Soul Relenter (Soul Saga #3)

by Todd, E. L.

  Accacia felt the tears fall. “Father?” she asked into the wind.

  “Yes, my child. It is I.”

  Accacia closed her eyes and let the voice trail into her mind, cherishing it for the comfort it brought her. There was no mistaking the identity of the beautiful sound. When she opened them again, she saw Father Giloth standing before her at the base of the tree. His beautiful white robes billowed in the wind, and he carried the staff of his order. He smiled as he looked up into the canopy. He brought his gaze to her face and Accacia smiled in return.

  “Is it really you?”

  “Of course, dear,” he said gently. “Who else would it be?” Accacia stepped closer to him but Father Giloth stopped her advance with his hand. “I have no physical form, Accacia. You cannot touch me. My soul is with you but my body is elsewhere.” He looked down at his own grave and his lips widened. “I am much honored to have been allowed to rest here.”

  Accacia pulled a strand of grass from the ground and felt it in her fingertips. She released it, and it drifted away on the wind. “Is this real?”

  “Yes.”

  Accacia nodded. She forced back her tears and stared at her deceased father. Her heart squeezed at the sight of him. “I miss you, Father.”

  “And I you.”

  Accacia felt the wind blow through her tresses of brown locks. She knew the tree was comforting her. “What’s it like—there?”

  Father Giloth stared at her. “What’s it like where?”

  “The afterlife.”

  Father Giloth looked around him, staring at the leaves and the flowers that were falling down around them. A peace and tranquility had come upon the clearing, calming the soul of everyone who stood in its proximity. “It is the same, Accacia.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You will when you get here,” he said simply. “You think I’m gone, Accacia, but I haven’t left. I am the air that runs through your hair.” He looked down at the soil. “I sustain the ground for others to use. I am everything, Accacia—I am part of the soul of earth. I am with you every day even if you don’t see me. Please stop carrying the weight of my departure on your shoulders. I want you to be happy.”

  Accacia felt her throat choke with sobs. She forced back the tears and returned to a state of calm. She missed her father very much. Accacia had heard those words too many times. “Are you happy?”

  “Yes,” he said. “And I am glad to see that you are happy.” Accacia knew he was referring to Zyle, giving her his approval. “I just hope one day you can feel whole.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Father Giloth didn’t answer her question, leaving it hanging in the air. He looked up into the canopy before he spoke. “So we need to discuss what the Lorunien Tree is trying to tell you. The Nature God allowed me to intervene this one time since you are unfamiliar with the language. Aleco never taught it to you.”

  “I already tried,” she said as she shook her head. “I don’t understand how it communicates. Is it that way on the other side? Why can’t she just speak in words? She understands my meaning when I speak.”

  “Well, the Nature God is the savior of us all—not just humans and Asquithians, but for the animals we share this world with. The easiest way to communicate with everyone is through emotions—everyone can understand them.”

  Accacia nodded. “I hope I will catch on eventually.”

  “You will,” he said. Father Giloth walked away from the base of the tree and turned toward the stump. “I came here to tell you something very important, Accacia. The Lorunien Tree and I agreed to bury the greatest ancient gifts of the world within her arms for protection. Only someone worthy would be allowed to accept these gifts because only they would have the will to destroy them.”

  Accacia assumed he was referring to the prescient stone. She didn’t understand why he was telling her this now. It wouldn’t help her win the battle in Letumian Province. “I don’t understand, Father.”

  Father Giloth turned to her. “The Lorunien Tree is giving you the remaining stones—the ones Drake doesn’t have. She wants you to destroy them after you stop Drake from hoarding the souls of her children within the Soul Binders—they need to be released. The stones are for you to destroy. No one else has the strength to do it.”

  Accacia felt her palms sweat. “You are giving them to me?”

  Father Giloth nodded.

  “Why?” she asked. “Why didn’t the Nature God reveal them to Aleco? He is the Nature Priest of this realm.”

  “Aleco is scarred by the pain of his past and has no control over his life. I don’t think Aleco has the strength to destroy the stones when he’s finished with his task. I suspect he will keep them to use to his own advantage.”

  Accacia shook her head. “He would never do that, Father.”

  “I don’t mean he will use them with cruel intentions. He would use them to protect the people of the Continent—but they are too powerful, Accacia. No single individual should possess them all. They need to be destroyed—only you can resist the temptation to keep them.”

  Accacia was silent for a moment. “I’m full of pain as well, Father. How can you be sure that I will not fail you?”

  Father Giloth smiled at her. “That is why,” he said. “You are not blind to your own shortcomings. You study your actions objectively unlike everyone else. I know you will have the strength to complete the task.”

  “No, I won’t. I don’t have a Soul Relenter. We haven’t been able to locate one or find anyone who has even heard of it. I have nothing to destroy the Soul Binders with and I have nothing to destroy these elemental stones—I’m sorry, Father.”

  Accacia closed her eyes and looked away. She felt the wind pick up around her. It was so powerful it almost blew her over, but an invisible force was holding her upright. Suddenly, her guild sword was caught in the wind and it flew from her scabbard and fell on the grass before her feet. She leaned down and grabbed the sword by the pommel.

  “Now you have the means,” Father Giloth said with a smile.

  Accacia stared at the blade. “This is a Soul Relenter?” Accacia continued to study the material of the blade. She recalled Aleco explaining the production of the blades deep in the earth of the hideaway. They were forged from a rare metal deep within the earth. Accacia suddenly felt stupid for not realizing it before. “Thank you,” she whispered. The wind picked up again and blew away the dirt at the base of the tree, revealing the stones. They sparkled in the light of the sun.

  “Our time is over,” Father Giloth said. “You have everything you need.”

  Accacia sheathed her sword and nodded. She looked at Father Giloth, wishing he wouldn’t disappear into the elements. “Please don’t leave me.”

  “I’m never gone, Accacia.”

  Accacia nodded. “I love you, Father.”

  “And I love you, my daughter,” he said. “I’m very proud of everything you’ve accomplished. You are worthy to be a queen.”

  Accacia smiled. “Thank you.” She stared at him for a moment, memorizing his elderly face. The lines around his eyes sagged just as they always had, and his hair was as white as snow. “Can I ask you something before you leave?”

  “Yes, my dear?”

  “Why didn’t you tell us about the prescient stone beforehand?”

  Father Giloth said nothing for a moment. “The knowledge of the future is dangerous. It is better not to know what may befall you.”

  “Is that why you sent me away? You saw our fate in the stone?”

  Father smiled. “The future isn’t static, Accacia. It can change any moment. Your fate isn’t set in stone, excuse my pun. We are free to make choices and those choices change the course of the future constantly—they change destiny.”

  Accacia digested his words. He hadn’t answered her question directly but she suspected she knew the answer. “I understand.”

  “Can I ask you for a favor before I leave, dear?”

  “I will do anyth
ing you ask of me.”

  He smiled at her. “Tell Aleco I have forgiven him.” Accacia nodded at his words. She didn’t know what he referred to her but it wasn’t her business to know. If Aleco wanted to tell her, he could. “There is one other thing. Tell him to never lose hope. I told him he would be happy again someday—remind him of this.”

  “I will, Father.”

  “Now it’s time for you to go.” Accacia felt the wind blow in the glade and the speed of the current increase. She knew this was the end—her father was leaving her. She stared at his face as he smiled at her until the pink blossoms that whirled in the wind obscured her view. When the breeze cleared, she was alone. She walked over and grabbed the stones from the ground and inserted them over her heart in her armor. The meeting had been so emotional and raw on her soul. If she didn’t feel the stones against her heart, she would doubt it had happened at all.

  Aleutian Keep

  37

  Drake kicked Aleco in the ribs as hard as he could. Aleco slid across the marble and groaned in pain. He couldn’t fight or even move out the way. He was paralyzed. He knew his brother would play with him like a misbehaved dog. Aleco feared he would be assassinated in his attempt to thwart the king but this fate was much worse. He hadn’t succeeded in killing the king or freeing the Soul Binders, and now he was being kicked around like a ball. His men were being slaughtered in the city and Accacia was going to lose the two men who cared about her more than anything. They had gambled all they had and lost everything in the bet. “Isn’t this fun?” Drake said as he kicked him again. Aleco didn’t react. Zyle watched him from the wall. He and Roxian had been tied up, forced to watch Aleco be tortured to death. “When all of your people are slaughtered and the smart ones finally surrender, I will execute all of you right before their eyes.” He kicked Aleco again. “That should lighten up their spirits.” Aleco rolled on his side and his face was lying in a pool of his own blood. He wished he would bleed out and die already. “I will kill the remaining Asquithians myself—they are far more useful dead than alive.” Zyle didn’t react to his words.

  Drake grabbed a dagger and pressed it against Aleco’s wrist, cutting the skin and the vein. Aleco tried to hold back the pain but he screamed in agony. He was covered in cuts everywhere. His shoulder was barely attached to his frame and he was becoming dizzy with weakness. Aleco was ashamed of himself. He was completely broken, at the mercy of this insane fiend. Aleco wanted nothing more than just to die. Zyle couldn’t stand to watch the sight. He closed his eyes but the soldier kicked his ribs, forcing him to look at Aleco.

  The king was about to cut Aleco’s other wrist when a knock on the door distracted Drake. The king sheathed his dagger and watched the elderly chamberlain enter. He walked over to the king and bowed. “The battle is over, sire. You are the victor in the fight.”

  Drake smiled at him, forgetting Aleco on the floor. “That is wonderful news,” he said as he walked back to his desk. He opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass. “No one can every defeat me,” he said with a smile. The chamberlain walked to Zyle without looking at him. He turned to the soldier that was guarding Zyle and gave him a report. Zyle noticed a dagger slip from the man’s wrist and into his palm. Aldo dropped the blade onto Zyle’s leg. The king of the Asquithians tiled his hips and let the dagger slip to the floor. He kicked the blade back with his foot and began to untie the knots that bound his hands. Roxian watched him without turning her head, looking inconspicuous. When Zyle freed himself he handed the dagger to Roxian and she severed her own knots. Aldo walked away and left through the door, not closing it behind him. Drake noticed the open doorway. “That poor old man is losing his mind. Perhaps I should put him out of his misery.” He poured his wine on Aleco’s face and Aleco cringed as the alcohol burned his cuts. “What do you think, brother?”

  “I think you should ask someone who cares.”

  Drake kicked him again and Aleco groaned in pain. He was hoping the king would kill him in his anger instead of making him suffer through his injuries and humiliation. Drake stiffened suddenly and his eyes widened. Aleco watched his expression change but he didn’t know the cause of the mood switch. Drake reached behind him and pulled a dagger from his flank. It was covered in his blood. The king dropped his wineglass to the floor and withdrew his blade, facing the attacker.

  The Chief stood in the doorway, his blue sword held at his side, and glared at Drake with a look of hate. Aleco stared at him in shock. “GET OUT OF HERE, NOLAN.”

  Nolan bowed to the king. “Shall we?” he asked with a smile.

  Drake smiled at him, intrigued by this new opponent. “You want to engage me? I am immortal. Listen to your friend here and learn from his mistakes. If not, that’s fine. I enjoy killing the people my brother cares about.”

  “DON’T BE STUPID!” Aleco screamed from the floor. Aleco had his differences with the Chief and had been betrayed by him, but that was behind him. He loved Nolan like a brother and a father and he wanted him to be spared. Aleco knew if he couldn’t defeat the king himself, then no one could, not even the leader of the guild

  Nolan rushed to him and aimed his sword at the king. Drake parried the blow and returned with a series of his own strikes, cutting him along the arm and the neck in their first round of blows. The Chief pressed his strength against the king, who was the same size, and pushed him back, swinging his blade across his face. Nolan cut his eyes and made him blind. The blood from the pupils was seeping down the king’s face. Nolan seized the opportunity and tried to open the lock of his armor, and Drake screamed in anger. He lashed out with his sword and cut the Chief along the ear. Drake healed himself then his eyes cleared over, allowing him to see once again. He gave Nolan a look of fury. “You shouldn’t have done that.” Drake engaged him and spun his sword around his wrist, cutting the Chief along the arms.

  Zyle looked at Roxian and understanding passed between them. Zyle kicked the soldier to his right and knocked his feet from under him. He withdrew his blade then slit his throat. Roxian killed the soldier on her other side. Both Asquithians engaged the king alongside the Chief, striking him with their swords. The king’s eyes widened in fright but pragmatism settled on his bones and he met the challenge of each fighter, parrying their blows with ease. He cut Zyle along the neck and gave Roxian a deep gash in her thigh.

  Aleco tried to rise from the floor but he couldn’t move. He was glued to the spot. He felt his life fading with every moment. For the first time, he tried to retain his hold on life, wanting to see the outcome of the fight. He felt the darkness creep into the corners of his eyes but he fought the sensation.

  Drake was growing tired of this. The Chief landed a killing strike through his thigh and the three of them tried to remove his armor again, but the king was healed soon enough to evade their attempt. Roxian slashed at his armor, trying to pry it lose and the king screamed in fury.

  “ENOUGH!” The king stepped away and reached his hand into his armor. He aimed his sword at Roxian and she flinched in paralysis, fighting against an unseen force. Zyle and the Chief both stared at her, unsure what was happening. Her skin began to fade and blanch, and the moisture of her eyes and lips began to disappear.

  Aleco understood what was happening. “HE’S SUCKING HER WATER AWAY!”

  Zyle raised his blade and attacked him, but the king turned his power on Zyle and began to suck his life source away as well. Aleco forced his mind to concentrate and body to obey his command. He reached with his mind to the soul of the tree, and together they opposed the king’s force by holding up the water in their bodies, making their skin retain the moisture. They had already lost a significant amount of dire fluid but Aleco was retaining the rest of it for them. The king looked at the Asquithians in confusion, not understanding why it wasn’t working. He hadn’t suspected Aleco because his brother was too weak, so he assumed the Asquithians were immune to the powers. They were the ones that created the stones to begin with.

  The king rele
ased the spell and engaged them directly. His blows were aimed to kill and he lashed out at them every time they came near. Drake lowered his blade and punched Roxian in the face, catching her off guard, and then tripped her feet from under her. He stepped on her face and broke her nose. The force slammed her head into the tile and she was unconscious once more. Aleco’s heart fell at the sight. Now it was the king against Nolan and Zyle. The king swung his blade at Zyle, aiming for his chest, but then changed the course of his blow and sliced his blade through Nolan’s neck, chopping his head off.

  “NOOOO!” Aleco screamed at the sight. Aleco watched his head fall to the floor and roll away. The acid in his stomach rose to his throat and he thought he would gag. His greatest friend had been killed mercilessly. He had given his life to aid Aleco, and now he was gone forever.

  The king smiled at Zyle, the last man standing. “I suggest you step down.”

  Zyle stared at him for a moment but didn’t lower his blade. “I would rather die trying to kill you than anything else.”

  “That’s fine with me.” Drake raised his blade and swung his sword in a flash. He was so quick that Zyle barely had time to react to his blows. Zyle parried most of the strikes by sheer luck because he had moved out of the way just in time. His limbs grew weak as he engaged the King. Drake seemed to be fueled by Zyle’s exhaustion because he sped up his attack, slicing Zyle’s skin with the rush of his blade. The King of the Asquithians was bleeding from the arms and the neck, along with the cuts across his cheek. The king didn’t have a scratch.

  Drake pushed Zyle back and aimed his blade into this stomach, but Zyle spun out at the last second. The king kicked him to the ground and Zyle fell on his back. His sword was knocked from his grasp and slid away from him across the tile. Zyle tried to move away but Drake stepped on his neck, suffocating him under his heavy boot. “Now I will watch you die.”