Soul Eternal

by Kate Keir

  Pen was seated at the wooden table when we walked in, and her eyes lit in delight when she saw how close I was to Lyall. We sat down next to each other and started to pick at the food.

  “How went your night, you two?” Artair asked.

  “Okay, although we did run into two Supers at the very end,” Lyall replied.

  “We ran into a Super too.” Although Enid was talking to us, she didn’t tear her gaze away from Artair. The two were inseparable these days, after announcing they were official around two months ago.

  Pen sighed. “They become ever more frequent. I’d love to know how many Sluag has now.”

  “I’d like to know how much of Finlay’s blood he has left.” Leah was still the quietest of us, only ever speaking when she felt as though she really had something relevant to say.

  “Have you seen nothing, Leah?” Pen quizzed the seer.

  The blonde-haired girl shook her head grimly. “Nope, sorry.”

  Lyall shifted in his seat next to me. “He can’t have very much of Finlay’s blood left. Which means he’ll be looking to take another Dion soon. We need to be extra careful when we’re out on patrol.”

  Everyone nodded their agreement.

  Pen studied Lyall for a moment, as if trying to decide if now was a good time to broach a particular topic. Seeming to make her decision, she spoke. “Talking of Finlay, I have been doing some reading, and I think that I might have a suggestion for trying to get him housed inside our pet.”

  Pet, was the term we had all adopted for the Super Draugur we kept in the cellars. I had tried over and over to dislodge its soul but hadn’t come close to succeeding. We had even managed to feed it my blood, but its reaction was nothing like the ordinary Draugur. It had laughed at us and sworn that one day it would tear me apart when it escaped.

  It couldn’t be killed, and it couldn’t be turned by my blood. We were at a complete loss.

  So, I raised my eyebrows in surprise at Pen’s statement. “What have you found, Pen?”

  “I was thinking about the way the rogues steal human bodies from their pure soul owners in the mortal world. They literally fight their way inside and throw the pure souls out. I was wondering if you might have enough power if Finlay pushed and you pulled, Flora.”

  Freya was trying her best to ignore Bear’s lovesick gaze. “I thought we couldn’t kick its soul out because it belonged in there.”

  “It’s the same principle as the pure souls. They shouldn’t be able to be evicted by the rogues. I think whomever has the most power, will eventually win.” Pen sounded confident.

  Lyall sat back in his chair, his fingers still twisted through my own. “You want me to feed Flora my energy while she does it, right?”

  I bit my lip, wondering if this was going to undo everything we had just managed to put back together again.

  Pen nodded. “I think that would help immensely.”

  Lyall thought for a moment. “Sluag reckons even a Super Draugur won’t be able to host a Dion permanently.”

  Pen nodded. “Yes, but Sluag has no reason to tell us the truth, and he has no experience of trying to put the soul of a Dion in to a Super.”

  I had to smile at Pen’s use of our shortened name for the Super Draugur. She was the coolest old lady ever.

  Lyall surprised me by what he said next. “I think we need to try it. The more Dion we have, the better.”

  Artair nodded. “I agree, and if it works, then Finlay gets to stick around permanently.”

  I smiled in gratitude. Artair had become a lot more forgiving since he had found Enid. Looking to Pen, I said, “I guess that settles it, then.”

  “When should we try?” Freya asked.

  Pen looked to me and then Lyall. “I think Finlay needs to be asked if he is willing to participate first. Flora, you’re the best person to speak to him.”

  I sneaked a sideways glance at Lyall, and he nodded encouragingly. “It should be you, love.”

  I stood. “Okay, I’ll go and see him now.”

  Pen smiled at me. “Perfect. Once Finlay agrees, we can take the Super to the Everwood and try to switch the souls.”

  I leaned down and placed a kiss against Lyall’s cheek before whispering, “Thank you, for being so understanding.”

  He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, murmuring, “Anything for you, love.”

  My heart was as light as my steps as I skipped down the stone stairs of the castle and in to the gardens. I eased into the Everwood with a liquid smoothness and inhaled deeply, delighted to be here, as always.

  It was almost as though Finlay was expecting me. The little white light danced through the air and came to rest upon my shoulder.

  Hi, Flor. You look in a seriously good mood tonight.

  “I am but whether I stay in a good mood kind of depends on you,” I admitted.

  What do you need? His voice was half curious and half suspicious.

  I took a deep breath and told him everything Pen had suggested. I tried to make it sound as positive as possible. I knew how Finlay felt about being in the body of a Draugur. Truthfully, I had no idea how he was going to react.

  The little light went quiet and dimmed ever so slightly as I finished speaking, and I knew he was considering everything I had said. Finally, after what felt like forever, he spoke inside my mind.

  I hate being like this. The last eight months have taught me that having any body is better than having none.

  I couldn’t hide my delight. “You want to do it? Really?”

  I do. I want to be a person again, Flor.

  I started to fade from the Everwood. There was no point in waiting. The sooner we got Finlay into pet’s body, the sooner we could focus on kicking Sluag’s ass.

  Wait, Flor?

  His serious tone stopped me dead, and I looked at him expectantly.

  You know this is the last opportunity for me, don’t you? If this doesn’t work, then there’s nothing else to try. Once everything is finished—once Sluag is defeated—I have to go, for good.

  I blinked back tears as I nodded. “I know,” I whispered.

  Don’t be afraid, Flor. I’ll always love you.

  “I’ll always love you too,” I said as I faded from the Everwood.

  This had to work, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to deal with the alternative.

  Chapter Four

  Pen wasted no time in getting everything ready when I told her Finlay had agreed to try to take up residence inside the Super Draugur’s body. She quickly made her way to the Everwood so she could explain to my best friend what he needed to do.

  Lyall and I were tasked with fetching the Super Draugur from the cellars.

  We approached the monster’s cell cautiously. Manacles dangled from Lyall’s hand, and as they clinked together, the Super eyed us both warily.

  “What do you want Soul Keeper?” it hissed as it rose from where it had been slumped in the corner of its prison.

  “Your time in that body is up. We’re giving it to someone who deserves it,” Lyall growled as he unlocked the door.

  The Super Draugur shifted from one foot to the other as though it were considering how much of a fight it should put up. I was tense as Lyall approached it with the cuffs held ready.

  “Lyall, be careful,” I warned.

  The creature spat in my general direction. “It’s not him I want. It’s you, Soul Keeper.”

  “You don’t get to lay a finger on her, freak.” Lyall rushed forward with supernatural speed and snapped the manacles on the Super Draugur’s wrists.

  I fired a smirk at the Super Draugur and stepped aside to allow Lyall to walk it out of the cell.

  The Super hissed as it passed me. “Smile all you like, Flora. You won’t feel so safe when Sluag opens up this one’s throat and bleeds him like a pig.”

  Lyall didn’t falter; instead, he kicked the Draugur in the back of its ankles and carried on walking it out of the cell.

  I followed quietly after them, contemplat
ing what the Super had said. I knew Lyall’s death was the one thing that Sluag desired above anything else. It had occurred to me he would probably rather kill Lyall than myself because he knew how much it would hurt me to lose him.

  As the time ticked down until my twenty-first birthday, I grew more and more nervous about what Sluag would do next.

  I caught up with Lyall and the Super before laying my hand on its arm. As we both faded to the Everwood, our joint force pulled the creature with us, and it blinked as it arrived in a realm that was supposed to be off-limits for it.

  Pen was waiting patiently with the little white Finlay-light floating in the air beside her head.

  Pen eyed the Draugur warily as she spoke. “Okay, Flora, you’re going to be using a lot of energy here. You must rely on Lyall to support you.”

  I met Lyall’s eye and smiled warmly. “Of course.”

  Pen nodded. “Make sure you save enough energy to obliterate the soul afterward, Flora.”

  Before I could respond, the Super kicked out at Lyall and tried to pull away from his grasp.

  “Nooo, you can’t kill me,” it howled.

  Lyall yanked the monster back so it landed hard on the ground, and I pulled a short sword from my hip and trained it at the hollow in the base of its throat.

  “You can keep still and be quiet, or we can stop you from being able to try and run before we start,” I growled.

  The Super quieted down to low mumbles below its breath. I was pretty sure I heard it say something about death to every Dion, but I ignored it, instead turning to Lyall and holding out my hand to him.

  “Ready?”

  He took my hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Sure am.”

  I turned my gaze to the little white orb. “Finlay?”

  Ready, Flor. He spoke inside my mind.

  “Okay.” I blew out a long, slow breath to steady my hammering heart, and I started to push with my energy.

  I found the black pit inside the Super which was its rotten soul, and I allowed my energy to tease and wrap around it, pressing tighter and tighter all the time.

  The Super started to wail with a high-pitched keening sound, and it rocked back and forth as it felt my power. I knew I needed to preserve some of my energy, and so I concentrated on the warmth of Lyall’s hand entwined with mine.

  He let out a soft gasp as he felt me tap in to his energy source and start to siphon it through myself and then into the body of the Super Draugur.

  “Finlay,” Pen beckoned to the waiting light. “Time for you to help out.”

  Finlay darted through the air obligingly and pressed himself firmly against the Super’s chest. The Draugur hissed and thrashed violently as Finlay started to melt through the skin—just like the rogue soul had done on the CCTV screen all those months ago.

  “That’s it, keep going, all of you,” Pen encouraged.

  I redoubled my efforts and sent a wave of my own energy through the Draugur’s body. I hadn’t realised I had subconsciously demanded more of Lyall, and I was suddenly shocked as he staggered and groaned between clenched teeth.

  Instinctually, I dropped his hand and tried to bear the burden entirely myself, but Lyall leaned forward and grabbed my hand, once again hissing, “I won’t let you do this alone, love.”

  “It’s hurting you,” I ground out through clenched teeth.

  We both concentrated on pushing even harder.

  Suddenly, I felt a strange but familiar sensation as my energy snapped back into my body, almost sending me reeling backward. I heard a tiny “pop” as the Super Draugur’s soul was forced out of the body, and I could sense a settling inside it as Finlay found his way into the newly vacated space.

  The now homeless soul made a spiralling loop through the air before hurtling toward Lyall, who was currently kneeling on the ground gasping.

  Without thinking, I hurled the words toward the soul that would obliterate it from this world. As I spoke, I hoped and prayed that this would work on a Super Draugur soul.

  It did; the soul disappeared from sight in a flurry of curses and threats about the end of the world.

  I dropped to my knees beside Lyall and tried desperately to stem the flow of rich, crimson blood that poured from my nose and onto my pale green top.

  “Flora, are you all right?” Lyall reached out to touch my cheek. He was white and haggard-looking, and it terrified me.

  I nodded I was okay before turning toward the body of the Super Draugur. It lay on its back with its eyes closed, and it had returned to its human form.

  Pressing one hand to my nose, I desperately tried to stem the blood flow. I reached out tentatively with my other hand and touched the hand of the Super Draugur.

  “Finlay? Are you in there?”

  A moment of silence passed, before he blinked his eyes open and looked me directly in the eyes.

  “That never fails to feel hideous. Flor, are you okay? You don’t look great.”

  I smiled in relief, glad to know we had managed to find a way to put Finlay back into a body again. Now I just had to hope that this body would be strong enough to house the soul of a Dion.

  With a grimace, Finlay looked down at his hands. “Jesus, I’m seriously ancient. How old am I?”

  Pen frowned at him. “It’s probably not ideal, Finlay. It will do for now, though.”

  “If it works out in this body, I swear we’ll find you a younger model and move you,” I promised.

  He turned unfamiliar eyes on me and smiled through the face of a man who must have been around forty. “I’ll hold you to that, Flor.”

  Lyall was standing now, and he clapped a hand on Finlay’s shoulder. “Good to have you back, mate. Now can we head back to the castle because I feel pretty rough.”

  A wave of dismay rushed through me as I took in how terrible Lyall looked. I took his hand in mine, catching his attention. “I’m not using you for energy anymore. It does you too much harm.”

  He gave me a pained half-smile. “You might have to when it comes down to facing off against Sluag, love.”

  I knew what he said was likely true, but I had to hope I wouldn’t ever need to do this to Lyall again.

  Chapter Five

  Freya was at the gate, and she beamed at the new version of Finlay as we all approached the castle. She opened her arms and offered him a warm hug, which he accepted readily.

  “Welcome back, again. Think you might manage to stick around for the full fight this time?” she quipped sarcastically.

  Finlay laughed and released her from his hug before nodding his head to Bear.

  “If I’d known you were into the older fellas I wouldn’t have wasted my time, hotness,” Bear joked.

  Freya rolled her eyes. “Feel free to stop wasting your time right now.”

  Unperturbed, he waggled his eyebrows and laughed. “I’m in no rush. I know you want me.”

  “Urgh,” was Freya’s reply before she flounced off and disappeared into the castle.

  “We need to start talking tactics.” Pen looked pale and was absently pressing her hand to her forehead as she spoke.

  “Are you all right, Pen?” Finlay gave the senior Dion a concerned stare.

  She waved him away. “I’m fine, just a little tired right now. We should begin planning our next move now we have a full complement of Dion together.”

  “Shall we go to the hall?” I asked.

  “I’ll go and get everyone else,” Lyall offered.

  I grabbed hold of his hand before he left and shot him a questioning look. “Are you really okay?”

  He gave me a wan smile. “I feel like death but I’ll be okay, love.”

  I nodded and let him go before turning to Pen and studying her face. Her lips were pursed, and her eyes had a glassy sheen to them, almost as though she was trying to suppress a nagging pain.

  Pen, Finlay, and I made our way to the great hall and sat in our usual places. Pen started to let her head drop to her hands but then seemed to think better of it—inste
ad sitting rigidly straight and staring forward.

  Leah was the first to arrive. She smiled at me before frowning at Pen and starting to speak, but Pen cut her off with a swift wave of the hand.

  I narrowed my eyes but bit my tongue, deciding I would corner Pen once everyone had left the hall.

  Lyall walked back in, and I was relieved to see he looked a lot better than when he had left. He was followed by Freya and Bear, and just after them, Artair and Enid.

  I took a moment to appreciate my circle of Dion. I felt a warm and fuzzy rush of gratitude to know I had these people surrounding me and helping me to fight against the end of the mortal world.

  “Thank you all for coming. Especially you, Finlay. I know how hard it must be to have to start over in another new body.” Pen gave my best friend a warm smile as she spoke.

  “Now that we’re at full strength, we need to put a plan of attack together. We have to stop Sluag before this goes any further,” Artair growled.

  “Agreed,” said Pen.

  “I did have one suggestion.” Enid had come a long way in the months following her failed kidnap attempt by Sluag’s Draugur. She was now a highly proficient warrior and had built a beautiful relationship with the animal souls of the Everwood.

  “Go ahead, Enid,” Pen encouraged.

  “We know that Flora can’t kill all of the Draugur without harming herself. So, could we not try and get them to consume her blood so that they come over to our side?”

  Artair smiled at her warmly. “Create an army who are loyal to Flora, using Sluag’s Draugur. That’s gonna make him seriously angry. I love it.”

  In principle it sounded like a great idea. “How will we get the blood into the Draugur though?” I asked.

  There was a moment of silence as we all contemplated our own individual ways of getting the blood into Sluag’s monsters.

  “Do they have to drink? I mean like water, to stay alive?” Freya asked.

  Pen looked even paler than she had before. “Yes, they need to maintain the human body that houses their soul, so they will have to drink at some point or another.”