Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee

Author:Lori M. Lee [Lee, Lori M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Page Street Publishing
Published: 2020-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

The sun has set by the time Theyen’s healer arrives. To my annoyance, the healer insists on working with Saengo alone.

Phaut sits with me in the waiting room. She drapes her long, lean body over the sofa and pokes at the pile of books resting on the end table.

Since Saengo has been through enough today, I didn’t tell her my suspicions about who might have sent that assassin after me. It makes me uneasy having to trust Theyen’s own healer to care for her, but the woman had seemed genuinely concerned with Saengo’s condition. It’s the only reason I’d relented and left them alone, Ronin’s orders or not.

If that shadowblessed assassin was working for Theyen, it begs the question of how my death would benefit him specifically. Saengo said that a soulguide would be significant for the shamans. Maybe Theyen thinks that if I’m killed by a shadowblessed, it would infuriate the Empire enough to nullify his engagement.

But it could also lead to war. Would Theyen really go that far?

While Phaut pages through a book about the mythologies of the Nuvalyn Empire’s western provinces, the ones that border the Dead Wood, I open a compendium of the Shamanic Callings. I flip past the first four: fire, water, earth, and wind. I’ll read them more thoroughly later. Right now, my interest is in the Calling of Light.

I skim the first two: lightgivers, shamans who can transfer the energy, or light, of one person to another; and light stitchers.

I turn to the last craft. Soulguides. The section begins with a preface that all the knowledge therein should be read with the understanding that only one soulguide has ever existed and so it couldn’t be verified against any other sources. Not the most confident of texts, but I’ll take what I can get.

The section goes on to cover the few things I already know, like how a soulguide’s power can resonate with other spirits, and how if Sury were present at someone’s death, she could guide the soul safely into the afterlife. Or depending on the type of death and the condition of the body, she could ensnare the departing soul and coax it back, restoring the person to life.

The next paragraph talks about how Sury could disarm shamans by choking their bonds with their familiars, rendering them temporarily powerless. Or she could sever those bonds entirely. That would be handy against other shamans.

Unfortunately, that’s the end of the section. Hardly anything at all. I need to locate a proper biography on Sury, one that isn’t based on legend and speculation. If such a thing exists.

Turning the page, I discover the next two are missing. At first, I think they might have fallen out due to the book’s age and the broken binding. But a quick examination confirms the pages were torn hastily and messily. The inner margin of the first page is still intact, including part of the heading: Soulrender. Calling of Light.

I stare at the words. Then I flip back to count the crafts, even though I know I’ve read through all three already.

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