Soul Shelter (Soulship Book 2)

by Nathan Thompson

  “Good job, everyone,” Vessa said after Nova returned a final time. “This will go a long way toward helping me recover. Thank you, and I mean thank all of you. Is the food ready, Jasper?”

  Lunch went far better than we expected. Vessa’s oven took inconveniently long by any standard I knew back on Earth, but the Source energy it used cooked the meat more thoroughly, and even flavored it somehow.

  “The reason the oven takes so long to cook anything is because it also refines the meal,” Vessa explained after finishing her first steak. She had insisted on being removed from her capsule, so that she could sit on the floor cross-legged and eat with the rest of us. My worries over the act exhausting her had quickly been put to rest as soon as she began eating. And when I offered her the second one, the normally proud woman took it happily, not protesting at all this time. “Thank you, Jasper. That’s just what I wanted. Could you grab me another, while you are at it, please?”

  She gave me the most charming smile I had ever seen on any starving carnivore’s face, and so I gave her the last spare steak. “Thank you,” she said as she began cutting her meat with one of the pairs of utensils the rescued tribes had given us. “This means so much to me. But where are my manners? At any rate, the oven uses the Source energy to identify and fully neutralize any harmful pathogens in the food. After it does that,” she added, and I realized she had already managed to dice one entire steak into bite-sized chunks with her knife and fork, “it uses more of the cook’s Source energy to identify and augment any useful agents in the food, along with adding a bit of flavor as well. That way, even the most novice of cooks can use it to prepare food that is safe to eat, nutritious, and at least bearable to taste. Though Jasper did an excellent job of making this all on his own,” she added, giving me another charming smile, one that the back of my mind warned was dangerous but the part containing my ego insisted was perfectly safe. “I had not known you were such a fabulous cook.”

  I started to give Elder Mara credit for her role in guiding me, but she made hushing noises inside my Soulscape.

  Don’t share the credit for this one, dear, the dragon-woman said with a smirk. Just tell her you were happy to do it for her.

  That is technically true, I admitted, even as I opened my mouth and spoke the words my senior had instructed me to say. But why do you not wish to be recognized?

  Oh, I won’t need it as badly as you will, dear, she said, as Vessa’s smile went crescent-moon wide in response to my newly spoken words. You’re going to need all of the help you can find under the night sky for this matter, you poor thing.

  What matter? I asked, noting that in the time I had looked away, Vessa had already finished one of the steaks I had just handed her. And why are you speaking so cryptically right now?

  That’s just the way these things are done, she said smugly. Good luck though, young rider. I am cheering for you.

  I could get nothing else out of the secretive old woman. So I ate my meal in peace, letting my Soulscape refine the food as it entered my body.

  “This is rather good,” I admitted, feeling more powerful by the moment. I could feel the essence in the meat fortifying my bones and muscles, and was surprised to feel mana and qi nourishing me as well. My senses sharpened further, and when I caught my dropped fork I noticed that my reaction speed had also improved. Even my breathing felt steadier, an improvement brought on by the qi in the meat.

  “It’s supposed to be,” Vessa assured me, and I was surprised to find that she had finished off her third steak as well. “Food that comes from something rich in Source energy provides a fantastic amount of benefit, even compared to the miracle rations stored on my ship. But you have to already be strong enough to withstand the energies, which is why we’re starting on the wolf meat before we move on to the bloodbeast’s meat. Those benefits will move the both of you far along. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nova Advances to the silver stage of mana after a month or so of meals.”

  “Is that quick?” I asked, curious, both for her Advancement and my own.

  “Very.” Vessa nodded. “Advancing to the fourth stage of any Source- the silver stage, or the heart-core stage of qi, or the thriving stage of essence, can take years of Drawing, and that’s only for the most talented of practitioners. The rest take decades. So resources like this can save us a lot of time, even if they’re usually very dangerous to obtain.”

  “What about other practitioners?” I asked uncomfortably. “Can someone cook and eat my own body to improve their Advancement? And are there ethical ramifications to consuming the flesh of a Sourcebeast, since some of them are at least as intelligent as members of my own species?”

  I realized I was a hypocrite for asking this question now that I was fed. Then again, I realized morality usually became more noticeable when people were no longer starving. I had no idea what to do or feel about that fact, but Vessa was already answering me.

  “In the first place, no. Another practitioner will not be able to process you in the same way that a Sourcebeast could, unless they choose a path to power as degenerate as the creature terrorizing this planet had. In the second place, Sourcebeasts do not share the same apprehensions of devouring intelligent life that humans and human-like races do. They try to maintain their own code—mainly, don’t eat any sentient that hasn’t attacked you first—but they would have no problem devouring someone that was already dead. In fact, they see not doing so as a waste, and an insult to the being who had died.”

  We both turned to look at Nova, who had begun blinking.

  “She’s right, Jas,” the Beacon confirmed, as she processed the memories Vessa had unlocked in her. “That’s... weird, but exactly how it works.”

  Not really, dear, the old dragon in my soul said. It’s just accepting how things work. For example, if you died and were a good bit stronger than you are now, I’d devour your corpse so that I could better protect your loved ones. I’d expect you to do the same for me, and to take the pieces of me you couldn’t eat and use them in some other fashion, like my scales as armor and my talons as weapons.

  You make an insightful, practical, and thoroughly disturbing point, I told my apex-predator passenger. Then I looked at my own second steak, and realized I was close to full. Senior, I have been neglectful and not asked if you are hungry.

  I am a bodiless spirit now, Elder Mara pointed out. I neither feel hunger nor require food at all.

  In that case, I said as I opened up my Soulscape to absorb the largest untouched piece of meat it could swallow. Please permit me to experiment. The chunk of wolf meat tumbled into my inner world and landed in front of Elder Mara, who, despite being a dragon, was currently not much bigger than a small child. She reared her snout back in surprise.

  I just told you that was unnecessary, dear, she admonished me gently. And as a spirit, I could not consume it at all.

  In a moment, there will be a spiritual copy of that same steak, I informed her. I thought that would be of some benefit to you, which would also be of some benefit to me, given our current situation.

  That is both kind and wise of you, young rider, she said seriously. But mostly kind. I feel much better for supporting your endeavors. You will take good care of her.

  Thank you, I said cautiously, having a feeling I was misunderstanding her again. But after another moment, a spiritual copy of meat had been created, so I turned my attention back to eating so that the elderly dragon could enjoy her own meal in peace.

  “That was delicious,” Vessa said brightly, and I noticed that all signs of fatigue had vanished from her body. She stretched her arms out wide, and I turned my head to avoid staring too badly. “I feel so much better. Even my ship-body has more power now. In fact—”

  A loud noise interrupted her, as something large and angry slammed violently against a distant door. The noise repeated a second time, and then a third, and continued without stopping. The gray woman sighed in exasperation.

  “That,” she said as she moved her
dark hair out of her face. “That’s going to be an issue. The bloodbeast’s remains and the gifts of the villagers have given me a lot of power back. Apparently some of my... guests,” she paused to grimace in distaste, “are noticing. It’s making some of them more active. I don’t think they’re in danger of breaking their way through, but they can hinder my ship-body’s repairs. We’re going to have to find a way to deal with some of them.”

  “Right,” Nova said with a serious nod. “You and Jasper told me about some of those. The really gross cockroach-rat-lizards?”

  “The eaterlings, yes,” Vessa answered with a nod of her own. “And they get even more disgusting as they Advance. But no. That noise is from something else. Something deeper into my ship-body, and much stronger. A good bit of my remaining power is keeping things like that at bay.” She looked at us considerably for a moment. “But if you both keep getting stronger, I won’t need to contain so much anymore.”

  “I’m about to Advance to the wailing stage of essence,” Nova said confidently. “I know that’s not worth much, but it will give me a much stronger body, which should complement my other Sources.”

  “That’s true,” Vessa replied. “At the very least, it may help me secure a few more rooms, which will also give me more power. But you’ve both had enough for today. I want you to get some rest, and then later we can see what else can be done. I’ve got a second capsule for Nova, so this way neither of you will have to insist that you don’t mind sleeping on the floor. But I’m glad everything has worked out so well. Thank you, both.”

  She closed her eyes then, as if she was concentrating. Before I could ask what she was doing, a hum vibrated throughout the ship, and the pounding suddenly ceased.

  “That’ll show him,” she said, smiling but visibly tired. “I’ll just need a nap too, now.” She looked up at her capsule and grimaced.

  “Um,” she began, swallowing and frowning, “can one of you help me up?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “And that’s where I think we should stop, Jasper,” Vessa told me, as the second wisp in my mind stabilized. Unlike the qi drops, or the essence cracks, it did not take on a particular color or shape. Instead, it began to float in a particular pattern, one that was indecipherable to me at the time.

  “Is my choice really that rare, Vessa?” I asked my teacher, puzzled by her earlier comments.

  “It wasn’t quite as rare back in the day, but for the present, absolutely,” the gray woman confirmed with a nod.

  “But it seems like such an obvious choice to make,” I argued. “So much of mana revolves around studying. I would have thought everyone would pick this subject for their beginning wisps.”

  “They don’t,” Vessa insisted, “because most worlds aren’t nearly as far along in the sciences as your own. Especially when Source energy can power so many different things in so many different ways. There just isn’t enough need to invest in non-Source disciplines, and things like ‘the study of fire’ or the ‘the study of ice,’ or even ‘the study of flight,’ are both far more approachable, and far more appealing, than what you just picked to study for your second wisp.”

  “But my second wisp literally encapsulates all those things you just mentioned,” I argued back. “If I’m understanding it right, it should literally let me do everything, or at least come very close.”

  “I know,” Vessa sighed tiredly. “But most mana practitioners don’t want to do everything, Jasper. They want to fly, throw fireballs, heal wounds, amass power and wealth, or live forever. Or some combination of all of those things. They might pick your particular discipline later, maybe after the bronze stage, but like I’ve been saying all along, they go for the easier, faster, surer roads to power and longevity. Studying a science this broad would take forever, even if it would provide the best long-term gains.”

  “Is it going to cost us?” I asked, though I was repeating the question. Vessa gave me the same answer as before.

  “No,” she said patiently. “Not with the way you’ve handled your other two Sources. You’ve been rounding things out very well, in fact. And if we keep finding the resources I need us to find, your Advancement shouldn’t really suffer. So you’ll keep pace with being able to handle my random needs, instead of coming up with a path to power that benefits yourself.”

  I shrugged, not willing to have that argument with her again. I had already pointed out to her that helping her helped me, and I had a whole bevy of new potential as evidence.

  “At any rate, that will have to do for now,” the ship-woman said, making an annoyed frown as she glanced over to where her Beacon was sleeping. “Nova should have already woken up by now...”

  “Oh, I doubt it,” I replied easily. “She loves sleep, especially in a comfortable place. Her favorite thing about our old orphanage was the fact that she got to lie down somewhere soft, warm, and safe.”

  “But there’s work to be done, Jasper,” Vessa pointed out, glaring at me. “She should know that.”

  “I’m sure she does,” I admitted with another shrug. “And she’ll wear herself out doing it. But she’s also going to rest as much as she can get away with, and she usually won’t even realize that she’s doing it.”

  But my explanation seemed to be angering Vessa, instead of appeasing her.

  “Why are you lecturing me about her?” she demanded. “We talked about this yesterday. She’s one of my bodies, remember?”

  I started to say that Vessa was the one who had asked about Nova to begin with, before I caught myself. Elder Mara began chuckling from within my Soulscape.

  “What is the relationship with your Beacons normally like?” I asked instead. “I know Lunei doesn’t know about you, but what about the others? Can you think what they’re thinking? Can you feel what they feel?”

  “That’s...” Vessa began, then looked away. “That’s complicated. I’m not sure I could explain it to you very well.”

  “Well,” I said, “other than Nova being able to travel with you, what other ways is she different from the rest of your Beacons? I’m not trying to intrude, and I doubt that I could understand. But maybe talking with someone will help you figure this out. You can always just tell me whenever you’d like to stop.”

  “I’d like to stop right now,” Vessa said bluntly, before wincing. “That came out completely wrong. I’m sorry, Jasper. I meant, I don’t want to talk about it, but I probably should. And I’m being awkward about this because before you came along, I spent a long time not talking to anyone at all. I’m trying my best, but I’m not used to people anymore.”

  “That I can understand,” I replied. “I have my own trust issues.”

  “I’ve noticed,” Vessa said firmly, raising her head to look me in the eye. “And I’ve finally figured out how I can help you get over them: by trying to get over my own. So I’ll let you in on a little secret, Jasper. Just one, for now. Nova is the first Beacon I’ve ever really talked to. My ship-parents made me set up all of my other Beacons back when I was born. Lunei was the only other exception, and I botched her creation, which is why I’m even more careful around her than I am with the others.”

  “Is it possible to fix the damage?” I asked, concern for the woman who had saved my life trumping my usual caution.

  “Yes, actually,” Vessa said in hopeful consideration. “If I can repair a good bit of my own damage, I could probably figure out a way to heal her link, and maybe even improve all of my Beacons. Especially Nova,” she muttered darkly, before shaking her head and focusing. “But, full disclosure, Jas, I don’t even remember talking to my other Beacons. And they may just as well not remember talking to me.”

  “So, you’re actually completely in new territory here, then,” I offered. “In more ways than one. Having guests that are non-crew. Talking with your Beacons. Operating completely independently, except for a piece of yourself you’re seeing up close for the first time and a half-starved young man you pulled right off the streets of his planet’s world. A
ll while being extremely damaged, confined to your own bed, on the run from danger, and spending years, possibly decades or centuries, in complete isolation.”

  “When you put it like that,” Vessa considered, tilting her head. “I guess both Nova and I have been doing very well. And maybe it’s not my fault so many of my assumptions have gone wrong. Or hers. Thanks, Jas,” the gray woman said as she sighed in relief. “Talking this out has been really helpful. I should do so more often. And I’m available too,” she said as she looked back up at me. “In case you ever need to talk things out. You’re having an awful lot of new experiences yourself.”

  “Right,” I said, hopefully hiding my discomfort. “That’s a good idea. I’ll remember that.”

  Even though that’s stupid, I said to myself. Sharing to the wrong person will get us killed, remember?

  Then I blinked. Those thoughts had leaped from my mind unbidden, and I had no idea where they had come from.

  “And you really don’t look half-starved anymore,” Vessa said with a grin, before looking away. “Just so you know, I mean.”

  Nova’s capsule finally opened, to both of our relief, and the blonde woman rose from the tube with a yawn, stretching in what she probably didn’t realize was a distracting fashion. Elder Mara apparently realized it, however, because she chuckled at me when I averted my gaze again.

  My, aren’t you the shy one? Perhaps you should take that young girl’s advice, and bring up this little issue of them distracting you too much?

  At the moment, that sounds like a profoundly bad idea, I informed the dragon. And, Senior, I would appreciate you having more discretion over matters like this.

  I can’t help being bored right now, young rider, the old woman replied unrepentantly. But you should know that this little tension of yours is just going to grow the longer you try to ignore it.