The Chosen Soul (7 page)

All four were filthy from travel, stunk from the heat and wore expressions of overt

maleficence. Loki wished with all of his might that he had a weapon.

“Well now, this mornin’s a lucky one,” one of them spoke, his gaze sliding from

Loki to the pool beside him. “We come for the water and find an angel by it.” He glanced

over at Raven, who glared at him, the hatred plain in her dark eyes. The man laughed.

“An’ she’s a fighter, I see.” He looked away from her, and turned back to her brother,

who was now on his feet, crouched beside the pool.

“Jus’ gotta deal with you, an’ we can have our fun an’ be on our way.” The man

grinned a terrible, yellow-toothed grin and pulled a dagger from his belt.

Loki’s eyes darted to the dagger and then back up at the man’s face. His hands

clenched and unclenched at his sides. He pondered his options.

And then the water exploded outward and a white form streaked by him, slamming

full-force into the armed man. The man cried out in surprise, and the dagger went flying,

freed from the man’s grip. It landed somewhere in the bushes.

Raven took the opportunity to let herself fall to the ground between the men, and

because they were not expecting the sudden Naiad attack, or her the sudden weight of her

limp form, their grips loosened just enough for her to slip one arm away. She

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immediately pulled that one arm back and spun, balling her hand into a fist and plunging

that fist into the throat of the man who still held her.

He instantly released her and stumbled back, his hands at his neck, his eyes bulging

as he unsuccessfully attempted to breathe through his collapsed gullet.

The other man rushed forward, the promise of death in his eyes as he grabbed a

handful of her flying hair and yanked her backward into his arms. Once she was there, he

wasted no time in spinning her around and backhanding her to the ground.

Raven cried out in pain and anger as his knuckles once again caused her teeth to slice

into her cheeks. She hit the ground, positive that her jaw bone had splintered as little

white shining dots swam before her blurred vision. Her body was nearly numb with

shock, so she barely felt it when the man lifted her back up off of the ground and threw

her against a thick tree. The rough bark sliced through the thin material of her tunic, into the flesh of her shoulders and back. The pain cleared her vision, brutally bringing her

back to her senses.

A few feet away, Manus rolled on the ground with the man he had just knocked

down. They came to a stop, Manus on top, and the male Naiad’s nails grew into terrible

claws, just as he smiled and his incisors extended into cruel, poison-dripping fangs. The

man beneath him screamed in fear and the naiad struck. He yanked the man’s head to the

side by his greasy hair and sunk his fangs into his grimy neck. Once again, the man

bellowed, but this time in pain as the naiad’s poison rushed into his system, burning like

acid. He began to writhe in agony beneath the water guardian, but within a few moments,

his movements slowed and his eyelids drifted shut.

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The man in front of Raven shook his head at her. “I’m gonna make it hurt for that,

angel,” he said as he came forward. Raven did not wait for him to reach her. Instead, she

roared with rage, shoved away from the tree and attacked the man head-on, her nails

clawing at his snarling face. She managed to dig deep furrows across his eyebrow and

cheek before he hit her again, sending her flying back into the tree, where she sank to the ground, despite the damage she sustained from the bark in doing so.

And then a second white form was sailing through the air. Minea hit Raven’s

attacker from behind, barreling into him with brute force, knocking him to the ground,

where he rolled in the grass and came up onto his knees. Then the female Naiad was upon

him, her claws raking across his chest, drawing deep grooves into his shirt and the flesh

of his chest beneath it. He bellowed in pain and lashed out.

A dagger had somehow found its way into his hand, and as he swiped at the

attacking Naiad, the blade caught her raised forearm. She hissed and drew back, blue-

green blood oozing from her wound. The man wasted no time in standing and coming at

her once again.

Manus rose from where he’d been kneeling above the poisoned man and turned to

face Minea’s opponent. However, he was taken unawares as the poisoned man’s

companion slammed into him, knocking him back down to the ground along with him.

Raven pulled herself up onto her hands and knees and found her brother at her side,

helping to ease her into a sitting position. “I’m fine! Help Minea!”

Loki nodded, left her, and gathered a fallen tree branch from the forest floor a few

feet away. Just as Minea’s attacker lunged, dagger at the fore, Loki swung, catching the

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man on the back with the thick branch, and sending him sprawling. Minea leapt out of the

way of the dagger as the man lost control and landed face-first in the grass.

Raven watched as Loki swung the branch again, catching the man just as he was

attempting to rise. And then Raven turned her attention to Manus, who wrestled with

another of the unwelcome visitors several yards away.

The male Naiad had managed to gain the upper hand, his extended claws carving

large chunks out of the man’s face and chest, however, unbeknownst to Manus, the man

that Raven had slugged in the throat was now coming up behind him.

Raven barely had time to think as the second man pulled his own dagger from his

boot and rushed at the naiad’s exposed back. She pushed herself up onto her feet and

raced toward him. She managed to reach him just as the dagger was descending. She put

herself between them and wrapped her fingers around his forearm, squeezing and pushing

back with all of her strength.

“Manus, behind you!” Minea’s warning caused Manus to turn, unwittingly

exchanging an exposed throat for his bare back. However, Raven’s opposing momentum

had succeeded in slowing his attacker’s assault, the dagger for the moment suspended in

the air between them.

Manus immediately backed up, his eyes widening as frost formed around Raven’s

grip, expanding at a heightened rate across his attacker’s skin. The man screamed and

automatically tried to pull away, but Raven’s uncanny grip held. The rime spread over his

forearm and down to his fingers, where it solidified the man’s hold on his dagger, which

also began to frost over. The magical freeze then shot up his arm toward his chest, and

everyone watched as ice crystals appeared above the collar of his shirt.

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The man bellowed again, fear and pain patent in his wide-eyed gaze. He desperately

shoved away from Raven, using his other arm as leverage, and she let him go. He

scrambled backwards, losing his balance and tumbling to the ground. As he impacted, his

dagger arm made a horrible cracking sound.

Raven’s own eyes widened and she held her breath.

And then the arm exploded into a thousand tiny pieces, petrified flesh cascading

outward for several yards in every direction. The man watched this happen to his own

arm, and his scream eventually died in his throat as he succumbed to a dead faint.

A few feet away, Loki lowered the branch he’d been holding, his opponent now

unconscious at his feet. He turned and offered the female Naiad a hand. She accepted it

and rose. The four of them stood still in the clearing, their gazes taking in the fallen

bodies around them, the now silent air thick with unanswered questions and unspoken

thanks.

The silence lasted a few moments more and then Manus moved to the water’s edge.

He raised his hand, the air shimmered, and a second gold goblet appeared in his grip. He

lowered it to the water and filled it to the brim. He turned and held it out to Raven.

She accepted it without a word. As she drank, she felt the bleeding gashes in her

back seal up and the wounds on her face once again vanish. It was her spirit, this time,

that felt slightly sore as she wondered how many more times her body would be beaten,

and as she fought with the knowledge of what she had just done, who she so obviously

was, and what she was becoming.

When she finished drinking, she silently handed the goblet back to Manus. He took

it, refilled it and handed it to Loki. He drank, also in silence.

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Finally, Minea spoke. “It was fate that you two should be here this morning. We

have not had thieves at the spring for several years. It is not easy to find. However, you

stumbled upon it as if by accident.” She turned to Raven. “And, just now, you saved my

brother’s life. I do not believe it to be a coincidence. You were obviously sent.”

Manus nodded his agreement. “Yes. And I thank you. We have grown overconfident

in our inactivity. If it were not for your intervention, one or both of us would be dead

right now, and the spring hopelessly depleted.”

Loki turned his attention to the bodies on the ground. Empty flasks hung from their

belts in multitude. “They were here to steal the water.”

“Indeed, though it would have done them no good.” Minea shook her head.

Loki and Raven looked up. “What do you mean?” Raven asked.

Manus sighed. “Once the water is taken out of the spring, its healing properties

diminish. It does not take long for them to be lost altogether. No more than a few hours,

at most.”

“And if too much is taken at once, it cannot be replenished,” Minea continued. “The

spring once held much more water. And much more power. Unfortunately, the foolhardy

have destroyed what it once was. Now its powers are limited, and I fear that even those

will one day be depleted altogether.”

Raven looked back down at the bodies. “What will we do with them?”

“The Sylph will take care of them. However, they will not show themselves to you.

And so, I am afraid, you must soon take your leave.” Minea said.

Loki nodded. “We need to be moving anyway. Thank you for allowing us to stay at

the spring. We needed the rest.”

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“Thank you for the water,” Raven said. “I’ve never had to be healed twice in a

twenty-four hour period before. I’m indebted to you.”

Manus smiled. “You saved my life. We are even. And, by the way, you’ve obviously

some impressive powers of your own.” He paused, as if trying to decide how to phrase

his next question. “Do you mind if I ask…” Manus followed them to where their packs

lay on the soft grass. Raven glanced at her brother, who looked steadfastly at the ground

as he lifted his pack over one shoulder.

Raven considered her answer before she spoke. “It’s something I was born with. I’m

only now learning to use it.” She pulled her own pack over her shoulder and secured the

strap. “Thank you again,” she said as she faced the Naiads one last time.

“You are welcome. Good luck in your travels. And, one more thing,” the Naiad said

as the two turned to go. They paused and glanced back. “I assume you are wishing to

travel to Kriver.”

Loki and Raven glanced at each other and then nodded in unison.

“Then, follow the trees with the yellow blossoms. Trust me. It is much faster.”

At that, the two Naiads moved back to the water of their spring and stepped in.

Within a few seconds, their heads had disappeared beneath the surface.

Raven turned to her brother. “The yellow blossoms,” she said as they pushed through

the thicket around the spring and came out into the forest once again.

“Right,” he agreed, and they were on their way.

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The Chosen Soul – Chapter Six

The trees with the yellow blossoms seemed to follow no discernable pattern

whatsoever. The pair would turn at the sighting of one, head towards it and then look

around, searching for another for several minutes before finally spotting one in nearly the same direction from which they had come.

Before long, Raven knew that Loki was frustrated and was wondering whether they

should have followed the naiad’s instructions after all.

“Loki, are you all right?”

Her brother hadn’t spoken to her since they’d left the spring except to point out a

yellow-blossomed tree every now and again.

Loki looked down at the ground, apparently concentrating on his footing. He did not

answer and Raven’s heart sank. Her display of icy power back at the spring had been

Loki’s first to witness. Now he would know, as well as she did, who the stranger had

been that had given her her soul. He would know which of the Lords of Abaddon was her

father. Perhaps actually having such knowledge solidly evidenced before you was far

different and more difficult to cope with than simply imagining it.

She chewed her lip and fell into silence.

Finally, he spoke.

“I think they’ve led us astray.”

Raven stopped in her tracks. It was several moments before Loki did the same. He

turned and peered at her.

“Loki, we have to discuss this eventually. It may as well be now.”

Loki looked around them. “Discuss what? The damned yellow trees?”