Corefire (Soulship Book 4) by Nathan Thompson

Author:Nathan Thompson [Thompson, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Nestor took point, but it was much like he’d reported: nothing greeted us in the following rooms.

Not only that, but the mist was thinner here—as it had been near the exit leading to the deeper parts of the ship.

I tried to figure out what that meant, but the only possible conclusion was that whatever being was responsible for the mist, they were being extremely careful with where they allowed it to go.

It also meant that, given the way the poisonous fog had almost instantly begun rolling in the direction of Vessa’s sanctuary, they were not inclined to be friendly to us.

And this fog was possibly a new effect, or the eaterlings we had slain in the early days would have never reached such a concerning proximity to Vessa’s emergency pod.

I reminded myself that we would deal with the fog soon, and continued focusing on our current set of rooms.

So far, they were all just large, empty spaces, one after the other. I wondered if there were perhaps some hidden terminals, but I could detect no telltale seams on the floor.

Careful, a voice warned in my mind. Or they will notice.

"Did you hear that?" I quietly asked Nova and Nestor, but the little mouse squeaked in confusion, and my blonde friend only shook her head.

I-still-scout, the lifemouse reminded me, rooms-clean.

Grandmother Mara? I asked, reaching out to the spirit inside my Soulscape.

I heard it as well, dear, the ancient dragon confirmed. She had remained silent during our last fight, to conserve her strength in case it was needed. Reach out with your soulsense, but I suspect you already know what is happening.

Reluctantly, I reached out with my spiritual senses and found what I had been dreading.

Tension, formed by intense concentration battling with a fear of failure.

Quiet, determined care.

Grim acceptance that said care would lead to one’s own death.

I am sorry, Grandson, my grandmother said mournfully as she felt my grief. The elders of ages past gave as much as they could to ensure that there would be children in such times as the present. We would all make that choice yet again if we were still able, but know that we did not wish for such sadness to linger in the young of today.

I had no reply, except to summon my weapons again.

I had already learned that not all ghosts were noble.

Koram’s gauntlet materialized around my hand, and the jotun-crafted halfblade appeared in my other palm a moment later. And yet, when I tried to summon my new war-baton, I felt a strange resistance, as if something else was tugging back.

I immediately glanced back into my Soulscape, found the problem, and sighed in frustration.

“Jasper?” Nova asked as she caught my reaction. “What’s wrong?”

I scanned the room again, but both Nestor’s senses and my own confirmed that no creatures were nearby, so I decided to risk opening my Soulscape and showing the armored woman what the issue was.

The enlarged portal revealed the small stash of all my spare weapons collected in conflicting states of order and disarray.

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