Soul Cage by L. R. SCHULZ

Author:L. R. SCHULZ [Schulz, L. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

- Tvora -

They left the dead to rot.

Tvora stared beyond the stone parapet of Kildeen’s broken wall. The dead just lay there, staring up at her with their empty, colourless eyes. The metallic tang of spilled blood mixed with the acrid scent of burnt embers flowed down the wide streets of the city, a reminder of the brutality which had taken place over the past few days.

Tvora felt renewed strength running through her veins. The souls of the Knights she had felled bolstered the reservoir of her soul-cage like no victory in the pits ever could have. How many had she even killed? Seven? Eight? Nine?

It didn’t matter. They were all in the grave now.

She still remembered the face of the first Knight to meet her blade’s bite. It flashed over and over again in her mind. It wasn’t the look of a starved man who would kill anyone for the slightest taste of magic. No. It was the look of a man desperate to defend his country, to protect those he loved.

She tried to force the picture away. This was the hand life had dealt her. It wasn’t her fault this was the way of the world.

Lucia prowled up behind her, Cecco flying just above. The sun was beginning to set. They had been with her half the day now. This was the longest they had ever been out without fading away, without her cage running dry.

“When will it be enough?” she said to Lucia.

We’re not done yet, replied the panther. We need more still. Enough to sustain all three of us indefinitely. We’re nearly there, I can feel it. Keep going Tvora. You owe us that much.

Tvora’s jaw clenched. It was true. She did owe them. How was it fair that she’d left their village with her life when the rest had burned? She owed it to them to give them their lives back, even if in the form of a spectre.

Something was bothering her though. Tvora enjoyed battle, enjoyed the thrill of taking her life into her own hands, but after what she’d seen in Kildeen, she worried that Lucia enjoyed it too much. She worried it would consume her, become her.

She made to voice her thoughts but Lucia spoke first. Have you tried reaching out to Gowther yet? We’ll need him for what’s to come.

Tvora turned her head away from the dead below. “I tried, yes. He wouldn’t answer. I don’t understand. We have the power now to sustain him, all of you, at least for a time, but he won’t respond. It’s as if he’s withdrawn his consciousness from my mind.”

Hmm, Lucia mused. He’ll come. Just give him time. Gowther won’t abandon us. I’m sure he’s just being stubborn as always. When the need arises, he’ll waken.

“YOU WON’T BREAK ME!” came a shout from beyond the battlements. “I OWN YOU!”

“What was that?” Tvora said, hand instinctively reaching for Naex at her hip.

Cecco flew to her then, landing atop her shoulder. It’s Septus, the bird said.

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