The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1)

by Gwyndolyn Russell

  “Perhaps for now. It will turn on you in the future. It always does.”

  Reaper could only keep up a smile. He saw the tale like one from the Bible. Just a story to keep the followers in line. He let the door shut and headed down the hall to meet Fenris in his office.

  With a few brief stops to check on those he passed by, Reaper made it there in a few minutes. Fenris had been standing there in front of the desk like a statue. Even when Reaper entered, the creature did not budge. He slipped by the wolf to take a seat in his chair.

  “If you think you’re in trouble, you aren’t.” He leaned back.

  Its jaws separated before softly closing again. He imagined how uncomfortable it must be to have teeth so large and haphazardly grown in.

  Reaper grabbed a few sheets of paper from his desk and skimmed over them.

  “Reynolds gave me her notes from your exam.” He said. “She says you’re a marvel.” He almost laughed.

  Fenris was quiet, watching him.

  “All right, look. I wanted to speak to you because it’s our duty to discover the unknown.” He wasn’t sure if it were just him, or not, but he could see darkness creeping in from the corners of his eyes. In fact, Fenris was turning into a shadow. Only the lights on its body were visible.

  “You’re...unknown to us.” If black could get any darker, it certainly was now.

  Fenris gave a slow, steady nod.

  Reaper found himself at a loss for words. His thoughts blurred. He knew what he wanted to say, to ask, but every time he tried to speak, he could only mutter sounds. It felt like his body was sinking into mud.

  He looked down to the papers in his hand, focusing on the words printed. Even those melted away into the shadows. When he looked back up, he could only see those red lights. Breathing upwards across Fenris’ hidden frame. His soul floated from his body. Carried on waves in sync with the lights. He briefly remembered how Jackal described how he focused on the breathing. So, Reaper gave it a shot. Slow deep breaths.

  One...Two...Three…

  The words finally came to the forefront of his mind. There at the tip of his tongue. Even when the roots of darkness started to wrap around his ankles and wrists, he blurted them out.

  “What is a valkyrie?”

  Wicked, twisted teeth poked out of the dark. Lit up by the crimson lights. The jaws separated wide enough to swallow his head whole. Reaper’s heart sank like a rock. His bones trembled.

  The jaws snapped shut, nearly brushing the tip of his nose. The sound of the clack echoed, rippled through the darkness. The shadows were shoved away by the sound. Light rippling in. The roots pulled Reaper back down and into his body.

  He rubbed his eyes, groaning. Hands shook uncontrollably. He thought he was dying. Thought he was being sent into the maw of hell. When he opened his eyes, Fenris was standing there, leaning towards him with a curious tilt to its head. The cracks for eyes shimmered with worry.

  One elbow supported all his weight while he dug into a drawer for a glass and a bottle of liquor. It was the only thing he thought could clear the haze from his mind. His heart thumped, threatening to rupture there against his ribs.

  Fenris looked itself over before watching him again. He drank from the glass, downing the entire thing and filling it once more. He rubbed his face. Smoothed his hair over his head.

  “Are...you doing that…?” Reaper could barely get the words out.

  “Do what?” Fenris’ head tilted to the other side.

  “Th-that soul...tearing...shadow thing.”

  “Fenris understand not.”

  He downed half his glass.

  His mind was clearing slowly. Warmth flooded his body once more. Funny how alcohol was the cure for most ailments. With a deep breath, Reaper leaned back in his seat. He opened his mouth to speak, but Fenris cut him off.

  “Warrior.”

  “You’re a warrior?”

  “All valkyrie. Fenris strategize.”

  He hummed in thought, wanting to push away the strange hallucination. If Fenris could strategize combat, then it must have had a unique way of commanding forces. Strange, Reaper did not expect to hear that from the creature.

  “Have you heard of Arena of Warfare?”

  “No.”

  Reaper tapped a few times on his desk, pulling up the screen. After a few more taps, a hologram popped up so both of them could see. The title screen, with the name rotating in place.

  “It’s a war simulation. I use it to stay sharp.” A sip of his drink. “I usually play with Jackal, but he’s gotten too predictable. Want to try it out?”

  The valkyrie gave a nod. It had nothing better to do. Perhaps they could each learn something.

  FIFTEEN

  Ianisse took a swift swing for his face only to be struck in the chin. He hit the floor with a hard thud. Eyes shut tight, he lay there with a contorted face. Sparrow stood over him, her fists still up to fight. She frowned, looking down at him with pity.

  Mjolnir let out a big sigh, a claw tapping on his arm. “I told you it’s pointless. He doesn’t have the genetics.”

  Sparrow shot a glare at him. “Don’t say that! He can do it if he really puts his mind to it!”

  “I don’t think you understand biology.” Mjolnir puffed. “You can have heart in the galaxy, but if you don’t have genetics there’s nothing you can do.”

  “If I can do it, then so can he!” She held a fist up to the ardrizi.

  “There’s little difference between you and Ruby! You to Ianisse is a drastic difference.” Mjolnir growled, slapping one hand into the palm of his other. “Fleebeeron do not have bones, or muscles. They have no structural support.”

  Sparrow’s face twisted up, her heart pounding. She knew what the struggle was. Being a woman among men. She understood the disadvantage. She hated hearing Mjolnir talk like that. To say those things without care for how it would make Ianisse feel. She knew the biology, but she refused to accept it.

  “He just needs more time! If he keeps working at it, he’ll get there!”

  Ruby shook his head.

  “You won’t get through to her,” He whispered to Mjolnir.

  Sparrow jumped back over to Ianisse, yelling at him to get back up. Tough love was the only solution.

  "It's not right to do that to him." Mjolnir shook his head.

  "Well, she knows what it's like to be told you can't do it."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Women on the front lines is still a sensitive topic, even after four hundred years." Ruby shrugged. "A lot of guys still have issues relying on a girl to hold her own, or to watch their ass."

  "Is that why there are so few here? Women are just as strong as men! I've met plenty that have kicked my ass without a sweat."

  "Humans aren't built like you. Women take care of children and homes. They don't do much fighting." He waved his hand. "The doctor could tell you more about it. I just know that women are weaker than men. It’s genetics."

  "That's why you like her, huh?"

  "She's fucking gorgeous when she's kicking my ass." Ruby laughed.

  Reaper, as Captain, was never truly off duty. Still, there was a set schedule for operational hours. When the shift was done, he usually ended up in his office to complete paperwork. It was easy to find him that way in case something came up. Every so often he met Jackal in the mess hall for a couple drinks before retiring to bed. He honestly hated being in his quarters. While he never had company in this particular room, it still felt empty. Didn't feel like home. Despite it being years, waking up without her by his side was still painful. An empty void.

  That's why he had the course set for Solstice. He knew if he could find her, he could convince her to come back. Fight with her and the Black Wolves. Maybe then she could settle down for a more peaceful life. Retire from war fighting. If she were still around and had the time, she would be at the Solstice Club, her favorite place to get a drink.

  At least for now, his loneliness was filled with playing t
hat strategy game with Fenris. The valkyrie was good. It took a match for it to understand how the game worked, and after that; it was as if it had played the game its entire life. Reaper could not beat Fenris. No matter what army he used, what units he built, Fenris won each and every time. Instead of worrying about a clean victory, Reaper studied the valkyrie's tactics. Threw twists he hoped it had not encountered before.

  They did not talk much, at least in the beginning. After a couple of weeks, Fenris opened up. Answered questions it used to be silent for. Reaper shared as well whenever Fenris answered.

  Valkyries were soldiers with a higher purpose. Reaper interpreted it as a holy purpose. Fenris mentioned something about ascension, but did not dwell on the topic even when pestered.

  Fenris was a misunderstood creature. Feared by all, even its own siblings. It expressed some of its history. The chains that bound it were put there by one of its siblings who, out of fear and jealousy, attempted to bind it and cage it for life.

  Reaper wasn't sure what to think of it. Was Fenris uncontrollable? It seemed tamed. Calm and quiet. Even if it wasn't, no living creature deserved to be chained for life. Maybe it was power.

  Oh, he was getting somewhere. Learning a little at a time, and he had a chance to further hone his tactics. That strange creature, that valkyrie, while unnerving in its mysteries, was not half bad. Reaper got the sense of a good heart. Fenris wanted to uphold its duty.

  After far too long of a night playing the game, Reaper lazily slumped into his Captain's chair on the bridge.

  "We've made it to the relay, Captain!" Apelu announced.

  "We've already done a full systems check. We're routed and the Watchers should be ready any minute to open the stasis pods." Willis turned around.

  "Fantastic! We'll be able to take a good reprieve once we get to Solstice. Then we will head straight to B-58." Reaper smiled and sipped on his cup of coffee.

  "About that, sir…" Willis began. "We will need to upgrade the Syndicate in order to withstand the gravitational pull of the stars and planets. Our hull and stabilizers will blow out if we enter that system."

  "We can upgrade them while we are at Solstice. We need more supplies as well."

  "Captain, we're ready. All of our systems are green." Came a voice over the radio.

  Reaper held down a button on the arm of his chair. "Go ahead and start the signal."

  After a moment, all the lights on the ship shut off. They flashed yellow, forming arrows that blinked across the floor and walls that helped guide everyone from their rooms and through a maze of halls to the stasis pods.

  Civilians were always first into the pods, with families remaining in the same row.

  The stasis rooms were a collection of massive, cylindrical towers in the middle of the ship. Cased in an outer shell of lead, a Faraday cage, steel supports, then steel panels. A center tower acted as an elevator that held the rows of pods. Each row feathered around like flowers, blossoming open from the tower when on the ground level, then closing like a bud to move again. Nine pods on each row, two Watchers for each cell. They had their work cut out for them.

  Vitals were checked upon entry into the cell. Checked once more once they were inside a pod. Wetsuits were zipped up over their clothes. They were sat into the pod, laid down. Rebreathers hooked to oxygen tanks were on electrical receptors. The doors were shut, locked, sealed. Vitals were monitored as the pods filled with a thick, transparent liquid. If any issues were going to show up, it would happen now.

  Luckily, save for a handful of stasis shock cases, everyone was loaded up safely. Those that suffered shock were given a dose of narcotics to ease them into a deep sleep.

  Once all the civilians were in stasis, next came the workers. Security, logistics, engineers. Officers were loaded up randomly and separated as far as possible in case of a malfunction. The last ones in were the bridge crew and the Watchers.

  Reaper profusely apologized to Fenris for not having a well-sized pod for the valkyrie, but Fenris insisted it would be all right. It did not need to enter stasis since its armor protected it. It was hard to believe. Fenris would be left to watch over the pods while they made the jump to Solstice.

  Fenris stood with Jackal while he was loaded into a pod. It watched him intently, having never seen this process before. Then it watched Reaper. It stood back to watch the whole cell as the final people were loaded in. It would wait there until they made it to their destination.

  The ship was filled with a new sound. Intense radio waves crackled through the hull like rolling thunder.

  The relay had two large rails that stretched out from a spherical point. It dwarfed the Syndicate. They were smaller than ants next to it. As the brilliant blue lights of the relay popped to life, bolts of lightning struck between the rails. Just like a rail gun, the relay wound up with the energy sparking back and forth down the rails, waiting to take hold of a projectile.

  From the center of the sphere shot a beam of white energy that thundered through the ship. It abruptly ended, though the beam remained in place. It set the path for the Syndicate to follow, or rather be slingshotted through.

  Tendrils of light reached for the ship and wrapped around it. It pulled the toy closer to the sphere, then back. The streaks of lightning quickened. Then, in a fading boom, the Syndicate was shot forward down the beam of white and into the invisible hole in space.

  While they traveled at the speed of light, it would still take time to reach their destination. Fenris would have to be patient. It knew this part. Unfortunately, from within one of the stasis cells, it could not enjoy the white light outside.

  Fenris sat upon the floor, debating on taking a nap. A growling stomach erased that idea. It hoped they would reach its destination soon. The ever-growing hunger was getting too much to bear. It could feel its own sanity slipping away the more its stomach twisted tight.

  Fenris. Called a voice from the ether. Fenris, where are you?

  The wolf perked up, grumbling quietly. With the twitch of an ear, the creature pushed up from the floor to follow the voice to the other side of the room.

  Fenris!

  As it neared the source, the wolf’s head lifted into a beautiful howl. Its song reverberated through the ship. Reached through the void of space to touch the near souls of stars passing.

  "Have you found the artifact?" The voice was clearer now, as if he were standing in the same room.

  Fenris growled, looking away from the light bleeding into the cell.

  "Well? Answer me, pup!”

  "Odin’s throat would be torn out with teeth if Fenris had it." Fenris snarled. Its voice fluctuated as it spoke; shifted from the pleasant rasp of song to a guttural growl that shook the room.

  "Are you threatening me?" The voice boomed.

  Fenris had no reaction. It did not waver from its stance.

  "Fenris not go artifact if no help humans."

  "Is that all you care about? Humans? You've been with them for a while… you've grown soft! Here I thought I picked the right child."

  Its jaws snapped shut, silencing the voice before it could go on.

  "Odin talks a lot of shit to be safe where Fenris cannot reach!" It shook its head. The furry cloak upon its back rose at either side.

  "I am not the one you should be angry with. I am not the one who has abused you. Used you."

  "Think Fenris dumb? Odin like Tyr. Use Fenris for artifact! Cannot do self!"

  "Tyr is afraid of you. They all are, Fenris. They fear what you can do. What you could do in the future. This is why you must get that artifact! You must return to them. They need you now more than ever."

  Fenris spat.

  "Need Fenris? No cage if need."

  "Your siblings are in conflict. I sense Surtr's anger rising."

  "Fenris not return."

  "You must."

  "No."

  "You must learn to forgive. What happened as children is merely a pro--"

  "No forgive traitors!" Its voice reverb
erated with a snarl that could kill. "Can rot! Feed eos!"

  A scream caught Fenris' attention. The ship suddenly jarred. A series of explosions domino'd across the stasis pods. Electricity popped and crackled, starting fires underneath the panels. The light that flooded the interior of the ship snapped away in the blink of an eye.

  SIXTEEN

  Fenris jumped from its spot to rush to the main console of the cell. It sparked, the screen glitching. When Fenris touched it, it barely responded.

  "System malfunction" flashed on the screen. The pods on the ground level shattered. The glass doors caved in, shards floating across the room. The liquid that filled them bubbled and hung about in the air. The only thing keeping the now lifeless bodies in place was what was left of the doors, and straps. Screams flooded through the ship. People woke up abruptly, locked in glass coffins.

  Fenris hit the screen. When it didn't work it snarled.

  "Open them!"

  Command not recognized. The console beeped.

  "Open pods!"

  Command not recognized.

  "Open damned pods!"

  Command not recognized.

  With a roar that further shattered the glass of the already broken pods, Fenris stomped on the floor. It prodded the console's screen, nearly cracking it. When that failed, it crouched to rip the service panel off. It fiddled with the circuits and boards until a yellow light flashed around the walls.

  It grumbled all the while, sparks flying up between the layers of its armor. Its jaws snapped. Body curled into itself.

  Yellow turned white.

  Critical failure. The console repeated.

  The crimson lights upon the creature's armor turned on and off in rapid succession. When they were on, they rolled upwards with sharp breaths. The sparks under the armor began etching bolts of lightning like spider webs up its arm. Smoke plumed from the tiny gaps.

  Activating emergency release of all stasis pods. The console said. Operational pods prioritized. Stimulating Watchers and officers.