Soul Taker's Redemption

by A. S. Hamilton

  What the hell had I stumbled across?

  Therion

  [Song of Myself – Nightwish]

  Archmore's men were so trigger-happy they drew their weapons and fired before checking where Archmore was. It could be because these 'bodyguards' were gang members and their instincts told them to shoot first, but there was no time to ponder Archmore's decision to use them. I materialised beside Archmore, grabbing his arm and jerking him out of the path of a bullet. I felt another coming, could hear them all, actually, but only one needed my attention. I spun Archmore about, pulling him to my chest as I turned; the bullet buried itself deep in my back. I winced. Despite my abilities, I can feel pain and incur injuries. I think my creator, Ceri-talen, decided his reign would be safer if he limited us in some ways. Transmutations, like veiling my wings in the shadow plane to de-manifest them, take energy. Healing requires more. And both take time, although I can speed it up if I am willing to sacrifice more energy, such as when things get dire. Or when I become impatient, something Aurealis tells me I need to get better at controlling.

  'It is as I said,' I told the crime lord.

  I shoved him towards a back room. I needed a quick, and safe, exit for my human charge, but Archmore did not want to co-operate. Most others, upon my second appearance, obey my instructions. Archmore was digging his feet in and turning what would be a swift exit into a stumbling run. He was also trying to draw a gun from a holster under his coat. I felt one of his men die behind us; another registered the pain and shock of a wound. I wrestled my reluctant charge into the next room, which was an office. There were no exits, but the large window would suffice. It was designed to make the most of the view and took up two-thirds of the wall. I could see that the deck extended halfway along the window's length, after that there was a steep drop.

  'Use the cabinet as cover,' I snapped, thrusting Archmore over by the far wall.

  Returning to my natural form, I welcomed the familiar feel of my wings. The room was, of course, too small for flight, but my wings do not have normal feathers and if I flex them a certain way, they lock together to form a shield. Turning my attention to the window, I gathered air in, forming the energy within it into a ball. This ability comes from the same capacity that allows me to manipulate spirit energy but using it like this requires more concentration. Another dismayed grunt, another human wounded; badly from the heavy scent of blood on the air. I heard a sharp crack and then the sound of shattering glass. My guess was that they were breaking one of the other doors. There was a surge in the gunfire forcing one of Archmore's bodyguards to back into the room and take up a position on one side of the doorway. Ignoring him, I threw the ball of energy at the window, causing the glass to explode outwards.

  Stepping over to the cringing Archmore, I snatched hold of his upper arm. He had finally drawn his gun but was too disoriented to use it. With one ear to the commotion in the other room, I propelled him over to the window and prepared to heft him over to the deck portion of the outside. I could fly with him, but the safest way to do that required letting him ride on my back and that was a trust too great for this human. Just as I was about step up to the low sill, I caught sight of movement at the edge of my vision. A moment later someone fired a shot into the room from the deck outside, presumably aiming for Archmore because they would not be able to see me. I leaned back, pulling Archmore out of the line of fire. Then the bodyguard that was squeezed into the narrow space on the right of the door was hit in the shoulder by gunfire coming from the outer room. He staggered back towards the bookshelf positioned along the wall behind him. Two officers surged in, the first barrelling into the guard. I could see H Gilman printed on his vest. The second, T Wilson, swung in to point her gun at Archmore.

  This must be Tien Wilson, one of the officers who could speak Vietnamese. It made me wonder where Em Thaneton was. Tien Wilson's golden-brown skin made her green eyes seem almost supernaturally radiant. Her midnight-black hair was pulled into a tight braid. She was not focused on Archmore, but searching the area in front of her, where I was standing, as if she could sense me. I was less concerned by that than I was by the colour of her spirit— she was not an old yulari, but she was well-grounded, making her strictly off-limits. If any harm came to her as a result of my intervention, Aurealis would have my wings.

  I could not afford for more people to crowd into the room, so I used my will to slam the door shut and engage the lock on the handle. It would not keep them out for an extended time, but it would at least slow them down.

  The untainted one shook off her disorientation and focused on Archmore. Bringing her gun up a little higher to aim at Archmore's chest, she directed him to lower his weapon.

  The officer who had shot from the deck now leapt onto the window's sill, the glass grinding beneath her boots as she repositioned to keep her balance, and then dropped into the room. I turned, saw her aiming for Archmore and shoved him behind me. I grimaced as the bullet rocketed through my chest grinding to a stop against my shoulder blade. It was Em Thaneton. She was frowning in my direction. She realised she had not hit Archmore, but something else, and now her mind was racing to make sense of the situation.

  If I'd thought Tien Wilson's spirit was untainted, Em Thaneton's was even brighter still. The mix of silver with an inner gold of soft sunlight indicated that she was, indeed, an older yulari. Earlier, I'd wondered about the coincidence of coming across two Thaneton's in such a short period; this confirmed that not only were the two women related, but also my suspicion that Aurealis had planned for me to be here. I needed to protect Archmore from the police while also protecting these two officers from Archmore and his people. The question was: how to ground the untainted ones in such a way that they survived, but could adequately explain their failure to capture Archmore?

  The situation was becoming unmanageable.

  The guard H Gilman had been struggling with broke away and started to gesture that he was going to comply with his commands to lower his weapon. Using my will, I raised the guard's hand and aimed at Tien Wilson's shoulder. With a little help from me, the impact spun her to one side and then she stumbled and fell. Then I aimed at Em Thaneton's right shoulder. I anticipated that H Gilman would shoot the guard, but I did not consider it a sacrifice.

  I was wrong.

  H Gilman lunged forward, shoving the guard's arm down as he did so. As a result, the shot I intended to disable instead hit Em Thaneton in her abdomen. I ground out a curse.

  H Gilman still had the guard's arm, but by infusing him with my strength, I had him throw the officer into the opposite wall and sent him into unconsciousness. I did the same to Tien Wilson to prevent her from complicating the situation further. Rather than shooting at me again, Em Thaneton, who was still standing due to the adrenaline flooding her system, shot the guard in his already-wounded shoulder, rendering it useless, before turning back to aim at Archmore.

  The confrontation in the other room was still continuing as Archmore's men resisted the police. They did not know where Archmore was, but assumed he was either out or looking for a way out, and so they would hold the police off for as long as possible to give him time to escape. I growled, angry at myself for getting so distracted. If only Aurealis did not insist on so many restrictions when dealing with the earthly realm, but because I had to earn my redemption, the experiences to which she subjected me must challenge me. The general rule was to avoid leaving unanswerable questions, like how a guard dies of non-fatal wounds while a mortally injured officer survives, but I'd leave them to their own devices in rationalising it. Lunging at the guard, I wrenched his spirit from his body before discarding it. The spirit resisted, putting everything it had into the fight, thrashing and flailing, frantic to get free, but I was too strong, too frustrated. For an exquisite moment, I revelled in the feel of it as it filled me.

  Oh, how I missed it!

  I missed it all: the feeling of separating the soul from its vessel, absorbing its energy, the satiation of my now-constant, gna
wing hunger, its strength flowing through my body— the triumph of a successful hunt. I looked at Tien Wilson's prone, vulnerable spirit. It would be so easy to take… I could say I simply lost control. In comparison to the bodyguard's spirit, her energy would actually quiet my hunger.

  I hesitated… It would taste very fine, indeed.

  I hovered on the brink a moment more, and then, impatiently, shoved the illicit thoughts aside.

  Reluctantly, I turned my attention back to Em Thaneton. As I said, healing takes energy, and time, unless I'm willing to expend more energy, but not only was I impatient now, I was frustrated. I could not leave the untainted spirits without ensuring their survival. Using my newly gained energy, I healed Em Thaneton's serious injury and created a lesser one on her side so her memory of the incident would not require too much alteration. I also decided to heal Tien Wilson's injury to the point it would seem the bullet had only scraped her shoulder, just in case. I then healed my own wounds, dissipating the bullets still wedged in my body first.

  I grabbed Archmore again, snatching his gun and tossing it aside. Em Thaneton was still standing. I was not surprised; yulari are, essentially, magical beings. If they are not familiar with the supernatural, they attribute it to being gifted and are often described as being uncommonly strong or having an uncanny intuition. Her grip on the gun was unsteady though, demonstrating that even with her innate magical ability, she was diminished. As I crossed to the window, she adjusted her aim. I paused, scrutinising her. Her solemn face was framed by greying, dark-blonde hair. Her light-blue eyes, which I thought were following Archmore as I dragged him along, turned up to meet mine.

  She could see me.

  Just like Jayden Emerline Thaneton. I finally took the time to properly examine the spirit before me. Emerline Theodora Thaneton was indeed Jayden Emerline Thaneton's mother. It explained a lot, but it also provoked several intriguing questions, including why had Aurealis put me in contact with them? And how were they connected to Archmore? For now, I had to stay with Archmore.

  'Lower your weapon, Emerline Theodora Thaneton. Rest on the floor until medical assistance arrives.'

  'What are you going to do with him?' She thought I was some sort of angel and she did not understand why I would save such a villain as Archmore.

  'You are right, Emerline Theodora Thaneton, to a certain degree. While I am not an angel, I am allied with them. I only protect souls such as this when there is a greater innocent's life at stake. For now, you must let him go.' Her will resisted. Fearing for the children Archmore victimised, she was not willing to let him go. The untainted ones are incredibly stubborn. 'I promise you; my master has no desire that the children suffer. She will resolve this, but I need Archmore, for the moment.' Then, putting more of my will into the command, I said, 'Lower your weapon.'

  Her arm slowly dropped to her side.

  'Step back, lean against the wall.'

  She did, sliding down to the floor, her eyes drifting shut.

  'I will be absent from your memories.' It would be easier that way. She may well be magical in nature, but she did not realise it.

  I paused, although I could not really afford the time. The sound of ambulance sirens was gradually increasing, indicating the arrival of even more people who would want access to this room. But it was so unusual for them to see me. Oh, untainted spirits saw Aurealis's angels with enough regularity that it was not remarkable. A little exertion of will, a tweak to their memories, and the encounter was rationalised to a dream or a momentary imagination or explained as being something it wasn't— a person in costume, a bride in a flowing, white gown, a trick of the light. Me? They almost never saw me unless I wanted them to. I was also very aware of the fact that this spirit was related to a yulari I had started dreaming about. Surely, that was no coincidence. But why would Aurealis do such a thing? Was she monitoring me? Testing me? The thought made me shroud myself more heavily in shadow. It was unsettling.

  Still holding on to Archmore, I moved to the window and stepped up on its ledge. I took a moment to note the shock on Archmore's face, his eyes wide with fear. I had not hidden the soul taking from him and, if I was fortunate, I had given him a glimpse into his future.

  Aurealis

  'That was close,' Silven observed gravely. 'You may be confident in Therion's restraint, but there was more than one moment there when I was certain we would need to intervene.'

  Silven and I were in an intermediate plane, a plane between realms. Like the astral plane, we could see the earthly realm. More specifically, the office of Kerrigan Archmore's beachside abode, but unlike the astral plane only certain entities could access it. Entities like me, a telari, or as many called us, dragon kind.

  I looked away from the broken window to my second in command. The form I had given Silven was that of an angel, and, to make him comfortable, I, too, appeared in angel form. I had told him that I was bringing him here to attend this event for observation purposes, but his expression, and the statement he had just made, told me he knew the truth. My outward confidence in Therion's ability to redeem was crucial in order to quell the objections of my peers, but I had actually brought Silven just in case I needed help. Help that would be kept quiet; help only he and I would know about.

  'As I told you when I first started to persuade Therion to change sides, it will require immense patience, even more courage, and just a touch of ruthlessness,' I reminded him.

  Silven gave me an impatient look. 'There would be a period of adjustment, you said. Time for him to learn to repress his instinct to kill; yes, yes, I remember all your warnings. I remember, too, that I swore an oath to keep all 'periods of adjustment', also known as times-he-fails-and-obliterates-innocent-beings, between you and me. I believe in your cause, Aurealis. I would never have agreed otherwise, but, as I said then, I lack confidence that a being so base, so corrupted, can ever be redeemed. I know you see what he once was, remnants of it, at least, but despite his being stolen, what he is now— that is what we must deal with and I tell you—'

  'I am pushing him. I know, Silven, but he needs to learn how to restrain himself while under stress.'

  'We have to be able to control him first,' Silven exclaimed. 'We have lost enough spirits to his… missteps. Why would you risk these two untainted to teach him the restraint he needs? They are both yulari, for enlightenment's sake, and he came so close to claiming Tien Wilson's spirit that I was about to step in even if you were not.'

  'Do not do that,' I warned Silven. 'This endeavour will take nerve. I know, despite the criticism I receive from the other telari, that I possess not only the strength, but the ability to redeem him.'

  'If any can do it, it is you,' Silven conceded. 'Your determination alone gives you advantage over your peers in achieving this, but I question the placement of your ambition to be the first telari to redeem a soul taker over the well-being of untainted spirits.'

  'Firstly, I do not just want to redeem him. I will raise him, through ascendance, to his original state. I will return him to his brethren not just redeemed, but greater than he once was. My ambition aside, he has a right to the ascension he would have had if he had not been stolen. How would you feel, Silven, if your spirit was stolen and turned into a soul taker? Would you not wish for a being like myself to attempt to return you to what you once were?'

  'I would,' Silven looked down as he answered softly, sincerity in his tone. When he looked up again, his expression was fierce, hard. 'I would also ask myself what the cost would be and, were I truly of any worth, sacrifice my life in order to protect the realms from what I became.'

  I locked my gaze with Silven's as I said, 'Many have said Therion should be killed, removed in order to make the realms safer, for he is the first therilgalen and his brethren, though powerful, are not as formidable. The question remains, why has no one killed him, then?'

  He took a moment to consider my question. 'Are you inferring that he cannot be killed?'

  The disbelief in his tone told me
he wanted me to correct him, for beneath that disbelief was a deep fear. In order to deny that fear any hold on him, Silven could not allow himself to believe that Therion was beyond death.

  'Other telari have tried,' I said, a little reluctantly; I had no desire to make Silven afraid.

  'I did not know that.'

  'Because it is not spoken of. No one wants it to be common knowledge that Therion, so far, cannot be killed. Only I reasoned that if he cannot be killed, redeeming him is the next best option,' I told Silven somewhat smugly. And it was true; none of my brethren had thought to approach the problem from such an avenue. 'We may lose a few spirits in the endeavour, but even you, Silven, must admit that since Therion has undertaken redemption the loss of untainted souls has dropped significantly… And it will continue to drop, as long as we retain our courage.'

  Silven turned his attention to the activity in the room. Since Therion had left with Archmore, officers and, later, paramedics had rushed into the room. The two untainted had been given priority, I had ensured that. The remaining officer was now being assessed and prepared for transport to hospital.

  Continuing to watch the activity, Silven said, 'You are pushing him then, with the intention of…'

  There was no longer anger or objection in his voice; his tone was one of practicality. He had accepted that I was taking risks with Therion and that I had a purpose in doing so.

  'Although I recognise that this undertaking needs patience, if Therion is not pushed, if he is not challenged, then he has no cause to move forward.'