They didn’t say much, their focus on gaining as much ground as they could. If Will thought they wouldn’t follow him into the pass before, they were sure to now, after that stunt Red had pulled.
Thick fog settled in around them as they continued higher. Coupled with the setting sun, it was getting dark in a hurry.
“We don’t want to be in the pass at night,” Red said.
“Why’s that?” Will asked.
“You don’t really want to know,” she said.
A howl split through the fog.
“You’re worried about a few wild dogs?” Will scoffed.
The howls were followed by an earsplitting screech the likes of which he’d never heard before.
“No, I’m worried about that,” Red said.
“What was that?” Will asked, his eyes wide and heart beating faster.
“A soulfiend. Didn’t you ever wonder why so few people travel this road?”
He’d never thought about it before. “Why doesn’t it leave?”
“It’s trapped here by some power no one really understands,” she explained. “Probably a soul stone.
There was his opening.
“What do you know of the stones?” he asked.
Red narrowed her eyes. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because I suspect we share the same goal,” he said.
“What is it you think you know?”
“I asked first,” Will said. When she didn’t answer, he added, “And I saved your life—Twice.”
“There’s a temple in the Wandering Wood,” she said flatly.
“Anima Sanctum.”
“How—?” she started to ask. “Never mind. Yes. Who knows if it still exists, but if it does, I intend to find it.”
“Why?” Will pressed.
She stopped walking and turned to look him in the eye. “That’s personal. And I still don’t know you.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “It seems our paths lead to the same place.” She opened her mouth to speak and Will held up a hand, silencing her. “If you won’t share, neither will I.”
Uneasiness drifted between them.
Will broke the silence as they started to walk again. “Tell me more about this soulfiend. What does it look like?”
“I’ve never seen it. No one has. Rumor says it’s not made of flesh and bone. It attacks when you least expect it, devouring your soul. There is no defense against it. It can’t be harmed. It can’t be killed.”
“Where did it come from?” he asked.
“Legend claims a soulfiend is born upon the destruction of a soul stone. The stone is the anchor of the power. With no anchor, the magic collapses on itself and pure darkness is born.”
“How do you know all this stuff?”
“I like to read,” she said too quickly. Then she changed the subject. “You never told me who Victor is.”
How should he answer this?
“Long story,” he said at last. “Short version is I killed one of Alexei’s lieutenants and freed two prisoners. They think my name is Victor.”
“Alexei?” she said, incredulous. “As in Alexei Nikitovich, the tax collector?”
“I guess so,” Will said.
“Merva take me, what are you into?”
Another screech shook the pass.
“We need to get out of here before that thing finds us,” she said.
She increased her pace and Will followed. The last sliver of sun disappeared from the sky as they left the pass and walked down the slope of the mountain. An endless sea of trees sprawled out before them in all directions.
“The Wandering Wood,” Will said to himself.
They set up camp to get some rest before venturing inside.
Shaw’s magic-fueled body trudged down the mountain with speed and determination the likes of which the others could not match. When he reached the bottom, his body stood as a stone sentinel waiting for them to catch up.
He did not move. He did not flinch. He did not breathe. He just waited. As the others joined him, his body continued forward through the forest. The power of Will’s magic drew him forward like a dog on a leash.
An hour later, they subverted the rockslide and approached the entrance to the pass. The rockslide had come crashing into the fallen tower at the Eastgate, clearing the path into the pass.
Darkness had fallen. The echo of a loud screech rolled down off the mountainside.
“P-perhaps we should wait until morning,” someone behind him suggested.
Shaw couldn’t turn to see who it was, but it didn’t matter. The magic pressed him forward, disregarding the concerns of his companions.
They entered the pass at a slow but steady pace. As they climbed the mountain, the path narrowed and a thick fog set in, blocking out the moon and the night sky.
The screech they heard earlier sounded again, much closer than before. The sound of steel being drawn from their scabbards drifted up to him along with the ragged breathing of frightened men.
Shaw experienced none of it. It was a weird feeling, knowing he should be frightened but being unable to even when his mind said he should. Shaw pressed on.
Rock tumbled away behind him, followed by a scraping sound, a loud bang, and then the screams of one of his men as he tumbled off the ledge into the valley below. After a few seconds, a dull thud echoed through the pass and the screaming stopped.
Shaw tried to see what happened, but his head wouldn’t turn. The magic was single-minded in its determination to catch the boy.
The path before him widened out and Tomas came up beside him.
“We should stop,” Tomas said. “Wait for morning. Or we’ll all die here tonight.”
“Agreed!” someone said from behind.
Another screech filled the pass right on top of them.
“On second thought…” the man said.
A feral growl pierced the night and someone screamed, “Run!”
Shaw still couldn’t turn. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t even defend himself. He just pressed forward at the same steady pace as men ran past him, bumping into him and scrambling away as fast as they could.
The screaming ended, followed by a screech of victory from the foul creature. A cloud of black slammed into Shaw, sending him toppling to the ground. The soulfiend appeared as an animated shadow, with black fangs and claws ready to tear into his flesh.
Shaw tried to fight but it was useless. He tried to close his eyes or to look away from his impending death, but his body did not respond.
The creature’s jaw descended for him. His hand shot up into the body of the creature and a bright white light came out of his hand, piercing the fog and the night. The soulfiend cried in pain and fell off of him. It scrambled away like a hurt pup and slithered into the darkness.
Shaw stood and marched forward as if nothing happened.
A loud shriek shook Will from sleep just before sunrise. The feral sounds of the soulfiend’s roar followed by another shriek. The noises drew closer.
Will and Red both jumped up and gathered their belongings. Will slung his bow and quiver over his shoulder, grabbed his pack, and ran into the Wood.
The trees were so dense it was impossible to get his bearings. Will knew they exited the mountains from the west and that they needed to turn north, so they turned left and proceeded to run as straight as they could.
A dull illumination reigned in the wood, almost as if light were caught between day and night though the sun would soon make its climb into the sky. After a few hours, nothing had changed, nor could they see the sun.
A creeping sensation took over Will, as if they were being watched. Will looked side to side and all around him, but the only person visible was Red. From time to time, they heard the sound of a few animals, but never saw them. A large animal—maybe a deer—started and galloped away. A bird fluttered its wings high in the branches above. But beyond the animals, there was no sign of another soul.
The farther they traveled, t
he more it became apparent that they were lost in the wood. There were few distinguishable features. There was no change in elevation, few rocks or geographical landmarks, no opening of any kind, just mile after mile of trees reaching high up into the sky hundreds of feet above.
“Can we slow down a minute?” Will said.
“Why?” Red snapped.
“I need a break,” Will said, bending over and huffing. He lifted his head and said, “Is that not a valid enough reason?”
She simply said, “We need to keep moving.”
“Why?” Will pressed. “You said the soulfiend was stuck in the pass.”
Red stopped and turned around.
“Do you know why they call it the Wandering Wood?” she said, irritated.
“Because people wander through it?” Will guessed.
“No. Because people get stuck in it and can’t get out,” she said. “If we don’t find this temple right away, we could be lost for days—months even. There’s a reason no one comes here. Travelers often find themselves turned around and never make it out.”
“Then what difference will it make if we took a little break?” Will said, scratching his head. “I mean, Anima Sanctum is easily a two-day hike. There’s no way we’ll make it in one day.”
“Which is precisely why we don’t have time for you to massage your baby feet or write a letter home to mommy,” Red said. “We need to keep moving.”
They ran for hours, but it made no difference. Darkness came and there was no sign of the temple. There was no sign of anything. Or anyone. If they had managed to be followed, Will hadn’t noticed.
They stopped to set up camp. Red cut off a piece of her cloak and wrapped it around the branch of three trees in a line.
“Why did you do that?” Will asked.
“I’m not sure how the magic of this place works,” she admitted. “But if there’s a chance, however small, that we’ll still have our heading in the morning, I have to try.”
“What happens if it doesn’t work?” he asked.
Red chuckled. “Then you better pray to Ophi or Erintos or whichever god you prefer that we find this temple before we run out of provisions.”
“I can hunt, you know,” Will said.
“Wonderful,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Even if you manage to kill a deer or something, unless you can magically turn it into water in about two days you’ll be drinking your own urine.”
That thought made him cringe.
“Is there no water source out here?” Will asked.
“We’ve been here all day,” Red said. “Have you seen anything?”
He hadn’t. “How do these trees survive without water?”
“Magic… I don’t know,” she said. “Some say Erintos himself created this forest. Its magic is probably tied to his soul stone.”
Will tried to process all of this. Soul stones, soulfiends, barriers, magical forests… He had no idea how she knew so much. She said she liked to read, but he was pretty sure that was a lie, or a half-truth at best.
Not only could the stones’ magic be used for individual events, like when Will possessed a body, but it could also sustain something like this forest? And if that magic were ever destroyed…
“Do you have any siblings?” Red asked.
Will didn’t respond right away, somewhat taken aback by her sudden interest in his personal life.
“I thought you weren’t interested in making friends,” Will said.
“Adversity has a strange way of bringing people together,” she said. “Two days ago, you were the one going on about making conversation. If you don’t want to tell me, fine. I haven’t been the kindest person. I get that.”
“I have two brothers,” Will said. “Well, had two. One died recently. The other hates me.”
“What happened?” she asked, looking sincerely interested.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Will said, looking away.
There was a brief moment of silence.
“I don’t have any siblings,” Red said, staring at the ground. “My mother died when I was young.”
“Same here,” Will said. Her eyes lifted to meet his. “Well, not my mother. My father.”
“I used to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night,” she said, chuckling, drawing absently in the dirt with a stick she had picked up. “My father would get so angry. But he wasn’t around a lot. So I didn’t care much. My uncle is the one who raised me. Taught me everything I know.”
“Didn’t your uncle get upset?” Will asked.
“He did, but not like my father. My uncle said I had too much of my mother in me. Bold. Adventurous. ‘You can’t lock it up,’ he used to tell me. ‘You’ve got to put it to good use or it’ll destroy you.’ I think he was trying to say that I would either succeed or die trying.”
“So is that why you’re here?” Will asked. “Looking for the temple?”
She stopped fiddling with the stick. “You could say that.”
An uneasy silence fell between them. Will couldn’t shake the feeling that he had said something he shouldn’t have.
16
Robert hoisted the crate up onto the shelf and slid it back into place. Heading back to the ship out in the cove, he walked up the gangplank and retrieved another box. He grunted as he lifted it off the ground.
The walk back to the shelf inside the main cave was a slow one. He had to make sure he didn’t drop the crate or he’d be spending the next hour cleaning up the mess.
Despite Talon’s orders to cease all operations, someone hadn’t gotten the news and one of the smaller crews raided a supply depot in the night.
Of course, Jade was livid. She took Talon’s word as law and anyone who broke suffered the consequences dearly.
That’s why Robert was reduced to shuttling supplies. He’d already dropped one crate and the grains of rice went everywhere. Jade forced him to clean up every last piece. Including the ones that got stuck down in the crevices of the stone floor.
Now he took his time.
He placed the crate on the shelf next to the other one.
“Whew,” Robert said to himself. “All done.”
“If you’re free now,” Jade said. “Scout could use some help cleaning the barracks.”
Robert looked up to see Jade standing above him on the ramp leading to the strategy room. She tossed him a broom. He caught it, stared at it, then set it aside.
“I did my job, Scout can do his,” Robert said.
“That was a kind request,” Jade said. “Don’t make me make it an order.”
“Power trip much?” Robert mumbled.
“What’s that?” Jade asked.
Louder, Robert said, “I’ll get right to it.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Robert picked up the broom and marched off to the barracks, more than happy to get out of Jade’s way. She had been difficult before, but now she was nigh intolerable. All he wanted to do was make a difference. How did clean floors overthrow a tyrannical government?
They didn’t.
Robert wanted to plan heists and execute assaults, not perform menial tasks. Anyone could do this work.
As he stepped into the barracks, Scout turned his head and smiled.
Robert gave a slight raise of his head as acknowledgment.
“Jade send you?” Scout asked.
“Didn’t give me much choice,” Robert answered.
“I asked her to,” Scout said.
Robert huffed. “I had just finished. I was looking forward to a break.
“Oh, sorry,” Scout said. “Well, there’s not much work to do here.”
Robert cocked his head. “Then why ask for more help?”
“I thought I’d get you out of work,” Scout said, smiling. Then his face fell, “not give you more.”
Robert let out a resigned sigh and half smiled. “Well… thanks.”
“Just pretend like you’re sweeping in case Jade comes in,” Scou
t said. “Please?”
“Sure, kid,” Robert said. “How old are you, anyway?”
“Twelve,” Scout answered. “But I turn thirteen in two months and then Talon says I can actually go out on missions.”
“I thought you were already part of the team. You went out with us a few days ago,” Robert said.
“Sure, I got to come on the ship,” Scout said, “but they make me stay up in the crow’s nest. I don’t actually get to see any action.”
“Tough break,” Robert said. “At least you’ll get your chance soon.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Scout asked.
“Sure,” Robert said, turning to look at him.
“Why are you here?”
Robert gave him a quizzical look.
“I heard you shouting at Talon,” Scout said. “You said you didn’t want to be here. So… why are you?”
Robert sighed and sat down on one of the bedrolls. It was a good question. Why was he here? He should have gone home the moment Will died. His mother would be worried sick about him. But he got swept up in the heat of the moment and now he was here.
He was sick of it all. And he was hurting. Each death drove a knife into his heart he couldn’t pull out. First his father, then John, then Will. Drygo needed to be stopped and Robert wanted to be the one to stop him.
Maybe if Robert killed the king, he could prove to the others his value and strength and they’d listen to him. Maybe they’d even put him in charge. Maybe he could even be the king once Drygo was no more. But what about—?
“Hello?” Scout said, waving his hand in front of Robert’s eyes.
“What?” Robert asked.
“I asked you a question,” Scout said.
“Oh, uh, well I guess I want the same thing you do,” Robert said.
“That’s not an answer. You don’t even know what I want,” Scout said.
“Then tell me,” Robert said, looking up at him.
“I want peace and happiness across the land. I want a kingdom where children aren’t taken from their mothers or where fathers aren’t killed for disagreeing with the crown,” Scout said. “But really, I just want a world without Alexander Drygo.”
Robert leaned back against the wall. That was a loaded statement if he ever heard one. A lot of pain and hurt etched into those words. Robert could empathize.
Soul Render (Soul Stones Book 1) Page 14