Veiled Innocence (Book One, The Soul Cycle) (31 page)

“What was your gift?” Lian asked.

Vishka didn’t answer a
t first
and simply stared at her.

Tell them
, whispered a voice, soft and gentle. “I can see auras, the color of people’s souls, as it were.”

Rowan smirked. “
Mine’s black as night,
I take it
?”

Lian scow
led at him, but to her surprise
,
Vishka laughed, clear as a bell. “Hardly,” she said. “I think it’s safe to say neither of you are all bad.”

Vishka watched Rowan’s aura flare up aro
und him, a rich orange. Bravery, i
ntegrity
, and p
assion. Just like Draxonus’ had been.

“There was
a young man whom I deeply loved. M
y general and closest advisor. Draxonus.” She half-whispered his name, eyes growing misty. “As Empress, I wasn’t su
pposed to love anyone over the g
ods, but I was young and didn’t care. So, they attacked our temple, destroying it and my race along with it. We tried to flee using the ships, but it was too late. They were too strong, too fast….”

Lian and Rowan glanced at each other. “They?” Rowan said.

Vishka’s face darkened. “The Dracor,” she said, sending a chill down the back of Lian’s neck. “Terrible winged monsters with eyes like fire.”

Lian paled
and hugged herself.

Vishka looked at her sharply. “What’s wrong?”

Lian mustered
a smile. “Nothing. Only
a sudden chill
, that’s all
. Please, continue.”

Vishka’s eyes dropped to the fire. “I was injured trying to escape the temple. Draxonus had taken me below deck to see to my wounds when they descended upon the fleet.” She paused, eyes growing distant. “He ran up the stairs, trying to rally his troops. I went after him, having just stepped onto the deck when the Dracor’s poisonous talons ripped through my flesh. There was a scream of rage, the mad swinging of a sword as someone tried to fight my assailant off, and then all was still. The last thing I remember before blacking out
was
his cold, dead eyes watching me,” she said, lowering her gaze to the ground. “
They accused
me. As if it
was entirely
my fault, and it was.”

“I’m so sorry,”
Lian
whispered.

Vishka’s face hardened. “Spare me your pity. I do
n’t deserve it.”
She
let the pain show on her face, her thoughts far away. Rowan stared at the ground, not saying anything. 

“I wanted to die,” Vishka said in a low, chilling voice. “When I awoke and saw the destruction and death around me, all I wanted was to meet Draxonus on the other side, even if my soul was damned.” Her eyes narrowed. “Then
He
appeared.”

Lian sat up straighter. “
Who appeared?”

The fire flickered as a cool draft flitted through the clearing. Lian shivered again, and Rowan glanced at her. He unfastened his tattered red cloak and awkwardly put it around Lian’s shoulders. She gasped,
giving him a
grateful
smile
. The corner of his mouth twitched
,
and he looked away, clearing his throat. 

Vishka stared at the cloak around
Lian’s
shoulders with an odd look.
Draxonus did the same for me on a number of occasions. I wonder if that boy’s cloak even smells like him?
  

Lian squirmed under her scrutiny. “Who was He?”

Vishka blinked.

“You said you met a man,” Lian said. “Did he save you?”

Vishka laughed, harsh and dry. “I suppose He thought He did.”

“What do you mean?”

Vishka slowly smiled and crossed her legs. She twined her fingers together and rested her chin in the middle, the hint of a smile on her lips. She took a deep breath. “He’s the reason I’m cursed with immortal life.”

Both Lian and Rowan watched her, not moving or blinking, each straining to lean close enough to the fire to hear her yet far enough so as not to be burned.

“His name was Erebus.”

Rowan blinked. “The God of Death?”

Vishka nodded. “He appeared out of nowhere, disguised as my lov
er, no less,” she said bitterly. “He promised
redemption in place of death. In my final hour, He offered me the ultimate weapon with which to extract my revenge upon those who had ruined my life. But of course
,
there was a catch, one I didn’t fully comprehend until aft
er I had accepted His bargain.” She
smiled
sadly
. “Death for death. How appropriate,” she hissed. “His stipulation was this –
,
” her v
oice took on a deeper timbre. “
‘
You are bound to me
until you fulfill your promise
or one of your blood sacrifices himself in your stead. Then, and only then, will you be free.
’
”

Rowan frowned. “Are we supposed to understand what on Eresea that means?” he said, waving his hand in the air.

“
It means
,” Vishka said, “I must eith
er kill His enemy as He ordered
or a relative of mine must willingly die in my place so the balance of souls is maintained.”

“Wait,” Rowan said.
“
What is the
‘b
alance of souls
’
?”

“Yes, that is what I said,” Vishka snapped. “Erebus guides souls on their journey through the Underworld.
Essentially
, everyone’s death has been predetermined in order to keep a balance between the living and the dead. It is
roughly
a ten to one ratio. It changes every day as the number of dead well surpasses the number of living. Since I was supposed to die that night, there is a gap in the system, one that harbors my life’s essence
like a ticket that’s reserving my spot
. That is why it must be someone of my blood to take their life in place of my own. Our essence is the same. However, if I fulfill His oath, then I will simply start aging where I
left off
and eventually die myself someday as if I would have had I lived through that night.”

“This is good
then,
” Lian said. “It means
you won’t be immortal forever, t
hat you can wi
n back your soul.
”

Vishka shook her head. “Not exactly. You see, at the time I died, I was unmarried and had no children of my own. My mother passed away when I was too young to remember much of her, and my father died in battle. I had no brothers or sisters
or
any relatives to speak of. Those
being the
circumstances
…”  Her voice trailed off, leaving a heavy silence hanging in the air. 

“You’re trapped,” Lian finished for her. 

Vishka’s shoulders slumped. “Not that I could ever bring myself to ask anyone to die for me. I have more honor than that.”

“Then you need to kill Erebus’
enemy,” Rowan said matter-of-factly.

Vishka rolled her eyes. “What exactly do you think I’ve been trying to accomplish for the past millennia?”

Rowan gaped at her. “You’re saying
you’ve had over a thousand years to kill this
man
and you haven’t?”

“It’s not that simple!” Vishka spat. She ran a hand t
hrough her hair. “He’s immortal
as well and
hiding in different forms so as to mask his aura. Immortals give off a different light from humans, a light I can see. If I can’t tell a mortal from an immortal…”

Rowan paused. “What happens if you fail?”

“Then we are all doomed. So you see, I can’t fail. I must keep going.”

“
Forever is her curse
,” Lian murmured, quoting the poem.  “How awful, to have harbored that kind of pain for
over
a tho
usand years. I couldn’t imagine it.
”

“As I told yo
u earlier,” Vishka said quietly, “y
ou know nothing of loss.”

Angel

LIAN SHIVERED AND PULLED
the blanket tighter.

Once the fire had gone out, it had cooled off very fast, and they had retraced their steps back to the murdel camp to salvage anything of use or value. Her mind wandered in and out of consciousness, and there were times where she couldn’t be sure she was dreaming or if she was still awake.

She rolled over onto her side and huddled her knees close to her chest, hoping that would help, but all it did was make her back cold. 

Sighing in resignation, she finally tossed the blanket aside and stood up.

The clearing was quiet; Vishka was nowhere to be found, and Rowan was sprawled on his back snoring beneath a heap of blankets. His blankets outnumbered hers at least four to one.
How chivalrous
, she thought as she tiptoed past him into the forest. 

She didn’t know where she was going, but at that moment she didn’t care. Since sleep would not come, maybe physical activity would tire her out so she could rest.

Picking a direction, she
started walking, stirring up dir
t and stray pebbles as she went
and occasionally pushing a branch out of her face as she passed. The growth was thicker here, like this part of the wood
s
had not been explored for some time.

She had heard stories growing up, stories of the creatures and spirits that dwelled in the wood
s
, scaring off any potential travelers. She thought of the murdels, how innocent they had seemed at first, yet how ferocious they had
become
when fighting Vishka. Perhaps there had been some truth to the stories after all.

She absently fingered the teardrop, warm against her chest despite the chill in the air. Where had it come from? Her mind had been so preoccupied lately that she hadn’t had much time to consider it. It cou
ldn’t have come out of thin air,
but then aga
in, she hardly believed in the g
ods before tonight. She definitely wouldn’t have thought someone could be stabbed in the stomach and not die.

The necklace, Vi
shka, the monsters she’d seen… T
hey all pointed to one thing.

Magic. Could it really exist?

She didn’t know how long sh
e walked, lost in her thoughts. E
ventually
,
her ears perceived the sound of running water, and her mouth immediately began to salivate, like an itch that wouldn’t go away.

Oh, what she would give for a drink of fresh spring water! How many days had it been?  Three? Ten? Time had been lost to her since they had entered the forest, and all she had to drink since their capture was the stale water of the murdels that left a taste of what she imagined rocks would taste like in her mouth.

She
began jogging in the direction of the sound. Fresh spring water. In a few minutes, she would have her first taste of real pure water in days.

The sound grew louder. At last, she came to a narrow riverbank. She
kneeled
at its side and began scooping handfuls of cool, clean water into her dry mouth. Quicker and qui
cker she drank; it was the best
tasting water she had ever had, rich with the earth’s minerals. 

When she at last had her fill,
she
sighed in content a
nd sat down on the loose dirt.
She idly traced patterns in the water, watching the surface ripple in the moonlight. Her thoughts were troubled, more so now after hearing Vishka’s tale.
Her lower lip jutted out in a frown
.
“
You know nothing of loss.
”

Vishka’s metallic voice whipped around in her head.
Vishka
had no right to criticize her; she too had endured terrible loss. What gave Vishka the right to self-pity? How
dare
she. She had been through just as much as Vishka! Where was her family, her love? Gone. Gone the same way Vishka’s were gone.

She
picked up a pebb
le and hurled it into the river;
the delicate
plump
was
swallowed up by the night. 

All this time, she thought that maybe things were getting better, that it was becoming easier to deal with. But now that she was completely alone, she was at the mercy of her memories. Her thoughts raced through a tangled web of mixed emotions. The day Gabriel held her in his arms and kissed her for the first time. She could still feel the warmth of his body pressed to hers, despite the chill of the night.