by Kate Keir
I took a step back from the waves of hatred that were pulsing from Artair. Pursing my lips tightly, I gave a quick nod.
“Understood,” I murmured before turning back in the direction of the library, desperate to escape Artair’s venom and fiercely wishing I hadn’t followed him.
Pen and Freya were already sitting at the central table in the library, surrounded by books and manuscripts. Pen looked up as I walked in, and noticing my ashen face she started to stand.
“Is everything all right, Flora?”
I waved my hand, telling her to sit back down. “I’m okay. I just misread the situation.”
“He’ll come around, given time. His wounds are still a little too raw right now.” Pen’s tone was sympathetic as I sat down at the table.
Freya reached out and placed her hand over mine. “He’s been to hell and back, Flora. Just like you, but Artair has no hope for bringing Mara back, and that makes him seriously jealous of Finlay’s second chance.”
“I get it,” I murmured. “I just wish it didn’t have to be this way. Not that long ago, life was pretty good for all of us.”
“And it will be again. Providing we can find a way to defeat Sluag forever.” Pen spoke determinedly.
“We should probably get started on that then.” I looked at the piles of books strewn across the table and selected one at random. It was going to be a long day.
As the hours passed by, it felt as though weeks had been and gone and so far, we had found absolutely nothing in our search of the books. I was just about to ask Pen if we should give up for the day and get some rest when Freya spoke up.
“Oh–oh this could be…” She fell silent as she began reading the manuscript in her hands.
“What is it, Freya?” Pen raised her eyebrows questioningly.
Freya stopped reading and slid the manuscript across the table toward Pen, saying, “I think this manuscript can help Flora get rid of rogue souls.”
I returned my gaze to the book I’d been flicking through. “I can already do that, Freya. I read that manuscript weeks ago. I’m actually getting quite good at it.”
Pen’s voice trembled with excitement. “No, Flora. This is something different. This ritual enables a Soul Keeper to destroy a rogue soul, permanently.”
My head snapped up. “So, no banishment back to the Endwood?”
“Nope, they’ll be completely dead. Forever.” Freya spoke delightedly.
I took hold of the manuscript that Pen offered me and read the incantation which was printed in a looping script:
Esperi rith tai
Mortis oct suoil
Fortun rais dor
Al noi pertina
I looked at Pen in disbelief. “What does it mean?”
She smiled at me before answering. “Roughly translated it means, your life has come to an end, and you must listen to the call of the afterlife. Leave this realm and never return, creature of evil.”
“Will it work?” I whispered.
Pen shrugged. “I have no reason to doubt these manuscripts, but I suppose we will have to try it out and see.”
“Will it kill super Draugur?” Freya asked.
“I don’t know, but I certainly hope so.” Pen’s voice had a lightness to it that had been missing for some time.
“I have to try it.” I stood up as I spoke.
Pen looked toward the midnight-black windows. “Not tonight, Flora. Call me traditional, but I’d prefer to test this theory in daylight.”
She had a good point. “Okay, first thing tomorrow then?”
“As long as you take at least one Dion with you,” Pen insisted.
“That’ll be me.” Freya smiled at me as she spoke.
“Perfect. See you at dawn?” I yawned as I spoke. Truthfully, I was more than a little bit glad I wasn’t going on a Draugur hunt tonight.
Freya wrinkled her perfect porcelain nose. “Maybe a little after. I need my beauty sleep.”
I laughed. “Okay, I’ll be at the castle steps, waiting for you to drag yourself out of your pit.”
“Talking of which, we could all do with some sleep. I’m going to bed and if you two had any sense, you’d do the same.” Pen was already at the door.
We all said goodnight and headed to our rooms. I was burning with excitement, desperate to share the news of our discovery. As I lay in bed, waiting for sleep to claim me, I realised I wanted to talk to Lyall.
Grabbing my phone off the bedside table, I scrolled to his name in my phonebook and hit dial. I wasn’t surprised to get his voicemail, and I hung up quickly without leaving a message.
Curling up under the bedcover, I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything other than the dull ache in my heart.
Chapter Sixteen
A few hours of on and off sleep was all my body permitted me. I woke for the final time just as the sun was breaking cover from the horizon. I felt a strong urge to exercise. I had used to run almost every day along the deserted woodland roads surrounding my parents’ cottage, and I missed the freedom of running for pleasure.
I threw back the warm covers of my bed and went to my wardrobe. There were plenty of work-out clothes in there, provided for me to wear while training to fight Sluag and his Draugur. I quickly dressed in a pair of tight black running pants and a turquoise hoody. I pulled on my super expensive training shoes and exited the room after giving a sleepy Achilles a head scratch.
I knotted my long hair out of the way as I skipped down the stairs and out into a misty dawn morning. I considered doing warm-ups but wanted to be away from the castle before anyone else woke up, so instead, I broke into a gentle jog, hoping that if I took the first mile easy, I’d warm up naturally.
I loved this time in the morning, before the sun came up high enough in the sky to burn away the lingering mist trails which left thousands of glistening water droplets in my hair as I passed through them. I was sure there were plenty of other places in the world that had weather like this, but I always thought of this type of atmospheric mist as proper Scottish weather.
My soul lifted as I ran. My footfalls muffled by the dampness that hung thickly in the air, making me feel as though I were in a magical place without even having to go to the Everwood.
I passed through the boundaries of Castle Dion’s grounds and breathed out with a sense of release. I was free, perhaps only for a short while, but it was freedom nonetheless.
Permitting my feet to choose the direction of travel, I allowed my mind to clear completely. I didn’t want to think about anything at all. Each and every worry fell from my mind as I pushed my body through the burn of lactic acid building in my underused calves. I knew from experience that if I pushed past the initial pain, I would find a new strength, and I would be able to run for miles.
The sun began to win its daily battle with the mist, and I started to warm up as the day brightened around me. I estimated I’d already run around four miles when I suddenly realised I had found my way to the Hill of the Witch—the famous mound I’d sat on top of with Lyall while we watched the Northern Lights dancing.
Feeling a stab of sadness, I pushed myself to the bottom of the hill and then onto the upward slope. My pace started to slow as I neared the top, but I made it without pausing, until I came to a standstill at the top.
I was panting hard, and I leaned forward, pressing my palms against my thighs while I caught my breath. My eye caught sight of the bench I had sat on with Lyall, and memories of our time here overwhelmed me. My breath suddenly hitched and became a sob at the back of my throat as I gave way to my misery.
“Ahh, the poor Soul Keeper has a broken heart.” A voice that dripped with sarcasm sounded behind me, and I spun around to see two Draugur advancing on me. It was the male that had spoken, but the female answered him back now.
“Perhaps we can help her forget her sorrows.”
As they came for me, my mind became blissfully clear of thoughts of Lyall. I clenched my hands at my sides, and my fingernails dug into my
palms with such force I felt the warmth of my blood inside each hand.
I ran the incantation we had discovered yesterday through my head three times, just to make sure I had remembered it properly. I knew I had. It was a weapon that only I could wield; it belonged to me and I wouldn’t ever forget it.
My eyes landed on the closest Draugur to me—the female. I instinctively knew I had to kill each Draugur individually, and I wondered if I would be quick enough to end both of them before they reached me.
“Esperi rith tai, mortis oct suoil, fortun rais dor, al noi pertina.” I spoke slowly, cringing at the sound of the unfamiliar words on my tongue, unsure if I’d said them right.
Straight away, I knew my pronunciation was right as the blue light leapt from my open palm and tore the rogue soul from its body. It screeched as it was pulled out into the open air. Suddenly my energy changed colour, becoming a vivid red which wrapped around the soul and started to crush it.
The soul howled inside my head as it was constricted smaller and smaller, until with a crackling pop, it disappeared entirely. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew it was gone for good. The ritual had worked.
I allowed myself time for a grim smile, before I turned to face the other Draugur.
Too late, I realised I had taken too long. I saw the male Draugur howl in anger and launch itself through the air at me. I had just enough time to try to duck to the side in an attempt to avoid it.
I didn’t quite move quickly enough, and the creature managed to connect its open hand with my face, knocking my head back and making me lose my balance.
As I landed on my back on the floor, I gave myself no time to catch my breath. All of my training kicked in, and I bounced back to my feet, whirling on the creature that was rallying for its next assault on me.
I smirked and started to repeat the words of the incantation while focussing on the angry male Draugur.
I had underestimated the monster’s will to live. It flew toward me; it obviously knew it had to silence me. This time, there was no avoiding the Draugur as it crashed into me and sent me back to the floor. It was much stronger than I was, and my only hope of winning was to finish saying the words.
As the Draugur brought its hand up and smothered my mouth, I realised I wasn’t going to be able to complete the incantation. My nose was also covered, and I quickly realised I couldn’t breathe at all. Panic set every nerve on edge inside my body, and I started to thrash helplessly with my feet.
The weight of the Draugur on top of me meant that I couldn’t dislodge it no matter how violently I kicked and bucked. The dawn morning was starting to fade from my view as greyness tickled at the edges of my vision. I was losing consciousness. I knew panicking wasn’t helpful, and so I forced my body to stop fighting and made my mind pause to think calmly of a way to escape.
In complete desperation, I thrust my hand forward and forced my finger through the Draugurs eye. I was rewarded by a popping sound and the feel of jelly around my finger. The monster roared in pain and immediately let go of my mouth.
I sobbed in a deep, broken breath and scrambled up, using my feet to kick myself backward and away from the Draugur, which was still clutching its wounded eye. There was a bright red smear of blood across the Draugur’s mouth, and I glanced down at my palm, realising the blood had come from the puncture wound I had made with my nails earlier.
I thrust my palm out toward the howling monster and started speaking the words that would end its miserable life.
As I spoke, the Draugur stopped howling and began to crawl toward me. I shakily found my feet and stood up, taking two steps back and out of its reach.
I had almost finished the incantation. Just a few more words and this horror would be over. But what happened next, surprised me so much I faltered and actually stopped speaking.
The Draugur pulled itself to one knee in front of me and looked up with its one remaining eye, until it had my attention. Then it bowed its head and murmured, “I will s–serve you, Soul Keeper.”
I was stunned but managed to regain my wits quickly enough to finish the incantation, and I was relieved to watch my blue energy once again turn red as it crushed the rogue soul out of existence.
I blew out a long, shaky breath. What the hell just happened?
I looked down at my bloody palm, and a memory stirred inside my mind, a blood inheritance secures allegiance.
I had to get back to the castle. I was pretty sure I’d just used my blood to convert a Draugur to team Dion.
Chapter Seventeen
I was breathless for the third time that morning when I ran through the gates into the castle. Pen rushed from the great hall to meet me, and my scolding began instantly.
“Flora, where in the name of the Everwood have you been? I thought we discussed holding back on hunting for a Draugur until the morning, and you said you’d take a Dion with you.”
I hung my head. I should have left a note, and this worry would have been avoided. Although I hadn’t planned on getting into a fight with two Draugur. I’d thought I would be back before I was missed.
“Pen, I didn’t go looking for Draugur. Honestly, I woke up really early and I went for a run. Back before I moved to Castle Dion, a run would help me to clear my head and focus on the important stuff. I should have left you a note though,” I finished apologetically.
“What happened to your face?” Freya was wide-eyed as she appeared behind Pen.
My hand went to the cheek the Draugur had hit. I hadn’t seen my reflection, but I guessed I must have had a bruise. It was pretty sore.
“As it happens, I did run into two Draugur. One of them hit me.” I shrugged. This wasn’t going to sound good whether I dressed it up or just told it how it was. I opted for brutal honesty.
Pen’s frustration was clear. “Flora, why? You could have been killed. How did you even manage to fight off two Draugur alone? Did you shift?”
I couldn’t quite hide the smirk of pride that touched my lips as I remembered the earlier events.
“I didn’t shift. But I can confidently say that the incantation works.”
Pen raised her eyebrows. “May I suggest we take this to the great hall. Freya, can you give Flora and I a little time please?”
“Of course, Pen.” Freya ducked her head respectfully and made her way upstairs as Pen led me to the great hall.
We sat down and I rubbed at my cheek. Since Freya had brought it to my attention, it had begun to ache.
“Tell me what happened? From the beginning,” Pen instructed.
I told Pen everything, including my attempted call to Lyall the night before. I hoped it might soften her anger a little if she could genuinely understand I hadn’t been intending to battle the Draugur alone.
It took every ounce of willpower I had to not skip straight to the end of the story and tell her about the Draugur’s pledge to serve me. When I finished my story, Pen’s mouth had dropped open into a little “O” shape.
“I don’t know which part of your story I want to talk about first,” she admitted.
I smiled. “Me either.”
“I’m sorry I doubted your intentions, Flora. I should have known you wouldn’t go Draugur hunting alone again.”
“It’s okay,” I offered.
“Firstly, I’m delighted to hear the incantation worked. We finally have a way to cut off Sluag’s souls at the source. He’s going to find himself running out of rogues very quickly now.”
I nodded. “Me too, although I have no idea if I can do it on his new Draugur.”
“That’s a theory we’ll have to test when the time comes to face one of those new monsters.” Pen traced her fingers across the woodgrain of the table in her familiar way.
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” I agreed.
“Going back to the second Draugur. Do you truly believe it was your blood that made it bend the knee to you?”
I was certain beyond all doubt, but I gave it some thought before I answered. “I’m sure of it,
Pen. I’ve never seen a Draugur behave like that. They’re my natural enemy. Why would it serve me unless something happened to make it change sides? The prophecy says a blood inheritance secures allegiance, so what if that means all we need to do is get my blood into the Draugur to make them swap their loyalty from Sluag to me?”
Pen frowned. “What you say makes complete sense, Flora. Although I have no idea how we could ever get your blood inside each and every Draugur. I also don’t know if it would have the same impact on Sluag’s super Draugur.”
“We can easily test it on another normal Draugur,” I offered.
“Perhaps, not alone next time, though.” Pen narrowed her eyes at me as she spoke.
“Absolutely not.” I gave Pen my best innocent face.
Pen gave me an affectionate smile. “While you have shown an outstanding aptitude for your abilities as a Soul Keeper, Flora, you must remember your purpose. I see in you a desire to fight and stand up for what is right, and that is an admirable trait. But that should be the role played by your Dion. Sometimes you must take a back seat and let them take care of you.”
I chewed at the inside of my lip, feeling a mixture of frustration and guilt. I was just tapping into my new-found powers, and I felt as though it would be madness to bench them now, when they could be of so much use to us.
“If I keep losing Dion at the rate I have since I arrived, I’ll have to stand up for myself. I won’t have anyone left.” I hadn’t meant to say it.
“You haven’t lost Lyall, Flora. He will come back to us. His sense of duty is too strong for him to abandon you.” Pen reached out and laid her hand on the back of mine as she spoke.
I wanted to believe her, but all I could remember was the way he pushed me away after I told him I loved him. Right now, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see Lyall again.
