A Soul For Atonement (The Soulbearer Series Book 4) (12 page)

She caught him before he got back up. “Don’t stray from me.”

“Scared?” he asked, his one word mocking her.

She nodded. “And you should be, too. He let you in here for a reason, and until we know why, we both have to look out for each other.”

His upper lip rose in a disdainful sneer. “I hardly need a half-mad Milorian to look out for me.”

“Then consider this—out of the two of us, I’m the only one who’s been here before.”

“And for all I know, you’re in league with the chaos god you obviously can’t control.” He shrugged her off and stood, moving deeper into the fog.

The hairs on her arm rose, and her pulse pounded in her ears. A silent warning blared through her mind. “Callix, come back.”

An angry bleat answered, followed by the thunder of hooves. A bolt of green lightning lit up the sky to reveal two silhouettes. One of Callix.

And one of the creature charging toward him.

“Stop it, Loku!” she shouted, but the sound of deep laughter surrounded them.

The lightning increased in ferocity, illuminating each second in a series of vignettes that seemed to slow time down.

Arden scrambled to her feet.

Callix turned and drew his sword.

The chaos creature lowered its head.

Arden cast a shield to encompass Callix.

She held her breath, offering a prayer to the Lady Moon it would reach him in time.

Only to watch helplessly as the creature plunged its horns into Callix.

Chapter 13

Callix barely had enough time to raise his sword before the creature gored him.

White hot pain seared through his middle, driving the air from his lungs and paralyzing every muscle in his body. He slumped forward. His sword fell from his hand as the creature shook his limp body. The taste of blood filled his mouth.

I knew I shouldn’t have come here
.

Sinister laughter echoed around him, and he cursed the god of chaos.

He waited for death to claim him, for his soul to depart for the afterlife, but he remained conscious during every excruciating beat of his heart.

“Enough!” a woman shouted behind him, and a bolt of magic collided with the creature.

Callix flew through the air until he smashed against a stone wall that snapped his ribs. A hoarse cough rattled his being, and a gush of blood spilled from his lips. And yet, even through the haze of pain, he saw something that gave him hope.

A goddess glowing silver in the starlight, her golden hair billowing behind her as she cast her vengeance on the creature.

A screeching bleat was the last thing he heard before the darkness claimed him.

***

Fury consumed Arden, beating through her with ever-increasing intensity while Loku laughed. Magic pounded inside her chest with every angry breath she drew. She knew Loku wanted to play games, but she refused to let Callix die for his amusement.

“Enough!”

She released her magic with the word, driving back the swirling fog with a burst of light. Her skin shimmered as the spell cascading down her arms formed a bolt which pierced the creature’s heart. A high-pitched wail rose from it seconds before she reduced it to ashes. Then the wind carried its remains away.

“No!” an outraged voice said behind her.

She turned to find a ghostly projection of Loku running toward Callix.

A second spell whipped off her lips, and a set of golden chains burst through the earth and coiled around him. He tripped and fell flat on his face with a slew of curses.

But there was something more important than putting Loku in his place.

The man whose life hung in the very balance.

She knelt by Callix’s side and tried to decide which injury to heal first.

“Don’t,” Loku growled. “You’ll ruin everything.”

Callix coughed, and that was all the sign she needed. She cast a protective shield around them and focused her magic on healing his wounds.

Loku inched toward her. “No, he needs to die.”

“Why?” She asked, not looking up from the two oozing holes in his chest. It was the Temple of the Gods all over again. They needed more magic than she could spare. But if she lowered her shields or freed Loku to gain the power she needed, would the chaos god allow her to finish?

“Because I need a body to inhabit until I can reclaim my own, and he’s always known his fate. Why else do you think I allowed you to enter my realm without my ashes?”

A new wave of anger rushed through her. “When I’m done, I’m confining you with every spell imaginable.”

“Do you really think you can stop me?” He laughed and shook off the chains that had bound him. “Come now, my little Soulbearer, you’re in my realm now.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re bound to me.” She diverted her energy from the confinement spells to the wounds and finally saw them closing up.

“For now.” Loku passed through her shields as though they were nothing more than air and crouched on the opposite side of Callix. “You should really save your energy, Arden. I’m just going to rip his soul from his body to make room for my own.”

She snapped her head up and glared at him. Once again, she’d been foolish enough to trust him, but this would be the last time she fell for his lies. “You are the most despicable creature in all the realms.”

He laughed again and flashed a charming smile. “Give me a few centuries, and you may think otherwise.”

“I’m not even going to give you a chance.” She doubled her efforts to heal Callix. The blood flowed back into his body, and the skin was almost stitched closed when a bolt of green lightning struck her.

Smoke rose from her skin and hair, and her heart stopped beating for what seemed like an eternity. When it restarted, she was left helpless on the ground, staring up into a pair of glowing green eyes.

“One of these days, you’ll learn it’s better to submit than fight me, my little Soulbearer.”

***

Callix had no idea of how much time had passed, but he heard a man and a woman talking before he saw them. The woman’s voice he recognized in an instant. Arden. She was fighting to save him.

Humility stung his eyes and his pride. He’d come here to protect her, and now the tables were turned. If he’d only listened to her, perhaps he could’ve avoided this fate.

Sensation returned to his limbs, raw and hot and throbbing. But every beat of his heart reminded him he was still alive.

The man’s voice faded in and out, but the gist of the conversation was clear. The man wanted him dead, and Arden was doing her best to stop him.

A yelp forced him to snap open his eyes.

A man stood on one side of him, his body nearly transparent, but his features sharp enough for Callix to recognize him.

Loku.

The god of chaos turned to him and grinned. “Awake? That’s too bad. I was hoping to make this as painless as possible.”

A bolt of green lightning shot out from Loku’s fingers and hit the center of Callix’s chest, but nothing happened. No pain. No jolt. Not even a twitch of his muscles.

Loku’s eyes widened, and he repeated the spell with the same result. “What is wrong with you, mortal? Why isn’t your soul fleeing your body?”

“I don’t know,” Callix replied with a grunt as he lifted his head. His stomach wounds may have closed, but he still had a set of broken ribs to deal with. “But I do know one thing, Loku.”

“What is that?”

“This.” He pressed his finger to Arden’s temple and recited one of the first spells he’d been taught.

A spell to contain Loku.

The god of chaos vanished in a puff of smoke, still screaming curses at him.

Now it was his turn to laugh.

That is, when it didn’t hurt so much.

Callix crawled over to where Arden lay with her eyes wide open to the sky. “Still alive?”

“Barely,” she whispered.

“I would offer a healing spell or two…”

“Don’t bother.” She sat up and pressed her hand to her forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”

“See what?”

“His plan.”

“Don’t feel bad, Arden.” He cradled his ribs and managed to rise to a sitting position. “He had a reputation for trickery long before you became his Soulbearer.”

“But this is a new low, even for him.”

An inhuman howl rang through the night, and a warm blanket of magic surrounded them.

Arden huddled closer to him. “My shields are limited at the moment.”

“But they are appreciated.” He shimmied back until he could lean against the cream-colored stone wall. “Is this the canyon you spoke of?”

“I believe so.” She wrapped her cloak around her, fatigue slumping her shoulders. “Callix, he said it was your fate that he would inhabit your body. Do you know what he meant?”

His breath hitched, and he wished he could only blame it on his broken ribs. “Do you really want to know the truth?”

“If we’re going to have any chance of outwitting him, we need to be honest with each other.”

He’d forgotten that almost a century had passed since the day his fate changed, and yet the memory of his elation was as fresh as though it was yesterday. Only now, it was tinged with shame. “What do you know of the prior Soulbearers?”

“I know they were all members of your family until Dev became the Protector, and since then Loku has done all he can to make sure Dev has never fulfilled his role in becoming the next Soulbearer.”

Callix smiled in spite of himself. Poor Dev. Always the Protector, never the Soulbearer. But then, maybe it was some sort of special blessing from Lady Luck that he’d never had the chaos god’s soul inside him. “And do you know the story of how Dev became the Soulbearer’s Protector?”

She nodded. “His friend died in an accident, but he felt so guilty about it, he asked to be punished.”

His voice cracked as he asked, “And did he ever tell you whose place he took?”

“No.”

Of course not. For all his faults, Dev was still a knight at heart. Always honorable. Always loyal. And always abiding by his duty. “When I said I owed Dev a favor, it was because he took my place.”

Arden gasped, but didn’t pressure him to say more.

But he wanted to say more. She had to know why he was here and why Loku had targeted him. “I was supposed to be my uncle’s Protector, but I dreaded what lay in store for me. To watch him succumb to madness, only to experience it for myself. I was on the verge of deserting my duty, the one thing I’d been trained for my entire life. And then, by some small miracle, Dev offered to take my place.”

He drew in a deep breath, ignoring the protests from his ribs. “I’m here with you right now because I’m indebted to Dev, and if there is any way I can repay him for his sacrifice, I’ll do it.” He paused and added, “Even if it means giving up my own life.”

Arden remained quiet for several long seconds, and when she finally spoke, it was barely more than a whisper. “Thank you for telling me that.”

“You’re welcome, Soulbearer.” He tipped his head back and finally knew peace.

Chapter 14

Arden jerked awake, unaware of when she’d fallen asleep. She reinforced her shields, then the spell confining Loku.

“Relax. We’re safe,” Callix groaned beside her.

A snarl in the darkness answered, and he added, “At least for now.”

“How long was I out?”

“Hopefully long enough to recuperate.” He started to stretch, then winced and doubled over.

“Are you still hurt?”

“Just some broken ribs.” He rose with a grunt, one arm bracing the injury. “I’ll live.”

“You’ll be a far more effective Protector if you’re at full strength.” She guided her magic toward the broken ribs and knitted them back together. “Better?”

“Much.” He stood and offered her a hand. “So it’s through the canyon?”

She nodded. “And across the plain to the orchard.”

“Where there’s a tree with silver leaves and a giant ruby shaped like a heart. Sounds simple enough.”

From the deepest recesses of her consciousness, she felt Loku snicker. Even confined, he was determined to make this as difficult as possible. “I can only hope.”

Without the color-changing winged horse to carry them through Chaos, the journey of less than an hour stretched into what felt like days. Frustration battled weariness, and more than once, she was tempted to release Loku and ask for the carriage that had made quick work of the journey. She never forgot about how little time she had left to save Dev. By the time they reached the edge of the canyon, her body demanded sleep. Callix made camp without saying much, and when she’d had enough sleep, they continued on.

Time moved at a different pace in Chaos. The sun and the moon both glowed from different quadrants of the sky, and she had no idea of what was day and what was night. She ate when her stomach rumbled, rested when her body ached, slept when her eyes could no longer stay open. But with every step she took, she remembered why she was here. And when she felt like giving up, all she needed to do was touch the necklace Dev had given her to renew her sense of urgency.