Dark Soul

by G. Bailey

  I avoid a massive gap in the floor and step over it, pushing dust away with my hands until I spot a flash of pink to my right. I climb over a large bit of wall, and I find my Aura lying on some rocks, a cut on her forehead, letting blood drip down her cheek. I quickly crawl to her side and place my hand on the cut, letting my power heal her and ignoring the pain as she drains my light. I growl and pull my hand away when the room gets blurry. I can’t pass out. I need to get her out of here…but how? I can’t even carry her. I stare at Aura for a long time, following the way her pink hair curls around her shoulders, the pink dress is ripped and spotted with her blood, but she is so stunning. I know I could live a million years and never deserve to be her soulmate. But I will fight for her. I will make sure she has a future.

  “Freckles, wake up,” I gently try to wake her, and she doesn’t move. Dammit.

  “Such cute nicknames. Shame you have to die now, but maybe I can call her Freckles when she is my mate?” Austin taunts from somewhere behind me, the sound of his voice making me grit my teeth. My powers react instantly, the need to protect my mate calling them out without even demanding it. Protecting Aura has been a part of me since the moment I met her, even if I knew it could—and would—kill me. I stand and turn, keeping Aura behind me as I face Austin. I only smirk, not bothered one bit by his taunt. Austin keeps his eyes on me as he moves towards a gap in the wall in the room, and I know he plans to escape before making sure we can’t follow through the only exit I can see. That isn’t happening.

  “Planning to leave so soon? Don’t you want to test if you can beat me? Be the alpha man you claim you are by forcing people to do what you want but never actually demanding respect? It’s your father that gets all the respect, isn’t it? You are just his little lackey who will never lead,” I taunt him right back, and just like I suspected, he stops in his tracks, turning a deadly leer in my direction.

  “I would beat you! My father has nothing to do with this!” he snaps, and I laugh at his clear father issues. Austin holds his arms out at his sides, making two spheres of white dark light appear in them.

  “See, the thing is, even if I don’t get the chance to kill you, you will never get out of here alive. Who do you think called the army attacking this mountain now?” I ask him, lifting my hands as I mimic him, calling my own power. My whole arms glow a bright blue, the blue light swirling around my skin. Austin nervously looks between me and the gap, realising that in the moments I have been talking, I’ve been walking to the gap, nearly blocking him off while staying in front of Aura so he can’t get her.

  “You couldn’t have called them to attack here! No light knows of the mountain’s existence!” he spits out.

  “See, I am the leader of all clans. I have been for a long time. When I went missing, they had orders to watch every dark clan known to us and get humans to fit trackers on their phones. The moment they all flashed here for this pathetic excuse for a wedding, was the moment you gave your position away. Seems my army decided to blow up the mountain before attacking,” I reply, telling him the plan he has tried to drain me to find out. I knew my people would never give up on their plan to rescue us. No matter how much this idiot has tried to torture me with his dad at his side, they never could get anything out of me. I’d fight the entire world to keep Aura safe. Keeping this secret was the only way I could save her in the end.

  “No!” he growls, swinging a sphere of dark light at me. I call my own light, slamming a beam into the sphere, destroying it before the beam blasts into Austin’s chest. He flies into a wall behind him, smashing it further into pieces. I smirk as I walk over to him, knowing he has nothing on me. Austin is weak, and he will pay for his mistake of ever touching my mate. “D-don’t! I can help you get out of here! I will do anything!”

  “Did Aura ask you to stop when you hurt her? Did she beg you not to force her to drain people?” I ask him, crouching down and picking him up by his neck as I stand. He wriggles against me, placing his hands on my arm and even trying to drain me. All pointless because I am so much stronger than he could ever imagine. It takes about a minute before he realises it and stops trying. He just hangs in my one hand, fear written all over his face. “Did you give her mercy?” I see the moment he knows I won’t stop, that I am going to kill him. The realisation sinks into every bit of his face before he narrows his eyes.

  “She did beg. It kills you that you couldn’t save her from me, doesn’t it?” he coughs out. Even in his last moments, he has to attack me where it hurts, just like the pathetic snake he is.

  “No. I spent every moment in here making a plan to avenge what you did to her. A plan that makes sure Aura has a future where she forgets your name,” I say, and he laughs.

  “She will never forget me!” he chokes out, and this time I laugh, which makes his die off. Or the fact I squeeze his neck tighter does.

  “Everyone will forget you, Austin. Good luck in hell,” I tell him, done with this conversation. I place my hand on his chest as he panics, trying to fight me off, pleading for his life. The room shakes as I drain him of every inch of his pathetic life. Just as the life disappears from his eyes, I sense Aura near me. I turn my eyes away from Austin to see her stood at my side, no fear or argument in her eyes as Austin dies by my hand. I let his body drop to the floor before turning to face her fully, wishing I could hold her close to me and comfort her.

  “Ready to leave, my mate?” I ask her instead, loving how she sucks in a breath and exhales it slowly with relief.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 19

  Aura

  My one word answer shakes Maxx into motion, both of us losing the tense moment we had. I don’t think I will ever forget waking up to see Maxx stood there, glowing brightly blue, and feeling the immense power in the room as he took Austin’s poor excuse for a life. I pull my eyes from Maxx to Austin’s body on the floor, and just knowing he is dead, that he has paid for everything he has done, makes me feel safer. Even as the floor shakes, rubble and dust fall from the broken hole in the ceiling above us. Austin has finally paid for killing Abby and every light he made me drain in his place, though death seems like too short a punishment for him. I almost wish I could bring him back to kill him slower. Maxx let him die too quickly, but as the room shakes again, I know we need to get out of here. We couldn’t have taken our time killing Austin. I’m sure Maxx is thinking the same. My hands itch to touch Maxx, hold him close and let him protect me, but we aren’t in dreams anymore. I can’t touch him here without paying a price.

  “Can you flash again? Like, out of here?” he asks me, and as I think about it, I know I can’t. I feel like I’ve been run over by a train…or dropped through a ceiling from an explosion. I lift my hand in front of me and try calling dark light, but it only flickers. Flashing took all my energy, and my half human side must not have liked it.

  “No. That was luck. I don’t think I can do it again. I feel too weak,” I admit to him, and he rubs his face before looking around the broken room. We are in trouble. We both know it as we stare at each other, the room shaking around us, but neither of us want to admit it first.

  “Right, well, I’m not leaving without you, so we need to find a dark to flash you out. One I can trust not to take you anywhere but home,” Maxx muses, more to himself than me, I suspect. I don’t know where he plans to find a dark that he would trust. I don’t trust anyone in this mountain clan…except Landon and Aliana, both who can’t flash. I hope Landon took Aliana out of here and her father didn’t take her. She isn’t a bad guy, I know it. “Come on, Freckles.” Maxx pushes a big piece of wall out of the way and walks over to a small gap with light shining through it. Maxx climbs through first, and I crawl through the gap, the stone scraping my arms.

  “No. God dammit!” I hear Maxx shouting to himself as I get to the end and see where the gap has left us. It’s half a room, and the other half is destroyed and hanging off the mountain. The part of the room that is left is nothing but a wall, no door or window in s
ight. There is a light flickering, but the rest of the light is coming from the sun shining down on us through the stormy clouds outside. When I look up, I can see more blown up rooms and bits of rubble falling down the side of the mountain. Whatever hit the mountain looks strong enough to destroy it.

  It’s snowing heavily, the snow blowing around my hair and what is left of my dress as I walk to Maxx’s side. He is stood at the edge of the room, looking down at the chaos below us. There are flashes of colour, lights and darks fighting I suspect, in the destroyed remains below us. Every now and then, there are screams, pleas and shouting, but we are too far up to hear exactly what they are saying. Even though I know everything has gone wrong and that we might not escape this…I know there is no one else I would want to be stood next to. I pull my eyes away from the war going on around us and to Maxx, knowing I’d rather watch him for the time I have left here. Maxx can leave, he can flash I bet. The power blocking the mountain only works inside. If Maxx ran and leaped into the air, he could flash back home. Back to his people who need him. His clan.

  “I’m going back in the room and check for another way out,” Maxx says and goes to leave as the room harshly shakes once more, and this time I nearly fall off the edge, but Maxx catches me. I gasp as the drain instantly kicks to life, and all of my skin starts to glow pink. Maxx is still glowing blue and our energy seems to mix together, even as I see Maxx wince in pain as he holds me. I hate this. I hate that I can’t just be with him. A tear rolls down my cheek as I come to the harsh reminder of reality with my soulmate.

  “There is no exit. You need to leave me here and leap off the mountain before flashing home. Go, Maxx, and make sure you tell Landon, well, that he will always be my best friend,” I whisper, hearing the destruction and explosions below. There is no doubt the mountain is going to fall any moment. I try to pull away from Maxx, but he grabs me tightly with his arm around my back and his other hand goes to the back of my neck.

  “I’m not leaving you. Ever,” he firmly tells me. “Either we both leave here together, or we die together. That’s it for us, Freckles. I’ve decided I can’t live without your stubborn but beautiful existence in my life.”

  “Maxx…I love you,” I whisper, my mouth inches away from his as the words leave my mouth, and I know I can’t tell him to leave me. I wouldn’t leave him. Ever.

  “I love you too, Aura,” he tells me, and hearing him use my real name breaks any hesitation. I kiss him just as he kisses me too, both of us forgetting the world as it explodes around us. There is nothing but blue and pink light, love, and Maxx holding me as we both fall.

  Chapter 20

  Aura

  “Welcome. We knew you could make the leap together,” the woman from our dreams says as I open my eyes, seeing that I’m standing in a massive cloud and holding Maxx’s hand. He looks down at me and smiles, and I notice how he is healthy again. The colour is back in his cheeks, his hair is wavy and shiny, even if it is longer than how he used to keep it. His skin is no longer pale and deathly, but back to the tanned golden colour it should be.

  “You look so good,” I mutter, turning to face him as he chuckles low.

  “I have to admit, I like hearing my mate compliment me,” he teases as I smile.

  “I’m not your mate yet. Doesn’t that need a ceremony or something?” I ask, teasing him back.

  “I don’t know how we did it, but we wear mating marks, Freckles,” Maxx tells me, lifting my hand and showing me the glowing blue star between my thumb and first finger. It glows a light blue, just like the colour of Maxx’s light. Maxx shows me his hand, and in exactly the same place on his right hand instead of his left like mine, is a matching glowing star. Except his is pink.

  “The true light once more exists. It is your place to lead our people now,” the shadow man says, and Maxx holds me close as we both turn to look at the couple in front of us. Everything about the dream world seems brighter, from the stars to the couple. Almost happy, if that’s possible.

  “I wondered how we are related…I mean we aren’t actually related to each other as that would be cruel,” Maxx asks, surprising me as I didn’t think of that.

  “You are the descendant of my youngest brother,” the woman states to Maxx, wrapping an arm around the shadow man’s back and staring up at him. They don’t exactly have faces, just blurry shadow outlines, but I know that he is looking at her with love. I can feel it from here.

  “And you are the descendant of my sister, Aura. We never had our own children. We paid the price of the true light before we had that chance,” the man tells me, making my skin go cold at the mention of a price. I look up at Maxx, who is frowning at the new news too.

  “The price?” he enquires.

  “A power such as yours is greatly wanted. You must be careful of who you trust,” she warns us. I think Maxx and I have learnt that lesson recently. There is only a handful of people I trust now.

  “We will be. I will not lose my mate for any power,” Maxx very determinedly insists. “Even the true light.”

  “The true light can be a blessing as much as it is a curse. Do not let it destroy earth like so many who chase you wish for it to do. Many secrets and trials face you in your future. The war must be won as the prophecy predicted so long ago. Be safe, this place is for you alone now,” the woman gently tells us, though I can’t help but worry about her warning.

  “We won’t see you again?” I ask her. A deep part of me instantly feels sad that I won’t get to see her again.

  “It is time we found our peace, our true end. We stayed to welcome and guide the two halves to the true light. Our job is done now. It’s your responsibility now.” The woman laughs after she finishes speaking, a laugh full of joy and happiness as she fades away with her mate. Both of them finding the peace that I hope Maxx and I will have in time. After we have a life. I won’t let us die for any war, for any power either.

  “Where do you think we are going to wake up?” I ask Maxx after we are quiet for a long time, just watching the space the couple were in. Everything is going to change once we wake up. I know it will because now we have the true light, we need to figure out what that is.

  “I don’t know, Freckles. I hope we flashed somewhere safe,” he mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “And not at the bottom of a destroyed mountain like I’m fearing.”

  “I’m scared to wake up. What if I drained you?” I ask, taking a deep breath. “I can’t lose you. I’ve already killed so many, and I just can’t lose anyone else.”

  “I’d be dead, not in dreams, Freckles. I wouldn’t be mad at you anyway. Kissing you is one hell of a good way to die,” he jokingly tells me, somewhat stopping me from spiralling into a pit of worry.

  “Maxx,” I sigh, trying not to chuckle as my cheeks light up.

  “Let’s try that kissing again, I’m sure I can make you blush an even brighter red,” he suggests, and I giggle as he pulls me to him. Just as our lips are about to meet, the world fades away into nothing but swirling stars and the warmth of Maxx holding me.

  I blink my dry eyes open as I slowly become aware that I’m awake, and I see the familiar ceiling right above me. I sharply sit up, seeing that I’m in my old bedroom which looks untouched from the last time I was here all those months ago. There is dust and bits of broken rock all over the floor and bed, and my dress is ripped, hanging on me now. I freeze when I see Maxx is in the bed with me, still sleeping, but my hand is resting on his topless chest. I’m not draining him. He looks just as healthy as in the dream and not like he did only moments ago. He is so handsome as he sleeps that I don’t want to wake him, but I know I need to. We aren’t safe here.

  “Maxx?” I whisper, just in case my dad hears. I want to run out there and find him, but I need Maxx awake first. Maxx groans and rolls over onto his side, facing me. Whatever happened between us has made him exhausted. I feel tired too, but not as badly, I suspect. I place my hand on his face, seeing the mating mark is still there from our dream as he
wakes up, and his eyes widen. Maxx takes my hand in his and sits up next to me, staring at my hand like it holds the answers to every problem in the world.

  “There is no pull. No drain. Nothing but the natural draw to hold you close. I don’t understand how that is possible,” Maxx asks, lifting my hand and kissing the star mark on my hand ever so gently, but it sends shivers through me.

  “Must be a true light thing,” I suggest, and Maxx smiles widely before sitting up to kiss me gently, making me blush somehow.

  “Whatever it is, it’s amazing,” he admits, keeping his face close to mine as he brushes his thumb slowly across my bottom lip. “I never thought we’d get more than dreams.”

  “Me neither,” I agree, leaning closer to kiss him slowly before pulling back, much to Maxx’s frustration. “I know, but look, we are at my house. I need to find my dad, he must be so worried. It looks like he hasn’t touched my room since I left.”

  “You might want to change out of that dress first. I’m going to scan the outside to make sure we are safe for a bit. If there is anything wrong, call out for me. I will be close,” he says, winking before disappearing.

  I shake my head and slide off the bed, pulling off the dress from hell and undoing my hair from the crown braid, before pulling it all up in a messy bun. I open my wardrobe, getting a long black top and black leggings out, pulling them on before searching for some shoes. I thankfully lost those high heels somewhere in the mountain. I find an old pair of chucks under my bed and put some socks on before sliding those on my feet. Just being back in old clothes can somehow make me feel a million times better.

  Seeing dad will make everything right again. I can ask him all the burning questions in my mind and, well, just hug him. I pull my door open, seeing dad’s door is closed. I knock before pushing it open, but the room is empty and dusty. Seeing the light layer of dust on the bed slowly starts to make me panic, and I turn, running down the stairs. The house is cold, empty of any signs of life since the day I left. There is letters piled by the door, dust everywhere and it’s just still. I run in the kitchen first, holding my nose at the rotting smell of old food coming from the fridge, its door left hanging open. I turn and leave, searching the lounge which is also empty before going back into the corridor. There is a slight breeze before I sense a dark and swirl around, holding my hands up just in case.