XXVII

  Kindred Souls

  I closed Judith’s door and stepped into the hallway. Duke, Garen and Jake were leaning against the wall. They didn’t speak a word. Opposite them, pushing off right as I exited, was a girl I’d never seen before. She was tiny, almost the size of a child. The sword on her back pulled my attention like a magnet. It was at least twice her size, its flat so broad you wouldn’t be able to wrap your hand around it.

  Her spirit brushed mine. It nicked a wound in my soul like a kitchen knife your finger, and I winced.

  A snort. Then the girl made her way down the hall.

  “Who was that?” I asked, frowning and rubbing my arms.

  “Caelia Vire,” Duke answered. “It’s better if you do not associate with her.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with the Lady,” Garen said. “She’s just…”

  “Hard on outsiders,” Jake finished. “It took five years before she stopped openly glaring at me.”

  “Right…” I was beginning to think all strong cultivators were weirdos.

  Shaking my head, I made my way out of the hall too.

  I watched the lanterns dim from the windows in my room. Were they in tune with the outside world and did this signified night?

  I breathed in deep, the air passing through my nostrils unimpeded. The Cleansing pills had done their job. It felt like I’d gone through life with a clogged nose until now.

  Inside my core, the amber extract of the Everroot swirled. To say I was brimming with energy was a lie. I was alive and writhing. So much so that I had trouble sitting still, which was why I got up and went outside.

  My stroll through the walls had no destination. The upper floor was isolated. Candle-lit chandeliers softened the mood as my gaze went over the offers in my screen. There were more than I expected. Over twenty. Most were minor clans I’d never heard of, but each of the pillars, except for the Snow Moon sect and the Dragonflight, had sent me an offer.

  ‘Even the Fallen Immortals…isn’t that kind of backwards?’ Their clan had tried to kill me.

  That said, their offer wasn’t the most appealing, so perhaps they were just going through the motions.

  Out of all invitations, that of the Vires and Dawnflames were the most promising. Judith’s clan offered me an uncommon F-grade weapon of choice, enough pills to sponsor my advancement beyond the Adept stage, training from one of their private instructors after passing the second test, and the opportunity to join the main clan for the third trial. That last offer was quite interesting as no one knew what it was supposed to be yet.

  The Dawnflames’s offer was mostly the same. Except they also had a bid about sending me beast cores for my summons for the duration of the realm, two of which I’d receive after accepting their offer.

  There was nothing about becoming a member of the main group of the third test.

  ‘Could be the Dawnflames don’t have intel on the third trial yet.’

  Wouldn’t be the first time one clan knew something another didn’t. At least the Dawnflames knew something else.

  …this extension of intel also relates to your Ladyship’s inheritance.

  The intel wouldn’t be more than the location—either a hint towards it or the specific area—but that’s all I needed.

  Turning a corner, I spotted an entrance leading to a staircase going up.

  ‘Looks to be part of a tower.’

  There was no sign saying disciples couldn’t enter. A quick moment of consideration afterwards, I was going up. A broken gust travelled low on the floor, and I quickened my steps, in dire need of fresh air.

  I exclaimed as I walked out onto a battelement open to the sky.

  Up here, the lanterns were close enough their cores were more than indiscriminate centres of light. I strode towards the rampart for a better look…and stopped dead in my tracks.

  There was a boy sitting on the battlement.

  Vyke’s feet dangled over the edge like that of a child enjoying a swing. He didn’t appear to have noticed me, so I took a careful step back—

  “Please, don’t mind me. Anyone should be able to enjoy this sight.”

  I glanced back towards the staircase. Well, if he wanted to kill me, I supposed he could’ve done so already. Also, I doubted the no combat-rule of the chateau didn’t extend to the tower.

  So I stepped towards the rampart, studying Vyke as I did so. He was wearing his armour except for his helmet. His skin was dark underneath all the metal—the soft brown of cacao. His hair was fastened into a thick braid that went down his neck. The low lighting didn’t hide his obsidian eyes, nor his symmetrical face, which was so well-proportioned that it made my skin crawl just to look at.

  The hollering voices of disciples shot through the sky. I peeked out over the edge of the battlement. They were competing in games like dodgeball in the courtyard. I even spotted Aurille in a corner of the yard, who was playing a game of cards with a few others I didn’t recognise.

  “Interesting, isn’t it?”

  “The games?” I said carefully. “I think I’d rather spend my time meditating.”

  He smiled, showing teeth whiter than snow. “Enjoying yourself is more important than any level of cultivation. Yet that wasn’t what I was referring to.”

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  I waited for him to continue.

  “The same people capable of having fun together can kill each other in the next breath.” His gaze roved over the entire courtyard.

  I blinked. “I think you killed more than anyone in this chateau.”

  If not him, then at least the result of his actions.

  “I suppose. But I’m not down there playing.”

  …True.

  In the quiet that ensued, the both of us appreciated the night air. My sight settled on Vyke, who was again gazing up at the sky.

  “You know,” I said. “I expected you to be more…”

  “Unhinged? I get that a lot.”

  Scratching my head, I joined him on the rampart. Silence lingered before I broke it.

  “You killed one of my friends.”

  Winds ruffled the end of his braid. “Do you hate me for it?”

  “…no.”

  How could I when I didn’t know the faintest thing about Ray?

  “You must not have been close,” Vyke said.

  The laughter of a particularly rambunctious disciple crashed through the night. Did Ray laugh in the same way? Or was his more muted? What did his voice even sound like again?

  My eyelids closed under a slight pressure. “I never took the time to get to know him.”

  Vyke minutely shook his head. “Goals. Dreams. They’re good and well but you must not lose yourself in them. Enjoy the moment. Listen carefully…try to hear the voice of the wind.”

  He closed his eyes. As did I. The breeze rippled over and through my hair. Its touch was an icy finger yet it was welcoming…but a sudden cry from my left interrupted the peace before it could embrace me. My head rotated, eyes still closed. The darkness was overwhelming, yet the sight of the hunched figure hovering in the air was unmistakable—a translucent silhouette, whose mouth was painted in a perpetual scream.

  My heart was beating in my throat when my eyes opened.

  Vyke still had his eyes closed. All the while, the soul clung to his shoulders, the spirit not looking away from me for a second. Its mouth and body trembled. The wail rose over anything the merry masses below could produce, the chill of it brushing my core. But worst of all? My insides squirmed.

  Not in fear or despair but in resonance.

  I wanted to run but the pure lead running through my limbs nailed me to the rampart.

  He languidly turned towards me. “Ah. Is that your first one?” The curve to his lips was soft. He looked upon me like a grandfather would their grandchild.

  “My first one?” I stammered.

  “The soul inside you. You absorbed one, didn’t you? A drake?”

  “You can tell?”

  “Of course. Drakes are bitter.”

  Bitter? What was he talking about?

  He tapped his lips and smiled.

  “Oh my, and here I thought you must be growing lonely up here.”

  I didn’t startle, for I sensed the presence approaching long before they appeared. Aedan stepped out onto the battlement. She lifted the hems of her long dress and bowed. I inclined my head in return, then the girl joined us on the rampart, swinging her legs in the exact same manner as Vyke.

  If I didn’t know better, I’d think the two a kind couple of some sort. A weird couple but a kind one nonetheless.

  “We were discussing the bitterness of drakes,” Vyke said.

  Aedan hummed cheerfully. Her veil jingled as she turned towards me. “Did you enjoy it?”

  “I…didn’t taste anything.”

  She huffed and patted her thighs free from dust. “Don’t worry.” The marbles of her attire chimed again as she looked down on the masses. The veil hid her eyes but her tone was confident. “Your first human will change that.”

  She said this as more laughter from below reached us.

  I kept my gaze on the two, who enjoyed the mirth as an old couple did looking from their window out onto a busy street.

  “You two…are creepy. Did anyone ever tell you that?”

  A raven flew overhead and cawed.

  Their laughter joined that on the wind.

  “Not to our faces, no,” Vyke said. “But a character like yours is refreshing. Did you receive our offer?”

  “I did. I’m not inclined to accept.”

  Aedan shrugged. “A shame. Lord Pyke was quite interested in the origin of your powers.”

  ‘Lord Pyke.’ That was the name Duke mentioned. He must be the elder of the Fallen Immortals.

  Her mention of a source reminded me of the question she asked me.

  “This…god of yours,” I said. “How exactly are you connected to it?”

  Mother and Uncle said a soul space wasn’t seen in the F-grade, so Vyke and Aedan’s connection to the deity couldn’t be the same as my own. But that they possessed powers beyond regular means wasn’t in doubt. Was theirs also a giant tree, just one living in another dimension?

  “The Bleeding Star can be reached through faith and acts of service,” Vyke said by rote. “Some cannot see its guidance. Those must be inducted.”

  Aeden added: “Yours must function the same since our stars do not seem that different.”

  I didn’t respond to her unspoken question. Everything inside me wanted to refuse even the slightest degree of companionship with them. But what was I supposed to say when I was speaking amiably with two lunatics underneath a lantern-filled sky?

  The sight of shivering hazes leaving their bodies flicked through my head, and I spoke on a whim. “What do you with the souls? Do they make your god more powerful?”

  “The Bleeding Star doesn’t feed on the souls of those we induct,” Vyke said. “That is not Its purpose.”

  A frown covered my forehead. “Then what is?”

  “Unity,” the boy answered easily as if that explained everything.

  It didn’t.

  I glanced at the time. Not keen on being being in their presence any longer, I leapt off the wall. “I’m meeting with my Administrator.”

  The both of them inclined their head in tandem.

  Yeah, creepy as all hells.

  “When we next see each other,” I turned away, “it won’t be on cordial terms such as this.”

  “Isn’t that always with cultivators?” Vyke said.

  I digested that but didn’t respond.

  “Ah, one more thing,” he called before I vanished below the stairs. Obsidian eyes regarded me. “Another slayed a herald. I’d be careful if I were you.”

  …

  “Thanks. But why tell me this?”

  He smiled. “It’d be terribly unfortunate if your soul departed before you could join us.”

  …

  I left the pair behind.

  After the conversation with the Immortals, I was all too glad to enter talks with Decim. The meeting went by quick. Most of the disciples had chosen to stay, only a few of the ones who’d received the rouge chests choosing to leave. The offer I accepted was settled through a karmic contract—a simple uttering of intentions that a mystic then bound through use of an art. In essence, it kept two parties from willingly breaking the terms of their agreement, lest they suffer a tribulation from the system.

  I eyed the ring of strange symbols on my wrist, which sunk into my skin and vanished altogether. Though it was invisible, thinking of the agreement brought the image of it back.

  A voice reverberated through the chateau which called all disciples into the courtyard. Thousands crowded the ground. No rule had been enforced yet the disciples had neatly divided themselves into their respective clans, with those disciples who changed ship accepted into their circle.

  I stood next to Raven and Duke. There were many more of us than had been present at the gathering with Decim and that wasn’t because off those who changed ship.

  ‘They must’ve spread us into groups before inviting us to the meeting.’

  I used my superior height to scan the members. The twins were here as was the girl who’d looked bored at the gathering. Others caught my eye too but none quite like the girl wearing a lofty, billowing dress you’d expect of a princess of some grand empire. She carried a white umbrella with sun motives which hid the permanent-smile on her face. I looked away as she turned towards me.

  My sight went to the Vire camp to settle on Judith. She stared daggers into Vyke’s back.

  The boy was again wearing his helmet. Around him stood dozens of disciples in black garments.

  I frowned. I thought I recognised the face of one—he’d been in the skirmish. But he’d been part of the cultists. Could inhabitants of the realm also take part in the tests?

  “Disciples of the Clans,” a voice sailed out from above, “you’ve done well to make it this far.”

  A star descended from between the lanterns in the sky. The light coming from the figure slowly dimmed so the dark, contrasting silhouette sharpened. The bottom of the man’s long-sleeved jacket didn’t flutter in the updraft, neither did his high hat show any sign of veering from his head.

  He came to a stop in the middle of the air. No essence revolved around him from what I could tell, so I assumed he achieved such a feat through a trinket.

  “I am the head Custodian assigned to Everwinter, Kazzio Tesoro, and it is my great pleasure to lay out the test that awaits you all.”

  Light coalesced into various stone structures reaching for the sky.

  “The Maze of Ancients is a labyrinth of temples and abandoned shrines lying underneath this castle. It is here that you will descend and fight for your future…or so it should’ve been.”

  Silence settled over the yard. Here it was.

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