Forest of Lost Souls

by K. R. Thompson

  “I understand. Do you mind if I stay here and read some more before I go?”

  “Not at all. Stay as long as you want. I doubt anyone will bother you here.” He smiled.

  “Thanks.”

  I watched as the door closed, then dove back into the journal. Time flew by as I learned about the first year of the school, but nowhere in the pages did I find a single entry that told of the forest’s origins.

  The last rays of sun were coming through the window when I read the final passage in the journal.

  As the first anniversary of Imperium’s opening draws near, I am happy to report news of other communities and nations that are contemplating opening schools such as this. Our own founders have been traveling to those interested to give their insight and support as I continue here. While I am happy with the thought of sharing my knowledge, my heart lies with these students. Here is where I will stay, to help them in any way I possibly can, be they human or shifter. So long as they need me, I will be here.

  I was struggling to follow Victor by the time we reached the shield that blocked the forest from the outside world. Ducking my head, I tried to take a deep breath as I attempted to push through the weight in the air that seemed to grow heavier and heavier with each step.

  Victor, on the other hand, was walking easily to the edge, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. The magic wasn’t affecting him at all. Was he truly only human?

  He turned, waiting on me to take the final few steps to catch up with him, then he took a blade from his belt I hadn’t noticed earlier and stepped toward me. Blasting fire at this exact moment wasn’t an option. Fire needed air, and I didn’t have any to spare. Luckily for me, retreating wasn’t nearly as hard, and I managed to take two giant steps back for his single one before he rolled his eyes and stopped. “I’m not chasing you. Do you want out or not?”

  Not a question, I noticed. He’d much rather leave me here than help get me out. That should have been proof enough he didn’t intend to kill me…at least, I didn’t think that was his plan.

  When I didn’t take another step back, he took it to mean he could continue. The silver in the blade gleamed as it sliced through the air, burning as it found its way through my scales and into my flesh.

  He’d chosen the same shoulder he’d bitten in an earlier fight—no doubt hoping to cause some extra pain by reopening an old wound.

  I narrowed my eyes, refusing to flinch as I felt the warm ooze of blood roll toward my claw.

  “Something you should know before we go through the shield. In following me through, you’re pledging allegiance to the Dark Watch. The instant we are on the other side, you will shift to human and not harm anyone on the other side. Deal?” he said, blood dripping from the knife as he held it poised toward the invisible wall of magic.

  I inclined my head the slightest bit, agreeing to join with the enemy, then watched as he sank the knife into the shield. The air popped and cracked, then the atmosphere lifted, becoming tolerable.

  I followed him through to the other side. The instant we were through, the shield slammed shut behind us.

  “A deal is a deal,” Victor said, watching me through narrowed eyes when we took a few steps away from the forest’s boundary.

  I shifted back to human, and he handed me a vial from his pocket. “Drink this,” he ordered.

  I took it from him and lifted it up to get a closer look. It was a slimy green liquid that thickly sloshed in the clear glass. “What is it?”

  “Insurance,” he muttered darkly.

  I sensed others nearby, and knew we weren’t alone. They were waiting for me to keep my promise before they came any closer. For now, I still had an advantage. I could shift to my dragon. I could end this.

  “In case you’re thinking of being all heroic, there’s one little detail you should know,” Victor said, a dark gleam in his eyes that reminded me of the shifter I knew all too well. “We have someone on the inside at the university. If you go back on your word, your precious little fox will pay the price.”

  “You wouldn’t dare. If you hurt Claire, I’ll…”

  “You won’t do anything,” he replied. “In case you haven’t noticed, we have the upper hand. And you’ve promised to join us. If you want to keep your little mate safe, I’d suggest you make good on that promise and drink up.”

  I hated it when he was right. Of course, there was always a chance he was bluffing and they didn’t have anyone in Imperium who could hurt Claire. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any sure way of knowing and I refused to take that chance.

  The cork popped as I jerked it out of the vial.

  In one swallow, I downed the contents and threw the small empty glass to the ground. I grimaced as the gunk slid down my throat, but all attention on the taste and texture ended there.

  I felt calm…too calm. I tried to force my dragon close to the surface as the magic in the potion began its work.

  Then came the darkness as it edged closer and closer. Just before it took over, I managed to open my eyes one last time.

  I was surrounded by the very ones I’d fought to protect Imperium from.

  And now, I was completely at their mercy.

  “I’ll have to go back and try to get another book,” I told Lacy, catching her up on what I’d found in the journal. “As much as I wish there was something in it, there isn’t. We got the wrong one.”

  “Little wonder with who we had to deal with,” she replied. “I sneaked back to the library after class, and waited until I saw Aeolith go out.” She frowned. “I wanted to find something on vampires, but would you believe there wasn’t anything there? We have one literally beneath the library, yet there isn’t a single book there on vampires. Fiction, or otherwise. I’d have had better luck at the city library.”

  “Which section did you look under?” I asked.

  “Self-help, naturally. All the shifter books are in that section. The humans never use them. That’s why they put them there.”

  “Makes sense, I guess.”

  “Maybe I should have looked down one of the other aisles,” she admitted. Then, she brightened. “But I did find something else you might find useful.” She unzipped her jacket, pulled out a small book, and then tossed it to me.

  “Lacy Jennings, did you steal this?” I asked as I read the cover.

  “I could hardly check it out, even if I had waited on Aeolith to come back.” She shrugged. “Why would a mermaid want to check out a book on mythological beings when she could just ask the instructor who teaches that class? That’s hardly something I’d be able to explain. Now, if the librarian was human instead of fae, yeah, I’d have a chance.” She gave me a wink. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

  “Thanks…I think.”

  “It’s not that bad, honestly. It’s got some good info on the Yokai. Just gives more of an explanation on the abilities of various mythological beings, more than anything else. I already flipped through it,” she confided. “I wouldn’t bring you something depressing, I promise. Tell you what—trade with me. I’ll go through the journal while you learn more about you. Deal?”

  “It’s as good an idea as anything I can come up with.” I handed her the journal, then curled up on my bed to read about the Yokai.

  I couldn’t help smiling when I found the first pages dedicated to dragon shifters. Naturally, I had to read those first before I went looking for anything else.

  A lot of it I already knew firsthand. Dragons were fierce, but they were also known as protectors. Quick-tempered, yet loyal to their own.

  As my eyes scanned the pages, my mind wandered to Logan. What was happening to him in the forest? How much longer did he have before time ran out? I remembered our last moment—the way he stood there, still wanting to protect me, even though it would cost him his life. His eyes never left mine. I knew the instant he disappeared that my heart had gone with him.

  I will get you out of there, no matter what, I vowed again.

  I blinked back t
ears and sneaked a look at Lacy, who was propped on the end of her bed, frowning at the information in the journal. From the look on her face, she wasn’t finding anything I’d missed in it.

  I glanced down to my book, then flipped through pages that showed griffins, mermaids, and an odd-looking creature that looked to be half-horse, half-fish.

  Seahorse? I wondered, stopping long enough to read the title. Nope. A hippocampus.

  Promising myself I’d come back and read up on this creature later, I turned more pages until I found one titled Yokai. The next few passages informed me that while the Yokai was one of the most powerful shapeshifters in the world, they were also amongst the most vulnerable at certain times.

  “That’s lovely,” I muttered.

  “What’s wrong?” Lacy asked, attention leaving the journal. She hopped up from her bed and came down to sit next to me, peering over my shoulder to see which part I was reading.

  “The more power a Yokai uses from another being, the longer they must spend in their natural state to recharge their energy,” I quoted.

  “Natural state…does it mean as your fox? Or as a human, I wonder?” Lacy mused.

  “I don’t know. From what I’m gathering from this, it’s warning me to be picky about who I borrow magic from—that I’ll pay for it later in some way, shape, or form.”

  She patted my shoulder. “It’ll be all right, Claire. Even Superman had to deal with kryptonite. Everyone has a weakness. At least now you know what yours is.”

  Magic thrummed through my veins, but it wasn’t my own. I fought against it, hoping to somehow win the battle that raged inside my own body. I’d been drugged. The vial had contained something wicked—a magic stronger than my dragon could fight.

  Still, I had to try. My animal spirit seemed too far away to reach, so I tried my human one instead.

  Make yourself move, I ordered.

  My limbs felt weighted down, as if I were wrapped in a hundred chains. Some small part of my brain reasoned this wasn’t right as I tried to lift one deadened arm. It was like trying to budge a ton of bricks, but there wasn’t anything physically tying me down. What the hell had been in that vial?

  “Shh,” a voice said, breaking through the darkness that surrounded me. “Don’t fight it. It will be so much easier for you if you relax.”

  As if on cue, the magic inside me kicked up another notch, rioting through every inch of my body. My muscles bunched into knots so painful I would have cried out had I the strength to do so. Instead, I lay there in silence, waiting for the waves of agony to recede. They were taking my magic, I realized. I’d been taught that a shifter held two souls. Was this what it felt like to have one soul killed while the other still lived?

  A cool hand brushed back the hair that was sticking to my forehead. “Dragons always were a stubborn sort,” I heard her say. “Of course, you would be no different.”

  Somewhere in her words, my mind changed the woman’s voice to one I wanted to hear. I found the strength to reach up and grab her hand, holding onto it with everything I had left.

  “Claire,” I mumbled, my throat aching as her name left my lips.

  The sounds of scrambling feet broke through as someone else approached. “Claire,” I managed to say again, but she didn’t reply, even though I knew she was there. I still held her hand.

  Pain exploded in my head, and the darkness turned a different hue. As Claire took her hand away from my limp fingers, she said in a commanding tone, “Tell her to check the spell. The last one didn’t have enough strength to move, much less speak.” I felt a quick jerk as my medallion that marked me as Earth House was pulled from around my neck. “And give this to Christopher. They’ll need it.”

  “Yes ma’am,” came a distant reply, followed by echoing footfalls and the sound of a door as it closed.

  “Give in, Logan. You’re no longer her pet. Now you belong to us. The sooner you accept that, the better it will be for us all,” she said, her voice cutting sharply through the haze.

  That was enough to remind me.

  She wasn’t Claire. This wasn’t Shifter’s.

  And soon…soon, I wouldn’t be me.

  Good, she isn’t here, I thought as I walked quickly across the room to the corner that would lead me beneath the library. I didn’t think Aeolith would care that I was toting the journal back to Quinn, but I couldn’t be too sure.

  Something in my gut told me the less she knew, the better off I’d be.

  I slid past the bookcase and crept down the staircase, attempting to be quiet. This time, the sounds of soft classical music met my ears—a definite change from my earlier trip here.

  But despite my attempts to be silent, the music abruptly stopped. He knew I was coming.

  I really should research the abilities of vampires, I reasoned. I was learning a good bit about the shifter world, but knew hardly anything about Quinn. If I were being honest with myself, the only thing I really did know about him was that I trusted him more than I trusted the fae in charge of the library above him.

  But even that wasn’t much, I realized, as I came to the bottom step and found myself looking at what appeared to be a completely different vampire. I’d expected to see the same crazed figure who’d been ready to bite Lacy’s neck.

  Instead, I saw a smartly dressed man in a dark blue suit, his blond hair combed neatly back and caught in a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

  When he noticed me, he gave a short, formal bow that spoke of an era long passed. “Good afternoon,” he said. “May I help you?”

  “Umm…yeah,” I said, taking a step forward, holding the journal out. “I came to return this.”

  “I was wondering where that went,” he murmured as he took it, then he shot me a narrowed, suspicious look.

  “I signed it out yesterday,” I explained. Did he not remember me at all? “My name is Claire…Claire Pratten.” I hadn’t put my full name on that cereal box, but for some reason, it seemed like an important thing to mention now.

  “Claire…Claire Pratten…” he repeated softly, a dim light of recognition coming alive in his eyes. “I knew a Claire once. She was on the steps.” Just as quickly as the look came, it left, and the Quinn I had met before was there. “I do appreciate you not bringing your smelly friend this time.”

  He turned and headed toward the bookshelves, feet making the same slapping noises as before.

  I couldn’t keep from grinning. While the rest of him looked completely different, he was still wearing the same shoes.

  “Did you find what you needed?” he asked in a conversational tone.

  “Not really,” I admitted. I took a deep breath, deciding to take a leap of faith. “We were actually looking for information on the Forest of Lost Souls, but there wasn’t anything in there on that.”

  “Oh, well…naturally you didn’t find anything in that book. The one you’d need for that is a much more recent edition,” he replied, not even bothering to look at me as he began trailing his finger along the shelf. “Give me a moment, and I’ll find something more useful for you.”

  “Okay.” I watched him for a few seconds as he pulled one book out, then another, reading title after title, muttering and complaining that someone had been messing with the order of things.

  Figuring this might take a while, I sat down on the sofa to wait. The laptop was on, and I glanced at a checkout page with a cart filled with various odds and ends totaling over a hundred dollars. A stack of plastic credit cards was splayed on the keyboard, as if he’d been deciding on which one to choose.

  I leaned forward to read some of the names. Harry Mosgrove, Chase Bentley…

  Quinn was pitching clothes around again, unearthing a different bookcase now and paying no attention to me at all.

  I scooted forward, picking up some of the cards. None of them had the same name. There was no way they belonged to him.

  A small bit of information popped into my brain—proof I knew something more about vampires than I’d rea
lized. Quinn had said that the venom in his bite caused amnesia.

  These belong to the ones he’s bitten, I thought. Lacy was right. He’s a shopaholic. He’s biting them, and then lifting their credit cards.

  Quinn whirled suddenly, eyes wide as they locked onto me. “Hide!” he hissed.

  I jumped up and dodged around the sofa, taking refuge in the cobwebs behind it. He was right. Someone was coming. I could hear the soft footsteps on the stairs while they made their way down. I peeked around the corner just enough to see Quinn, his face void of all emotion as he left the bookcase and came to stand in the middle of the room.

  “Quinn.” A single word spoken was all it took for me to know who his visitor was.

  “Magda,” Quinn replied with a slight inclination of his head. From the stiff way he held his body, I could tell he wasn’t going to bestow upon her the elaborate bow I had been given. “To what do I owe the privilege of this visit?”

  The headmistress didn’t waste time; she cut straight to the chase. “It has come to my attention that you may have had visitors as of late.”

  I gulped, shutting my eyes as tight as I could. Somehow, she knew we’d been here. Someone had told on us. Had it been Aeolith…or someone else? My heart was threatening to jackhammer its way out of my chest.

  “Yes. Just this morning, in fact. And he was exceptionally good, thank you.” I could hear the smirk in Quinn’s voice without having to look at his face. “Only the brave wear pink, you know,” he added. At that, I couldn’t help but open my eyes. The first thing I saw were his toes wiggling in his flip-flops as he proved his point.

  The headmistress sighed. “What of the others…the ones you haven’t bitten?”

  Quinn looked at the life-sized cutout that was nearest him, which just happened to be Batman. “Do you know what she’s talking about?” His eyes narrowed. He frowned, nodding as if listening to the caped crusader’s reply before he returned his gaze to the headmistress. “We don’t know what you’re talking about…and for the record, he says you’re crazy. No one ever comes down here except for those you send.”