Soul Taker's Redemption

by A. S. Hamilton

  Once out of the building I landed on a nearby roof and tried to planes-shift.

  It didn't work.

  Re-launching myself, I flew over several more buildings, thinking perhaps I was not far enough away from the wards Ulyn had placed about her quarters to prevent shifting through planes.

  Again, it did not work.

  I let out a frustrated sigh. Someone had locked down the realm— not Ceri-talen, or he would be here, probably Ulyn.

  Just then, the matagot jerked as the paralysis wore off. I looked down at her. 'If you want to come with me, climb to my back and hold on. If you fall, I will not return for you. Your claws will not cause me great pain or injury, you can use them.'

  The feline creature did not respond with spoken language, but I felt her gratitude. She pushed from my grasp and climbed over my shoulder to my back. I took the opportunity to put Bastien's sword back on my belt.

  Could she position her back feet on my wings?

  The matagot did not think in words, but I knew she wanted to know.

  I tested moving my wings.

  The matagot adjusted her position.

  Prepare for claws.

  Again, not spoken, just knowledge placed in my mind.

  She sunk her claws in. Admittedly, it hurt more than I expected, but it was a long way from the worst pain I'd experienced.

  The respite of the brief exchange had given me time to consider my next move.

  I took off, rising as high up over the city as I could in order to escape notice. There was nothing for it, I would have to force my way through a portal. There was no shortage of portals here; Ceri-talen did not bless all his creations with the ability to planes-shift. But they were all guarded. I could expect several granoult and duwiner as they often worked together— the canine-like duwiner would run down a target, the granoult would finish them off if the target was too big for the duwiner to handle alone. There was likely to be at least one wrengir, too. A cross between an osprey and a stag, their wing-span allows them just as much manoeuvrability as ours does and they are large enough to bring down a lone therilgalen, thus, they warrant care.

  [Resist and Bite – Sabaton]

  As I approached the nearest portal, I could see that news of my escape had reached it already. Twice the number of granoult were assembled about the portal. Duwiner were yipping in excitement and four wrengir patrolled from the air. A confrontation was inevitable, but in such close quarters I would have preferred my short swords instead of the long blade I had borrowed from Bastien.

  The piercing screech of a wrengir told me that I'd been spotted. The wrengir was above me and dropped into a dive. Judging from the antlers arcing back from the avian head, this wrengir was fairly young, but that would not stop it from driving me towards the ground.

  I managed to catch a thermal and swooped towards the portal. Spears flew by either side of me as granoult attempted to ground me. Fortune was on my side, a squawk from behind and a glance back revealed that one of the spears struck the wrengir and it was now tumbling instead of flying.

  As I landed, I knocked over a granoult. I dealt a hard kick to its head and then stomped on its wrist, making it release its short sword. Picking it up, I slashed the granoult charging for me and took its short sword. Thus armed, I started to work my way to the portal. Each time I took a life, I took the spirit. Each death made me more powerful. I was no longer thinking consciously, letting the years of training, my instincts, and my fury rule my movements. I was too close to freedom, too close to returning to Jayden, to hold back anything now. I needed to get to her before Uea reached her. Besides, Aurealis was a god of the light, she would not be fully cognisant of all that occurred here in the Dark Realm. I could kill without fear of reprimand.

  Qu-te-se

  Bodies littered the floor. Monitors, stools, and laboratory equipment lay smashed. Even the frosted glass partitioning off Ulyn's private area was partially damaged. The water in the tanks and pools was stained red with blood, those that had not been shattered, emptying water all over the floor. Despite being opened, many of the cell doors had also been smashed. Therion might align himself with the light-dancers, but he was far from the domesticated pup Ulyn presumed he must be. I did not think she would continue to do so after this demonstration.

  Ulyn had called on Ceri-talen, my guess was so he would deal out retribution, but she clearly did not understand our god. What foolishness! Ceri-talen cared not to count the dead. Nor would he be concerned about the creatures that had escaped. Ceri-talen would see this not as offence, he would see it as a compliment that Therion was still capable of such destruction. For Ceri-talen, death and destruction are the highest, most artistic, forms of creation, for one can never predict what will survive and how it will transform in order to do so. He would be disappointed that Ulyn was not able to hold Therion, for his dark magnificence most certainly wanted him back, but he would see this summoning as pointless as tracking the scent of long-departed prey.

  My head darted up as I felt him. He was actually heeding her summons!

  A portal seared the air and Ceri-talen's dragon form stepped through. He dwarfed everything in the room. His regal head, crowned with scythe-like horns, emerged first. Emerald eyes were surveying the room already. The sapphire scales seemed to be a metallic, deep blue on first appraisal, but as the enormous body moved through the portal and into the room they changed shades depending on how the light reflected off them. Midnight-blue and black shadows swirled and misted about him and started to expand out to cover the floor in a low fog. The great, feathered wings folded neatly against his sides as his swung his massive head towards me. If such a creature could smile, I would say he did, but then, of all his creations, he favoured the therilgalen.

  Ulyn dropped to one knee and bowed her head so low her forehead almost touched her bent knee. I remained standing. Therion had never bowed, and when I asked Therion about it, he said that you did not win respect from a being as powerful as Ceri-talen through grovelling submissiveness. Certainly Ceri-talen had never required me to bow, nor had he ever admonished me for not doing so. We so rarely saw him I found myself staring in awe; he truly was magnificent…

  'Why did you call me, Ulyn?'

  'I have to report, your eminence, that Therion has escaped.' At Ceri-talen's lack of response, she added, 'I thought you might wish to take action in response to this news, he did trespass in your realm. I thought such lack of respect, such an insult—' Ulyn abruptly cut herself off as the dragon whipped his tail to one side, sweeping some of the debris into the wall as he did and sending up gusts of shadow mist. He sat back, looking much like a cat, his front legs straight, his tail wrapped about himself.

  'You are displeased, Ulyn, not with Therion's apparent insult to me, but to you. The destruction of your quarters, the temerity he has in thwarting your plans for him. Rather than meekly resign himself to your control, he chooses his own path. These are not reasons to demand my attention.'

  His tone remained light, but I perceived derision in my master's words. I was sure Ulyn did too. I was certain she was regretting calling on our god.

  'Did you expect me to chase after him, Ulyn?' Ceri-talen asked, a scathing undertone entering his voice. 'I am not your retriever. This failure is yours and yours alone,' he finished sharply.

  The dragon's gaze swept over the room, the glittering eyes not missing a detail. The emerald eyes returned to scrutinise the dead bodies again and then swept up to the shattered glass roof above. 'From the looks of things, he earned his freedom,' he observed. Then that enigmatic gaze finally rested upon me as he considered the injuries I bore, though I was healing already. The minor cuts were almost gone, but blood still trailed from the wound caused by the spear Therion used to pin me to the wall. The dragon made a purring sound. 'Well, his new captivity does not seem to have weakened him, would you not say?' he asked me.

  'He did not seem at all diminished, Dark Majesty.'

  I was surprised at how expressive his f
ace was, for he arched what I considered his eyebrows, even if they were scales rather than hair. 'No, he did not let you off easily, did he? Very convincing.'

  I kept my expression blank. He had not outright accused me of aiding Therion, and if one got down to technicalities, I had not.

  Ceri-talen made a grunting-chuckling sound. 'Fear not, Qu-te-se, you remain in my esteem. Ulyn cannot fault your effort.' The dragon remained looking at me, but it was clear the reproach in his voice was directed towards Ulyn. Then he said, 'Regardless of your continued loyalty, Qu-te-se, it is clear you are influenced by your former leader.' This last remark was not spoken aloud but sent from his mind to mine.

  'My Divine Liege, I—'

  His booming laughter filled my mind. 'Fear not, Qu-te-se. Despite Ulyn's chagrin, we do not consider all that Therion is as no longer desirable. The more he influences you, inspires you, the stronger you become. Look! Look at what he has wrought here. After centuries with his new master he is, essentially, mine still. He may repress it under her watch, but the essence, the essence, Qu-te-se, is still there.'

  He sounded joyous, absolutely delighted.

  Ceri-talen turned his attention back to Ulyn. 'I have better things with which to occupy my time than to proffer false comfort to assuage your ego, Ulyn,' he informed her in a bored tone. A flash of mischief sparked and settled brightly in his eyes, the look echoed in his voice as he added archly, 'If you want revenge on Therion, you have the power and the resources, so why not just...'

  The dragon had been lowering his head as he spoke and he was now almost nose to nose with Ulyn. With his shadow breath misting about her face, Ulyn finally looked up, and I could swear my god grinned at that.

  '...take it!' he finally said, snarling the last words out in a growl.

  With that, Ceri-talen spread his wings and launched himself, flying up through the broken roof. The remaining glass shattered as the immense body passed through and I instinctively ducked, using my wings to protect my head.

  Ulyn rose and looked over at me. 'Did you find out if Uea has left?'

  'Just now, Master. As you instructed, she took a full force to deal with the vampires the scout reported.'

  She grunted softly. 'Good. Although if we had managed to keep Therion, we could have achieved both of our god's goals.'

  Jay

  I woke with a start. A sound like thunder reverberated through the room. Rolling out of bed, I hit the floor with a soft grunt, landing on one hand and both knees. I was still dressed in the black jeans and t-shirt I'd put on this morning. I figured PJs weren't going to cut it if more Dark Realm creatures came by.

  I moved to the end of the bed to peek out. Nothing. There was nothing in the room, just this odd booming, like an ocean caught in a box. I felt like an idiot. I shrugged into my suede jacket and then reached for Mum's shotgun. I patted my pockets checking for the umpteenth time that I had spare shells, although the shotgun had a holder attached to it with six shells and could fire six before reloading. Straightening up, I cautiously made my way around the bed and crossed to the window to see what, if anything, was happening. The window takes up most of the wall, starting about knee-high from the floor. It's made up of a grid of square panes, so, as I approached, I kept close to the wall while I focused on looking through one of the small squares.

  The window exploded inwards and only my reflexes put me up against the wall, my face in towards it, one arm protecting what it could. As soon as the worst part of the explosion was over I looked underneath my arm to determine what was in my room. I had the impression that a body came with the glass. They'd landed on my bed so hard the legs gave way and I'd heard the slats crack— it was a solid bed.

  Instincts guided every move from then on. I heard the growl before I saw anything and I moved in front of the prone body on the bed, getting the shotgun into position just as Yushoki had instructed. Lucky I did, because whatever was on the veranda was as large as a pony and had a mouth full of sharp teeth. As it moved into the light, the wolf-like face looked like it had been crossed with an eagle, with feathers sweeping up along its ears. Violet-silver eyes scanned the room and just as they settled on me, I pulled the trigger. I hit it in the shoulder twice, but it turned and put its front feet on the window ledge as if I hadn't shot at all. The next shot hit its neck, making it flinch. Its taloned feet gripped the window ledge as it pulled itself up. I emptied the remaining shots in quick succession. The first shot made it draw back with a snarl, the second dropped it to the deck— dead or dying— but I was so hyped up, I fired another shot into the empty space left when it fell. I reloaded with hands far steadier than I felt on the inside. As I did, a shadow flitted past me and the next thing I knew, Bastien was standing inside the bedroom with his sword outside the shattered window buried in the beast's chest. Well, if it had only been wounded, it was most certainly dead now.

  I took a cautious look out the window. There were other creatures moving through the garden, but nothing more on the veranda. A mass of forbidding, iron-grey clouds had moved in, large patches were black and swollen with unshed rain. The darker patches were spreading, making an already murky atmosphere darker by the minute. The wind was whipping about the house, the force of it bending the trees and creating an eyrie sound that wavered between a whistle and a scream.

  I took a moment to look over the cross between a wolf and eagle. It was so large, it barely fit on the veranda. That's when I realised: I'd done it. I'd shot something. I hadn't even had to think about it, but then Yushoki had made me practice all afternoon, over and over: shoot, reload, shoot, reload. She'd said something about muscle memory and panic.

  Bastien stepped over the low sill and onto the deck. He withdrew his sword from the beast's body and put his hand in a pouch before he sprinkled what looked like ash over it. The creature seemed to burn without flame, swiftly disintegrating into a fine dust.

  'A very clever substance, yes?'

  I nodded.

  'Witches make it from ember pine. A tree from one of the other realms.'

  I suddenly realised that the person who'd shattered my window was Bastien. Something, possibly the wolf-eagle beast, had propelled him through it so forcefully he'd landed on, and broke, my bed. Despite that, he looked uninjured, so I went to the chest of drawers and grabbed the ammunition belt I'd left there. I'd stuffed my pockets with shells so I didn't have to sleep with the ammunition belt on. I slung the ammunition belt over my shoulder and turned back to Bastien. His blue eyes sparked like diamonds. He looked hyper-excited. I stepped over the window ledge to join him on the veranda and then followed him as he walked towards the kitchen end of the house.

  His voice wasn't as deep as Therion's, but when he made eye contact and spoke, his voice reminded me of something you wrapped yourself in on a cold, winter night. There was also just a hint of accent. I reminded myself about the influence of vampires and wondered whether that influence affected how I perceived his voice. I shook off the thought as we reached the sliding door to the kitchen and dining area.

  Two vampires stood guard near the steps coming up to the deck. I recognised them both. Over the course of the day I was introduced to a number of vampires. One was a young woman who barely looked eighteen. She had light-brown skin, short, black hair, and chocolate-brown eyes. Although she was the smallest of the vampires I'd seen, she gave the impression that she didn't let her diminutive stature hold her back. She'd introduced herself as Javiera, pronouncing it Hav-ee-air-a. The vampire next her also had a distinctive name, he'd been introduced as Tadhg, which I was told I could pronounce tige, like tiger without the 'r'. Only his name and the distinctive Irish accent gave a clue as to his origins, for he had dark-brown skin and gorgeous, golden-brown eyes. His hair was held back in of a series of waist-length, thin braids, which he had gathered in a ponytail. I thought he was older, but more because of his bearing and body language than his looks.

  Bastien's voice drew me from my contemplations. 'Watch from the dining area,' he directed
. 'If you must come out, do not leave the veranda,' he added. As he stepped between the bodyguards, he said, 'She is your priority.'

  I paused behind them, trying to see what was happening in the yard.

  'What are they?' I didn't direct the question to either one.

  Javiera glanced back. 'You should go indoors.'

  I half shrugged, she was right, but I was curious, and how often would I have the chance to see creatures from another realm? And Bastien said I could watch from the veranda… 'Should,' I conceded. 'Won't.'

  I received a reproving look.

  'I won't leave the veranda,' I promised, 'but seriously, if you were me, wouldn't you want to see?'

  'If I was you, I'd be human, and quite killable, so I'd listen and go indoors.'

  I gave her a deferential nod and reluctantly turned to go back inside. I felt like a little kid who was being sent to bed while the adults got to stay up late. She had a point, though.

  'They're called hugali. Hounds from the Dark Realm.'

  I grinned my thanks, but then Tadhg murmured something, getting her attention.

  A light rain started to fall, filling the air with a soft pattering.

  Bastien returned from the back of the yard. I saw him in flashes of lightning, like a ghost appearing and disappearing, coming closer each time. When he reached us, he slipped a sword back into his harness, the second one, I noted. He must have lost it at one point and retrieved it just now. He took up a position at the bottom of the steps. There was more rumbling and the rain started to get heavier.

  Just then more vampires came crashing through the garden. Thomas was amongst them, yelling in what sounded like French, but what I guessed was an older version of it because I couldn't understand many of the words he was using. At their heels, were more hugali. It was uncanny how much they looked like eagles without actually having wings. They moved fast, too, and one of them was closing on Thomas. I stepped out onto the veranda and, making sure none of the vampires was in my line of sight, raised the shotgun and fired, getting the one closest to Thomas in the head and shoulder. It skidded into the ground, its momentum tumbling it over for several feet. I fired at some of the others, but either missed or it didn't affect them noticeably. Bastien fired something that was a cross between a pistol and a sawn-off shotgun. His accuracy was better than mine and he took several hugali down. By the time I reloaded, more hugali had joined the remaining ones. One of my next shots got one in the head, the others I wasn't as sure about. I was a lot better at this than I expected, as I hadn't expected to hit anything. Thomas and the other vampires slowed as they reached us, but didn't come up on the veranda, fanning out in front of it instead. Thomas used the back of his hand to tap Bastien's chest and said something. Bastien put his gun under one arm and dug something out of a pocket on the thigh of his pants and handed it to him.