Soul Dealers

by D. N. Leo

  “Let me check first,” he said and turned his wrist unit on. He located something on the map. He seemed pleased with what he saw. Then he approached the edge of the hole, pressing his foot on the surrounding earth to ensure it was firm enough to stand on. He turned toward Mya. “It’s the right place. How do you plan to…” His voice trailed off when he saw her face.

  What was wrong with her? Mya didn’t know. But the tingling sensation was exploding inside her body and her mind. She thought she might burst into flames at any moment. No words passed her lips. Okay, control it, she told herself and tried to calm down. This might be a new ability given to her as guardian of this potion. A new ability so she could summon it.

  She focused. In her mind’s eye, she gathered the raging source of energy into thin streams of light, weaved them into balls, and pushed them into her right palm. To her amazement, the energy obeyed her. It continued to gather as balls of light in her palm. She smiled at Zach. She knew what to do now.

  She approached the edge of the well and reached her palm out. She could feel a suction from her palm to the well. Something was down there. She could feel it. Strong. Powerful. But it was being pulled by her suction and was about to float up.

  Then she heard a roar. She turned and saw a leopard fly through the air at her. Its front legs shoved at her chest, pushing her into the well.

  Chapter 39

  Mya was dangling at the mouth of the well by Zach’s grasp. His body lay right at the edge of the gaping hole. He grabbed at a tree root with one hand and grasped her hand tightly with his other. If his body slipped into the well, she knew the tree root wouldn’t be able to bear the weight of their two bodies together.

  Mya heard fighting sounds coming from Leon and Kirra mixed with the animal’s roars and growls. She tried to find footing on the wall of the well to ease her weight on Zach, but she had no luck. Her body continued to dangle. And the more she tried to reach her feet to the wall, the more her body swung.

  She looked down, and all she saw was darkness. She could not see the bottom of the well, and she was sure she didn’t want to be dropped down there. It seemed like Hell’s gate. She swore she heard the hum of the devil from down below.

  She tried harder to get her footing. Her body swung harder, and she felt the slight slip of Zach’s hand. If she kept doing this, he would drop down as well.

  Before she looked back up to Zach, she saw a faint red spark from below her. As she breathed in the heated air that drifted upward past her, a thin stream of freezing air brushed over her skin. So is it hot or cold down there? Is it the bottom of a well or a gateway to something else? she thought, confused.

  “Use your knife,” Zach shouted.

  She pulled out her knife and stabbed it into the side wall then angled her body and inched up. As soon as her weight eased up a bit, Zach pulled hard. In a quick motion, he hauled half of her body up over the mouth of the well.

  There, Mya saw two dead leopards on the ground. Leon and Kirra were bleeding but still standing. Zach pulled her up and away from the well. Leon checked Kirra’s injuries. She had a big gash on her arm, and he had suffered a bite wound to one shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” Zach asked Mya. She nodded. Zach rushed toward his bag for the medical kit. “Come here, you two.” He gestured to Kirra and Leon. Mya ran over to help Zach attend to their wounds, but before they could do anything, a low growl came from the bush.

  A magnificent animal walked out from the thick woods. It had the body of a leopard with short brownish hair and a scattering of black spots on its back. But its face was a mixture of wild cat and fox. It had pointy ears with longer fur around the outside of the ears toward the tips.

  Its eyes were haunting.

  “That’s the cat we saw in the bush,” Kirra muttered.

  “But it’s not a cat. Isn’t that what you said, Mya?” Zach asked.

  “No, it’s not an ordinary cat. It’s a lynx,” Mya muttered.

  The lynx paced back and forth in front of them. It glanced toward the well. Then it looked back at them as if choosing which of them it would have for an appetizer and who would be the entrée, side dish, and dessert.

  Then it stopped and sniffed the ground. It bared its teeth and charged. From behind them, Leon pushed forward. He did what he had done before in the bush with Kirra. He ran under the flying path of the animal and swung his knife upward. The knife cut into the cat’s belly but didn’t open it as it had with the other cat. The cat dropped to the ground.

  Zach, Mya, and Kirra charged at the injured animal. It quickly scrambled up onto all fours. Although injured, the lynx was still formidable. It tried to leap at them again but only made it a short distance before flopping to the ground.

  Zach hurried over to the cat to finish it off, but before he reached it, he saw the shadow of something big jumping out from behind the tree. The front legs of the animal shoved Zach backward, and he fell to the ground. His shoulder bled profusely from the scratch of the animal’s claws.

  In front of them was something that looked like the king of all leopards. Its gigantic size and dark black fur weren't what made it seem like a symbol of darkness, but rather the aura that emanated from it. Its bright green eyes glared at Zach for a moment, and then it turned and grabbed the lynx by the crook of its neck. Carrying the animal as if it were a fragile toy, it ran into the woods.

  Mya ran over to Zach and helped him up from the ground.

  “I’m okay,” he said. “Let’s get the potion and get the hell out of here.”

  “But you’re bleeding. Let me secure your wound first,” she said.

  “No—we need to get the potion first.” He shrugged himself out of her arms and headed toward the well.

  She frowned, staring at his back as he walked away. Zach had been really odd since they’d gotten here. She shook the thought away. “Are you okay, Leon?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Kirra?” she asked.

  Kirra nodded.

  At the edge of the well, Zach crouched and looked down. His soft green eyes darkened. All right, she decided, she was going to try to peek into his mind. She concentrated but saw nothing. Damn!

  She approached the well, stood at the edge of the hole, and reached her hand out. She concentrated and felt the warmth of glowing energy in her palm. From the bottom of the well, something floated up. It was quite a distance away, and she couldn’t tell what the object was, but she guessed it was the potion jar she was supposed to retrieve.

  The air seemed to thicken around her. She drew harder, and the object floated up a little more. When her entire body and mind were opened to the energy and her deity ability, she saw sparks of light. In her mind’s eye, she saw the whirls of stars. She felt the weightlessness of the empty space in her mind. It was strange. It was different. But it was powerful.

  Then she had a vision that explained why Zach had pushed for her to retrieve the potion.

  She opened her eyes, and the glow of energy around her and her hand dissipated. A few feet below her was the little jar of potion, hovering in the air.

  It stopped rising from the well as her energy winked out.

  Chapter 40

  Mya turned to look at Zach, and he looked about to burst into flames.

  “What’s up, Mya?” he asked, his eyes still glued to the hovering jar.

  “You used me!” She swallowed the lump in her throat. She hadn’t let the jar drop back down just yet, but she would.

  “What?” he exclaimed.

  From behind, Leon and Kirra approached. “What’s going on?” Kirra asked.

  A tear rolled down Mya’s cheek. “Ayana died to save you. You want that jar to bring her back—at any cost.”

  “No…” Zach started. “Okay, yes. I need that jar. You do, too, because it will pay off all of your debts. Please don’t drop it, Mya.”

  More tears streamed down her face. “Now you’re lying to me.”

  “I’m not lying.”

  “That�
��s not the real reason you want the jar.”

  “It is. But it’s not the only reason. I’m telling you the truth. Please don’t drop it. May people will die if you do. Please don’t—”

  “But many will also die if I don’t let it fall back into the well. I can see it. I can see them dead because of me.”

  “They’re bad people. Xiiloks are bad news, Mya.”

  “Who are you to say, Zach? All creatures are equal. All universes are equal…”

  “You’re too naive, Mya. There is nothing equal in the multiverse. All creatures compete for survival. They all take advantage of the one another… Please don’t drop the jar, Mya.”

  She looked down. She could see the bottom of the well now. It was no longer black but a whirl of blue and white light. It was indeed a gateway. In her vision, she had seen the balance of her file if she executed this mission. Drawing the energy from the well would open the gateway and suck the energy out of the Xiilok’s well—that universe’s life force.

  Zach continued, “Creatures in Xiiloks are bad, Mya. They are the outlaws of the multiverse. If you don’t do this now, we will never have another chance to destroy that universe. They have killed millions of citizens in Eudaiz, Mya.”

  “I’ve never been to either of the universes. I don’t know who is good and who is evil. I can’t make that decision. There are innocents living in Xiilok. I don’t care what they once did. They have redeemed themselves and have chosen to live there. If I do this, they’ll end up on my deity dead list. I can’t have that on my conscience, Zach.”

  “Can you have the deaths of millions of Eudaizians on your conscience? If you let go of a few thousand, I will take you to Eudaiz. We will negotiate with Ishtar, and you won’t have to pay that debt.”

  “I don’t work that way, Zach. I don’t count innocent souls that way.” She still held her hand over the well. The energy flow was on hold, and the jar still hovered. “I’m sorry, but I have to let this go, Zach.” She turned her palm.

  “No!” Zach flew over to the well and let himself free fall. He hovered in the pool of energy, just above the jar.

  Kirra squealed and tried to grab him, but he was just out of her reach. “Please don’t let go, Mya!” Kirra cried out. Leon pulled Kirra back from the edge. He understood what was going on. But he was experienced enough to know that he should not interfere with Mya right now.

  Mya’s hand shook. Zach looked up at her. His soft green eyes were full of challenge. If she let the jar go, he’d go with it. But by bringing it up, she was sure she would kill thousands. The millions of Eudaizians Zach claimed would die were not on her files, so she didn’t know how accurate that was. And now she was faced with choosing between him or the thousands of Xiilok people.

  More tears rolled down her face.

  “Please don’t let go. Pull him up, Mya,” Kirra cried, kicking her legs and trying to wriggle free from Leon’s grasp.

  Zach said nothing. He just looked at Mya.

  Her hand shook again. She had no idea what to do. She wiped tears away with her free hand as she made her decision. But before she could execute it, the whirlpool at the bottom of the well suddenly vanished.

  The energy was vacuumed out of the well. The jar dropped into nothingness. And Zach followed.

  Mya could see that her hand looked again like a normal human hand—with no power whatsoever.

  Chapter 41

  She must have screamed, and the sound she made stopped Kirra from squealing. She flopped down at the edge of the well. She was sure she would see either the dark bottom of the well that had sucked Zach down to Hell’s gate or his dead body sprawling on the ground. Neither was something she wanted to see. But to her delirious surprise, Zach clung to the wall of the well, jabbing his dagger into the wall for purchase with one hand and, with the other, gripping the uneven surface and working his way up.

  “Rope!” Kirra shouted and darted to her camping bag. She pulled out a roll and wrapped it around a tree trunk then threw the rest down the well. Every movement she made was artistic and precise, coming from years of experience in the camping business. Mya jumped out of her way.

  In the well, Zach grabbed the rope. Leon helped Kirra, and the two of them pulled Zach back up. Soon he was back up to the mouth of the well.

  Mya was sure he deliberately avoided looking at her. He thanked Kirra and Leon then made a beeline toward his bag. “I have to go back to Eudaiz now.” Then he looked at Leon. “I appointed you as my successor just to save you. You’re a good soldier, and it would be an honor to have you. But I imagine you’d like to go back to your court. If you don’t want to go with me, consider this offer lapsed.”

  Leon said nothing.

  Zach continued. “There is one thing I have to ask of you. The energy I put into your body will be there for a while. I’ll check with Eudaiz about how long it will last and how to erase it from your system without harming you. But until we can do that, be careful. If our adversaries capture you, we’ll have to kill you before they can get a sample of your energy.”

  Mya approached and touched his shoulder lightly. “You’re still bleeding. Let me—” He shrugged his shoulder out from under her hand and walked away.

  “His heart bleeds a lot more, and I doubt that wound will ever heal,” Kirra mumbled loud enough for Mya to hear.

  Mya felt more tears running down her face. Come on, big girl, you can handle this, she told herself. She wiped her tears and turned to her bag.

  “Zach!” Leon called out.

  Zach stopped walking. But before he went to Leon, he crouched next to Mya. She stuffed random things from the ground into her bag. She didn’t even know what she was grabbing—she might have stuffed tree branches and rocks into the bag for all she knew.

  Now it was her turn to not look at him. But he tilted her chin up and looked into her eyes. His soft green eyes had returned to their usual gentleness. “I just want to let you know I don’t regret my feelings for you. What we had together was beautiful. I treasure it and will never forget it. I’m sorry we can’t resolve our differences and it has to end this way.”

  He wiped a tear rolling down her face with his thumb.

  “I hate to see you cry. You are a good deity, and your actions are always just. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  His wrist unit beeped. He glanced at it. He read the message and then smiled. “Eudaiz has stopped the plot. Nobody will die now. That’s a load off.”

  “Can you tell us exactly what just happened?” Kirra asked. Don’t you think we deserve to know? Look, we just saved your ass.” She pointed toward the well as a reminder.

  Zach nodded. “Yes, you did. And I’m grateful. Simply speaking, there’s a scar in the multiversal system that was supposed to be fixed—but nobody fixed it. It’s like a wormhole that connects the well in Xiilok and this one. If the energy is sucked up from this well, it drains the Xiilok well and destroys that universe. The evil guy in Xiilok had been doing his best to stop that connection.”

  “Well, to me, he sounds like a good guy trying to save his universe,” Kirra muttered.

  Zach shook his head. “You don’t know what he did and how many people he’s killed, Kirra. He saved Xiilok only because it’s his last stop and he wants to rule it. No other universe will accept him. He’s desperate and extremely dangerous. If he gains power, other universes—including Earth—will be in very deep shit, to speak in layman’s terms.”

  Kirra shrugged.

  Zach continued, “He didn’t want to fix the broken wormhole. He wanted to locate it, break it himself, and connect the other end point to Eudaiz instead of Xiilok. He wants to blow a few million people up. He isn’t a good guy and isn’t kind to anyone, let me assure you of that, Kirra.”

  “Roger that,” Kirra said and grinned.

  “We have a wicked king. You’ll like him if you get to meet him. He shot down the reconnection and got the jar as well. We missed the chance to destroy Xiilok, but we’ll get them sooner or late
r. Our king said he’ll give the jar to Ishtar, and that will absolve Mya of her debts.”

  Mya stood and looked at Zach.

  He looked back at her. “You should be happy, Mya.” He nodded a goodbye to everyone and turned around.

  “Zach,” Leon called again.

  Mya guessed Leon wanted to be a successor and travel with Zach to Eudaiz. She swung her heavy bag on her shoulders and walked away.

  Chapter 42

  Zach watched Mya’s back as she walked away. He meant what he had said to her. He would never forget those moments they had together. He wondered if she understood that. He wondered what the pecking order of love and feelings was in her righteous deity mind. What good could it be for her to live a life like that? It was hard to believe she had been living that life for more than a thousand years.

  When she’d hesitated to trade his life for the thousands of those strangers she wanted to save, he had understood the reason, but it still hurt. He couldn’t believe it hurt so much in that short moment of time. He knew it was his fault for putting her—and himself—through it. But he was a man on a mission. And she was a woman who always lived up to the responsibilities of her duty. There was nothing he could do to resolve their differences.

  “What’s that Leon? You want to go with me to Eudaiz?” he asked absently, his mind still wandering after Mya.

  Leon opened his palm and showed him something that looked like a badge.

  Zach looked at it and shrugged. “What’s this?”

  “It’s Mya’s.”

  “So she forgot it? Why don’t you give it to her?”

  Leon shook his head and tried to find the words to explain. Zach reached to his wrist unit to turn the translation device on, but Leon gestured him to stop.

  “I’ll say this in your language, Zach. Once and for all. Mya had decided to let you drop to the bottom of the well.”

  Zach merely nodded. The pain had become so unbearable that he couldn’t say a word.