Soul Catcher (28 page)

“There will be nothing left to return to, Aleco,” he said. “If she does, she will be captured immediately. Drake will not end his search until he has her—dead or alive. He will have
complete dominion over this land. She will never be safe.”

“She can stay with me,” Aleco said. “I know a place she will never be found.”

“You would have her spend the rest of her days in a secluded area where she could never leave?” Father Giloth challenged. “She would never find happiness living that way. Eventually, they will find her, Aleco, whether on purpose or accident. If she is recaptured, she will never escape—not again.”

“Fine,” Aleco reasoned. “Then I will go with her.”

Father Giloth sighed heavily. “Aleco—you can’t.”

“Why not, old man?” he shouted. His voice dripped with frustration. He wasn’t parting with Accacia. He wouldn’t let that happen. “I’m going with her—that’s
final
.”

“You can’t, Aleco,” Father Giloth repeated. “They will never accept a human among their people, even if Accacia accompanies you. And with your appearance, I suspect they will kill you immediately.”

Aleco cursed to himself. His twin was responsible for the death of the Asquithian people who visited the land under a banner of peace. They would immediately assume they were one and the same. He released Accacia’s hand and dropped his face into his palms, cursing under his breath. “Boggs,” he snarled. The three sat in silence as the inevitable truth sank in—that Accacia was leaving this land.

Accacia broke the dead air. “I’m not going,” she said.

Father Giloth fixed his gaze on her. “You must,” he insisted. “There is nothing for you here. Live out your life with your people. It is the only place you will be safe.”

“And leave everyone else to their fate?”

“Yes,” Aleco spoke. He lifted his head from his palms and looked at her. “You need to leave.”

Tears bubbled in her eyes. Aleco wanted her to go and that hurt her deeply. “I can’t abandon everyone I care about,” she said as she stared at Aleco. “We can overcome this.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, reassuring him of her faith.

“The old man is right,” he said. “And you know how much I hate it when he is.”

Father Giloth smiled at his words.

Aleco continued. “Even if we gather the free people in an uprising, we will be outnumbered a thousand to one, Accacia.
One thousand to one
. If we decide to go after Drake alone, past his mass of soldiers, guards, and palace walls, we will never succeed in killing him—since he is immortal.

“You don’t know that,” she said.

“Yes, I do,” he said. “And when he finds you, I won’t be able to protect you. You’ve already experienced more pain than anyone should ever endure and you deserve to be happy—I want you to be happy.”

“I am
happy,” she whispered through her tears and squeezed his palm.

He kissed her. “If you stay here, I never will be,” he said. “Please do this for me.”

Accacia looked down at their joined hands. She felt the rough patches on his fingers with her own callouses, the ones she had received during her battle training.

“Accacia?” he pressed. “I hate this as much as you do, but you
have
to do this.”

“No,” she refused.

“
Accacia
,” he snapped. His blue eyes were in flames at her disobedience. “You would defy both of our wishes—the two men who care about you?” Aleco’s anger began to seep through. The ferocity flashed in his eyes as he listened to her defiance. “You have two choices: either you can
do
as I say, or I can
make
you
do
as I say. What’s it going to be?”

Accacia knew how to sheath his anger. She had learned the tactic during their time together in Orgoom Forest, and she wished she had known the secret sooner. It would have been useful when she was traveling with this sulky stranger across the Continent, listening to his insults and hateful comments. She cupped his cheeks with her fingers and kissed him. Father Giloth looked away at the affection, uncomfortable by the sight. She removed her lips and heard an audible sigh, a replacement for the
usual moan he always made.

“It’s not going to work, Accacia.” He was still angry, but his fury had dwindled significantly. At least he wasn’t threatening her anymore. He grabbed her hands and held them to his chest. He looked her in the eye. “Please do this for me.”

Accacia hated the idea of leaving the Continent, abandoning the man she loved and her father, but she was moved by the determination in Aleco’s eyes. He would have it no other way. “Okay.” She sighed.

Aleco forced himself to smile. Accacia had obeyed his command, but it brought him no satisfaction. He didn’t want her to leave. The only reason he encouraged her to go was because he knew she would be safe—and that’s all that mattered. The idea of her absence—permanent absence—made him sick to his stomach. He couldn’t breathe, despite the rise and fall of his chest. He couldn’t think about anything but the excruciating pain of the loss. He wanted to die. He couldn’t see the purpose in going on without her. “Thank you,” he whispered. His tears hid behind his eyes, and he blinked them back.

“You need to leave soon, Accacia,” Father Giloth said.

Accacia nodded.

“The duke will approach the forest, and he will unleash everything he has to bring it down. You need to be gone when he does,” he said. “You will leave three days hence.”

“
Three
days?” Aleco asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he said. The pain on Aleco’s face shattered the old man’s heart. He was finally happy, but soon his depression would be greater than it ever was. Father Giloth wished he had a different fate. “We will begin our preparations immediately.”

Accacia and Aleco rose to their feet. Accacia left the study first, but Father Giloth held Aleco back. “We need to talk, Aleco.”

“When?” he asked.

“Return when Accacia is asleep.”

Aleco nodded.

Accacia was sleeping on his chest, one arm hooked around his neck, while the other rested on his stomach. His arm circled her torso while the other ran through the strands of her hair. It was the first night they didn’t make love.

Aleco turned over slowly and moved Accacia from his chest to the bed. She didn’t wake as he shifted her, but she sighed loudly at his movements. She began to shiver from the absence of his body heat, and her arms freckled with bumps from the cold. He covered her with the blanket and kissed her temple. He dressed himself, tossed another log onto the fire, and left for the house.

Father Giloth sat at his chestnut desk in the study. His table was empty except for two objects: a red stone and a blue stone. Aleco took his seat across from him. The heat of the fire thawed his extremities. The house was only feet away, but it was enough to chill his body.

“Why am I here?” he growled. Every moment with Accacia was precious; he didn’t want to waste it there.

“There are a few things you need to know,” he said. “When Accacia leaves, you will be too delirious to hear them, so it’s best if I say this now.”

Aleco nodded his agreement.

“A new Nature Priest will need to be appointed when I meet my end. I have sealed my choice within this Soul Catcher,” he said as he lifted the stone. It was red like dry blood on a handkerchief. “This stone houses all my knowledge, and it will guide my successor through any problems he may face. It also contains wisdom in other matters as well. It encompasses my entire order, my entire life.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he snapped.

“Because you need to know where this is when the time comes,” he explained. “When it reveals the successor I have chosen, my staff and the powers of the forest will respond only to him, and him alone.”

Aleco nodded.

“Can I count on you?” he asked.

“Yes,” he said.

Father Giloth placed the stone on a high shelf in the corner. Aleco watched him. “You act like death is unavoidable,” he said.

“That’s because it is, my son.”

“Your upcoming death doesn’t seem to trouble you,” he observed.

“I will perish so something greater than I will flourish. I am prepared to meet my maker and reunite with my family,” he said. “Why should I be troubled?”

“What about those you leave behind?” he said. “You have no concern for them? Your time is over, so let the others deal with the problem?”

Father looked at him. “The forest will survive at the cost of my death. The outer edge may burn in flames, but the center of the woods will persevere. Of course, I care about what I leave behind.”

“How do you know this?” he asked. “I know you have paramount powers as a Nature Priest, but I didn’t realize seeing the future was one of them.”

Father Giloth said nothing. He grabbed the other rock from the table; the heavy one Accacia had appraised before, and looked at Aleco. “I know what this is, Aleco,” he said. “Do you wish to know as well?”

Aleco looked at the metallic gem. Accacia had a vested interest with the stone as well. He wondered why she wasn’t included in their moonlight discussion. “Yes,” he said.

“Give me you word that you will not relay this knowledge to Accacia. You can’t reveal my upcoming passing either,” he said. “This entire conversation is confidential.”

“Why don’t you want her to know?”

“It will only hurt her,” he said. “She is about to leave, Aleco. There is no point in making her suffer needlessly.”

Aleco nodded. He could agree to that.

“It is similar to a Soul Catcher,” he said as he turned the stone with his palm, “but it does not harvest memories from minds to be relived later. It does something very different—it harvests souls.”

“Harvests
souls
?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes,” he said. “Within these stones live actual souls—of people—and their souls offer energy to the beholder of the gem. The power the person accumulates in life will accompany them in death, and
this energy can be accessed by the beholder. For instance, a king will contain more energy and power than a peasant.”

“All souls aren’t equal in value?”

“Definitely not,” he said. “This is how one can be immortal,” he continued. “When someone suffers a mortal wound, a treacherous fall, or old age, they can withdraw energy from the souls stored within the gem to restore their bodies.”

“What happens when an entire soul is used?”

“It vanishes,” Father Giloth said simply.

“Does it go to the afterlife?”

“No,” he said. “It ceases to exist. It does not travel to the light or the dark, it just vanishes. Their souls are no longer immortal.”

“Gods,” he breathed. It was worse than death. “What happens when a gem is depleted of souls?” Aleco asked. “Is that person no longer immortal?”

“Technically, yes,” he said. “But they probably have another stone stowed away, or they can refill their empty gem with new souls, which would be difficult because they are very rare.”

“Why are they rare?”

“Only Asquith souls can be stored within the stone.”

Aleco’s eyes widened. “Why does it house them exclusively?”

Father Giloth sighed. “The Asquith people are the creators of the finest weapons. They used a rare metal that allowed them to create such useful battle tools. The metal was also useful in construction of keeps, homes, and palaces. The keep of Roslyn is made with this material, where the guild collected these stones. The magic they used to create this material inadvertently created a hollow gap within it, allowing someone to store their thoughts for review at a later time. What they didn’t know was that the stone could also act as a Soul Binder, which is what these stones are.”

Aleco was confused. “Why would they make Soul Binders if it risked their immortality?”

“They didn’t realize the abilities of these gems until it was too late. They were far from reach in a land they had no control over. I suspect that when Accacia’s parents, the ambassadors of their realm, came to the Continent, their true agenda was either to harvest the stones or destroy them.”

“How do you destroy them?” Aleco asked with earnest.

“I have no idea,” he said. “It may be impossible. The weapons they forged will not melt, break, bend, or dull despite the best efforts to do so. This is why their weapons are priceless,” Father Giloth said. “Their stones are also unbreakable.”

Aleco’s face fell. “Why are there souls within these gems?”

“The combination of the stones used to erect the keep of Roslyn contains a plethora of these gems, and their presence creates a beacon which sucks wandering souls into the stone, sealing them within the surface forever. When an Asquithian is murdered, their soul is attracted to the stone and enters it. If an Asquithian perishes by normal means, their souls will remain unaffected by the power of the gems.

“Where did these souls come from?”

“When Drake flooded the island, their entire population was massacred,” he said. “When their souls were wandering to the light, they felt the beacon of the Soul Binders in Roslyn, and their entities were sucked into the rock.”