Soul Relenter (Soul Saga #3) (41 page)

Zyle nodded.

“Where did you come from? I thought I killed you all.”

Zyle knew he was going to be killed no matter what his response was. He wou
ld be another soul to fuel the king’s health. The realization made him more depressed than he had ever felt. He was going to lose his immortality—forced into a metallic coffin until he disappeared into nothing for all eternity. He would never be reunited with his soul mate. “We’ve been hiding in Orgoom Forest.” Zyle didn’t know what else to say. It was the only response that sounded plausible. “Father Giloth protected us in his woods.”

“So you’ve been there this whole time?”

“Yes,” Zyle answered.

“And what bring
s you here?” Drake crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the Asquithian.

“We wanted to free the soul
s of our kin. We know you possess them.” Zyle’s voice was calm and emotionless. He had given up. There was nothing to do but wait for the sword to sever his neck from his body.

“Well, that was a waste
d effort.”

Zyle said nothing.

Drake walked over to Roxian and stared at her. He noticed her beauty immediately. He ran the strands of hair through his fingertips. He shook her body but she didn’t wake up.

Aleco groaned from the pain coursing through his body. He wished Drake would just kill him. “Drake, did you mean what you said?” He was deploying his last defense of Accacia.

Drake turned back to him. “What are you referring to?”

“That you loved Accacia?”

Drake stared at him. “I meant every word.”

“Since s
he is Asquithian, when she dies her soul will be transferred to the Soul Binders until you use it to heal yourself. And when you do, her soul will lose its immortality. If you love her, then you would want the stones to be destroyed, wouldn’t you?”

The k
ing was silent for a moment. “But she wasn’t murdered. She died by natural means.”

Aleco bit his tongue. He was hoping his brother wouldn’t realize that.

“So her soul is safe, Aleco. I have no concern for the rest of her kin.”

There was another knock on the door and a soldier came into the room. “Your Highness,” he said to Drake. “The battle is still raging but it will be over soon. The invaders are being slaughtered like farm animals, sire.”

Zyle felt his heart fall into his stomach. Aleco closed his eyes at his words, knowing they had been defeated. There was no one coming for them—no one to save them. Aleco looked across the room and met Zyle’s gaze and they shared the same thought. At least Accacia was safe and she wouldn’t have to watch them both die. Aleco nodded his goodbye to Zyle, and the king of the Asquithians nodded in return. Death had come for them—there was no escape.

Orgoom Forest

36

Accacia banged against the door all day, yelling for help that never came. She knew there was someone on the outside of the door because she could hear them shift their weight as they stood outside her quarters. Accacia begged and pleaded for them to release her but they didn’t respond. Accacia lied down in bed and fell asleep that night, wondering how she could escape. There had to be a way for her to free herself. She just had to think.

The q
ueen felt the anger rush through her body when she thought about what Zyle had done to her. She knew he made the decision to protect her and she could eventually forgive him for that, but there was one thing she couldn’t let go; he hadn’t even given her the opportunity to say goodbye. He had taken advantage of the moment because he knew what he was going to do, but she had no idea. Aleco was the one who told her the truth. Accacia’s husband had left for war, possibly to die on the battlefield, and she never got to say farewell. Her tears flooded her eyes when she thought about it. She wouldn’t survive if she lost Zyle. She couldn’t go on if Aleco was killed either.

Accacia awoke the next morning determined to escape her prison. She knew she belonged at the battle—she knew she was meant to be there. Accacia grabbed her gear and reached for her sword. She slid the blade into the lock, trying to break it open with her sword. The warrior sword given to her by her aunt was too thick to pierce the metal. She withdrew her guild sword and stuck it into the mechanism, prying it open like a crowbar.
She heard the click of the lock and smiled in triumph. She wished she had thought of that sooner. Accacia was too upset to think clearly at the time.

She opened the door and ran into the hallway. The Asquithian guard jumped b
ack in shock, alarmed that the queen had escaped. She held her blade up to his throat. “You will let me leave. I’ll kill you if you try to stop me—let me go.”

The
guard stared into her eyes then glanced down to the sword held at his throat. He returned his gaze to her features. “There is no point, Your Highness. The battle has already begun. By the time you reach the war, it will be over.”

“It doesn’t change anything—I’m leaving.”

She lowered her sword and walked away. The guard watched her go without moving against her. His queen threatened to kill him and he believed her intent. He saw the determination in her eyes and knew he shouldn’t try to hold her back. “Good luck, m’lady.”

Accacia smiled over
her shoulder. “Thank you.” The queen ran from the ship and sprinted down the dock for the trees of Orgoom Forest. As soon as her boots touched the ground of the forest, a loud scream erupted in her ears. It was neither human nor animal in form. The intensity of the voice in her skull made her fall to the ground. Accacia covered her ears even though she knew the sound was coming from within her. She suspected it was ploy of Aleco, a spell that would keep her behind if she escaped her prison.

Suddenly
, the screaming stopped and Accacia was able to rise to her feet. Emotion rushed through her body, conveying urgency and necessity. She knew the tree was requiring her presence at the base of its roots. Accacia shook her head. She didn’t have time for that. She knew she was needed elsewhere. When she stepped in the opposite way of the Lorunien Tree, the screaming returned, louder than it had been before. Accacia screamed in frustration and stopped her progression. It was obvious the Nature God wouldn’t let leave until she came to it. Accacia turned toward the Lorunien Tree and sprinted to its grounds, realizing she would waste more time trying to fight it. Besides, it sounded important.

Accacia arrived at the base of the tree minutes later. She caught her breath before she spoke. “I’m here,” she yelled in
to the canopy. “Now what do you want from me? I am needed elsewhere.” Emotions coursed through Accacia. She felt the same emotions she felt last time—elemental power, control, and fate—and then they vanished. An image of the ground before the tree flashed in her mind but she didn’t understand the significance. She was just as confused as the first time it tried to speak to her. “I don’t know what you’re asking of me.”

“Perhaps I could clarify.”

Accacia felt the wind brush through her hair and it took her breathe away. Her heart froze in her chest and stopped beating in time. She recognized that voice—she had listened to it all her life. The blossoms of the tree cascaded down and landed on the mound before the tree, the final resting place of Father Giloth.

Accacia felt the tears fall. “Father?” she asked into the wind.

“Yes, my child. It is I.”

Accacia closed her eyes and let the voice trail into her mind, cherishing it for the comfort it brought her. There was no mistaking the
identity of the beautiful sound. When she opened them again, she saw Father Giloth standing before her at the base of the tree. His beautiful white robes billowed in the wind, and he carried the staff of his order. He smiled as he looked up into the canopy. He brought his gaze to her face and Accacia smiled in return.

“Is it really you?”

“Of course, dear,” he said gently. “Who else would it be?” Accacia stepped closer to him but Father Giloth stopped her advance with his hand. “I have no physical form, Accacia. You cannot touch me. My soul is with you but my body is elsewhere.” He looked down at his own grave and his lips widened. “I am much honored to have been allowed to rest here.”

Accacia pulled a strand of grass from the ground and felt it in her fingertips. She released it
, and it drifted away on the wind. “Is this real?”

“Yes.”

Accacia nodded. She forced back her tears and stared at her deceased father. Her heart squeezed at the sight of him. “I miss you, Father.”

“And I you.”

Accacia felt the wind blow through her tresses of brown locks. She knew the tree was comforting her. “What’s it like—there?”

Father Giloth stared at her. “What’s it like where?”

“The afterlife.”

Father Giloth looked
around him, staring at the leaves and the flowers that were falling down around them. A peace and tranquility had come upon the clearing, calming the soul of everyone who stood in its proximity. “It is the same, Accacia.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will when you get here,” he said simply. “You think I’m gone, Accacia, but I haven’t left. I am the air that runs through your hair.” He looked down at the soil. “I sustain the ground for others to use. I am everything, Accacia—I am part of the soul of earth. I am with you every day even if you don’t see me. Please stop carrying the weight of my departure on your shoulders. I want you to be happy.”

Accacia felt her
throat choke with sobs. She forced back the tears and returned to a state of calm. She missed her father very much. Accacia had heard those words too many times. “Are you happy?”

“Yes,” he said. “And I am glad to see that you are happy.” Accacia knew he was referring to Zyle, giving her his approval. “I just hope one day you can feel whole.”

“What do you mean?”

Father Giloth didn’t answer her question, leaving it hanging in the air. He looked up into the canopy before he spoke. “So we need to discuss what the Lorunien Tree is trying to tell you. The Nature God allowed me to intervene this one time since you are unfamiliar with the language. Aleco never taught it to you.”

“I already tried,” she said as she shook her head. “I don’t understand how it communicates. Is it that way on the other side? Why can’t she just speak in words? She understands my meaning when I speak.”

“Well, the Nature God is the savior of us all—not just humans and Asquithians, but for the animals we share this world with. The easiest way to communicate with everyone is through emotions—everyone can understand them.”

Accacia nodded. “I hope I will catch on eventually.”

“You will,” he said. Father Giloth walked away from the bas
e of the tree and turned toward the stump. “I came here to tell you something very important, Accacia. The Lorunien Tree and I agreed to bury the greatest ancient gifts of the world within her arms for protection. Only someone worthy would be allowed to accept these gifts because only they would have the will to destroy them.”

Accacia assumed he was r
eferring to the prescient stone. She didn’t understand why he was telling her this now. It wouldn’t help her win the battle in Letumian Province. “I don’t understand, Father.”

Father Giloth turned to her. “The Lorunien Tree is giving you the remaining stones—the ones Drake doesn’t have. She
wants you to destroy them after you stop Drake from hoarding the souls of her children within the Soul Binders—they need to be released. The stones are for you to destroy. No one else has the strength to do it.”

Accacia felt her palms sweat. “You are giving them to
me
?”

Father Giloth nodded.

“Why?” she asked. “Why didn’t the Nature God reveal them to Aleco? He is the Nature Priest of this realm.”

“Aleco is scarred by the pain of his past and has no control over his life. I don’t think Aleco has the strength
to destroy the stones when he’s finished with his task. I suspect he will keep them to use to his own advantage.”

Accacia shook her
head. “He would never do that, Father.”

“I don’t mean he
will use them with cruel intentions. He would use them to protect the people of the Continent—but they are too powerful, Accacia. No single individual should possess them all. They need to be destroyed—only you can resist the temptation to keep them.”

Accac
ia was silent for a moment. “I’m full of pain as well, Father. How can you be sure that I will not fail you?”

Father Giloth smiled at her. “That is why,” he said. “You are not blind to your own shortcomings. You study your actions objectively unlike everyone else. I know you will have the strength to complete the task.”

“No, I won’t. I don’t have a Soul Relenter. We haven’t been able to locate one or find anyone who has even heard of it. I have nothing to destroy the Soul Binders with and I have nothing to destroy these elemental stones—I’m sorry, Father.”

Accacia closed her eyes and looked away. She felt the wind pick up around her. It was so powerful it almost blew her over
, but an invisible force was holding her upright. Suddenly, her guild sword was caught in the wind and it flew from her scabbard and fell on the grass before her feet. She leaned down and grabbed the sword by the pommel.