Soul Relenter (Soul Saga #3) (42 page)

“Now you have the means,” Father Giloth said with a smile.

Accacia stared at the blade. “This is a Soul Relenter?” Accacia continued to study the material of the blade. She recalled Aleco explaining the production of the blades deep in the earth of the hideaway. They were forged from a rare metal deep within the earth. Accacia suddenly felt stupid for not realizing it before. “Thank you,” she whispered. The wind picked up again and blew away the dirt at the base of the tree, revealing the stones. They sparkled in the light of the sun.

“Our time is over,” Father Giloth said. “You have everything you need.”

Accacia sheathed her sword and nodded. She looked at Father Giloth, wishing he wouldn’t disappear into the elements. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m never gone, Accacia.”

Accacia nodded. “I love you, Father.”

“And I love you
, my daughter,” he said. “I’m very proud of everything you’ve accomplished. You are worthy to be a queen.”

Accacia smiled. “Thank you.” She stared at him for a moment, memorizing his elderly face. The lines around his eyes sagged just
as they always had, and his hair was as white as snow. “Can I ask you something before you leave?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“Why didn’t you tell us about the prescient stone beforehand?”

Father Giloth said nothing for a moment. “The knowledge of the future is dangerous. It is better not to know what may befall you.”

“Is that why you sent me away? You saw our fate in the stone?”

Father smiled. “The future is
n’t static, Accacia. It can change any moment. Your fate isn’t set in stone, excuse my pun. We are free to make choices and those choices change the course of the future constantly—they change destiny.”

Accacia digested his words. He hadn’t answered her question directly but she suspected she knew the answer. “I understand.”

“Can I ask you for a favor before I leave, dear?”

“I will do anything you ask of me.”

He smiled at her. “Tell Aleco I have forgiven him.” Accacia nodded at his words. She didn’t know what he referred to her but it wasn’t her business to know. If Aleco wanted to tell her, he could. “There is one other thing. Tell him to never lose hope. I told him he would be happy again someday—remind him of this.”

“I will, F
ather.”

“Now it’
s time for you to go.” Accacia felt the wind blow in the glade and the speed of the current increase. She knew this was the end—her father was leaving her. She stared at his face as he smiled at her until the pink blossoms that whirled in the wind obscured her view. When the breeze cleared, she was alone. She walked over and grabbed the stones from the ground and inserted them over her heart in her armor. The meeting had been so emotional and raw on her soul. If she didn’t feel the stones against her heart, she would doubt it had happened at all.

Aleutian Keep

37

Drake kicked Aleco in the ribs as hard as he could. Aleco slid across the marble and groaned in pain. He couldn’t
fight or even move out the way. He was paralyzed. He knew his brother would play with him like a misbehaved dog. Aleco feared he would be assassinated in his attempt to thwart the king but this fate was much worse. He hadn’t succeeded in killing the king or freeing the Soul Binders, and now he was being kicked around like a ball. His men were being slaughtered in the city and Accacia was going to lose the two men who cared about her more than anything. They had gambled all they had and lost everything in the bet. “Isn’t this fun?” Drake said as he kicked him again. Aleco didn’t react. Zyle watched him from the wall. He and Roxian had been tied up, forced to watch Aleco be tortured to death. “When all of your people are slaughtered and the smart ones finally surrender, I will execute all of you right before their eyes.” He kicked Aleco again. “That should lighten up their spirits.” Aleco rolled on his side and his face was lying in a pool of his own blood. He wished he would bleed out and die already. “I will kill the remaining Asquithians myself—they are far more useful dead than alive.” Zyle didn’t react to his words.

Drake grabbed a dagger and pressed it against Aleco’s wrist, cutting the skin and the vein. Aleco tried to hold back the pain but he screamed in agony. He was covered in cuts everywhere. His shoulder was barely attached to his frame and he was becoming dizzy with weakness. Aleco was ashamed o
f himself. He was completely broken, at the mercy of this insane fiend. Aleco wanted nothing more than just to die. Zyle couldn’t stand to watch the sight. He closed his eyes but the soldier kicked his ribs, forcing him to look at Aleco.

The k
ing was about to cut Aleco’s other wrist when a knock on the door distracted Drake. The king sheathed his dagger and watched the elderly chamberlain enter. He walked over to the king and bowed. “The battle is over, sire. You are the victor in the fight.”

Drake smiled at him, forgetting Aleco on the floor. “That is wonderful news,” he said as he walked back to his desk. He opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass. “No one can every defeat me,” he said with a smile. The chamberlain walked to Zyle without looking at him. He turned to the soldier that was guarding Zyle and gave him a report. Zyle noticed a dagger slip from the man’s wrist and into his
palm. Aldo dropped the blade onto Zyle’s leg. The king of the Asquithians tiled his hips and let the dagger slip to the floor. He kicked the blade back with his foot and began to untie the knots that bound his hands. Roxian watched him without turning her head, looking inconspicuous. When Zyle freed himself he handed the dagger to Roxian and she severed her own knots. Aldo walked away and left through the door, not closing it behind him. Drake noticed the open doorway. “That poor old man is losing his mind. Perhaps I should put him out of his misery.” He poured his wine on Aleco’s face and Aleco cringed as the alcohol burned his cuts. “What do you think, brother?”

“I think you should ask someone who cares.”

Drake kicked him again and Aleco groaned in pain. He was hoping the king would kill him in his anger instead of making him suffer through his injuries and humiliation. Drake stiffened suddenly and his eyes widened. Aleco watched his expression change but he didn’t know the cause of the mood switch. Drake reached behind him and pulled a dagger from his flank. It was covered in his blood. The king dropped his wineglass to the floor and withdrew his blade, facing the attacker.

The Chief stood in the doorway, his blue sword held at his side, and glared at Drake with a look of hate. Aleco stared at him in shock. “GET OUT OF HERE
, NOLAN.”

Nolan bowed to the king. “Shall we?”
he asked with a smile.

Drake smiled at him
, intrigued by this new opponent. “You want to engage me? I am immortal. Listen to your friend here and learn from his mistakes. If not, that’s fine. I enjoy killing the people my brother cares about.”

“DON’T BE STUPID!”
Aleco screamed from the floor. Aleco had his differences with the Chief and had been betrayed by him, but that was behind him. He loved Nolan like a brother and a father and he wanted him to be spared. Aleco knew if he couldn’t defeat the king himself, then no one could, not even the leader of the guild

Nolan rushed to
him and aimed his sword at the king. Drake parried the blow and returned with a series of his own strikes, cutting him along the arm and the neck in their first round of blows. The Chief pressed his strength against the king, who was the same size, and pushed him back, swinging his blade across his face. Nolan cut his eyes and made him blind. The blood from the pupils was seeping down the king’s face. Nolan seized the opportunity and tried to open the lock of his armor, and Drake screamed in anger. He lashed out with his sword and cut the Chief along the ear. Drake healed himself then his eyes cleared over, allowing him to see once again. He gave Nolan a look of fury. “You shouldn’t have done that.” Drake engaged him and spun his sword around his wrist, cutting the Chief along the arms.

Zyle looked at Roxian and understand
ing passed between them. Zyle kicked the soldier to his right and knocked his feet from under him. He withdrew his blade then slit his throat. Roxian killed the soldier on her other side. Both Asquithians engaged the king alongside the Chief, striking him with their swords. The king’s eyes widened in fright but pragmatism settled on his bones and he met the challenge of each fighter, parrying their blows with ease. He cut Zyle along the neck and gave Roxian a deep gash in her thigh.

Aleco tried to rise from the floor but he couldn’t move. He was glued to the spot. He felt his life fading with every moment. For the first
time, he tried to retain his hold on life, wanting to see the outcome of the fight. He felt the darkness creep into the corners of his eyes but he fought the sensation.

Drake was growing tired of this. The Chief landed a killing strike t
hrough his thigh and the three of them tried to remove his armor again, but the king was healed soon enough to evade their attempt. Roxian slashed at his armor, trying to pry it lose and the king screamed in fury.

“ENOUGH!”
The king stepped away and reached his hand into his armor. He aimed his sword at Roxian and she flinched in paralysis, fighting against an unseen force. Zyle and the Chief both stared at her, unsure what was happening. Her skin began to fade and blanch, and the moisture of her eyes and lips began to disappear.

Aleco unde
rstood what was happening. “HE’S SUCKING HER WATER AWAY!”

Zyle
raised his blade and attacked him, but the king turned his power on Zyle and began to suck his life source away as well. Aleco forced his mind to concentrate and body to obey his command.  He reached with his mind to the soul of the tree, and together they opposed the king’s force by holding up the water in their bodies, making their skin retain the moisture. They had already lost a significant amount of dire fluid but Aleco was retaining the rest of it for them. The king looked at the Asquithians in confusion, not understanding why it wasn’t working. He hadn’t suspected Aleco because his brother was too weak, so he assumed the Asquithians were immune to the powers. They were the ones that created the stones to begin with.

The k
ing released the spell and engaged them directly. His blows were aimed to kill and he lashed out at them every time they came near. Drake lowered his blade and punched Roxian in the face, catching her off guard, and then tripped her feet from under her. He stepped on her face and broke her nose. The force slammed her head into the tile and she was unconscious once more. Aleco’s heart fell at the sight. Now it was the king against Nolan and Zyle. The king swung his blade at Zyle, aiming for his chest, but then changed the course of his blow and sliced his blade through Nolan’s neck, chopping his head off.

“NOOOO!” Aleco screamed at the sight. Aleco watched his head fall to the floor and roll away.
The acid in his stomach rose to his throat and he thought he would gag. His greatest friend had been killed mercilessly. He had given his life to aid Aleco, and now he was gone forever.

The king smiled at Zyle,
the last man standing. “I suggest you step down.”

Zyle stared at him for a moment but didn’t lower his blade. “I would rather die trying to kill you than anything else.”

“That’s fine with me.” Drake raised his blade and swung his sword in a flash. He was so quick that Zyle barely had time to react to his blows. Zyle parried most of the strikes by sheer luck because he had moved out of the way just in time. His limbs grew weak as he engaged the King. Drake seemed to be fueled by Zyle’s exhaustion because he sped up his attack, slicing Zyle’s skin with the rush of his blade. The King of the Asquithians was bleeding from the arms and the neck, along with the cuts across his cheek. The king didn’t have a scratch.

Drake pushed Zyle back and aimed his blade into this stomach, but Zyle sp
un out at the last second. The king kicked him to the ground and Zyle fell on his back. His sword was knocked from his grasp and slid away from him across the tile. Zyle tried to move away but Drake stepped on his neck, suffocating him under his heavy boot. “Now I will watch you die.”

Zyle felt his mind go black as
his oxygen was restricted from him. He thought about Accacia in his last moment and he heard her voice in his mind. It was beautiful and powerful.

“
Get off my husband.”

Zyle felt the pressure on his throat decrease. He thought he heard his so
ul mate’s voice but knew he had imagined it. It wasn’t possible. Drake tore his gaze away from Zyle and looked up. Zyle wondered if he had heard it as well.

“Now step away from him.”

Zyle felt his body shake. He recognized that voice. Accacia was here. His imminent joy was replaced by fear. He rolled over and looked at her. She didn’t meet his gaze. Her sight was only for the king. “RUN, ACCACIA!”

Aleco looked over and couldn’t believe his eyes. Accacia was really standing there. She wore the Asquithian armor made to fit the contours of her body perfectly. Her hair cascaded around her face and reached down to her shoulders. Her eyes were bri
ghter than he had ever seen them. Her guild sword hung at her side, the warrior sword remained in her belt. Her posture was straight and her shoulders were squared. She looked like a fearsome warrior—an pissed one. Aleco felt his body shake. He forced his arms to move against their screams of pain and slowly crawled to his knees. He looked at Accacia. “GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” Aleco fell to the floor, too weak to hold himself up.