?"

I flinched. So much for keeping my wings a secret, I suppose.

"Can we do that after we get a bit away from here?" I asked, glancing at the lake. "I'm sure plenty of scavengers will come soon."

They nodded, but Vincent shook his head. "Wait," He glanced around. "Where's Josh?"

"What?" Samantha asked after a moment's hesitation. "Wasn't he flanking the dragon?"

I forced myself to remember, when was the last time I saw the young man? "He was going through the woods, I assumed he was trying to circle around to the back of the creature but… that was quite a while ago."

"Let's search for him." Alex said after a short moment of silence.

I sighed and nodded. "I'll look through the-"

"I'm fine!" Joshua's voice interrupted me. "I'm back, sorry." He stumbled out of the woods. His arms were covered in blood and cuts.

"What happened to you?" Samantha cried out in shock. He really seemed badly wounded.

"I was circling around the late when I bumped into some creatures. I fought them off eventually, but I didn't exactly come out unscathed."

"That's an understatement." I mumbled as Alina approached him. A soft light shone from her hands as she carefully healed his wounds. "Thanks, Alina." He said with a smile. She nodded, stepped back, and approached me. "Are you ok, Kai?" She looked all over me. "Your clothes are ruined!"

"I'm fine, really. My clothes will mend themselves once I have the mana to spare. Don't worry about me." I glanced at Joshua. After Alina's healing spell, he seemed to be fine. He didn't look as tired as the rest of us, though I guess that was to be expected, since he didn't fight the giant sea serpent.

"Can we go somewhere else now?" Alina asked, glancing at all of us. I nodded, and so did everyone else. Erik placed his weapon back into his inventory and pointed in the direction I came from. "That way are the ruins you wanted to explore, Rina. How about we camp not too far from them?"

"There's a river close to it." I added.

Soon, we were off to the shallow river. We were all exhausted, save for Joshua, so our short journey passed in silence. Only once we arrived and set up camp, did I hear some low conversations between some of them.

I gathered some firewood and lit a nice, warm campfire. Soon, we all sat around it. The sun was still high, so it was a little early to be even eating, but we were too exhausted to even think about the time.

"So, Kai." Erik finally asked. "Are you going to explain the deal with those wings?"

I flinched. "Well, apparently, when I kill really powerful, legendary creatures, I can gain some of their abilities." I shrugged. I didn't want to tell them about Vixia and Delthur.

"I see," Erik mumbled. "That is really powerful. Is that how you killed the beast?"

I nodded. "It was thanks to having killed the phoenix that I was able to do it." I smiled. "I guess it was good for at least something." I continued with a chuckle, then suddenly realised something. "What happened to Astrid?"

"Oh, we let her go after she told us everything." Erik said with a dismissive tone. "She probably went back to report to her employer."

"Did you tell her anything?" I asked, slightly worried. How much did she know about me?

"No." Rina said with a cold voice. "I didn't want her to know too much about anyone here, so I didn't let them tell her anything."

Relieved, I smiled. I was worried about the employer Asher had talked about. He did say they were just curious, but I wasn't going to blindly believe his words.

"We should rest." I finally said with a sigh.

"I'll make sure nothing can get close." Rina chimed in as she cast a spell. Runes appeared around the campsite. Once she was done, she glanced at the girls and, with a playful voice, spoke. "Come, girls, lets get cleaned up."

Alina jumped to her feet and dragged Samantha with her as they headed towards the shallow river.

"Oh?" Joshua's ears perked up.

"Don't even think about it." Alex's harsh voice sounded as she smacked his back with her tail. "Keep an eye on him Vincent." With that, she also left for the shallow river.