Soul Bringer

Chapter 8

The house was still around me as I closed my eyes. I let my call fall from my lips. It was more than just a melody, it was the sound of the very fibers of my soul. The second the sound escaped me I could feel my powers instantly rise. My mother had been right, my powers had always been there if I had wanted them, I needed only to call them forth with my song.

I wasn't sure if my plan would work. But I knew that the blade of realms was forged with my blood. If the blade could cross worlds, perhaps I could too.

I plunged my hands into the Echo. It rippled at my command as I tore at it with my mind, forming a small rip in the fabrics that stood between this world and Remna.

"Lee?!" Kai called out to me.

I turned around to look at him, seeing the glowing hue that I had seen the first time I met him brightly flickering around him.

"What are you doing?" He asked. I could hear the traces of worry in his voice.

"I'm going to save the child."

"You can't do this on your own." Kai said as he took a step towards me.

I called my powers forward, unsure if they would work on Kai.

Stay.

I commanded him with my mind. His progress towards me faltered. His knowing gaze met mine across the few steps that separated us.

"Lee, let me help you."

"He wants me. Only I can save the child now."

Without waiting to hear his response, I stepped through the Echo. I was instantly greeted by darkness. I glanced back to the veil and swept my hand towards it. It felt so natural, to use my powers like this. I could feel this connection to it. By mere thought I could command the Echo. I pulled the fabrics of the barrier together and watched the last embers of light within fade like darkening stardust.

The breach was closed.

Father had lied about so much, about what I could do. I was so much more than the dark creature he had turned me in to.

I took in my surroundings and noticed that I was standing at the edge of Remna. I walked to the gray forest that was clouded by a dark swirling mist. My eyes searched until I found the familiar path that would take me to my home. I wasn't afraid as I stepped through the broken terrain. The creatures of the night let out their ferocious cries as they caught my scent. Instead of attacking me however, they walked beside me, as if they were eager for my return home.

I watched my father's creatures from the corner of my eyes, not trusting their momentary truce. One of them stood out from the rest. He was small and lithe. His eyes were brighter than the others as he watched me.

Ratton.

Ratton's lips curled as he gazed at me and I turned away from him as I studied the rest of my father's beasts. Darkness itself seemed to ripple from them. Their fur was black, their eyes glowed red, their claws dug into the earth as if they were ready to tear a person's throat out. They snapped their jaws as saliva dripped down their sharp teeth.

Still, they did not charge me.

I turned my gaze forward, ignoring the beasts as they walked next to me. I didn't have time to spare. I hurried towards my father's home, desperate to save the child my father had taken.

My retreat to my father's house seemed to take longer than when I had left it. I swung my arms as I forced my legs to move faster. My father would do his worst, I was certain of it. I had to reach him before he killed another innocent child and took their pure soul. Mom had said if father consumed enough souls it would be catastrophic.

I wasn't about to learn what she meant by those words.

Once I cleared the ashen forest I stepped into our backyard. The grass was uncut and gray. Wild flowers bloomed dark and dripping with their terrible darkness. Black roses ran wild along the brush. And just beyond the garden stood the stone fortress that had been my home for over a hundred years. Its pointed pillars jutted out into the sky. The fortress was a dark, sinister gray, just another shadow in nothing but a haunted ghost land. A remnant from the world my father hated so much.

My father's pets remained at the edge of the forest. They didn't take a step forward even though they were welcome to walk the halls of my father's lair. They stayed behind me as I crossed onto the smooth pathway that would lead me to the entrance.

I held my head high, feeling for the first time like my life truly had a purpose. A terrified scream echoed around me as I climbed the stairs and opened the giant, curved doors.