by Thomas Green
Zoey shook her head, removed her armor and did the same while Raven reached for the mixture.
“Don’t,” Lucas said to stop him. “This won’t work on you.”
“Why?” Raven and Zoey asked simultaneously.
Lucas threw Raven a smile. “Because the way you mold aether would reject this substance. I will tend to your wounds once I’m done bleeding to death.”
He nodded.
When Lucas finished with the mixture, he approached Raven to help him from his armor. His shoulder was pierced through, bones shattered, while his chest bore a gash on the side and above the heart.
Lucas put Raven to lie down, ducking above him. He reached into his soul chamber, withdrawing a needle, tread, and a vial of clear liquid. “This will hurt, a lot.”
“Which part?”
“The one where I pour the disinfection into your wounds.” Lucas unsealed the vial and, with his shaking hand, started pouring its contents over Raven’s wounds. The prince gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and did all he could not to shout in pain. When Lucas was done with the liquid, sweat covered Raven while veins bulged on his neck. To his credit, he released no sound.
Lucas tried to hide his frown. “Now, we need to stitch the wounds.” He attached the thread to the needle and raised it in front of his face. The hand was trembling so strongly the suture danced through the air. “And by we, I mean you.” He handed the needle to Zoey.
Her eyes widened. “I have never done that before.”
Lucas placed a hand on her shoulder, holding it in a firm, reassuring grip. He forced his voice to remain steady, hiding the emptiness devouring his insides. “I will tell you what to do and how to do it. I know what to do because I had done it thousands of times, but I can’t do it now since I cannot stop my hand from trembling.”
She gulped and grabbed the needle. Within the next couple of hours, he guided her through the surgery, stitching all of Raven’s wounds. He knew it would do nothing to recover his shoulder, but it ensured his survival.
Once done, Lucas sagged by the cavern wall. “Try to rest when I sleep, for we will need to fight our way out of here by tomorrow.” Before the others said anything, he pulled a purple mold out of his soul chamber, a powerful sleeping toxin. He threw it into his mouth and fell asleep the moment he swallowed.
***
A mere second later, Lucas awoke in his soul chamber, which was of the shape of a room covered by parchments, books, and bottles of booze, all of which lay in unarranged piles. He leapt to his feet and approached the wall, upon which hung a framed picture.
A man in a black suit stood there next to a woman in a wedding dress. He and his wife. Forever, that’s how long it has been since that day. Yet he remembered it as if it was yesterday. He was never as happy as on that day, and he would have it back. So what that he was but a spirit possessing another man’s corpse? He would regain his body, reclaim his name and free his wife from her prison of darkness.
But first, he had a war to win and demon princes to kill since their death was the first step to freeing his wife. He would see it done. He waved his hand, and a map of the continent appeared on the wall. He flicked his wrist, and an orchestra of orange and red lights filled the map. What the hell happened with the fleet?
Lucas reached to a nearby pile to grab a bottle. Without care for its contents, he pried the cork open and turned it into his mouth, knocking down a half. This will take forever to go through. I need to meet Elias.
Wait for a second. A flashing, green dot on the map caught his eye. Oh. His heart sank into his stomach and insides clenched into a fist. I need proper clothes for this.
He spread his arms and weaved the surrounding essence of Limbo, forming a black suit around his body. Lucas shaved, arranged his hair and approached a wall. Upon his thought, a door appeared on the wall. He opened them, staring into the nothingness of the Void beyond.
Lucas dove into the darkness, navigating through the endless emptiness toward the soul chamber of Elias. Once he the admiral updated him, he headed to the soul chamber of Zerae Hellwind.
Amidst the infinite blackness, her chamber looked like a cube made of stone walls. Lucas turned himself into pure darkness, stretched himself thin as a single thread of a cobweb and poked around the walls to find a hole to enter.
Once he did, he slid inside, uttering the passphrase not to trigger the defenses and then recreated himself from the string of blackness. The soul chamber was barely decorated, containing an average bed next to a training ground filled by beaten practice dummies while rusty swords lay on decaying grass.
He approached. Zerae slept, turning and shaking as she suffered through a nightmare. Lucas’ insides exploded, filling him with a rage so endless it blinded his mind, burst through his veins and clouded his vision. This place needs a redesign.
His power swelled through the soul chamber, bending Limbo to his will. The grass turned bright green while the mud became well-arranged dirt, the training posts, weapons, armor all twisted into new-looking versions of themselves. Soft sunshine filled the air, coupled with a fresh breeze while birds and small animals appeared, cute and merry.
The outsides of the soul chamber whirled into nothingness, the walls turned to dust as they were replaced by a twisting yarn of pure darkness. It failed to bring him peace, for the searing rage still scorched his insides. I wish I had the time to calm down. He jolted a tiny drop of his aether into her, waking her up with a shock.
She gasped. “What?” Her entire body froze the second she glimpsed him.
Lucas closed his eyes, exhaled and created a throne made of darkness. He sagged onto it and gave Zerae the calmest stare he managed. “I am Lucas, the Dreamwalker, and we need to talk.”
She gulped, eyes wide. “I’m Zerae. What the hell have you done to my soul chamber?”
“Your defenses were insufficient, and our conversations must remain private, so I took the liberty of improving them.”
She pierced him with a glare. “So… the baby bunnies trying to crawl up my bed are a defense?”
“These are to make my workplace more pleasant. If you could change the world around you with a mere thought, wouldn’t you?”
“Can you turn it back?”
He measured her with a calm stare. “Would you desire me to?”
Zerae narrowed her eyes. “Why do you look like you want to tear down the heavens?”
“I’ve had a bad day. Onward to business, yes, I can view your memories, imaginations, dreams, thoughts, everything that ever passed your mind from this place. But I am not going to, never did and never will.”
Zerae smiled, shaking her head. “You’ve had this conversation a lot of times, haven’t you?”
“Thousands, literally, so I would prefer to skip to its end.”
“I understand we will need to trust each other, at least up to a point, but why do you bother when you can verify anything I tell you by skimming through my memories?”
“Because of a thing I call etiquette, for I don’t go through other people’s memories, ever. Never the less, you aren’t the only person I have to visit tonight, so I find myself short on time. I suppose you made a deal with Elias to be our insider at the Storm Pirates, correct?”
“Yes, our arrangement is akin to that.”
That fits what Elias told me. Lucas stretched his neck. “I need you to visit the Sil Haen force that was sent north to scout for Kayleanne, and it must be done as soon as possible. Arrange me three routes through the Frozen Heights, two of which have to be passable for horses.”
Zerae gaped, speechless.
He arched an eyebrow. “What? The Order is winning the south already, but we haven’t won the north yet, which is what I’m about to change by using you.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” Zerae stuttered.
Lucas shrugged. “You will have to. Your deal with Elias will turn empty if you cannot deliver on this.” He turned to leave, the barrier of the soul chamber opening befor
e him, revealing the hazed emptiness of the Void beyond.
“Wait. Before you go, could you please check on one of my friends? She’s a dream-walker named Leena. I don’t know if you dream walkers have any way to track each other, but she went to meet Salazar, and I fear she may have overdone it. Please make sure she is all right.”
Lucas sighed, hoping the gesture hid his heart leaping up to his throat. He knew he should have refused to make their positions clear. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not to her. “Don’t get used to this.” He leapt into the Void, which welcomed him with its heatless embrace, an appropriate company to the rage consuming his insides.
Lucas glided through the rivers of darkness weaving through the emptiness until countless soul chambers of Xona opened before him. He slid between them, like wind between trees, searching for the soul chamber of Count Salazar himself.
The count’s soul chamber was akin to an unapproachable jungle with a long strand of roots stretching out through Limbo. Lucas followed the roots, arriving at a nearby soul chamber of someone he didn’t know.
Since the defenses were but an excuse, he slid in. Inside lay a woman wrapped in plants while across what looked like hall filled with furniture stood a dozen older men by a table, vividly discussing something with a younger man. Nobody noticed him. Lucas stepped above the woman in plants, peering down at her mahogany hair tipped by icicles, frostbitten lips, and pale, ice-covered skin.
Her face turned into an awkward smile when she saw him. “Hi.”
Lucas pierced her with a glare. “What part of don’t travel further than from where you can return did you find confusing when studying how to move through Limbo?”
Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, but do we know each other?”
“Hi, Sorry. I’m Lucas.”
She sighed. “Leena.”
“I know. We will talk later.” Lucas stepped to the arguing men. “I apologize for the intrusion, but I need to borrow the count for but a moment.”
Count Salazar left the group, his hair brown and arranged to perfection around his youthful face, which featured deep, green eyes. He wore brown-green robes with a symbol of a tree, the symbol of Xona, over his chest. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Lucas?”
He waved his hand and darkness enveloped them, isolating them from the rest of the soul chamber. “I’m here to pick up the Sil Haen girl. How’s your army?”
“It shall be ready in a year, provided I get myself at least one veteran general. How is the Prince?”
Lucas grinned. “Half-dead with his pride and illusions shattered.”
“Good, for it is increasingly annoying to keep dealing with city lords who had never left the safety of their homes.”
“About your conquest, the Order’s war will be done within half a year, for by then, we will either run out of resources and retreat or have won. In both cases, you will have your opportunity.”
“Excellent, after all, having an army is a necessity, but conquering new lands is the entertaining part of being a ruler. I wish you the best of luck.” Salazar’s expression became serious. “And I am sorry for your loss. Nashimaeal was an example for us all.”
Lucas sighed. “Thanks.” He made the barrier disappear and walked to Leena while Salazar returned to the mages to inform them their presence was no longer necessary.
Leena raised an eyebrow as he approached. “Where did you learn to make a barrier like that?”
Lucas ignored the question. “Can you keep a secret?”
“What do I get if I do?”
“Live, for I will take you back to your body.”
Leena shook her head. “We are half a world away, and I have twelve hours to return to my body before it dies, so unless you can go back in time, whatever you are trying to do is pointless.”
“Twelve hours? You spent seven days traveling through Limbo to talk to Salazar without realizing you should go back?”
“I lost track of time.”
The rage within Lucas burst out once more, making him bite his cheek to keep a calm visage. The attempt failed. Aether exploded out of him. The entire soul chamber shook as if hit by an earthquake while the air became thicker than water, freezing in place everyone other than himself. “Lost track of time? All right, I will solve that for you.”
He flicked his wrist, and the plants released her so he could raise her in his arms. After throwing her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, Lucas leapt out of the soul chamber into the Void beyond.
Leena’s eyes widened. “I will take my chance with the mages. They said they can put my soul into an item and then transfer it to my body later, so how about you take me back?”
Lucas formed a barrier out of his power to shield them from the cold touch of the Void and dove into a stream of pure darkness. The current gripped them, dragging them through the emptiness.
Leena gulped. “You’re not supposed to be able to do this.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you ever stop talking?”
Long minutes of awkward silence later, Lucas flew out of the current and stopped in front of Leena’s soul chamber, which was fashioned to a cloud of green and purple vapors. His eyes met Leena’s. “Give me the passphrase.”
“I will manage the rest by myself, so thank you, but you can let me down now.”
Lucas stretched out his hand and focused. Darkness gathered into his palm, converging upon itself into a tiny globe. He soulstepped the sphere to the wall of her soul chamber, and the reality around the sphere bent as if the very fabric of Limbo was being absorbed. The globe twisted, imploded into nothing and then burst into an overwhelming explosion, tearing out a massive chunk of her vapors-made soul chamber.
“Stop destroying my defenses!” Leena shouted.
Lucas grinned. “I don’t care whether I enter your soul chamber by breaking through your defenses or by you giving me your passphrase.”
“My defenses took years to build! You can’t destroy them like this!”
“Watch me.”
She gulped and formed an awkward smile. “Okay, okay, okay, I will tell you the passphrase, but stop breaking my stuff.” She whispered him the passphrase, and he approached the bubble, saying the words to enter.
They entered her soul chamber, which was fashioned into a massive hall filled with statues and paintings, all of which depicted naked women. Lucas carried her to a center which featured a glorious bed designed to look as if it was made of clouds. Leena clicked her tongue. “Okay, we have arrived, thank you and fuck off.”
Lucas smiled. “I promised I would help you with losing track of time in Limbo and I always deliver on my promises.” He grabbed her ankle and darkness burst out of his hand, creating a shackle. The blackness stretched out, forming a chain that weaved through the air and then wrapped around the legs of the bed. “There. This should solve the problem for you.”
Her cheeks flared up. “Are you chaining me to the bed?”
“It should be long enough for a few dozen jumps, so it’s not like you cannot dream walk at all.” He put her into the bed.
She snarled. “You fucking asshole. Just wait till I destroy this shitty chain and come to visit your soul chamber. I will make sure you have nothing but nightmares for the rest of your life!”
Before he left, Lucas laughed. “Good luck with that.”
16
Zerae
Zerae woke up curled into a fetal position within a small fishing boat. In front of her rowed Zakuma, making her feel as if she was an ant facing an elephant.
Through the soreness holding her body, Zerae sat up, gazing over the sea. The water lay calm and still while on the horizon ahead of them stood the Tirbou Island. She cleared her throat. “I will handle it from here.”
He spared her a kind smile. “Back to bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Was that supposed to be deep wisdom you priests are supposed to be saying?”
“No.” Zakuma rose. “You’r
e the one-eyed among the blind, so you are doomed to suffer alone.”
“What the hell do you know about that?”
“I knew a man who bore the same fate. It consumed him, but not before he destroyed most of the world.”
She scoffed. “Does this rambling have a point?”
“Find yourself a hobby before you cause the second Upheaval because you are both the type who both can and who will want to.”
Zerae shook her head and grabbed the oars.
“Have fun.” Zakuma leapt off the fishing boat.
That was weird. Zerae watched him swim away as she rowed to the Tirbou Island. Hundreds of Sil Haen lay on the beach, sleeping or resting. She glanced over them. Not even half. Her heart sunk into her stomach, which clenched around it. She saw less than two hundred of her sisters on the floating pieces of wood, so they had lost about a hundred warriors. That was the largest single-day loss of Sil Haen lives in the history of their race. And their sacrifice laid upon the altar of her mother’s folly, of her all-consuming desire to find their Goddess. Zerae couldn’t imagine how the Goddess would have to be for this to be worth it.
Strong arms hugged her from behind while Astril’s lips caught the side of Zerae’s neck, straight above her collar.
Zerae bit back the urge to relax onto Astril, clenching her teeth. “Give me the numbers, Astril.”
“Two hundred sixty-four missing. Did you succeed?”
As bad as I expected. Zerae sighed, not feeling any better. “Of course, I did.”
Astril pecked her a kiss onto the cheek. “Good.”
A ship with black flags appeared on the horizon. Zerae watched Alicia wake up the sleeping warriors to prepare for the way home. The trip on the boat happened in awkward silence, bringing them to the damp port of Stormshriek. Beneath the curious gazes of the pirates, they marched into the fortress, passing to the massive hall from which they embarked on their mission.
Mathilde Hellwind awaited them upon her throne, her face but a mask of rage, perfectly matching her black and red robes. As the warriors filled the hall, Alicia approached her mother. Mathilde leapt off the throne to hug her. “My daughter! I was so worried! What happened?”