Soul Shade (Soul Stones Book 2)

by T. L. Branson

  “I—I’m sorry,” Maya said.

  Thallan recoiled. “You’re sorry? For what? I’m the one who hurt you.”

  Maya wrinkled her face as she thought of a way to explain it, then said, “Life is too short to spend every minute being angry or holding a grudge. Sometimes it’s better to forgive and forget.” She paused for a moment, and then continued on, “And I’m sorry because had I been more trusting with you perhaps you might have felt more comfortable telling me this sooner and we could have worked out another solution that didn’t end with death.”

  I’m proud of you, Merva said. Your mother would be, too.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Thallan replied.

  “Don’t say anything,” Maya said with a smile. “Now come help me get out to the wall.”

  44

  Will knelt on the ground, his hands bound with rope. Behind him stood several thousand elves ready to advance on Derton at Ophi’s command. To his left was Haladavar, and to his right, Erintos. Ophi strutted about before him.

  The door to the city remained shut, so Maya must have made it back into the city. Whether it was her or his mother who had created the illusion, he didn’t know.

  As far as Will could tell, Ophi wasn’t aware that the gate was open. At least she didn’t act like it, or the city would have been swarmed by now. If Will had to count his blessings in all this, it would be that Haladavar blocked her powers as much as he blocked Will’s.

  The elf stood next to him, holding a tight leash over his magic. Just one lapse, one fluctuation, and Will could escape. But Haladavar was too vigilant for that. In the four hours since Will’s capture, the elf hadn’t let Will out of his sight for a second.

  Will didn’t think Haladavar needed to see him. He was pretty sure they didn’t even need to be in the same room. But Ophi was taking no chances, and if Will escaped, it would be all Haladavar’s fault. It was probably safe to say that his life depended on keeping Will contained.

  But this created a problem. With three gods standing beside him and a host of Ophi’s evil minions behind, Will struggled to see any sort of escape for him. Even if he did manage to break free, Ophi had his stone. If she destroyed it, he would be dead in an instant.

  Above all of this, though, what Will found to be the most disturbing of all was that ten paces to his left sat a soulfiend, chained and held captive by a squadron of elf warriors. He didn’t think it was possible, but then again he’d said that a lot the past few months, and the powers of the stones never ceased to amaze him.

  Somehow Haladavar had a hold on the fiend, keeping it fully physical and muting its power. The strain on his face as he stood next to Will, though, told him he couldn’t keep that kind of effort up forever.

  Several figures appeared on the battlements of Derton’s wall. At this distance, Will couldn’t tell who they were, but as Ophi stepped forward, it was clear she was satisfied with their presence.

  “Witness this day the defeat of your people and the beginning of the utter annihilation of mankind!” Ophi shouted. “We will seize back what is rightfully ours and we’ll start by taking something of yours.”

  Now would be a really great time for one of your brilliant ideas, Will said to Lotess.

  I’m sure it would be, Lotess said. If I had one.

  Oh, come on, you’re always chattering in my head telling me what to do, or what not to do, Will said. Now the one time I need you the most, you’re fresh out of demands?

  I can’t use my power, she said. And unless you can kill Haladavar before any one of a thousand elves runs a sword through your back, then you’re out of luck.

  Ophi snapped her fingers, and an elf stepped forward carrying a tree stump and placed it in front of Will.

  She’s going to execute me? Will wondered. I thought she knew better than that.

  “I’m giving you one last chance to help us and help yourself,” Ophi said to Will. “You already wear an elf’s body. Join us, and you may yet have a place in our kingdom. All you need to do is use your magic on the soulfiend.”

  “What makes you think that the moment your stooge drops his wall of silence I won’t split and you’ll never see me again?” Will asked.

  “Because, you’re a survivalist,” Ophi said. “I’ve been watching you for a long time, and you’ll do anything, and I mean anything if it saves your own skin. You can’t possibly think there’s a way out of this. You’re outnumbered, outpowered, and outmaneuvered. There is no escape from me—not here, not anywhere. Wherever you run, wherever you go, I will find you. I will always find you. If you escape today, you’ll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your pathetic life. Is that what you want? So what do you say?”

  Will looked up at her and spat in her face.

  Ophi recoiled, but quickly regained her composure and wiped the spittle away.

  “Fine, have it your way,” Ophi said. She spun and called out, “Bring the sword!”

  The sea of elves parted and an exceptionally muscular elf stepped into the open, bearing one of the largest steel swords Will had ever seen. This was it. Ophi was going to unknowingly set him free. He couldn’t believe his luck.

  Will scoffed, a smile growing on his face.

  Then Ophi reached into her pocket and pulled out Will’s stone and set it on the stump.

  Not good, Will thought. Not good at all.

  She wouldn’t, Lotess said. Would she?

  Does she look like she’s joking to you? Will asked.

  Surely she knows what happens when magic destabilizes. The effects are still visible in Shadowhold and will be for generations to come, Lotess said.

  “Say farewell to your kingdom and say goodbye to your friend!” Ophi shouted to the people on the wall.

  Two more figures arrived on the battlements, one helping the other to walk. Without having to see their faces, Will knew one was Maya. But the second had the height and build of Thallan. Why was he there? Surely Maya knew better than to trust anything he might have said to get back in her graces.

  The muscular elf hefted his large blade up into the air.

  Any last words? Will asked.

  Silence.

  Lotess?

  I have an idea, she said. But you’re not going to like it.

  I’m not really in a position to be picky here, Will responded.

  You—you need to sever our connection, she told him.

  What? he asked.

  You need to kill me. You need to rend my soul, she said.

  No, Will replied. I’m not doing that. Are you serious? Is that even possible?

  Don’t argue with me, just do it, Lotess said.

  But you’ll die, Will said, stating the obvious.

  I’m dead if you do, I’m dead if you don’t. Do it.

  The muscular elf’s gigantic blade came soaring down.

  Do it! Lotess yelled. Do it, now!

  Before he could change his mind, Will reached for the power within himself and grabbed a hold of Lotess’s soul. As the elf’s blade connected with the stone, Will tore the goddess in two.

  The force of the impact knocked Will back as the stone cracked and shattered into tiny pieces. Ophi smiled and her eyes grew wide with anticipation. Will cringed, fearing he was too late.

  Nothing happened.

  A murmur rippled through the elves as Ophi’s joy deflated and was replaced with confusion.

  “What’s going on?” Ophi asked. “That should have—”

  Erintos’s eyes turned green as he said, “She’s gone.”

  “What do you mean she’s gone?” Ophi asked.

  “He—he must have destroyed her,” Erintos stated.

  Will thought she’d be furious, but instead she smiled, and then burst out into full laughter.

  “Oh this is grand!” Ophi said. “Will Sumner kills a goddess to save his own life. My, you are predictable, aren’t you? But now you’re just a man.” Her jaw tightened, and her lip curled upward. “Kill him!” she ordered.

 
; Swords slid from sheaths. An elf appeared overhead, his blade slicing downward for Will’s gut. Rolling out of the way, Will used the moment to spring to his feet.

  The elf rushed in with his blade held high.

  A deafening roar filled the air as a red dragon soared up over the mountain to the west. Will’s attacker halted and stared at the beast in wonder and shock.

  “Ignore it!” Ophi shouted. “It’s just an illusion. It can’t hurt you!”

  The elf shook his head and continued on, raising his sword and slicing downward. Will held up his wrists and pulled them apart as far as his bindings would allow. The elf’s sword fell between his hands and sliced the rope in two, freeing his hands.

  The dragon soared in and unleashed its fiery breath on the elves. Screams rose up all around him and elves began to flail and run around erratically.

  Ophi’s jaw dropped and Will’s attacker once again turned toward the dragon. Will lunged forward, tackling the elf and wrenching the sword from his hand. As he stood, he sliced the elf’s throat.

  Coming out of their shock, Haladavar, Erintos, and the rest of the elves mobilized. All at once the sea of elves rushed towards Will, but a river of fire filled the ground between them as the dragon swooped in low.

  Maya—or his mother—dropped the illusion on the gate as hundreds of Aralith’s solders spilled out into the valley and rushed toward him.

  The soulfiend shrieked and howled, kicking against its restraints.

  “Hold it! Don’t let it loose!” Ophi shouted. She spun towards Haladavar and said, “Now! We have to do it now!”

  Reaching into her pocket, Ophi pulled out a second stone: a bright cyan-colored piece of azurite. It was dull and dark. This was not her own stone, which would have been a yellow heliodor. This—This was something else.

  Who’s stone is that, Lotess? Will asked.

  No reply came. She was gone. A profound sense of emptiness washed over him, but he didn’t have time to process it now.

  Will ran after Ophi, sword poised ready to strike when Erintos came in with his sword low. Will spun to avoid the blade and fell back into Ophi, knocking her to the ground. As she hit, the stone fell free from her hand and rolled a few feet away.

  Before Will could lunge for it, Erintos’s sword soared for his heart. Will raised his own weapon in time and parried.

  Ophi crawled along the ground and regained her possession of the stone.

  Will ducked under his opponent’s swing and plowed his shoulder into Erintos, knocking him down.

  Turning, Will ran after Ophi as she sprinted toward the soulfiend.

  “Now, Haladavar!” she shouted.

  Haladavar clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and began to breathe deeply. Will blinked in awe with his mouth agape as the soulfiend shrunk and the black fled from its now pink, fleshy skin.

  An elf bumped into Haladavar as he raced toward Will, and the soulfiend’s transformation halted and reversed slightly—pink disappeared and giving way to black once more.

  Haladavar turned and grunted, straining with effort as he intensified his focus on the beast.

  Turning his attention back to his immediate peril, Will met his newest attacker’s sword with a series of blows and parries, then bashed his face in with the pommel of his weapon. The elf recoiled, and Will plunged his blade into the man’s abdomen.

  Once again, he chased after Ophi, but it was too late. She arrived at the soulfiend-turned-man and thrust the stone into his hand.

  A flurry of bright cyan bands of energy escaped from the man and filled the stone, then exited again and flew back into the man, creating a circular loop of power. Then all at once it stopped, followed by a concussive force that knocked everyone to the ground.

  Haladavar released his hold and gasped for breath. As soon as the wall of silence fell, Erintos, who had regained his feet, shifted into a great green dragon and lifted off the ground to chase after Maya’s beast.

  “Master Qirrut! It worked!” Ophi exclaimed. “How do you feel?”

  Will knew that name. Everyone did.

  Qirrut, the god of destruction, inhaled deeply and exhaled, then said, “It’s good to be back.”

  45

  Maya clutched Thallan’s hand as they joined their powers together. The contact wasn’t necessary, but doing so provided the extra balance she needed to stay upright. In her other hand, Maya held her soul stone, tapping into its power as Will had taught her.

  She glanced down at the battlefield below as her warriors reached the elven frontlines. Will bandied about somewhere off to the right chasing after Ophi. She wasn’t sure what was going on.

  Ophi had stepped forward, shouting something across the distance, but it was impossible to hear her. What had become evident was that they’d destroyed Will’s stone. Maya didn’t know how, but he had survived it.

  She could hardly believe her eyes as the soulfiend exploded in a spray of light blue energy and a man stood in its place.

  “Oh, gods,” Thallan said.

  “What?” Maya asked.

  “She did it,” he said. “She actually did it.”

  “Did what?”

  “Ophi raised one of the dead gods to life,” Thallan explained. “Qirrut, based on the color. This is bad. This is really bad.”

  Maya grunted as Erintos’s dragon collided with their own in mid-air. Grinding her teeth, she fought to keep her dragon aloft. But Erintos was too strong and drove their beast into the ground, crushing scores of elves in the process.

  The blow knocked the wind from Maya’s chest and drove her to one knee.

  “How is that thing hurting us?” Maya asked.

  “Don’t think of it as a dragon, think of it as a god in dragon form,” Thallan said through clenched teeth. “Every hit Erintos lands channels his power directly into ours.”

  Erintos opened his jaw wide and bit down on their dragon’s neck. Maya winced and screamed in pain as bruises appeared on her own neck. Thallan hissed and faltered, but held his ground.

  “Can’t you just stop his heart or something?” Maya shouted through the strain as their dragon kicked Erintos off and regained its feet.

  “Are you kidding me?” Thallan asked. “Erintos has more power than you and I combined.”

  “I thought you said—”

  “I know what I said,” Thallan replied. “And it was a lie. But you’ve got to believe me, that lie wasn’t for you. I planted seeds of doubt in Erintos’s mind and reinforced the emotion with my power. Getting them to turn on each other may be the only way to end this war.”

  Khate ran up beside them and asked, “Do you need help?”

  “Yes,” Thallan said.

  “No,” Maya answered at the same time.

  “Well which is it?”

  “You’re already overworked from creating our ghost army,” Maya said, “You can’t run two illusions this large at once; if you help us fight Erintos, you’ll have to drop your illusion in the battlefield and that means the soldiers that are out there will die.”

  “If we can’t stop Erintos, they’re already dead,” Thallan said. “We need her help.”

  Maya glanced between her soldiers on the field and the dragon in the air. “All right, do it. Link up.”

  Khate took Thallan’s open hand and asked, “Can you handle another dragon?”

  “I think so,” he said.

  Khate didn’t wait another moment as a third dragon roared and sailed through the sky, plummeting from the clouds above. More than three quarters of Aralith’s forces on the field vanished.

  Khate’s dragon slammed into Erintos’s back and flattened him onto the ground. Growling, Erintos lifted his head and spewed a torrent of green acid at Khate’s dragon.

  Khate lifted her free hand and covered her face, as if doing so would shield her against the corrosive liquid. The dragon howled in pain and welts formed on Khate’s and Thallan’s arms and face.

  Screams from the battlefield carried on the wind as the acid landed
on man and elf alike. Maya’s dragon raced in and slammed into Erintos, knocking him onto his side and sending the acidic dragon’s breath spraying in all directions.

  All across the battlefield, elves surged forward with the disappearance of Aralith’s army, overrunning those men still fighting. Maya’s dragon broke free, as did Khate’s, and took flight, soaring for the front line.

  Unleashing a stream of fire, Maya engulfed nearly two hundred elves in flames. The wounded elves flailed violently, and Aralith’s men used the distraction to turn and run for Derton’s gate.

  Erintos roared and gave chase. Maya brought her dragon in low, spun, and dropped its feet onto the ground, crushing a handful of elves and pushing others out of the way as it slid to a stop.

  Bracing, Maya released the dragon’s breath, washing Erintos in fire. He sailed straight through, seemingly unfazed, and slammed into Maya’s dragon. Erintos’s jaw sailed for Maya’s neck once more, but Khate’s dragon landed and bit into Erintos’s right wing before he could find purchase.

  Erintos howled and redirected his jaw, clamping down on Khate’s wing in return.

  Khate screamed and fell to the ground. Thallan, too, yelled out, but Maya held him upright. Both illusions flickered, but held as both Khate and Thallan began to pant heavily.

  Maya’s dragon extended its claws and slashed three giant gashes in Erintos’s left wing, causing the great beast to cry out and release his hold on Khate.

  “Can’t… hold… much longer,” Thallan said.

  “Don’t you give up on me!” Maya shouted. “Dig deep, and give it all you got. Both of you! Come on, let’s give it one last push! Take out his wings!”

  Both illusion dragons lanced forward and clamped their teeth onto the base of Erintos’s wings. Erintos’s roar was so loud, the city wall beneath their feet shook. Erintos, in one giant surge, pushed both dragons off and lifted into the sky, fleeing the scene.

  Maya, Thallan, and Khate released their magic and fell back onto the battlements.