Curse of Soulmate--The Complete Series

by D. N. Leo

  "You should go, Zach,” Ciaran said.

  "I don't have a reason to stay, but I'll stick around." Zach cast a careless look at Ciaran.

  Ciaran’s horse started to get agitated and stomp around. He patted it to calm it down.

  "How do you give Bran the invitation? I assume he wants it," Tadgh asked.

  "I have to find him."

  "Right, so there’s a finding-Bran stage after passing the challenges?" Madeline asked.

  Ciaran nodded.

  "And whatever the invitation allows you to do, do you have to do that for Bran, too?" Madeline continued her questioning.

  Silence.

  "That's a yes," Tadgh said.

  Madeline got off her horse. Ciaran did the same. He approached her. "I'll also get a privilege with the invitation. And I need to give that to the princess if you don't mind."

  "I don't mind. Why would I? But the challenge bothers me."

  "It's not hard."

  "Tadgh, Ciaran said the challenges aren’t hard!" Madeline pointed at Ciaran.

  Tadgh got off his horse. "He's right. Just a bunch of snow-mummies, a pack of wolves, a burning forest, a collapsing bridge over a canyon, and ice water. Piece of cake."

  "All right, okay. What do you want me to do?" Ciaran asked.

  "Well, I'm not going to sit here and wait. I want in—all the way. I’m going in with you,” Madeline said.

  "Same here," Tadgh said dryly.

  "I—”

  "You don't think I'm useless, do you?" Zach asked.

  "You saw the training, you two. You can tell Zach how dangerous it was."

  Zach shifted his shoulders. "I'll do my best. What does the invitation look like?"

  "Do I have a choice?" Ciaran looked at Tadgh, Madeline, and Zach. They glanced at him and waited for him to answer his own rhetorical question.

  "Very well. Let's go," Ciaran muttered. He hopped on his horse. "This is a hybrid game between augmented reality and a hologame. We will play the scenarios as we go. Death and injuries during the game will have realistic impacts. But I don't know their extent. The invitation and the privilege will be placed in a box. That's all I know."

  Zach rolled his eyes. "Well, how insightful."

  Tadgh laughed.

  "Let's go." Ciaran's horse wanted to do just that. It raced across the hill of wild roses. The other three horses lagged behind but caught up quickly.

  They arrived at a meadow. Madeline remembered it. They had seen it before in Ciaran's training.

  "We'll start here," Ciaran said.

  "We have company,” Madeline said. “Kyle is here.”

  Chapter 136

  Tadgh said nothing. He glanced off into the distance and felt a tingle in his heart when he saw Jo riding alongside Kyle, both of them on black horses. Tadgh shook his head and tried to see Jo’s emotions. He saw nothing. This Daimon Gate had somehow blocked his newfound ability. He cursed silently.

  Jo was alive. That was all that mattered.

  She was in black leather attire, double swords suspended from her back. Her hair blew back as she rode, making the angles of her foxy face sharper. Her green eyes shone brilliantly. They smiled at Tadgh.

  Kyle and Jo approached but slowed and stopped at a distance. Jo looked at Tadgh and nodded slightly.

  "I hope we are not in competition here, Ciaran," Kyle said.

  "I think we are," Ciaran responded dryly.

  Ciaran's white horse and Kyle's black horse stepped back and forth, stomping their front hooves in agitation.

  "I need only the privilege. If you’re after the invitation, then we are not in competition."

  "The invitation and the privilege come together. I have promised the privilege to someone. I'll need both the invitation and the privilege," Ciaran said.

  "The privilege is for Jo, not for me. I dragged her into the gate against her will. I thought I could appoint her as a Sciphil. Turns out that I can’t because I’ve been exiled. Jo needs a pardon from the Host. She needs the privilege."

  "Otherwise?" Ciaran asked.

  "Death by a thousand lightning bolts at the exit. Is that what you want for her?"

  Everyone looked at Jo. Her face was as cool as steel. She kept her eyes on Tadgh.

  Ciaran turned around, looking at Madeline. She showed neither approval nor rejection. That was enough for Ciaran. That meant she couldn’t read anything from Jo.

  Ciaran nodded. "Fine. If you honor what you say, we can benefit from the collaboration. If you don't, there may be a long future ahead for us, but I promise to cut yours short."

  Kyle nodded.

  They raced ahead along the meadow. Ciaran and Kyle led the group. Jo managed to pull her horse up to ride next to Tadgh. She looked at him again. This time, she smiled. That was Jo's smile. Tadgh was sure of it.

  "I thought we lost you," Tadgh said.

  Jo said nothing. She reached over and stuck a black rose next to Tadgh's daggers. She smiled again. Tadgh grinned and pushed his horse to get closer to her. But she pushed ahead and rode alongside Kyle.

  In front of them, an army of faceless mummies rose from the tall grass. The mummies formed a line across the meadow and charged at them. This was the exact scenario from Ciaran's subconscious training.

  The group charged straight ahead, six warriors on horseback. With weapons drawn and eyes fierce, they were ready to kill.

  "Round them up,” Ciaran said.

  The horses ran in a circle, surrounding the mummies who hurled stones at them. Speed helped. They had horses and thus had the advantage.

  Kyle and Jo had long, black spears. Ciaran, Madeline, Tadgh, and Zach had two daggers each. They rounded up the mummies, killing a number of them without much difficulty. The rest ran away, howling like wounded dogs.

  "Fire is coming. Go left," Ciaran said.

  The group veered left and raced toward the cliff. They had seen this before. A skinny hanging bridge connecting the two mountains swung in the air, presenting an opportunity for disaster. The bridge could accommodate only one person at a time. They knew the wire would snap.

  They dismounted. The fire closed in behind them.

  "The box is over there. I’m sure of it," Ciaran said. "Right behind me." Ciaran clasped Madeline's hand and ran across the bridge. Tadgh and Zach followed right behind them. Kyle and Jo came after. They formed a line and rushed across the swinging bridge.

  The fire approached and consumed the horses. The wire snapped, and the bridge dropped from that end, hanging by a thread from the other side. They all clung desperately to the knotted rope of the bridge, knowing it wouldn’t hold for long.

  From the bottom of the line, Jo began to climb up and over everyone else’s bodies. Being petite was certainly an advantage now. She climbed over the edge like a spider. Unravelled a black leather rope wrapped around her waist, she tied it to a stone for purchase and dove down the cliff to grab Ciaran's hand.

  "Climb up quick, Kyle," Ciaran said and reached his other hand to grab Madeline's. Madeline reached for Tadgh, and he, in turn, grabbed Zach.

  Kyle climbed up quickly from the bottom, then Zach, Tadgh, Madeline, and finally Ciaran.

  "Well done, Jo," Ciaran said.

  Jo nodded and smiled. Then she moved to stand next to Kyle.

  They were in front of the magnificent entrance to a white stone cave. Ciaran and Kyle entered it. The group followed.

  In the middle, the cave opened up liked a grand hall. The white stone was illuminated, shedding a mysterious light throughout the cavernous room.

  They heard a tapping sound as if an army of people walking on sticks was moving toward them.

  A white claw appeared. Then they saw body with many legs.

  "Is that a crab? I’m not particularly in the mood for seafood right now," Tadgh said.

  "I think it's a white scorpion. It's as big as a cow!" Zach exclaimed incredulously.

  "Six of us against a cow-crab. Folks, I think we've got a winner," Madeline joked, shifting her dagg
ers.

  Ciaran said to Kyle, "Would you mind taking the left?"

  Kyle nodded.

  With lightning speed, Ciaran darted to the right, and Kyle moved to the left. They jumped across the tops of a few stones and landed on top of the scorpion. It started to whirl around. Ciaran swung his dagger, and the two eyes of the scorpion flew away. Kyle brought his spear down into the top of the scorpion. A stream of black liquid spilled out and rained down on its white shell.

  Suddenly, rows of smaller scorpions appeared from every direction.

  "Holy crab!" Tadgh said. All of them ran toward the creatures. Daggers swung, spears stabbed. They use whatever weapons they could, stones and sand included, to fight the hard-shelled army.

  Chaos.

  Ciaran was always right there beside Madeline. Kyle and Jo fought back to back, and Tadgh and Zach did the same.

  After a long while, with the cutting off of enough legs, eyes, and claws, the fight came to an end. Some wounded scorpions scurried away. The white shells of hundreds of scorpions littered the ground.

  Between them, there were some minor scratches, bruises, and bleeding, but no serious injuries.

  "That was easier than I thought." Zach grinned.

  "There will be more," Tadgh mumbled as he remembered what he had seen in Ciaran's training.

  They walked over the dead scorpions to another compartment of the cave. The light from the white rocks lighted the way.

  From a gap between two large rocks, a shadow leaped at Ciaran, pushing him down onto the ground.

  Chapter 137

  An enormous white wolf looked down at Ciaran. He swung his daggers, and the wolf backed off quickly. Suddenly a large pack of them appeared. They stalked the intruders in a circle, looking at the group as if they were their next meal.

  Jo swung her rope. It wrapped around the neck of a wolf and ripped its head off in one pull.

  Tadgh gasped.

  The group broke out into another round of fighting.

  After a long while, they had killed several wolves. The wounded ones ran away.

  This time they sustained more injuries.

  Ciaran helped Madeline up from the ground. "Let me see." He looked at a nasty bite mark on her left wrist. "This will get infected," he mumbled.

  Madeline turned him around, inspecting a gash from a claw and a bite mark at the back of his neck. She hadn’t covered his back well enough. "This one, too."

  Ciaran looked at Tadgh. "Two bites on the legs and one on the left arm. Otherwise, I'm good as new,” Tadgh reported.

  "A gash on my back and one on my right arm. I can't see my back, but it hurts like hell,” Zach said.

  "Let me see." Madeline looked. "Oh, it's nasty."

  Nearby, Jo was checking her injuries. She was bleeding from both arms and her back. Tadgh approached. Jo gestured for him to keep a distance. He stopped.

  Ciaran shrugged off his jacket and tore shreds from it. He secured Madeline’s injuries then gave her the remaining part of the jacket. "Could you take care of them, please?" He gestured toward Tadgh and Zach.

  "What about you?"

  "I'm fine."

  Madeline nodded, took the jacket, and went to tend to Tadgh and Zach.

  Ciaran stood in the middle of the grand cave and stared at a gigantic illuminated column in the middle. He walked around it. He pressed his hand on the column. It was smooth and icy.

  The box has to be here, he thought

  Ciaran examined the icy surface. The hundred-foot column held up the ceiling. It was the life support of the grand cave. He noticed a red dot swirling around inside. What was it? Ciaran pulled his dagger out. He anticipated the moving path of the dot and stabbed at it.

  The dot stopped moving. A small ice panel in the column slid open, revealing a button. The skin of the column became transparent, and inside, Ciaran could see a box placed at head height.

  Everyone approached, looking at it.

  "There it is,” Kyle said.

  He reached his hand out and punched the button.

  "Wait!" Ciaran yelled. But it was too late.

  The column broke apart. At the same time, the floor cracked and broke away into shards of ice. The column sunk down into the ice water, taking the box with it.

  Everyone fled the sinking floor and ran to the rock edges.

  The broken floor was now a pond of dark, icy water.

  Jo looked at the sinking box. She dove into the water. Ciaran dived in after her. As soon as they disappeared below the surface, the ice sealed over.

  Madeline was hanging onto a rock. She had seen this scenario before. She knew exactly what to do. She grabbed as many rocks as she could and slid to the middle of the icy crust to break the surface so that they could escape.

  From under the dark water, Ciaran saw the ice closing in. He grabbed Jo to pull her up. She shrugged him off and followed the box down farther. It had slipped away from the broken column and lay at the very bottom. She picked it up. Ciaran grabbed for her again, and they both resurfaced.

  Madeline and others had broken the ice and pulled Ciaran and Jo out of the freezing water.

  Their bodies were numb. They did not speak.

  Madeline held Ciaran. She wrapped her body around him and used whatever she had to give him some warmth. Tadgh darted toward Jo and did the same. He held her in his arms. She grabbed him. Her body shook.

  Minutes passed, and Ciaran and Jo finally began to regain some body heat. The color slowly came back into their almost translucent faces. They looked toward each other and then toward the box that was sitting on the floor between them.

  Kyle picked up the box. Ciaran slowly brought himself to a standing position. The two men gave each other a measured glance. Tadgh helped Jo to her feet.

  Ciaran raised an eyebrow when Kyle gave him the box. He took it. On the lid was a liquid screen and a square panel that said, "Print verification required."

  Ciaran smiled. That was why Kyle and Jo had needed him. Jo was a gate-crasher, and Kyle was an exiled Sciphil. Even if they had been able to retrieve the box, they wouldn’t have been able to open it.

  Ciaran put his palm on the panel to verify. The lid clicked open. Inside the box were two rectangular blocks—one red and one blue. The two blocks were lit up, but Ciaran could not identify what they were made of. A grail was engraved on the red block, and a key was engraved on the blue one.

  "The red one is the privilege, and the blue is the invitation,” Ciaran said. He turned the box toward Kyle.

  Kyle reached out for the red block.

  From the corner of Ciaran's eyes, he saw it. Jo raised her arm and slid out her spear while Tadgh watched Ciaran and Kyle.

  "Look out, Tadgh!” Ciaran yelled.

  It was too late for Tadgh.

  Jo pierced her spear right through his heart. She drew it back out.

  Tadgh's body slumped to the ground. Ciaran ran toward his brother.

  Tadgh was dead.

  Chapter 138

  Jo swung her rope and grabbed the box.

  "I want both." That was the first time she had spoken since they had been reunited. What came out was not a voice but the sound of a devil from hell.

  She turned and ran with the box.

  Ciaran locked his eyes on her back as she fled. He took a stance and threw his dagger.

  The dagger hit her right in the back of her head. She slumped down and melted into a pool of black liquid.

  "That's not Jo,” Ciaran said. He turned around. Kyle had disappeared.

  Ciaran dashed toward the box and grabbed it. Then he scrambled back to where Tadgh lay. He crouched next to Tadgh's dead body and opened the box.

  He took out the red block—the privilege. On top of the block was another panel. Ciaran pressed his palm against it. A tiny screen appeared on the surface of the block next to the panel. On the screen, the face of a woman appeared. She smiled kindly at him.

  “Congratulations. You have gained a privilege. What would you like?"

/>   "My brother has suffered a fatal injury. I want him healed,” Ciaran said briskly.

  "What is the injury?"

  "A stab wound."

  "Where?"

  “To the heart."

  "That is beyond the level of—”

  "I don't give a fuck. I gained your privilege. It's supposed to fix anything inside the gate,” Ciaran snarled.

  "Conditional to—”

  "Don’t quote terms and conditions to me. I have the invitation as well. I will talk to your Host and will make rest of your life miserable, whoever and wherever you are!"

  “But—”

  “You offered the privilege. You are required to keep your end of the deal. The Daimon Gate does not break a promise. I want my brother healed. Now!”

  "I will consult with my superior." The screen went blank for a long moment. Then a man’s face appeared.

  "Who is the injured guest?"

  "Tadgh LeBlanc."

  The man nodded. "He has previously received eudqi from his Sciphil. He is lucky. He will be fine. Step aside please."

  Ciaran stepped aside.

  A curtain of light poured down around Tadgh. They could not see him anymore.

  Ciaran turned around. Madeline knew he was looking for her. She pulled him into her arms. Ciaran clung to her. He held on tight. He buried his head against her shoulder, and she felt the heat of his tears.

  Madeline said nothing. She just embraced him.

  After a long while, the light curtain vanished. Tadgh lay motionless on the floor and then opened his eyes. He looked around to gain his bearings.

  Ciaran scrambled toward him. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  Tadgh winced and looked down at his chest. His shirt was still open, revealing a rapidly healing wound. Ciaran helped him up.

  “Let’s get you out of here,” Ciaran said.

  At the entrance of the cave, Ciaran sat Tadgh down on a rock. He pointed to the top of the hill, where the light reflection looked like a rainbow.

  “That’s the exit out of the Daimon Gate,” Ciaran said.

  “Kyle!”

  In the distance, they could see Kyle charging toward the exit. He was carrying a large box nearly the size of a coffin on his shoulder as if it was a toy.