Whether light would grace Visio again remained to be seen. I knew we’d do everything in our power to make it happen. If only we had a way of getting to Thayen…
Kelara
I couldn’t feel the cold myself, but I imagined what it had to feel like. Thayen’s cheeks were as red as roses, his lips taking on a purplish hue as snow settled on his brows and eyelashes. It was freezing out here, and the blizzard was only getting worse.
“Corbin, you have to stop this!” I shouted, but the Master of Darkness ignored me as he prepared for the resurrection ritual. He cut his palm with the tip of the scythe’s blade and squeezed his fist tightly, allowing the blood to pour down in a thin crimson stream. He moved around, using the blood to draw a strange symbol in the snow, a star with twelve points and a circle in the middle.
“I don’t have to stop anything,” he replied. “In fact, I’m just getting started.”
“You’re killing an innocent child!”
He paused for a moment to give me an angry look, as if I’d just reminded him of exactly how unpleasant this whole job was. “You know what, Kelara? I’ve enjoyed our brief time together, but it’s time to help you cross over to the other side of this story.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, barely hearing myself over the howling wind. It had taken me a while, but judging by the sky’s aspect and the frosted terrain around us, I guessed we were at one of the poles—likely the north.
“You’ve been on the losing side as a Reaper,” he said, stepping away from the bloody sigil. “Let us bring you to the side of the winners.” His scythe glinted as he began whispering a string of words and sub-words I didn’t recognize against its cold metal. My blood curdled as I understood what was happening.
This wasn’t how I’d imagined learning about how the Darklings were literally making the ghouls. I hadn’t planned on being on the receiving end of this mess, dammit, and yet here I was trapped. Corbin was determined to turn me into one of his slaves.
“No…” I managed, trying to get away from him. The collar burned my skin, forcing me to stay put. My muscles stiffened, and my joints tightened. My physical form was struggling to cope with what was about to happen. “You can’t do this. It’s… it’s abominable!”
“What’s abominable is Reapers getting to live forever while the rest of us languish,” Corbin hissed, pressing the blade against my chest. An icy fire burned through me, and it took a titanic amount of effort to stop myself from screaming right away.
“You’re immortal, Corbin. You don’t need to punish me for it…” My voice trailed off as my temperature dropped, and my skin felt like it had been turned to ice. My teeth chattered. The spell worked on a pretty basic level. It was transferred to me through the blade, and it was wreaking havoc on the inside, stirring a most peculiar but disturbingly intense famine. “No… please…”
He smirked. “Too late. Feel the hunger, Kelara. It’s the only thing you will ever know from now on, my dear.”
Paralyzed by his words, I took a moment to process the situation. A battle raged inside me. A fight for control between the person I was and always had been, and the monster he’d created, a monster that only needed the power of one soul to make it to the surface and destroy me forever. I could feel it snapping its jaws, a void growing at the center of my being. An emptiness I couldn’t define expanded rapidly until my mind caught fire and my stomach churned.
Yes, there it was… the hunger.
The hunger I’d often tried to understand. Reapers usually chose to eat a soul in order to become ghouls, to foolishly free themselves of Death’s command, but at what cost? They lost themselves in the process. They became beasts without the ability to reason, driven only by the desire to consume another soul, and another… and another.
“It burns…” I cried out, my eyes stinging.
“And now for the final piece of the puzzle,” Corbin muttered, getting up and moving away from me. He took the soul shards from the leather satchel and carefully placed them at the star points—one for each shard—while I struggled to resist the ravenous wave coming over me. Corbin had broken me. He’d stripped me to my most essential self. He’d won this fight, but I couldn’t let him declare victory in the war, as well. I couldn’t!
Unable to move much, I tried to focus on my breathing while the ghoulish fever spread and blistered through my chest and legs. It became increasingly difficult to focus, but when Thayen finally opened his eyes, I saw the light in them—the sparkle of a child with so much left to live for. The brightness of life beckoned me to do something. He didn’t deserve to die this way.
Something toxic constricted my throat, and it felt like it was burning my vocal cords like acid. I couldn’t even utter a word of warning to the boy as Corbin placed down the last of the extracted soul shards. Eleven people had died for this, and the twelfth was about to lose his life, too.
“Worry not, Kelara. The hunger won’t last long,” Corbin said, positioning several small black crystals along the circle line—pieces required for the ritual, most likely. “Once I kill Thayen, his soul will be yours to eat, and your transformation will be complete. Try not to fight the fever. I’m told it can be quite painful if you resist.”
This was it. The trick in the spell. It triggered the hunger for the soul first, forcing the Reaper to do the unspeakable in order to control the troubling sensation. Eating Thayen’s soul seemed like a no-brainer. Hell, my mouth was already watering as the boy looked at me, understandably terrified and confused.
“Thayen… run…” I whispered, my voice gone.
“Thayen, don’t be an idiot. We’re in the middle of the north pole. There’s nowhere for you to run to,” Corbin warned, patiently working on his heinous art. His every movement was calm and calculated as he meticulously arranged the pieces in a geometric pattern around the circle and along the star points.
Thayen was speechless, his gaze darting between me and Corbin. I had to look like a mess, because I saw the fear in his eyes whenever he glanced my way. I scared him, and that was the last thing I wanted Thayen to feel about me. With Corbin determined to kill him, I wanted to be the one to help, not the mindless beast that would consume his soul.
All it took was one moment of digging back into my memories, of remembering the son I’d once lost to my own vanity and ambitions. All it took was one glimpse of my boy, the image of him fading beneath a layer of frenzied hunger.
“No…” I murmured, my heart breaking for my own predicament. “No!” I screamed and gripped the collar around my neck. The metal and the runes burned my fingers. I heard the sound of searing skin and flesh, but I didn’t stop. I pulled with all my might and howled until the collar broke.
The iron gave way, and I was suddenly free. Corbin didn’t see me coming.
Snarling, I tackled him, and we fell into the thick snow. He tried to fight me off, but I was too angry, too determined to save Thayen. I needed my scythe. Corbin scratched at me with his claws, but I vanished into my subtle form for a split second, using up all the energy I had left, what little strength the ghoulish spell had yet to take from me. I fumbled through his cape until my fingers caught the tip of my blade.
I whispered one of my attack spells. The invisible pulse exploded between us, throwing me back. Corbin scrambled to get back up and catch me, but I was faster, even though I’d become visible again. “Don’t you dare, you undead bitch!” he shouted.
“Thayen, hold on,” I breathed and hooked my arm around the boy’s waist, hoisting him from the snow. With my scythe back, I could take us away from here.
The fever burned and dismantled my synapses, the hunger beyond my control, but I could still do something. One last thing to make it count. I glanced back and saw Corbin practically flying at us. I wished for the fabric of space to open and swallow me whole.
We vanished, leaving Corbin behind. His snarl rippled across and into the darkness that enveloped Thayen and me, as I tried to envision Roano as my final destination. I’d
taken the last piece of Spirit’s soul from Corbin. I’d broken past the collar, somehow, and I’d saved Thayen.
My fall had not been for nothing, I thought, as I surrendered to the abyss.
Esme
Fury and desperation reigned supreme in our shelter in Roano.
We’d returned with nothing but bad news and heartache. Sofia was inconsolable and barely keeping it together. Mira and Kemi were brokenhearted and quiet. The Seniors were stunned and disheartened, while the rest of our crew were basically fuming. Kalon’s brothers hadn’t stopped crying since news of Thayen’s abduction had reached them.
The Orvisians were in mourning, and they had quickly mobilized to build a funeral pyre for Kalla. She lay on top of the wooden pile as though asleep, covered with a white linen cloth that concealed her slit throat. Pebbles had been placed on her eyes. We gathered around it for a moment, trying to get our thoughts and priorities in order. Rose, Caleb, and the others joined us as we shed tears for Kalla and her people. It was our duty to protect them now that she was gone.
The Seniors and the Orvisians made peace in a matter of seconds, as both sides understood that Arya was solely responsible for what had happened. Afternoon settled over the realm with shades of red and pink across the sky, but I felt as though the colors themselves were sad and nowhere near as intense as they used to be. It seemed like the heavens mourned, too. A life taken by a traitor was truly tragic, and we were all reeling from its impact.
“The Reapers and I have talked,” Dream said, standing to my right. Ansel, Tudyk, and Moore were to my left, sniffing and wiping their tears. “We can’t stay here much longer.”
“But Tristan—”
“Time and Soul will help,” she said, cutting me off. “They’re both in the north tower right now, working on a solution to hopefully make the pockets mobile, so they can carry them to wherever we might go. It’ll render them useless for any defense or offense maneuvers, but Nightmare, Phantom, Widow, Night Bringer, and I will cover for them as best as we can. Esme, this is too dangerous. The Darklings know we’re here. There’s bound to be a convoy showing up any time now.”
Many of the Orvisians sobbed as Mira and Kemi walked slowly toward Kalla’s pyre, each holding a burning torch. Derek watched the funeral proceedings with a heavy frown. I didn’t even want to know what was going through his head, especially with Thayen in Corbin’s hands.
“What about Thayen?” I asked Dream.
“The Night Bringer told you those things because he wanted you all out of there.” She sighed, lowering her gaze. “Chances are the kid’s already dead, but we couldn’t let you all linger in the heart of danger. Not when Tristan and Valaine are here. They still need you.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I couldn’t stop them from pouring down my cheeks. “It’s not fair,” I whispered. “Thayen… he’s just a kid…”
“And we did everything we could to keep him safe,” Dream said. “It’s not your fault he was lost. The Darklings had Arya. It takes some kind of character to stay dormant like that for two million years. Patience. Dedication. They were prepared for this. We weren’t.”
“Is there really no way to get to him in time?” Ansel asked, his eyes puffy and red.
“I’m sorry,” Dream replied, shaking her head, then looked at me. “And I’m sorry Night had to, well, lie to get you all to move. His undead heart was in the right place. There simply wasn’t anything we could do to retrieve Thayen. Corbin had his claws on the boy… and Kelara.”
Kemi and Mira set the funeral pyre alight. The flames swelled and licked at the sky, the wood crackling and spewing sparks. Soon we could no longer see Kalla’s body because of the giant orange flames, as plumes of black smoke rose toward the sky. Some of the Orvisians dropped to their knees, crying and wailing and breaking my heart all over again.
We’d lost an ally and a hero. Kalla had once been one of the few non-Aeternae Darklings, only to end up leading her people into the center of the Nightmare Forest, where a different and better society had emerged—one where the Aeternae didn’t need to feed on their Rimian or Nalorean neighbors. She’d accomplished something that the empire had fought hard to eradicate ever since its conquest of Rimia and Nalore.
“Kalla made history by showing that it was possible to live without draining the life out of those around us,” Lumi said. “She was a good and just Nalorean. A decent woman with clean morals and only the best wishes for her people, regardless of their species or social status.”
“Everyone was welcome in Kalla’s Orvis,” Trev added, moving to stand next to the swamp witch. “All we had to do was respect the blood and life of others. And it worked. What she and her predecessors accomplished in Orvis… it worked.”
Derek exhaled sharply. “The village itself may be gone, but its people and their culture survive. There is still hope for the future. Do not let Kalla’s death be in vain. Do not despair. Do not surrender to the darkness that so eagerly wishes to consume us all. We’ve lost a battle today, but Kalla’s life meant more than just this moment of loss.”
“We’re all together now,” Mira continued, raising her gaze to the sky. “From all walks of life. From all corners of this vast universe. We’re all together because we believe in justice and freedom for all. Because the life we, the Aeternae, have made for ourselves on Visio is not right or kind or innocent. We’re willing to do better.”
I couldn’t get Thayen out of my head. I closed my eyes and almost saw him, lying unconscious at Corbin’s feet. The look on Kelara’s face when he grabbed her and the boy—when they vanished into the unknown, leaving us to deal with Danika and Arya’s mess. Good grief, what a colossal failure that had been.
“The only thing we can do is keep fighting and bring Unending back to the surface,” Dream said, as if she’d somehow picked up on my train of thought. “We can fight to avenge Thayen. Remember, the Spirit Bender will be coming, and he’ll be out for blood once he’s told of his earlier demise, the Hermessi apocalypse debacle… ugh, I can only hope Unending frees Death first. It’s our only chance.”
And the thought of that was downright terrifying.
“Our fight isn’t over,” Lumi said, raising her voice so everyone could hear her. “We still have Unending—” She stopped abruptly, frowning as the air rippled just a few feet away from Kalla’s burning pyre. Space itself split open, and a furious blizzard burst through, throwing snow in every direction.
Instinctively, we all took several steps back as the wind howled through the peculiar opening. My heart jumped when a familiar figure slipped through, and the blizzard was gone as suddenly as it had arrived. Kelara fell to the ground, cradling Thayen in her embrace.
“Kelara!” Soul rushed to her aid.
“Oh my God, Thayen!” Sofia cried out.
Within seconds, the circle of hundreds of Orvisians and Seniors and GASP crew members and Reapers tightened around Kelara and the boy. I cried tears of joy as I reached them, breathing a sigh of relief when Thayen opened his eyes and looked as us.
“Wait, something’s wrong,” Dream murmured, noticing Kelara’s stiff movements. She grabbed Thayen and pulled him away from her, and Sofia was quick to take custody of the boy, while Soul knelt by Kelara’s side.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Sofia said, laughing and crying at the same time as she measured Thayen from head to toe, then showered him with loving hugs and kisses. Derek put his arms around them both and tightened the hug as Thayen smiled—he was weak and dazed, but he was definitely okay.
“Kelara… she saved me,” he said, glancing at the fallen Reaper.
Only then did I see the devastated look on Soul’s face. Kelara wasn’t moving other than her quivering shoulders. “What’s wrong with her?” I asked. Kalla’s pyre was still burning, but life had already moved on, forcing us all to do the same whether we wanted to or not.
“Ghoul… he made… he made me…” Kelara croaked, her skin almost white and covered in sweat as she turned over.
The realization hit me like a punch in the gut. The ache intensified when Soul’s eyes met mine, and I saw the devastation unraveling across his face.
“He put her under the ghoul spell,” he mumbled. “Whatever death magic he uses to turn Reapers into ghouls… he did it to her.”
“Don’t… don’t let me eat… soul…” Kelara managed.
Someone gasped. I was breathless, dread flowing through my veins and freezing everything in its path. Corbin had done the unthinkable. He’d destroyed Kelara, though she’d yet to show all the signs of a ghoul. He’d pushed her past the point of no return; he’d forced her into it, and still… she’d found the strength to free herself from his dominance.
“It must be how the spell works. It plants the hunger, pushing the Reaper to do the unthinkable…” Soul looked at Kelara again.
She’d found the strength to bring Thayen back to us, knowing that no one else could have helped the kid under those circumstances. Kelara had been sacrificed in the Darklings’ game, and I had no idea how we could possibly help her.
So far, none of our victories had come at a small cost. Blood had been shed, and lives had been lost. Hearts had been broken. Family ties had been cut. People had been displaced and hunted. If what had happened so far was any indication of what the future had in store for us, well… we were in for the worst kind of trouble. But I was nowhere near ready to call it quits yet. No. I still had enough spunk left in me to fight tooth and nail, if needed. And despite the losses we’d incurred, the rest of our crew felt the same way.
The more the Darklings pushed us, the harder we fought back.
Esme
“What’s going on?” Kalon asked, still fuzzy from his sleeping spell.
The Time Master had taken him out of his interdimensional pocket to make transporting him easier. The more we’d discussed this issue, the clearer it became that moving our people was the only way forward. Corbin’s plan to resurrect the Spirit Bender had been foiled when Kelara managed to take Thayen away from him, but the Darklings still knew our location, and they were bound to come exact their revenge. I doubted Corbin would give up on the kid so easily.
A Shade of Vampire 85: A Shard of Soul Page 26