by Kate Keir
Yes, she does because I asked it of her, Finlay.
Tears sprang to his eyes as Pen’s voice sounded inside our heads.
“Pen, I’m so sorry. We should have done more.” Finlay’s voice was cracked and broken.
The fiercely white light bobbed toward Finlay’s face and grazed gently past his cheek.
It was my time, sunshine. She used the name she hadn’t called him since he was a little boy. I’m ready to go on, and we all know that I’ll be back.
“But, you won’t remember us,” he whispered.
I’ll never forget you. How could I? She spoke in a whisper inside our minds.
Finlay nodded sadly as the little white light floated toward me and stopped just level with my chest.
It’s time, Soul Keeper.
More tears burned behind my eyes. Would I ever stop crying again? “Are you sure, Pen? You can wait until your memories fade.”
The beautifully bright orb swayed gently in the air before me.
I want to remember everything. I’m sure.
“Okay,” I whispered.
I knew this had to be different from any other soul sorting, and instinctively I dropped to my knees and bowed my head reverently. Finlay did the same, and I started to speak the words that came easily to my mind.
“Penthesilea Michaelson, you are one of the greatest Dion to ever serve our cause. You protected two Soul Keepers in your lifetime, and you were a fierce and formidable warrior in the fight to stop The Host of the Unforgiven Dead from destroying the mortal world.”
I took a deep breath to steady my voice before continuing.
“Your time here in this world is done. This version of you will be granted the freedom of peace, but your soul will live on again in the mortal world. Thank you for everything.” My voice trailed off to a whisper.
Thank you, Flora.
Pen’s voice whispered through my mind, and I raised my head to allow myself one last glimpse of her face. Finlay did the same, and we both sat back on our knees with matching looks of awe mixing with the tears on our faces as a white-furred tiger turned golden eyes upon us and nodded her head in farewell before bounding into the woods.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When we got back to the terminal, Lyall was angry. I wasn’t surprised; I had expected them all to resent not having the opportunity to say farewell.
“Not even a chance to say goodbye, Flora. Jesus, why?” Lyall and I were the only ones left in the main room. The others had headed to bed, mainly, I thought, to give Lyall and me some space.
“Because that’s what Pen wanted. She’s bloody dead, Lyall. I owed her a last wish,” I snapped.
He stood with his hands rested flat on the opposite side of the table from where I sat. His voice was quieter now. “What’s wrong with you these days, love? You keep pushing everyone away and keeping secrets from us.”
“I don’t push everyone away,” I murmured stubbornly.
“Everyone except Finlay, then.” He spoke quietly now, but that didn’t take the sting out of his words.
“And here we are, again. I’m going to bed, Lyall. We have a Dion to bury tomorrow.” I crossed the room and slammed my bedroom door closed behind me.
Why do we push away the people we love the most? I wondered to myself as I lay back in the uncomfortable bed.
I already knew why I was pushing Lyall away. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing him, and I was trying to distance myself to protect my heart from breaking more than it already had.
After hours of restless tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep, but not in to the blissful unconsciousness I had hoped for.
I knew I was dreaming, and it wasn’t a Summoning. This was just my own mind reminding me of exactly what lay ahead of us all.
My Dion and I were in the grounds of Castle Dion. Sluag had made the castle his home since escaping the Endwood, and so it had become the place where we would make our final stand against him.
We had an impressive army that was at least two hundred Draugur strong. Sluag had less Draugur, but his Super Draugur numbers were significantly higher than I had last calculated them to be. I glanced frantically at my Dion, but each of them was there—except Pen of course.
How did he have so many Supers?
Sluag raised a scaly arm and signalled his Draugur to attack. We sent our own army forward to meet them, and the two forces clashed together like the waves of a storm-torn sea.
All of my Dion shifted into their animal alters to join in the attack, except for two. Lyall stayed by my side to protect me and to feed me his energy when the time came to get Sluag in the box. Finlay didn’t change because his body had been falling apart for days now, and he didn’t have the strength to do it.
As Finlay’s Super Draugur body suddenly burst apart and ejected the bright, white orb from its chest, I ran toward him as though I could help him somehow.
Falling to my knees next to the husk of the Super Draugur body, I cradled its head in my arms. With horror, I realised that Finlay’s soul would be trapped in the mortal world forever.
“Fool.” Sluag’s contemptuous voice made my head snap up in time to see him grip Lyall by the hair and yank his head back.
“No,” I begged.
As a silver blade appeared in Sluag’s hand, I looked desperately around me for help, but all of my other Dion were dead or dying on the battlefield. Lyall was the only one left, and I was going to lose him too.
As Sluag drew the blade across Lyall’s throat, and the blood started to flow, he bellowed with laughter and triumph. “Bow to me, Flora, for you have lost your war.”
“No,” I howled. “Never, I won’t. No, no, no.”
I woke up alone in the darkness. I had been crying out in my sleep, and judging by the state of my bedding, I had been kicking and thrashing too. I reached out blindly and found a glass of water by the side of my bed and drank it back in two deep swallows.
I smoothed my hair back from my sweat-soaked forehead and swung my legs out of the bed. I sat on the edge of the bed for ten minutes to allow my breathing to slow and my heart to stop racing.
I needed comfort, and I knew where to get it. Crossing the bedroom, I opened my door and crept out into the main room. Lyall was still sitting at the table. It hurt my heart to see him sitting there alone. He looked so desolate. I walked up behind him, laid my head against his shoulders, and wrapped my arms around his neck.
He stiffened for a second and then relaxed as he brought his hand up to hold on to mine.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Me too.” Without warning, he grabbed my arms and pulled me around until I was folded in his arms and sat on his knee.
“Whoa, I need to apologise more often.” I laughed.
He buried his face against my hair and whispered, “Now isn’t the time to fight, love. We need a united front.”
“I know,” I murmured, enjoying the warmth and security of his arms.
“But we have to be honest, Flora. No secrets.” His words made me shiver, despite the warmth of him.
“Then there are things that I need to tell you,” I confessed.
He nodded as though it was what he had expected. “Tell me, love.”
I hesitated. “Finlay needs to be here too.”
He was silent for a moment before nodding once. “Okay, then we’ll get some more sleep, and the three of us will talk in the morning.”
“What about the hospital?” I asked.
“We’ll send Bear and Artair to collect Pen. We can talk while they’re away, and then we will lay her to rest in the afternoon.”
I bit my lip. “I wish we could bury her at Castle Dion.”
It was customary that all fallen Dion be buried at the Castle, in a tiny cemetery that was walled on three sides and was bordered by the shore of Loch Ness on the fourth.
We wouldn’t have the chance to bury Pen there as long as the castle was occupied by Draugur.
“I know. It’s too dange
rous, though, love. Pen would understand.” He shifted in his chair and we both stood up. I realised I was exhausted—a common feeling for me these days.
“I don’t want to bury her in this place, Lyall. It’s dark and dingy and ramshackle. It’s nothing like how she was in life.” My voice was firm.
“There’s a grove of willows on this side of the loch. It’s about two miles from here, which means it sits directly opposite Castle Dion. I thought it might be the next best place for her.” He had obviously thought this through.
“Thank you, not just for the willows but for the speech you gave earlier and for the way you always take care of me.” I leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek.
He captured my face with his hands and leaned down to kiss my forehead in the usual place. “I’ll always take care of you, love. For as long as there’s breath in my body.”
I shuddered at his last sentence as I remembered back to my dream.
“Flora, are you all right?” He sounded worried.
“As long as you still have breath in your body, yes,” I quipped.
“What?”
“Never mind, I’m tired. I’ll be fine after I get some sleep.” I waved off his concern.
As we returned to bed, I hoped that what I had said was the truth.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Breakfast the next morning was miserable. Whether or not it was consciously done, we had left the seat at the head of the table empty, and I noticed all of the others glancing at it sadly from time to time.
Lyall instructed Bear and Artair to collect Pen. When Enid and Freya asked if they could go too, I was relieved when Lyall agreed. That meant we had the terminal to ourselves, and I could be completely honest without having to worry about being overheard.
I suspected we would tell the others everything soon, but for now, it was going to be tough enough to tell Finlay and Lyall they were destined to die.
After the other Dion had left, we sat at the table in the dismal light of the main terminal room, and I related everything to them both. I started with what Eric had told me when he handed over the box, and I ended with my dream the night before.
“I have no idea how much of my dream is true. But, it felt like a warning of what was going to happen and it was awful,” I admitted.
Lyall and Finlay were both quiet for a moment while they seemed to think over everything I had told them. Finlay was the first to break the silence.
“Flor, you have to obliterate my soul. If doing that kills the Supers, then the veil will hold and no one else has to die.”
“I’m not obliterating you, Finlay. I won’t do it,” I hissed.
Support came from an unexpected quarter. “There’s no chance on earth we’re sending your soul into oblivion, Finlay. No one deserves that. Especially not a Dion,” Lyall said quietly.
Finlay persisted. “Think about this for a minute. If that veil drops then you’re gonna die, Lyall.”
I flinched as though I had been slapped.
Finlay didn’t stop there, however. “It may not only be Lyall who dies, Flor. What about Artair? Freya? You? That’s before we talk about how many innocent people Sluag will kill before we stop him.”
I folded my arms tightly over my chest. “This was why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you’d both be fighting to get yourselves killed.”
Lyall shrugged. “Not me, love. I have no intention of getting killed when we put Sluag in that box.”
I almost screamed in frustration. “Argh, you don’t get it. I’ve seen what the end looks like, Lyall, and it’s hideous. You can’t avoid it if you’re there, so you have to stay away.”
Lyall laughed out loud. “What sort of Dion—No, what sort of bonded Dion would I be if I went into hiding while my Soul Keeper was fighting for her life? No chance. Non-negotiable, love.”
Finlay spoke more quietly and more reasonably. “Lyall, she’s right. You need to stay away.” Lyall started to argue, but Finlay calmly raised a hand and carried on talking.
“Pen’s gone, I’ll be gone before much longer, and Flora will need you. I can’t stop what’s gonna happen to me. Whether Flor obliterates me, or whether this body kicks me out, I can’t be Finlay anymore. She needs you, Lyall, now more than ever.”
I’d never heard Finlay sound so mature and so selfless, not in all of the years I had known him. In that moment, I understood that perhaps in another world and another time, I might have loved him in the way that he loved me.
Lyall didn’t seem about to back down, however. “Let’s look at this another way?”
“What other way is there?” I asked.
“If Finlay is truly the key to stopping Sluag, then if you obliterate him, there’s never going to be any coming back from that.” Lyall clasped his hands together and leaned over the table.
“But if I’m gone, the Supers will die with me and the veil won’t fall.” Finlay spoke matter-of-factly.
Lyall spread his hands in a “fair play” gesture before continuing. “Then what happens if in, say ten years, Sluag bags himself a new Dion and creates more Supers? What if you still should have been the one to defeat him but you’re gone? The world will fall anyway.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I hadn’t thought of it like that. But, Lyall’s right, Finlay. We can’t take the chance that we might still need you down the line.”
“This is ridiculous,” Finlay complained. “Flora, I know I can’t make you destroy me but I’m begging you, both of you.” He looked at Lyall as he finished speaking.
Lyall shook his head. “Sorry, no can do. The Soul Keeper has spoken.”
I quickly shifted my attention to Lyall. “You’re not off the hook yet. If you don’t come with us to Castle Dion, you won’t die, and I can’t let you die, Lyall.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You know as well as I do, if you don’t have me there to share my energy with you, then you can’t kick Sluag out of his body, Flora. You’ve got no choice but to keep me by your side, love. Until the bitter end.”
He was right. I didn’t know if I would be able to box Sluag, even with Lyall’s energy. Without it, I was certain I wouldn’t manage it. When I didn’t say anything, Lyall grinned in triumph.
“You need me there, love, and you know it.”
I shook my head sadly as I studied the determination in both of their faces. This was what true loyalty looked like. I felt a storm of conflicting emotions warring within my body.
I was terrified I would lose one or both of them in the coming fight with Sluag, but I was also touched and humbled by how fiercely committed to their cause these two were. I was sure I was the most fortunate Soul Keeper in history.
“All right,” I whispered.
“All right what?” Finlay asked.
“If I can’t negotiate with either of you, then things will just have to happen the way that fate directs them. I refuse to obliterate my best friend, Finlay, and I know I can’t keep you from the fight, Lyall.” I shrugged. There was nothing else I could do.
“So, we’ll work together to come up with a strategy that ensures we get Sluag into that box.” Lyall spoke with more confidence than I felt.
“I just hope we don’t end up unleashing hell on the world in the meantime,” I said quietly.
Lyall reached out and put a comforting hand over mine. “I’m not gonna let that happen, love. We have everything we need to take Sluag down, and we’re not going to stop until we do.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. I had been so afraid to tell them the truth, and now that I had, I only wished I’d done it sooner.
The sound of a car pulling up to the front of the terminal made us all turn toward the door. I held my breath, unsure if I was ready to face seeing Pen’s body again, or the impending funeral.
The door burst open and a white-faced Artair was the first person to appear.
Obviously sensing something was majorly wrong, Lyall jumped up from his seat. “Artair, what is it, mate?”
The other three Dion were inside the main room by now, and each looked as shocked as Artair.
Artair sat down heavily at the table and turned haunted eyes on Lyall. “She’s gone, Lyall. Pen’s body is gone.”
I blinked slowly before speaking. “What do you mean, gone?”
“He means gone, Flora. She’s been taken, and I’ll give you one guess, who by?” Freya’s eyes were wide.
“Sluag,” Finlay growled.
“But why would he take her when she’s already dead?” Enid asked quietly.
“To torment us?” Freya suggested.
I thought back to my dream, remembering my confusion at the new Supers in Sluag’s army. I hadn’t understood where he’d got them all from.
Now I did. “No, not to torment us. He’s going to use her blood to create more Supers and bring down the veil.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Shit.” Finlay punched the table as he shouted.
“We should never have left her alone.” I shook my head angrily.
How could we have been so stupid?
Before anyone could speak another word, Finlay darted through the open door and disappeared. It was obvious where he was headed.
“Lyall, we have to stop him.” I ran toward the door, and I heard Lyall break into a jog behind me.
“The rest of you stay here in case Sluag has discovered the terminal,” he called back over his shoulder.
Lyall and I materialised in the Everwood and didn’t hesitate, instead breaking into a run for the boundary line. Finlay was nowhere to be seen, but there was a trail of pure souls that followed us along the path, and I could hear them talking at me animatedly inside my head.
Finlay was here, Flora. He’s going to the Endwood. He’ll be killed.
Again, I thought grimly.
We managed to gain some ground on Finlay, and we came running down the slope toward the boundary just in time to see him stop at the line and roar, “Sluag. Come here, now.”
