The Soul Keeper

I flew until dusk. Only when the sun started to disappear behind the distant mountain range did I consider landing. If I pushed myself, I could probably fly for a few more hours. I certainly had the mana to keep using Fallen Grace but doing so would probably strain my body even more and I'd already experienced the unpleasantness of that.

I reluctantly searched for a safe place to land. I could spot a few cave entrances and alcoves from up here, but I didn't exactly trust those places. Instead, I searched for a tall tree with a thick trunk and sturdy branches. I could do what I'd done before and perch on top of a nice, sturdy branch.

Thankfully, I didn't have to search for too long. As soon as I found a suitable tree, I landed on one of its higher branches and hid my wings. There was no need to alert the entire forest by letting its inhabitants see the glowing embers.

I folded my legs and leaned my back on the tree trunk as I watched the sun completely disappear behind the distant mountain range. I watched the silent forest for a while before falling asleep. My eyelid became heavy in time and my consciousness began to drift.

"Kai," Asher's cold voice echoed in my head. Startled, I let out a small scream as I nearly lost my balance on the branch.

"The hell!" I whispered as I looked around. In my drowsiness, it took me a moment to understand – what I just heard was telepathy. It took me a couple more seconds to figure out how to answer him, and as soon as I did, I did the mental equivalent of shouting. "What the hell, Asher? I nearly fell down because of you!"

I heard a chuckle, I think. Or maybe I was just imagining it, since chuckling was exactly what he'd do right now. "Sorry about that. You should be more prepared for this, though. I told you I'd be speaking with you often."

I clenched my teeth. How did he manage to sound so smug even through fricking telepathy? "Anyways, what do you want?" I just wanted to get this over with and go to sleep.

After a moment of silence, his answer echoed in my mind. "I just started sorting through the books here. Most of them are in demonic, so I won't be able to read them just yet. I did find something that caught my attention though." His voice disappeared for a short moment before he spoke again. "I found a single paragraph on 'Crystal Sages'. Apparently, they were those who had the ability to draw some power from some very rare things called primal cores."

I nearly choked on my own saliva. "What did you say?" I replied after a coughing fit.

"The crystal sages apparently used these primal cores for something, but I'm not sure what that something is because that section of the text is borderline unintelligible. I'm trying to mend it with magic, but that will take quite some time."

"Let me know when you find out." I replied, doing my best to sound normal. I didn't want him to find out about Vixia and the primal core of fire.

"Sure." His voice echoed in my mind before the telepathic connection got severed and I was left alone in my own mind. With a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes again, hoping that I'd be able to sleep tonight.

It was only hours later that I finally fell asleep, and just a couple hours after that, the crimson-gold shine of the dawning sun woke me up. Feeling tired and groggy, I ate breakfast – which was, once again, a large fruit – and jumped down the tree to fly away. As my wings carried me, I checked my map to see if I was going in the right direction.

Thankfully, I was. After a few hours of flight, and a lot of spent mana for Fallen Grace, I finally arrived at the ruins I promised to meet Alex and the others at. I landed a little ways away since I didn't want to reveal my wings just yet and walked to my destination.

A short while later, I finally stepped out of the woods and onto the lush green grass. Before me stood a large, partially ruined building with similar design to the outpost Asher and I had found two days ago. Thankfully, there were no souls protecting the place, no magic preventing fields and no incredibly powerful mages threatening me.

I chuckled at my own thoughts before noticing something else that was missing. "Alex?" I shouted after a moment's hesitation. "Rina? Erik?" Fear started to seep into my mind as my heartbeat quickened. Where were they? My mind flashed to the first time I felt like this – right after I had met Vixia for the very first time. Had I lost them again?

A distant rumble pulled me out of my daze and I immediately summoned my wings and leapt up into the air. Lighting struck the ground not too far away from here.

Leaving a trail of fire behind me, I flew towards the sounds with fear in my heart. Had my friends been attacked? What if it was something they couldn't handle on their own?

Soon, my fears were realised as they finally entered my vision. By a lake with clear, jade waters, the group faced a massive serpent. It looked like a giant sea dragon as it towered over them. Its lower half was hidden beneath the surface of the lake. Its head looked like that of a dragon. It had two massive horns and spikes that ran from the top of its head, all the way into the water. As I approached, it roared and struck the ground near the group. It was only then that I realised – it was blind. Its eyes were scorched, the scales around them were darkened and damaged.

It reared its head, preparing to strike again. I glanced at the group to see their positions.

Erik was standing closest to the creature. Holding his tower shield raised to protect him; his entire body let out a faint golden shine. A little ways behind him stood Vincent, his stance wasn't firm like that of the paladin's. Instead, he seemed ready to jump out of the way of an incoming attack.

At the very back stood Alina, Samantha, and Rina. The two spellcasters were focusing with their eyes closed and hands extended as magic gathered in their palms. Samantha was trying to aim at the creature, though its fast movements clearly made things difficult for her.

Between them and the two front liners stood Alex. She held a rather long spear in her hands. I spotted Joshua running through the trees, circling around the lake. Was he trying to flank the creature?

The creature roared and prepared to strike again. It was aiming for the three women in the backline.

I folded my wings a little and aimed for its head. As its downwards motion began, I reached its head. I landed on its nose and shouted. "Hey, I'm up here!" It flinched and tried to bite me. As teeth as large as my entire body snapped only a hairs length away from me, I jumped up and with a wicked grin, fired a volley of dark bolts at its already scarred eyes.

With that as an opening move, our fight began.