Chapter 190: 190
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
"I don't understand," Kal says slowly, chewing the inside of his cheek with a nervous fervour. Momentarily, Soren raises his head from me, giving Kal an odd look, as though he can't possibly comprehend what about this whole situation Kal would have difficulty understanding.
To be honest, I too have a fair few remaining questions about the whole matter. After all, if it suddenly conspires that your best friend, or husband in my case, actually has a separate being that has housed part of his soul for hundreds of years... Well, it is certainly enough to boggle the mind to say the least.
"What don't you understand, Kal?" Soren prompts, placing a firm hand of Kal's shoulder, ushering the words out of him with an encouraging nod.
Apprehensively, Kal gestures to Soren, to the tubes of crimson and red dangling down from the wall, moving over to sweep around at all the silver coating the walls.
"Why do this, split your soul? Surely you are just weakening yourself? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to put someone else here, or a shadow version of yourself? We all know you are capable. Its just," Kal pauses for a short while, his brows furrowed as he buries his fingers into the side of his head, thinking. Then he sighs, an obvious regret in his voice as he mutters
" Its just, maybe then you wouldn't have had your... 'corporeal' form taken by Azrael. And none of this would ever have happened."
Delina, Kal and I all share one long look.
True enough, I think inwardly to myself, a pang of regret burning through my insides. Perhaps if Soren had kept his soul as a whole and not split, he would never have been overpowered in the first place, none of this would have happened.
The thought is almost too painful to bear. Then another voice nags at my mind, the voice of reason, and acceptance.
No use lingering on the past, Serena, what's done is done.
I do not think of the matter after that.
Fortunately, Soren serves us answers anyway, shaking his head sadly as he begins to pace around the throne.
"If I left anyone else down here, they would surely perish or- perhaps even betray me, it has been done before," he sighs, his finger running along the gold edge of the throne, his finger picking up fluffs of dust, revealing the sparkling gold underneath it. Sparkling gold- lined with splatters of deep, crimson blood. Oh.
Oh.
No wonder Soren seems so adamant about placing himself here and no others. He has already tried putting other people down here, and by the way those crimson stains streak the throne, the floor, barely hidden under the red light that swings above our heads, I would hazard a guess that things didn't exactly turn out as planned.
Kal seems to see this too, all at once falling into an impossible silence, allowing Soren to continue.
"In using a fragment of my soul to guard this place, I would ensure complete control over it, and still have sufficient power to deal with unnecessary outcomes. Sure it would weaken my corporeal form slightly, but at the time of creating, this was not an issue. It is only now that Azrael has acquired a soul that my decision to split my own soul may have been made in peril."
Clenching my jaw, I mull over this statement for a moment. Something in it doesn't quite click, some fact or detail that remains missing- but what? Then it clicks.
"Of course," I groan, slamming my hand against my head- how could I be so dense?
All eyes pin point on me, narrowed with curiosity and complemented by a series of incoherent grunts. I roll my eyes.
"Surely it is a good thing your soul has been split?" I state enthusiastically, raising my arms with alarm. "That means Azrael will not be able to take it- it's not whole!"
It is at this moment, the whole room goes silent, holding its breath. Its a plausible revelation- very plausible in fact, not so far into the reaches of impossibility that the statement is completely unfounded. There has got to be some truth behind it. Something that might just take the edge off of Azrael's plan.
Across from me, Soren's eyes twinkle amusedly.
"Clever girl," he chuckles, ruffling the top of my head affectionately. "That is exactly what it means."
Proudly, I beam at him, earning myself an endearing boop on my nose. Rigidly, Delina strolls over, her long nails clacking nervously, her red eyes wide with an untold fear. Kal seems to feel it too, a train of thought passing between the two of them that I am not yet privy too.
"While this is good news, you are on a ticking time bomb, Soren," Delina warns urgently, her eyes flickering over to the door at the other end of the room, no light issuing from under the crack, nothing but an inky darkness and untold secrets. Whatever is through that door has been plunged into complete darkness- that surely can't be a good sign, at least, not from my experience.
Delina continues, sharing another desperate look with Kal as she runs her fingers through her hair.
"We need to get you back to your corporeal form or the gods know what Azrael will do once he finds out his primary candidate for soul stealing isn't viable."
Soren nods slowly, pacing, his hand pressed against his chin.
"Indeed, he might decide to kill off my corporeal form. Or kill all his captives, and then he would likely come for you, which is a situation I would ideally like to avoid."
The three of us nod, agreed on the matter.
"There is no doubt about it," I confirm, wringing out my hands. "Azrael needs to be stopped, one way or another."
"But stop him how?" Kal interjects with a low whisper, raising his hands to grab our attention. "I don't mean to doubt the integrity of your plan, but how exactly do you intend to do that? We can't exactly just waltz on in there- Azrael is a lunatic for hell's sake- he is trying to extract souls, souls. He will try to kill us before we even get the chance to stop him- especially if he sees Soren."
At once, I fall silent, mulling over the situation. It is true that Azrael is unlikely to let us walk in there freely- despite the fact he had promised some inkling of fairness in this god forsaken game. But Azrael, like most of the headful bloodsucking creatures that stalked the palace above our heads like vultures on a mass grave, isn't exactly the most trustworthy individual, preferring to slink through the shadows and manipulate his victims into some sort of sick compulsion.
But for now I have very little choice. Perhaps after all this I will still have to play Azrael's game. I had hoped to get down here and figure out a plan, or have collected the scattered array of my ideas at least. But now faced with the challenge of saving Soren and Ithuriel in tandem with ensuring Azrael has been beaten down enough that he will never see the light of day again, I cannot help but think everything about this is entirely hopeless.
"Serena," Soren whispers beside me, a concerned look pulled over his handsome face. Lightly, he touches my arm in reassurance, easing the tension I didn't even realise I had. "How confident are you in your powers?"
Momentarily, I gaze down at my fingers, soaking in the golden sheen that has never quite left my body. Up in the Palace, fighting Azrael with my powers was a disappointment to say the least. I could barely hold my own for ten seconds, let alone beat his ass into a mushy pulp from which he will never arise. Back then, I would have said I am not confident at all, that I had no hope for surviving what Azrael would throw at me. But now…
"I am feeling pretty good. I think I could handle myself- at least for a bit," I admit, cracking out my knuckles with a series of bone crunching pops. Soren nods in agreement, humming faintly to himself as he turns to Kal and Delina, who look between each other with a puzzled bewilderment.
"And Kal," he starts again, his wings readjusting themselves on the crux of his back, twitching slightly. "How long can you cast an invisibility cloaking spell for?"
For a second, Kal ponders over the answer, his vision going dull.
"Five minutes, ten at the max- at least on a living creature. It isn't an easy one to maintain, why?"
A slight grin creeps onto Soren's face, daring and infectious. His eyes glower menacingly as he runs a hand past his hair, beckoning us all in closer to listen to him.
"I think I might just have a plan. A precarious one albeit, but a plan nonetheless.. So, listen closely."
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"I don't understand," Kal says slowly, chewing the inside of his cheek with a nervous fervour. Momentarily, Soren raises his head from me, giving Kal an odd look, as though he can't possibly comprehend what about this whole situation Kal would have difficulty understanding.
To be honest, I too have a fair few remaining questions about the whole matter. After all, if it suddenly conspires that your best friend, or husband in my case, actually has a separate being that has housed part of his soul for hundreds of years... Well, it is certainly enough to boggle the mind to say the least.
"What don't you understand, Kal?" Soren prompts, placing a firm hand of Kal's shoulder, ushering the words out of him with an encouraging nod.
Apprehensively, Kal gestures to Soren, to the tubes of crimson and red dangling down from the wall, moving over to sweep around at all the silver coating the walls.
"Why do this, split your soul? Surely you are just weakening yourself? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to put someone else here, or a shadow version of yourself? We all know you are capable. Its just," Kal pauses for a short while, his brows furrowed as he buries his fingers into the side of his head, thinking. Then he sighs, an obvious regret in his voice as he mutters
" Its just, maybe then you wouldn't have had your... 'corporeal' form taken by Azrael. And none of this would ever have happened."
Delina, Kal and I all share one long look.
True enough, I think inwardly to myself, a pang of regret burning through my insides. Perhaps if Soren had kept his soul as a whole and not split, he would never have been overpowered in the first place, none of this would have happened.
The thought is almost too painful to bear. Then another voice nags at my mind, the voice of reason, and acceptance.
No use lingering on the past, Serena, what's done is done.
I do not think of the matter after that.
Fortunately, Soren serves us answers anyway, shaking his head sadly as he begins to pace around the throne.
"If I left anyone else down here, they would surely perish or- perhaps even betray me, it has been done before," he sighs, his finger running along the gold edge of the throne, his finger picking up fluffs of dust, revealing the sparkling gold underneath it. Sparkling gold- lined with splatters of deep, crimson blood. Oh.
Oh.
No wonder Soren seems so adamant about placing himself here and no others. He has already tried putting other people down here, and by the way those crimson stains streak the throne, the floor, barely hidden under the red light that swings above our heads, I would hazard a guess that things didn't exactly turn out as planned.
Kal seems to see this too, all at once falling into an impossible silence, allowing Soren to continue.
"In using a fragment of my soul to guard this place, I would ensure complete control over it, and still have sufficient power to deal with unnecessary outcomes. Sure it would weaken my corporeal form slightly, but at the time of creating, this was not an issue. It is only now that Azrael has acquired a soul that my decision to split my own soul may have been made in peril."
Clenching my jaw, I mull over this statement for a moment. Something in it doesn't quite click, some fact or detail that remains missing- but what? Then it clicks.
"Of course," I groan, slamming my hand against my head- how could I be so dense?
All eyes pin point on me, narrowed with curiosity and complemented by a series of incoherent grunts. I roll my eyes.
"Surely it is a good thing your soul has been split?" I state enthusiastically, raising my arms with alarm. "That means Azrael will not be able to take it- it's not whole!"
It is at this moment, the whole room goes silent, holding its breath. Its a plausible revelation- very plausible in fact, not so far into the reaches of impossibility that the statement is completely unfounded. There has got to be some truth behind it. Something that might just take the edge off of Azrael's plan.
Across from me, Soren's eyes twinkle amusedly.
"Clever girl," he chuckles, ruffling the top of my head affectionately. "That is exactly what it means."
Proudly, I beam at him, earning myself an endearing boop on my nose. Rigidly, Delina strolls over, her long nails clacking nervously, her red eyes wide with an untold fear. Kal seems to feel it too, a train of thought passing between the two of them that I am not yet privy too.
"While this is good news, you are on a ticking time bomb, Soren," Delina warns urgently, her eyes flickering over to the door at the other end of the room, no light issuing from under the crack, nothing but an inky darkness and untold secrets. Whatever is through that door has been plunged into complete darkness- that surely can't be a good sign, at least, not from my experience.
Delina continues, sharing another desperate look with Kal as she runs her fingers through her hair.
"We need to get you back to your corporeal form or the gods know what Azrael will do once he finds out his primary candidate for soul stealing isn't viable."
Soren nods slowly, pacing, his hand pressed against his chin.
"Indeed, he might decide to kill off my corporeal form. Or kill all his captives, and then he would likely come for you, which is a situation I would ideally like to avoid."
The three of us nod, agreed on the matter.
"There is no doubt about it," I confirm, wringing out my hands. "Azrael needs to be stopped, one way or another."
"But stop him how?" Kal interjects with a low whisper, raising his hands to grab our attention. "I don't mean to doubt the integrity of your plan, but how exactly do you intend to do that? We can't exactly just waltz on in there- Azrael is a lunatic for hell's sake- he is trying to extract souls, souls. He will try to kill us before we even get the chance to stop him- especially if he sees Soren."
At once, I fall silent, mulling over the situation. It is true that Azrael is unlikely to let us walk in there freely- despite the fact he had promised some inkling of fairness in this god forsaken game. But Azrael, like most of the headful bloodsucking creatures that stalked the palace above our heads like vultures on a mass grave, isn't exactly the most trustworthy individual, preferring to slink through the shadows and manipulate his victims into some sort of sick compulsion.
But for now I have very little choice. Perhaps after all this I will still have to play Azrael's game. I had hoped to get down here and figure out a plan, or have collected the scattered array of my ideas at least. But now faced with the challenge of saving Soren and Ithuriel in tandem with ensuring Azrael has been beaten down enough that he will never see the light of day again, I cannot help but think everything about this is entirely hopeless.
"Serena," Soren whispers beside me, a concerned look pulled over his handsome face. Lightly, he touches my arm in reassurance, easing the tension I didn't even realise I had. "How confident are you in your powers?"
Momentarily, I gaze down at my fingers, soaking in the golden sheen that has never quite left my body. Up in the Palace, fighting Azrael with my powers was a disappointment to say the least. I could barely hold my own for ten seconds, let alone beat his ass into a mushy pulp from which he will never arise. Back then, I would have said I am not confident at all, that I had no hope for surviving what Azrael would throw at me. But now…
"I am feeling pretty good. I think I could handle myself- at least for a bit," I admit, cracking out my knuckles with a series of bone crunching pops. Soren nods in agreement, humming faintly to himself as he turns to Kal and Delina, who look between each other with a puzzled bewilderment.
"And Kal," he starts again, his wings readjusting themselves on the crux of his back, twitching slightly. "How long can you cast an invisibility cloaking spell for?"
For a second, Kal ponders over the answer, his vision going dull.
"Five minutes, ten at the max- at least on a living creature. It isn't an easy one to maintain, why?"
A slight grin creeps onto Soren's face, daring and infectious. His eyes glower menacingly as he runs a hand past his hair, beckoning us all in closer to listen to him.
"I think I might just have a plan. A precarious one albeit, but a plan nonetheless.. So, listen closely."
"I don't understand," Kal says slowly, chewing the inside of his cheek with a nervous fervour. Momentarily, Soren raises his head from me, giving Kal an odd look, as though he can't possibly comprehend what about this whole situation Kal would have difficulty understanding.To be honest, I too have a fair few remaining questions about the whole matter. After all, if it suddenly conspires that your best friend, or husband in my case, actually has a separate being that has housed part of his soul for hundreds of years... Well, it is certainly enough to boggle the mind to say the least."What don't you understand, Kal?" Soren prompts, placing a firm hand of Kal's shoulder, ushering the words out of him with an encouraging nod.Apprehensively, Kal gestures to Soren, to the tubes of crimson and red dangling down from the wall, moving over to sweep around at all the silver coating the walls."Why do this, split your soul? Surely you are just weakening yourself? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to put someone else here, or a shadow version of yourself? We all know you are capable. Its just," Kal pauses for a short while, his brows furrowed as he buries his fingers into the side of his head, thinking. Then he sighs, an obvious regret in his voice as he mutters" Its just, maybe then you wouldn't have had your... 'corporeal' form taken by Azrael. And none of this would ever have happened."Delina, Kal and I all share one long look.True enough, I think inwardly to myself, a pang of regret burning through my insides. Perhaps if Soren had kept his soul as a whole and not split, he would never have been overpowered in the first place, none of this would have happened.The thought is almost too painful to bear. Then another voice nags at my mind, the voice of reason, and acceptance.No use lingering on the past, Serena, what's done is done.I do not think of the matter after that.Fortunately, Soren serves us answers anyway, shaking his head sadly as he begins to pace around the throne."If I left anyone else down here, they would surely perish or- perhaps even betray me, it has been done before," he sighs, his finger running along the gold edge of the throne, his finger picking up fluffs of dust, revealing the sparkling gold underneath it. Sparkling gold- lined with splatters of deep, crimson blood. Oh.Oh.No wonder Soren seems so adamant about placing himself here and no others. He has already tried putting other people down here, and by the way those crimson stains streak the throne, the floor, barely hidden under the red light that swings above our heads, I would hazard a guess that things didn't exactly turn out as planned.Kal seems to see this too, all at once falling into an impossible silence, allowing Soren to continue."In using a fragment of my soul to guard this place, I would ensure complete control over it, and still have sufficient power to deal with unnecessary outcomes. Sure it would weaken my corporeal form slightly, but at the time of creating, this was not an issue. It is only now that Azrael has acquired a soul that my decision to split my own soul may have been made in peril."Clenching my jaw, I mull over this statement for a moment. Something in it doesn't quite click, some fact or detail that remains missing- but what? Then it clicks. "Of course," I groan, slamming my hand against my head- how could I be so dense? All eyes pin point on me, narrowed with curiosity and complemented by a series of incoherent grunts. I roll my eyes."Surely it is a good thing your soul has been split?" I state enthusiastically, raising my arms with alarm. "That means Azrael will not be able to take it- it's not whole!"It is at this moment, the whole room goes silent, holding its breath. Its a plausible revelation- very plausible in fact, not so far into the reaches of impossibility that the statement is completely unfounded. There has got to be some truth behind it. Something that might just take the edge off of Azrael's plan.Across from me, Soren's eyes twinkle amusedly."Clever girl," he chuckles, ruffling the top of my head affectionately. "That is exactly what it means."Proudly, I beam at him, earning myself an endearing boop on my nose. Rigidly, Delina strolls over, her long nails clacking nervously, her red eyes wide with an untold fear. Kal seems to feel it too, a train of thought passing between the two of them that I am not yet privy too."While this is good news, you are on a ticking time bomb, Soren," Delina warns urgently, her eyes flickering over to the door at the other end of the room, no light issuing from under the crack, nothing but an inky darkness and untold secrets. Whatever is through that door has been plunged into complete darkness- that surely can't be a good sign, at least, not from my experience.Delina continues, sharing another desperate look with Kal as she runs her fingers through her hair."We need to get you back to your corporeal form or the gods know what Azrael will do once he finds out his primary candidate for soul stealing isn't viable."Soren nods slowly, pacing, his hand pressed against his chin."Indeed, he might decide to kill off my corporeal form. Or kill all his captives, and then he would likely come for you, which is a situation I would ideally like to avoid."The three of us nod, agreed on the matter."There is no doubt about it," I confirm, wringing out my hands. "Azrael needs to be stopped, one way or another.""But stop him how?" Kal interjects with a low whisper, raising his hands to grab our attention. "I don't mean to doubt the integrity of your plan, but how exactly do you intend to do that? We can't exactly just waltz on in there- Azrael is a lunatic for hell's sake- he is trying to extract souls, souls. He will try to kill us before we even get the chance to stop him- especially if he sees Soren."At once, I fall silent, mulling over the situation. It is true that Azrael is unlikely to let us walk in there freely- despite the fact he had promised some inkling of fairness in this god forsaken game. But Azrael, like most of the headful bloodsucking creatures that stalked the palace above our heads like vultures on a mass grave, isn't exactly the most trustworthy individual, preferring to slink through the shadows and manipulate his victims into some sort of sick compulsion.But for now I have very little choice. Perhaps after all this I will still have to play Azrael's game. I had hoped to get down here and figure out a plan, or have collected the scattered array of my ideas at least. But now faced with the challenge of saving Soren and Ithuriel in tandem with ensuring Azrael has been beaten down enough that he will never see the light of day again, I cannot help but think everything about this is entirely hopeless."Serena," Soren whispers beside me, a concerned look pulled over his handsome face. Lightly, he touches my arm in reassurance, easing the tension I didn't even realise I had. "How confident are you in your powers?"Momentarily, I gaze down at my fingers, soaking in the golden sheen that has never quite left my body. Up in the Palace, fighting Azrael with my powers was a disappointment to say the least. I could barely hold my own for ten seconds, let alone beat his ass into a mushy pulp from which he will never arise. Back then, I would have said I am not confident at all, that I had no hope for surviving what Azrael would throw at me. But now"I am feeling pretty good. I think I could handle myself- at least for a bit," I admit, cracking out my knuckles with a series of bone crunching pops. Soren nods in agreement, humming faintly to himself as he turns to Kal and Delina, who look between each other with a puzzled bewilderment."And Kal," he starts again, his wings readjusting themselves on the crux of his back, twitching slightly. "How long can you cast an invisibility cloaking spell for?"For a second, Kal ponders over the answer, his vision going dull."Five minutes, ten at the max- at least on a living creature. It isn't an easy one to maintain, why?"A slight grin creeps onto Soren's face, daring and infectious. His eyes glower menacingly as he runs a hand past his hair, beckoning us all in closer to listen to him. "I think I might just have a plan. A precarious one albeit, but a plan nonetheless.. So, listen closely."
