by Kate Keir
“Well the only place I can think of for them to drink from in the Endwood is the river. If we get some of Flora’s blood in there, we can get them all in one go,” Freya grinned.
“Clever.” Bear was smiling at Freya like a love-sick puppy.
Finlay tapped his chin thoughtfully. “That would mean sending someone to the Endwood with Flora’s blood.”
“That’s too risky for any of you.” I spoke quickly knowing that Sluag would move mountains to get hold of another Dion in the Endwood.
“Flora’s right. If Sluag gets wind of another Dion in the Endwood, he will do anything to get hold of your blood for more Super Draugur,” Leah agreed.
“It’s too good an opportunity to miss. If we can convert all of the ordinary Draugur, then that only leaves us with the Supers and Sluag to deal with.” Artair spoke determinedly.
I took a deep breath as I made my decision. “I’ll do it myself.”
“Not a bloody chance, love,” Lyall growled.
I shook my head at him. “Hear me out first.”
I was met with sceptical glares from my protectors, but I carried on regardless. “I can choose to go to the Endwood in my dream-form, and he can’t hurt me then. I can still get my blood into the river, but Sluag won’t be able to touch me.”
Finlay looked worried. “He can still hurt you mentally, though, Flor. He’s had eight months to save up all of the stuff he wants to torment you with.”
“But, nobody will have to risk their lives if I go. It has to be me.” My voice was firm.
“I think Flora is right,” Pen spoke firmly. “This is the least risky option. Apart from not wanting to lose any of you, we can’t afford to give Sluag a new blood supply for more Supers that we have no idea how to kill.”
“Then it’s decided. I’ll go tonight,” I said firmly.
Lyall shook his head angrily. “I won’t leave your side while you’re there.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“So, we’re going to have an army to help shield us from Sluag, but that still doesn’t help us to kill his Super Draugur,” Bear said what we were all thinking.
“I’m confident the best way to stop the Super Draugur is to kill Sluag.” Pen spoke slowly, and I could tell she was feeling even worse than before.
I felt a flicker of guilt as I remembered back to my conversation with Sluag.
I am not their true maker. That honour belongs to the traitor whose blood was used in their creation.
I hadn’t told anyone else that the Supers could supposedly be killed if Finlay was killed. How could I? Betraying the one person who had always been there for me wasn’t an option.
Yet, as the likelihood of one or more of my Dion being killed in this war increased, so did my guilt at keeping my secret.
“But we don’t know if we can kill him,” Enid said.
“I’m investigating the possibility of dislodging his soul, in much the same way the rogues have done in the mortal world,” Pen replied.
“Sluag has a soul?” I squeaked in surprise.
“Sluag was a man before he was the Host of the Unforgiven Dead, Flora. Of course, he has a soul. It is twisted and black and rotten, but a soul nonetheless,” Pen confirmed.
Wow, who knew?
“So, we can dislodge his soul, and he’ll be gone for good?” Artair asked.
“Put simply, yes. The problem is, I don’t think Flora has the power to do it, even with Lyall as back-up,” Pen admitted.
I shuddered as I thought of draining Lyall to try to kick Sluag’s soul out of his body.
“So, it can’t be done?” Leah asked quietly.
Pen rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand. “I think it can, but I just don’t think we know how yet. I will keep working on it.”
“Pen, I think you need some rest.” Finlay stood and hooked his arm through hers.
“I think you’re right. I’m sorry, I must be coming down with something.” Pen allowed Finlay to help her up and walk her to the door.
“I’ll go to the Endwood tonight. Hopefully we can at least start to recruit Draugur to our side soon.” I stood up and Lyall followed suit.
“Thank you, Flora, and please be careful,” Pen warned before she allowed Finlay to lead her from the room.
“I meant what I said, love. I’m not leaving you alone while you’re there,” Lyall murmured to me.
I nodded in agreement, glad I would have him by my side. Truth be told, I wasn’t thrilled at the thought of possibly running into Sluag after all this time.
Chapter Six
Lyall kicked off his boots and sat comfortably on my bed. He patted the covers beside him, and I quickly followed suit—kicking my own boots off and stretching out next to him. I laid my head on his thigh, and he stroked my hair softly, helping me to relax.
“I’m worried about Pen,” I murmured.
His hand hesitated for a fraction of a second before continuing to caress my hair.
“So am I. Finlay’s with her right now. She’ll be all right, love. We just need to concentrate on getting you in and out of the Endwood before Sluag notices.”
“Not very likely,” I admitted sleepily.
“Shhh, love. Let’s get this done so I know I have you back safely,” he whispered.
As I started to drift off to sleep, I thought of the charred trees and blackened grass of the Endwood. Imagining the scene surrounding me in the same way I would imagine the Everwood to take myself there.
I felt myself slipping further and further into oblivion, until with a gentle jolt I was there, in the domain of my enemy.
I turned my head left and then right, wondering which direction would lead me to the river quicker. Making my decision, I turned left and began to jog through the trees.
There was a constant creeping cold that wound its way through the air of the Endwood, which was made even more stark and unpleasant by the muted light of the moon. I shivered as I pressed on through the trees.
A sudden sound caused me to hurl myself against the nearest tree, hiding my body from the path I had been following. My heart hammered in my chest as I watched two Supers stroll along the way I had just walked.
They behaved as though they had always been here, and it sent ice down my spine.
As soon as the Supers were out of sight I slipped around the tree trunk and carried on through the trees. After a couple more minutes of tense jogging, I stopped as my ears picked up the sound of running water.
I smiled to myself, delighted I had chosen the right path to the river. I headed in the direction of the babbling sound and quickly came out of the trees and onto a riverbank.
The water was black, as I had expected, and it swirled in little eddies as it passed where I stood. I stared into the depths for a moment, mesmerised by the rhythmic pulse of the miniature whirlpools sweeping by.
A gasp escaped me as a bony, white face appeared through the inky darkness. It was a koi carp, but it was just the skeleton of the fish that swam through the water. Its ivory-coloured bones a stark contrast to the pitch-black water, and its mouth opening and closing as though pulling water through non-existent gills.
“Well, that’s not at all disturbing,” I murmured to myself as I pulled a small, silver knife from my pocket and turned my left hand over to expose my palm.
I sighed as I took in the raised and bumpy scar tissue that stretched across the skin. I had cut my hand so many times since becoming the Soul Keeper, that it was a complete mess now, and here I was about to do it again.
I wasn’t sure how much blood would be enough, since it would be diluted by the water, so I pushed the point of the knife deep into my hand and then dragged it through my palm, creating a deep trench that immediately filled with crimson.
“Ouch.”
I stepped forward and turned my hand over to allow my blood to run into the water, massaging the skin around the wound to encourage the sticky liquid to flow harder.
After around five minutes, I figured I had
probably let about a pint of my blood leak into the water. I didn’t really have much more to spare so I guessed it would have to be enough. I tore a strip of cloth from my T-shirt and wrapped my hand tightly to stem the bleeding.
Turning my back on the river, I started to walk back toward the tree line and began to imagine my bedroom back at Castle Dion.
“Hello, Little Dreamer,” Sluag hissed from behind me.
Ahh Shit!
I desperately tried to get a firm grip on the image of my room, but the surprise of running into Sluag knocked my concentration.
I whirled around to face him. “I’m not planning on stopping, Sluag. Just a flying visit.”
He grinned, exposing his yellowed teeth. “I must say, I am surprised to see you here voluntarily, Flora. May I ask why you are in my Endwood?”
I knew it was a huge mistake to get involved in any sort of conversation with him, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I might be able to get any more information about his Super Draugur.
“I just thought I’d stop by and see how your little project was going?” I tried to sound casual.
He laughed caustically, and the sound made my blood run cold.
“You mean since you murdered my colleague?” He raised one sparse eyebrow as he spoke.
Every time I thought about what I had done to Lyall’s mother, I felt sick. I was sure I’d never be able to dull the image of her torn open throat from my mind.
“Well, you must be struggling to create Supers without help in the mortal world.” I sounded calmer than I felt.
“Oh, Little Dreamer, have you not realised that I have more help than I could possibly dream of in the mortal world now that I have so many rogue souls placed in their new bodies.”
Of course, he didn’t need a regular human when he had hundreds of hi-jacked people to do his bidding for him.
“So, you must’ve run out of Dion blood by now then?” I queried.
“I have. Are you here to offer me some more?” Grinning, he took a step closer.
“You’ve had all you’re going to get, Sluag,” I growled as I took a step back.
“I must say, I’m a little surprised, Flora. I would have thought a ruthless killer such as yourself, would have accepted that you need to obliterate Finlay’s soul in order to destroy my Super Draugur by now.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I ground out.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Lyall agrees with you, does he?”
“Don’t bring him in to this, Sluag,” I hissed. It was time for me to get the hell out of there.
“You haven’t told him, have you? Is that because you know he’d have Finlay marked for death before you had a chance to say, ‘sorry I killed your mother’?” Sluag smirked.
I curled my lip in disgust. “Jesus, you’re disgusting, aren’t you? I found out today that you were a man once. What happened to make you so completely ruined, Sluag?”
He studied me quietly for a moment before he answered me. “Betrayal does strange things to everyone, Little Dreamer.”
I had been about to make a break for the safety of my room again, but the tone of his voice made me genuinely curious. “Who betrayed you?”
“That is of little consequence after thousands of years, Flora. Why don’t you just give Lyall to me. You know I’m going to get a hold of him eventually anyway?”
“Ha, don’t be ridiculous. I would burn before I gave him to you, Sluag,” I snarled.
“But will you let the world burn, before you admit you need to obliterate Finlay’s soul, Little Dreamer? I think that’s the bigger question, right now,” he taunted.
The time for getting information about Sluag’s Supers was over. I was only going to get hurt if I stayed here any longer.
“As thrilling as our little chats are, I think it’s time for me to go, Sluag.” I started to fade from his view as I forced myself to concentrate on going back to the arms of the man who was watching over me in the mortal world.
Sluag looked at me with real pity. “I think you might be back sooner than you think, Little Dreamer. Don’t underestimate the importance of blood.”
I had no idea what he meant. Did he know what I had done with my blood?
Too late, the Endwood faded from my sight, and I woke to find Lyall’s concerned amber eyes burning into my own through the darkness.
“Good to have you back, love. Did you get it done?” Lyall pulled me against him and kissed the top of my head.
“I did, although I ran into Sluag while I was there.” I frowned.
Lyall’s grip on me tightened ever so slightly. “What did he say?”
I shrugged. “Not much, actually. He’s out of Finlay’s blood.”
“Good,” he replied brightly.
“Now that he has rogue souls in the mortal world, he has people to help him create more Super Draugur,” I confessed.
Lyall sighed. “So, he’s gonna want more Dion blood?”
“Yep.” I wrapped my arms around Lyall and held on to him tightly, as though Sluag couldn’t hurt him if I did.
“Then we need to make sure that we keep security tight, love. He’s not getting hold of another one of us.”
“Agreed,” I murmured.
“For now, let’s try and get some sleep. We can tell the others everything in the morning.”
I didn’t need telling twice. I burrowed into him, and I was asleep within seconds.
Chapter Seven
“Flora.”
I was warm and cosy, and I had been safe in Lyall’s arms when I fell asleep. So why did his voice sound so worried and urgent?
“Flora, wake up, love,” Lyall hissed in my ear.
My eyes snapped open and instantly locked with Lyall’s. His amber wolf-eyes were wide with worry, and he pressed a finger to his lips, indicating I be quiet.
The noises reached my ears then. I could hear banging and shouting ringing through the castle. Terrified, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and tried to run for the door.
Lyall stood and grabbed my wrist before pulling me backward, until I was pressed against his chest and his mouth was tickling my ear.
“We’re under attack, love, and I have no clue how many are out there,” he whispered.
“The others,” I whimpered.
“We’ll do what we can, Flora, but I have to get you out of here. You have to promise to stay by my side and let me protect you.”
I started to argue that we needed to help the others.
He cut me off with a growl. “Non-negotiable, love. We’ll see what we can do once we know what we’re fighting against.”
I blinked and then nodded once. “Okay.”
We approached my bedroom door, with Lyall leading the way. It was still dark outside, and the hallway was shadowy as we opened the wooden door and stepped through.
A noise on the lower floor made us both lean over the bannister to stare at three Super Draugur, who were systematically working their way through the rooms downstairs—obviously looking for us.
Suddenly, my heart jumped as two figures emerged from the shadows on our right. Lyall pulled his sword and stepped in front of me before I realised it was Enid and Artair. I swore under my breath with relief.
“What’s happening?” Artair whispered.
“I’m guessing Sluag got tired of waiting to get his claws into a new Dion,” Lyall hissed.
Enid jumped at a loud crash as she spoke. “We need to get out of here.”
We started to make our way to the staircase, trying to keep hidden by the shadows wherever possible.
“What about Finlay and Pen?” I stopped walking.
“Flora, let me get you out, and I swear I’ll come back in to find them?” Lyall practically begged.
I allowed him to grab my hand and tug me down the stairs behind him. I gasped in shock to see there were more Supers kicking in the doors of the downstairs rooms.
“There must be at least twenty Supers here.” Artair’s face was deathly w
hite as he realised how dire our predicament was.
“Just keep to the shadows and follow me,” Lyall instructed.
We hesitated a moment until the main hallway seemed clear, before breaking into a headlong run toward the front gate.
When we arrived at the gate, I was shocked to find it standing wide open. It was always locked at night to prevent surprise attacks.
Lyall frowned as he took in the wide-open gate.
“Someone betrayed us from the inside.” Artair said out loud what we were all thinking.
A sound behind us alerted us to the approach of two Super Draugur, and there was no more time to wonder who the traitor was.
“Run,” shouted Enid.
We bolted into the castle gardens and toward Loch Ness.
“The boat,” Artair yelled across the night air.
“Let’s just hope they can’t swim,” Lyall growled as we headed to the tiny boat that had first brought me to Castle Dion almost a year ago.
My heart hurt as I thought of Finlay at the helm of the boat, and I turned back as though I might see him escaping the castle behind us.
A rough hand grabbed my arm and dragged me down the bank to the loch. “There’s no time for that, Flora. We need to get you out of here.”
Artair pulled me to the boat and practically threw me on board next to Enid. Lyall was standing on the shore waiting to push the boat off into the water.
Artair followed me into the boat, and Lyall started to untie the ropes. The two Supers were visible at the top of the hill now.
“Get them to the safehouse. I’ll see you when I can,” Lyall said to Artair.
Artair nodded his agreement, but I stood up in blind panic.
“What do you mean? You’re not coming with us?” My voice was high-pitched.
“I need to go back and get the others. Artair will keep you safe until I catch up with you.” Lyall finished untethering the boat and started to push it away from the shore.
“Lyall, don’t leave me, please?” My voice was small now, and tears burned my eyes.
“I won’t be gone long, love. You’ll never forgive me if I don’t help Pen and Finlay out.” He touched a gentle hand to my cheek before the boat floated too far from the shore.