I passed the dragon’s command on to my friend, who immediately nodded and went to work, opening her bag as she removed the bottle’s cork with her teeth and took a swig. The spirit’s next command was for me to open a case of apple-shaped fruits on the next shelf, and let Nestor have at them, something the little mouse did with abject delight.
I felt power immediately roll out from my two friends, but Grandmother Mara urged me to stay focused. She guided me to one final row, one that was hemmed in with bare shelves, apparently the least valuable part of the entire room.
Keeping walking forward, dear, Grandmother Mara advised, and yes, I know there’s a wall at the end.
She was right. A large, plain, square column was at the end of the bare shelving. I would have thought it overly suspicious, except that I had passed several other columns on my way over here, although this was the only one with no visible treasure.
“Jasper,” Nova called out, coming behind me. “My bag’s full. I’m going to teleport back to Vessa, but first, give me your bag so that Nestor and I can fill it as well. That way you can concentrate on what you need to do to fix your Soulscape.”
“Sounds good,” I said as I threw her my empty satchel. “Be safe, and you should probably just have Vessa message me in the future, so that you’re not running all over this place every time you need to talk to me.”
“Good call,” Nova answered, nodding. “This place is huge. If we can avoid it from being discovered, we might be able to find all the treasure we need for decades. Maybe even help Vessa completely fix herself in one fell swoop.”
That seemed overly optimistic, both in the amount of benefit, as well as our chances of remaining undiscovered, but I chose to not voice my suspicions and just smiled at Nova as she turned and went back to collecting. Then, to make up lost time, I quickly marched into the stone column.
It was a magical false wall, and Grandmother Mara was disappointed over my lack of surprise regarding that fact. She grew smug again, however, when I paused in awe over the final secret in her vault.
The hidden room was dark, except for a soft beam of light that shined directly over the center of it, revealing a green patch of plant life in the middle of a dirt floor, one partially covered with a walkway of gray cobblestone tiles. Just behind the patch of green was a white stone platform, and atop the platform were two glass displays, each holding a rack of clothing, or rather, armor and equipment. The one on the left held a complete suit of shining, soft-looking white chainmail, with lightweight golden plates covering most of the torso, shins, and shoulders. The bracers were especially ornate, having frilled designs etched into them and ending in fingerless gauntlets, and with a blue gem set into the part covering the top of the hand. The floating suit also had a belt around its waist, with a gold buckle and an elaborate golden, scabbarded sword clasped to it, adorned with red and blue jewels all along the hilt and sheath. Floating directly over the armor was a thin golden circlet with small wings set into the sides, and a soft, white, sleeveless robe hung directly from the epaulets, one that somehow gave the wargear a calming, gentle look.
The case on the right housed a more modern-looking outfit, though still out of place for Earth’s current fashion. A white, sleeveless undershirt hung just above a pair of dark trousers that could have passed for the jeans of ancient motorbike riders, save for the silvery plates fastened over them, all the way down to the top of the heavy black boots. A wide brown belt adorned them, one with several open loops that items like my halfblade’s sheath could probably fasten to. The black leather jacket had similar silver armor fastened over the top of the sleeves, from the shoulder all the way down to the fingerless gauntlets, though this pair had no jewels set into them. But it did have a complete set of black leather gloves. Though I was disappointed not to find a pair of Earth sunglasses to complete the look, I otherwise thought the whole thing would serve as a marvelous costume for someone wishing to be a medieval knight and ancient American biker at the same time.
Those are not costumes, Grandmother Mara grumped from in my soul. Those are complete sets of armor, weapons, and disguises, all in one, as the exact look of the gear can be veiled. I made them both in mind for my grandchildren’s ideal riders. Your friend has strong light powers, judging by what I’ve seen, so the gear on the left will complement her well. The gear inside the other case will work well for you, young rider, though we can examine it in more detail later. But we must hurry, she added in an urgent tone. You are breaking inside. It has already begun to affect you.
I had no idea what she was talking about until I tried to look at the green, sunlight-covered patch in the middle of the floor, and suddenly felt dizzy. Then I tried to remember why I had come down here before, and my chest started hurting.
Focus, child! Grandmother Mara demanded. Walk toward the patch of light!
But they always tell you to not go towards the light, I argued stupidly, staggering toward the bright, green circle. Along the way, I reminded myself that I was down here because I was dying, and probably faster than originally expected, and that if I didn’t hurry and find the things we had talked about finding earlier, I was doomed.
But a few steps later, I reached the center of the inexplicably lit circle and was finally able to see its contents up close. A wreath-like nest of various Sourceplants cradled two large eggs a little smaller than my head, one pitch-black, one cream-white.
Hurry, you young fool! Grandmother Mara snapped. Open your Soulscape! You’ve gaped at far too many items already!
Right, I reminded myself. I was dying.
I obeyed the ancient dragon and pointed both palms downward. Then I opened holes to the spiritual world inside my soul and tried to absorb the objects beneath my feet.
The result was like opening a window in the middle of a hurricane. Atmosphere blasted out of my soul in a torrent that battered at the Sourceplants before uprooting both them and the soil covering their roots right out of the ground. The plants sucked straight through my palms and into my soul, then fell downward, somehow funneled by Grandmother Mara directly into a cushioned spot of earth, where the spectral dragon had gathered all of the other objects I had absorbed over time. She flapped her wings steadily and powerfully, letting the plants parachute their way downward, until they landed smoothly onto the soft earth. Their Source energy pulsed outward, washing over the nearby spirit-earth.
The invisible holes in my palms widened, and the eggs themselves began to roll about, then finally lifted off the floor and tumbled into my hands. They were far larger than anything else I had absorbed up to this point, far larger than my hands even, but as they spun against my palms blue energy washed over them, shrinking them somehow, until they fell into my inner world as well.
Grandmother Mara gave a desperate cry as her grandchildren tumbled into my world, flying upward and catching them directly, then carefully gliding back to the ground of my shaking world and depositing them atop the reshaped nest of Sourceplants.
There now, she muttered gently to the silent eggs. We’re all together now. Everything’s going to be fine. You’re both going to hatch, and then we’re going to save your older brother.
I twitched at what she called me, but the door to my Soulscape kept widening. The rest of the nearby soil began sucking upward into my soul, and the cobblestone tiles under my feet began to shake as well.
Senior, I warned. Please prepare for more falling objects.
All part of the plan, child, the old woman chided. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.
I hoped she was right. Because the pain in my chest was still increasing.
The tiles and dirt sucked into my soul as well, blue light shrinking everything into a manageable size when it touched my palms. Each absorbed item increased the pain in my chest and intensified the rumbling inside my Soulscape, but also increased the size of the pile Grandmother Mara was carefully guarding and managing. The pile began to pulse out essence, mana, and qi, and each Source energy drifted out into th
e cataclysm happening at the rest of my miniature world.
I wanted to pay even more attention to what was happening, but then the two glass cases began to shake, then tilt, then lift off the ground and hurtle towards my hands. I cried out in outrage, fear, and disbelief, but the two giant cases just shrank like all the other items large enough to hurt upon impact and tumbled into the treasure-nest Grandmother Mara was still building.
Perfect, she replied, looking unconcerned even as another fireball blazed across my spiritual sky. Almost ready. Is there anything else you can absorb in there, child?
No, Senior, I replied, there isn’t even anything left in here! The only thing remaining is the large white stone that the two—oh, Ancient American Gods...
I swore as the giant several-thousand-pound rock on the floor began to shake as well.
Perfect! the dragon said happily as she watched from inside my soul. I am so proud of the way you keep exceeding expectations, grandson.
I screamed again in horrified denial as several thousand pounds of solid rock tilted and lifted into the air, hurtling straight toward my hands. It rotated as it traveled slowly, shrinking even more quickly than the two display cases had, before vanishing into the space right between my hands. I could feel it enter my Soulscape and tumble downward into the earth, though it slowed its descent to a steady drift before it landed, just as everything else had.
Senior, I asked, Are you alright? A large rock several times my size just fell out of the sky.
I noticed, dear. You’re doing fine. Everything is going perfectly. Go ahead and walk to your right.
I obeyed to the best of my ability, shaking all over. After a certain number of steps, I reappeared back in Grandmother Mara’s treasure room, although in a completely different location. This area had been partitioned off from the rest with low stone walls, and had a series of small pools on the floor.
Jasper, Vessa wrote across my eyes. Please respond.
I am here, Vessa, I wrote back tiredly.
Good, the ship-woman wrote back. I won’t take long. My scans show that your Soulscape’s core is beginning to stabilize, even as all sorts of commotion happens just over its crust. Whatever Senior Mara is advising you to do, it’s clearly working. Nova has been teleporting back and forth from my ship-body to clean out this room as quickly as we can, but some of the idiot miners appear to have finally noticed the discharge of Source energy. A small group is heading toward where the palace is. You’re technically located underground, but they still might try to tunnel their way in.
So I should keep hurrying, I wrote back, since we don’t know how long our magical underground palace, with literally no openings to the outside world, will stay secret.
That is both accurate and aggravating, Vessa wrote back. Now stop being right and get back to work.
I broke off the communication and walked near the pools on the ground, opening my Soulscape again.
As the turbulent portal opened up a second time, I noticed that the bodies of water were all different colors—red, blue, yellow, and a few other colors I didn’t get time to notice before they were absorbed into my spiritual world.
Perfect, Grandmother Mara said, channeling the liquids to her unhatched grandchildren. This should help all three of you stabilize. Now, grandchild, I want you to inform your little mouse and the Holy Beacon to begin packing up the other rooms. Your Soulscape can handle the rest of the things in here.
Senior, I replied, walking around the low stone walls as I spoke, shouldn’t she have done that in the beginning, if I was just going to absorb it all?
Oh, I wasn’t sure you were going to be able to absorb this much, the old dragon replied flippantly. And it’s better that some of the items are simply packed up instead of sucked up into this strange stomach of yours.
I shook my head at her, then passed on the message to Vessa, who passed on the message to Nova. At least she had remembered to keep the messaging link up this time, I thought to myself as I turned my spiritual vacuum to the piles of coins, jewels, statues, scrolls, and other loot inside the room. The numerous items lifted off the floor in a storm of gold, silver, and far more priceless materials, spiraling into my soul so quickly I couldn’t even make out most of the items, though I did note that none of the items were armor or weapons, and mentioned that much to the old dragon.
Of course not, dear, she replied to me. Those are in the armory, where they belong.
You have an armory as well? I asked incredulously
Yes, dear, the old woman said simply, and proudly. Though none of the items will be as suited for you as what you already looted next to my daughter’s eggs. And that halfblade of yours is adjusting beautifully with your own Advancement.
I privately doubted that my biker-knight armor would be so completely unrivaled, especially since it didn’t seem to come with any weapon of its own, but I didn’t think my opinion would change the dragon’s mind, and there were too many objects passing into my soul for me to even argue or care.
The trembling inside my Soulscape increased, then passed outward, to other parts of me. Another crack appeared on my mosaic. Another wisp formed in my mind. And another drop condensed into my traveling qi.
Hmm, yes, the dragon said, we are going to have to stabilize those rather quickly. But I suspect you’ve got one more substage on your way at any rate. Walk forward about ten steps, child.
I did as she said, blinking reflexively as great piles of coins exploded into the air and funneled into my palms. My little planet continued to absorb it all hungrily and easily, though it continued to shudder and quake instead of spin.
Almost enough, Grandmother Mara said. A little more, child, and we can move onto the next part of the plan.
Jasper, Vessa wrote to me. I’m just letting you know, but they’ve begun digging, and they’re moving surprisingly quickly. Continue doing whatever it is you need, but if they keep going at their current rate, then I’m going to have Nova go head them off.
Understood, I said, as a fresh bout of pain stabbed through my chest. A large piece of the planet inside my Soul cracked open, spouting out a sea of spiritual lava from the hole.
Senior, I begged as I sagged several steps forward, straining to keep my hands up so that the flying art and jewelry would not smack me in the face.
Hang in there, child, Grandmother Mara said soothingly. You will get there. The process has begun in full. You just have to endure a little longer. Keep your Soulscape open. I promise you will survive this, and thrive.
I heard her promises and automatically wanted to call her a liar, but then a burning fireball tore through my spiritual clouds, slammed into a mountain range I had never noticed before, and somehow sent an agonizing spike of pain into my brain.
So I stumbled, and Drew, and stumbled, and Drew some more, feeling the Source energy of the nearby treasure stream into the burning, shaking apocalypse seeking to shatter my inner self. More lava washed over my planet’s crust. More burning rocks fell from the sky, and for the first time I wondered why there were rocks falling from the sky at all, and whether or not my Soulscape had its own nearby asteroids circling the planet. Then I remembered there already were objects circling my small world, and sent a panicked glance toward where the circling ship and exploding star were orbiting around my Soulscape. But the ship had pulled some distance back, and the star was already far out of the way. I still could not see where the meteors were coming from.
Then an entire landmass cracked in half, venting spiritual lava and gas into my world’s atmosphere. I could no longer control my Soulscape. It now absorbed both treasure and Source energy on its own.
Jasper, Vessa sent to me, the words appearing before my eyes even though the pain had washed away all else. They’re here. And some are stronger than I realized—
Her words disappeared before my eyes in a white wall of pain.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Got you,” the motherly dragon said to me, as I floated inside my soul. I tu
rned my head to see her, holding one of the many treasures I had absorbed, a silver statue shaped like a miniature dragon similar to herself. Green light streamed from its mouth, creating the sphere we were both floating inside, along with the patch of ground containing her eggs, the massive pile of newly placed treasure, the two suits of armor, even the earlier spirit-lifeforms I had absorbed in the beginning. All around us my world raged and burned, but the Source energy radiating from Grandmother Mara’s treasures and eggs sustained everything in the protective green bubble.
“You made it, dear one,” the dragon said kindly. She was closer to my size now, just large enough to require me looking up to make eye contact. Somehow, I realized that she was smiling. But the scene beyond her shield made her words a lie.
“I did not,” I answered, looking out as the last bit of ground far below disappeared into a sea of fire. “My soul is breaking. This is the end for me. Every part of me knows this,” I added, feeling myself diminished.
My current body was as transparent as hers was. More so, even, and as I looked, my fingers were starting to completely disappear. Soon I would be gone.
“No, child,” Grandmother Mara said gently. “Not every loss is permanent. Not every pain is the end.”
“This one is,” I said, feeling my legs turn to nothingness. It was numb yet agonizing at the same time, as if I were watching it happen to someone else. “I know it. It could be nothing but the end.”
“That is the very sign it isn’t, child,” the maternal Sourcebeast corrected. “Pain is never wise. It can only alert you to the presence of change, not its nature. Some of the most painful experiences are the ones we not only heal from, we thrive, coming away with even more. I should know, grandson. I am an Anchor Knight and a grandmother. I have been where you are now.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said, wincing as my stomach and waist began to fade. Nothingness should not hurt this much, I complained to myself. “Plenty of pain does not get better. I have not gained back the people I love. I have not gained back a safe name to use in public. I have not gained back a safe place to sleep. I must hide my identity whenever I leave the ship, and even when I rest my eyes to sleep, I hear monsters thrashing about in the dark. I am a hunted mouse that has finally run out of places to hide. This is the end for me.”
Soul Shelter (Soulship Book 2) Page 26
