The Court of Souls? - Volume 1

by Andur

  I gasp. “You are the one who accepted! You should fight him! And I am not a brute! My arts are delicate and complicated skills! Just because you can't grasp how much skill they require, doesn't mean that there is no thinking involved!”

  “Please. Let us not have a public scene here. Be that as it may, the visible outcome is one of brute force. This is a challenge of Rock, Paper, Scissors. He is Scissors, I am Paper, you are Rock. It's only logical to use the Rock to smash the Scissors.” Shade points at Morello.

  “I am not fighting weak women! Come here if you think of yourself as a man!” Morello screams in rage.

  “What is a man? I am not against performing my manly duties as a husband. But the strength department always belonged to my wife. She will be your opponent.” Shade gestures once more for me to take his place.

  I turn around and grumble while sitting down. “You owe me! You are just lucky that this brute seems to look down on women! Otherwise I wouldn't even think about taking your place.” I raise my right hand and offer it to Morello.

  Morello is shocked. For a moment he looks at me as if I am some kind of cute, little doll. Then he laughs and stands up. “I have no need to prove myself against women. If you don't want to take the challenge, then that's fine with me.”

  “You already accepted! Does that mean that you are running away?” I call out so that everyone can hear.

  A vein on Morello's forehead bulges and he returns to his seat. “You will regret this! Accusing me of running away when I just tried to give you a way out, Cutie. It seems like you bet on the wrong man. I won't hold back!”

  I smile and wriggle my fingers. “Suit yourself. Hopefully you don't underestimate me too much. It's true that my husband is weaker when it comes to pure physical abilities.”

  “Rhia! Come here and give us a countdown!” Morello commands his girlfriend and encloses my hand with his huge paw. I call it a paw because it is one. I can barely reach the ends of his palm with my fingers. Closing my hand around his is completely out of the question.

  We share more than enough skin contact to allow me to suck out his energies. But I guess that wouldn't count as a fight of strength.

  As we get ready I can feel him unleashing his mana reserves to enhance his physical abilities. At least he isn't taking me so lightly that he thinks he can take me with his body alone.

  There is so much energy that it even creates a visible aura around him and sparks of electricity wander up and down his forearm. He is really going all out on me, but he hasn't mastered his inner magical system. Otherwise he wouldn't waste so much power by dispersing it into the environment.

  I smile and call upon my own power reserves as Rhia reaches out and places her hand on top of ours. When she takes it away, it is the sign to start.

  My mana fills my entire body and wanders up my arm to circulate through muscles and bones. Arm wrestling isn't just a question of arm strength. It's a technique which requires the entire body. You have to support your stability with your legs, otherwise you would simply fall over. Then you have to use your entire upper body to push.

  Grabbing the corner of the table is also helpful, but just for battles without magic. I would simply break it as I am now.

  As we sit there and glare at each other, Morello tries to squeeze my hand. I answer with equal force and let a small amount of my mana seep through my palm and into Morello's arm. This invasion of his being is subtle, but Morello could easily detect it if he wasn't so busily trying to crush my hand. The prickling sensation of my invasion must lose out to the pressure.

  I explore the structure of the bones and muscles in his forearm. Just that. I fear that going any deeper towards his core could be detected.

  There are some slight ripples in his tendons, but nothing which could give me a decisive edge. The badly healed bone close to the base of his forearm is much more interesting. It seems to be an old wound which was never treated properly. Healing powers aren't infallible and Morello didn't get it looked at properly.

  There is a weakness if the force is applied in a certain angle. I smile at Morella and tilt my wrist slightly, bringing him into the proper position. Sadly this probing technique can't be used in actual battle. It takes too much time, but in cases like this one it is perfect.

  “Are you ready?” Rhia asks.

  I nod and Morello growls triumphantly, releasing even more power.

  Releasing his battle aura in such a flashy way makes him look like some kind of Mortal Kombat fighter.

  It's pitiful... wasting energy like that. Everything you disperse into your surroundings is useless for body enhancement.

  “Three!”

  Magic can be divided into different, basic schools. The first and most common one is to force mana out of your body and to manipulate it in order to achieve some kind of spelleffect. According to my memories all my previous reincarnations weren't exactly masterful in that branch of magic. Except for some teleportation and gravity magic. There are also a few memories of rune magic. But it's nothing which couldn't be done by thousands of others. Shade's past personas were all masters of this part of magic.

  “Two!”

  What my personas as a god excelled at, was the manipulation of mana inside my own body to achieve enhancing effects, or to achieve special effects. Some may call it Qi or martial arts, but it's still just a form of magic.

  “One!” Rhia takes her hand away and I twist a little further, pull, and push downwards, releasing all the energy which I stored in my arm. It's a high speed technique which allows for maximum speed and power with small movements.

  Snap. Krack! Krack!

  I gently touch the table's surface with Morello's hand. As I forced him into the right position, his arm broke and now it is folded backwards. If it hadn't broken, Morello would have won. But as it is now, I am the winner.

  It's just a little shocking that the bone broke and shattered in such an unexpected way. The stump pierced through the skin and there is also a lot more blood than I expected. It must have injured an artery on the way out.

  Errr... yes, and there are the fingers. I might have crushed a few in my enthusiasm.

  Morello is staring at his hand as blood pulses out of the wound with each beat of his heart. Then he looks up at me, eyes wide.

  “I am so sorry. It's entirely my fault. My husband doesn't break that badly when I use a little force on him! I shouldn't have gone all out. Please get that looked at. So sorry!” I let go of his hand and back away, then I bow three times and hurry back to Shade.

  He spreads his hands and grins. “Marvellous, Dear! I knew that he is no match for you. But I am surprised that he didn't scream. Must be a tough one.”

  I cross my arms in front of my chest to regard Shade for a few seconds. “That's probably because he is in shock. The screaming comes when they try to set the bones. And I haven't forgotten your involvement in this!”

  He gulps. Apparently he caught my choice of words. “Try to set?”

  “It's a quite complicated spiral fracture, which requires advanced healing abilities. In addition, the force caused the bone to shatter on a length of four centimetres. It will be a complicated puzzle for the healers.” I raise my nose to look up at him. “So how do you intend to repay me for this setup?”

  He scratches his chest, eyes flicking here and there, he is always doing that when thinking of running away. In his previous lives too!

  Then his expression lights up as if he found the answer. “Sex?”

  I squint my eyes and reach out. “Give me your hand.”

  He raises a hand and steps away. “Nononono. I get it! Whatever you want! A date under moonlight. A favour. A present. I'll do anything which makes you happy.”

  “There is no moon in this world!” I love teasing him.

  “I'll make one! Just for you! Your own moon! So tell me.”

  He is so loud! And people are looking at us. It feels like I am the evil one. I blow a strand of hair out of my face and sigh. “Why do you
even need a reason to do all of the above with your woman?”

  His expression lights up. “Oh, so that's how it works! It would have been so much easier if someone had told me beforehand!”

  I bite my lower lip. “Now you are the one who is teasing me!”

  “Yes.”

  29. ~Interruption.~

  “Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The belief in and practice of magic has been present since the earliest human cultures and continues to have an important spiritual, religious, and medicinal role in many cultures today.”

  The Journey to the Afterlife

  Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Nurien

  Shade

  My little, teasing exchange with Elona was most satisfying. Especially the fact that I managed to persuade her to deal with that six-pack for me. I would have needed to cheat in order to best someone like him. Sending Elona was the only sensible solution without risking our reputation.

  So fetching a drink for her is the least I can do. I return from the dining hall, balancing a tray with two glasses on my right hand and holding a bottle with something fermented in my left. This world's skills regarding alcohol are most disappointing.

  If I can get her drunk enough, maybe she will forget about the promises I made? The hope is slim, but it is still there.

  Upon returning to the big room with the bout's participants, I immediately spot my better half surrounded by three men. She wears a forced expression on her face and is playing with a strand of her hair between her fingers. Something she only does when she is very annoyed. If I were them I would back up to get out of her reach.

  One of the men is a well known figure to me. The others not so much, though I wonder what their partners think about them teaming up on my woman.

  There is an unreasonable urge to start a slaughterhouse right here and now. Especially since... well, I am not sure why I feel that way. We share memories of our past lives and there is the soulbond, which apparently forces us to meet again and again. Apart from that, all we know about each other are from a few days of talking. I am far from knowing what Elona had to endure in her current life and I am far from having told her everything about mine. All we have are memories of our past existences and a few nights of hot, sweaty sex... and there is the consequence of that hot, sweaty sex.

  Is that really enough to simply continue where we stopped the last time? We must sound like maniacs to the people around us for referring to each other as husband and wife.

  When Lirian leans in even closer to Elona I feel a vein popping in my head and move. There is a restriction on violence, but who cares. It is the last day and being thrown out doesn't matter by now. I force a neutral expression on my face and approach them.

  Unfortunately Elona is the first one to notice me. She stops me by waving her hand with a delighted expression. I originally intended to give the trio quick deaths. Now I have to deal with their full attention on me.

  Elona pushes Lirian out of the way and takes a glass and the bottle from my hands. “Shade, I am so glad that you are back. Lirian and his two friends, Antonius and Feiran, informed me that my sister decided to court Antonius. It's just that she ran off with Lirian's and Feiran's partners, so they decided to pester me instead.”

  “Is that so?” I stare at Lirian who was entirely too close to Elona.

  But the bastard actually grew a spine with his two friends backing him up. “I am sure that your sister will have a lot of fun with such acquaintances.”

  Antonius bows to us. “I promise that I hold Quianna in high esteem and actually intend on switching clans. I already begged Doreen to allow me to come over. Seeing the tight ties Quianna has with her family, I wouldn't want her to stay with Draconis for my sake.”

  This is strange. Is he a spy who is trying to be installed in our new clan? If so, the entire attempt is a little too obvious. Elona's sister knows what's going on, so she wouldn't be as stupid as to switch over to Draconis at such a critical time. So why mingle with someone from the very same clan, which is under suspicion of being involved with the slavers?

  My questioning eyes wander to Elona who simply shrugs. Apparently this new information is as surprising to her as it is to me.

  “Kyaaaaaaa!”

  A scream from the entrance draws my attention and I turn around. A woman is at the entrance and pointing at something on the corridor. People start filing out of the room and I hear murmurs about 'murder' and 'dead' on the corridor.

  Elona follows the crowd outside, where we stumble upon a gruesome murder scene. The corridor is splattered with blood on a length of about five metres. In the middle of the corridor are the dismembered corpses of a man and a woman. I don't know them.

  “Milanda from Soistaat and Gerhard from Equilibrium!”

  “How can this be. They were just behind the wall. There must have been a fight.”

  “Did they kill each other?”

  “Nobody, saw, heard or sensed anything? They must have been completely overpowered!”

  “That man was the last to return to the hall.” A girl, no older than nineteen in appearance, points at me and all attention turns towards me.

  I take my glass from the tray and hold it out for Elona to pour me a drink. “That mess wasn't there when I fetched a drink. They must have been ambushed afterwards.”

  “Easy to say. Weren't you the one who last walked on this corridor?” Lirian enters the discussion, pointing an accusing finger at me.

  I grind my teeth, but I keep my cool. “Shouldn't you, of all people, know better than accusing me of such a mess?” My hand includes the whole scene in a grand gesture. “I have no need to leave any proof behind. Why should I display the bodies in this manner if I can simply make them vanish?”

  A quick glance ensures me of my shadow's position, mainly for the fact that nobody is standing on it. Then I hold out the tray and drop it. A little concentration is enough and the entire thing vanishes to the netherworld.

  The gazes return to Lirian. “Maybe to frighten us? Or to make a point about your abilities as an assassin? A shade with the ability to go anywhere he wants undetected, is a danger to all clans.”

  I swirl the brew in my glass and take a sip. “I have no need to hide in the shadows. If I have a problem with someone I simply kill them. In public and for everyone to see. If I would have had something against those two, why not challenging them to a bout? As violent as the challenges are, there could easily be a lethal ending involved.”

  Suddenly Antonius steps forward and places a hand on Lirian's shoulder. “Maybe we should ask why someone would benefit from killing two aspiring youths of Soistaat and Equilibrium? Who has interest in keeping those two groups caught up in their blood feud? Carissimi and Semper Fidelis are on the other side of the big dessert. They have their own problems and no connections to those two clans.”

  Elona tugs at my sleeve. “Something fishy is going on. And I don't want to be involved in it!”

  I bend down. “But isn't it suspicious if we make a run for it?”

  She snorts. “Don't be ridiculous. This is a witch-hunt and you know it. Just because you were the last one who entered the hall from the corridor doesn't mean that there are no others. There are hundreds of people in this building, all of them wielding powerful magic. Currently they are just fishing and Lirian is trying to shift the attention towards you. Anyone who is strong enough to hide his aura during a battle could have done it.”

  That may be true. But being just a piece on a chessboard doesn't sit well with me. “We should gather our people first.” I search the crowd until I find Aswang and Manti among the faces. I gesture for them to follow us.

  But when I want to leave I can't find Elona at my side. So I head back to the hall where I find her searching for someone with a concerned expression.

  “Where is Quianna?” She asks.

  In that moment Aswang and Manti join up with us. “I think
she headed somewhere with that Takea character. Wasn't she from Soistaat too?”

  I scratch at my cheek. A week without shaving makes my skin itch. Strange how fast one can get accustomed to not having one. The action relaxes my brain and I can finally start thinking. “Maybe someone is out to create trouble between the two clans. Killing a few representatives and making it look like they killed each other is surely a good method.”

  “But why did Lirian try to accuse you!?” Elona gasps.

  I shrug my shoulders. “He is an idiot. Maybe he thought that accusing me would be beneficial to his cause?”

  “Are you sure? You never actually talked to him.” Aswang surveys the room, obviously anticipating an attack.

  I draw a deep breath. “You are right Aswang. But I have this special gift of knowing an idiot when I see one. And if that's not enough, my second gift is judging people by their actions. Carelessly attacking someone of unknown capabilities, who just walked up to an army, is one of them. It's something only idiots do. Pestering the woman of a guy who threw you into another dimension is asking for death. If there wasn't this stupid rule about no violence, I would have killed him already.”

  Manti steps away from Elona. “Remind me not to befriend your 'woman'.”

  I nod. “I can do that, but Elona isn't lesbian. You can hug her as much as you want.”

  “Stop wasting time and get the others! We have to find Quianna.” Elona gestures for the exit.

  I hurry to comply, but while I follow the others I find something nagging at my brain. So when I spot Antonius in the crowd I silently slip away and dive into the shadows. In the confusion of the murder most people don't even notice.

  I follow my target around a few corners and corridors until I realize with dissatisfaction that he is running around without a goal. He is also searching for someone.

  My patience has almost reached its end when he calls out to a man whom I already saw today. I don't know what to make of it.

  30. ~Art.~

  “In Hawaiian legend, Nightmarchers are the ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors. On the nights of Kane, Ku, Lono, Akua, or on the nights of Kaloa they are said to come forth from their burial sites to march out to past battles or to other sacred places. They march at sunset and just before the sun rises. Anyone living near their path may hear chanting and marching, and must go inside to avoid notice. They might appear during the day if coming to escort a dying relative to the spirit world. Anyone looking upon or seen by the marchers will die unless a relative is within the marcher's ranks. Some people maintain that if you lie face down on the ground they will not see you.”