The Archer (A Tale Of Heroes & Demons Book 1)

Chapter 40

Soulstone

"We live in a pretty bleak time. I feel that in the air. Everything is uncertain. Everything feels like it's on the precipice of some major transformation, whether we like it or not."

Sean Lennon

The morning was bright as the small party gathered near the town gates. Caedmon was standing to the side and talking to a few of his men and Declan was strapping their bags to the horses.

Deep in the shadows, Makom watched them. He couldn't let Katherine go with him. At the moment she was standing off to the side next to Beatrice. They were faced away from the others, talking intently with their heads bowed.

Something within him curled and tightened, urging him forward and into the light. Across the clearing he went until he was standing in front of the two women.

"Is there something you would like, Makom?" Beatrice lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

"May I speak with Katherine, please?"

The old woman looked at Katherine, and when she nodded she backed away. "If you need me just call."

Makom gestured back to the way he came. "Take a walk with me?"

She glanced back to where Declan and Caedmon were, before turning back to him. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Please, I mean you no harm, I just want to discuss some...things...with you." He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. He started to walk back, and was happy when he heard her steps following him.

Once they were out of sight of the others, he slowed until she was beside him. "I wanted to apologize for before, when I first met you."

"For attacking me?"

"I didn't attack you."

"So throwing me against the wall was what? Your way of welcoming me?"

"I realize that I overstepped."

Katherine laughed, the sound bitter. "Overstepped? I believe you did a little more than that."

***

She was feeling confident today. The sun was burning bright in the sky, she had finally resolved her argument with Declan the night before, and now they were to set off on the next part of the journey, to hopefully discover the key to Demonica's destruction. Caedmon's compliments sang through her mind, making a smile grow on her face.

It unnerved her being around Makom, but today there was something further off from him. Still, she trusted herself enough to know she would be safe. Answering his questions as vaguely as she could, she didn't pay attention to where they were going until he stopped.

"To further apologize for my behaviour, I have something for you for the journey."

He stooped and pulled at a cellar door at the back of the building. Smiling now, he gestured inside. "It's down there as it must be kept out of the light." He started down the stairs and was halfway into the darkness when he stopped and turned back to her. "Are you coming?" he called.

"I can just wait here."

"It must stay in the darkness. How am I supposed to give it to you if you can't see it?"

Katherine shifter her weight from one foot to the other, debating. There was nobody in sight down the alley, and she did not realize just how far they had travelled from the others. But if Makom was telling the truth, and truly wished to apologize, she couldn't jeopardize it.

So against her better judgement she grabbed the hilt of the sword she carried on her hip tightly and descended the stairwell. She was only a few steps down when Makom called to her again.

"Can you shut the doors behind you? We can't let any light hit it."

"Isn't it dark enough right now?"

"I don't want to take any chances."

"But how are we supposed to see, then?"

"Don't worry about that." He appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a wide smile on his face. "Or are you afraid of the dark?"

Standing straighter, Katherine turned to grab the cellar door. "I am not afraid. I am just not used to descending the stairs without being able to see." She jumped when Makom appeared beside her.

"Don't worry, I can help you down. I can see quite well in the darkness. A side effect of spending so much time in the tunnels."

The cellar door slammed above them and Katherine could no longer quell the seed of doubt that was growly exponentially within her.

Makom's hand gripped hers tightly as the descended the stairs. Katherine couldn't help the shiver of disgust that wormed around in her. His hand felt so wrong gripping hers.

It felt like forever until they were at the bottom, standing in the small circular room that was hewn from the earth. Makom immediately let go of her and traversed the room, shuffling through the items in one of the many boxes that lined the walls.

Suddenly the light was alight in a bright blue light. Makom was turned towards her now, and was holding a stone in his palms, about the size of a fist. It was this stone that emitted the strange light, and Katherine could feel the energy pulsating from it.

"What is that?" Involuntarily she took a step forward. She felt as though there was an invisible string pulling her towards it, as though her very essence depended on this stone.

"It's a soulstone."

In the back of her mind alarms began to ring, but her body refused to react. She knew perfectly well what a soulstone was, and the different properties of the different colours, but she had never seen one in person before. They were different from soul gems, but just as powerful.

Forcing her mind to think, she tried to remember what Netta had told her about these stones, but nothing came forward. Her mind was foggy, and the world around her was becoming distant.

"Wh...what are you doing?" She looked up at Makom now, and was startled when she looked into his eyes.

Pitch black, just as the bandits had been in the forest that day, oh so long ago.

"This is your present, Katherine. Don't you like it?"

"Makom..."

He started forward, and the pull Katherine felt strengthened. Darkness began to creep into the corners of her vision, and her knees began to weaken. "P-please."

The darkness receded from his eyes slightly, and he began to shake his head. "I...I'm sorry, but this is the only way. You can't go with them...you can't."

Katherine tried to force herself to step back, but the invisible tether was too strong. She could feel the energy leaving her, stronger and stronger until she fell to her knees. Tilting her head back, she started a Makom. "I thought you were better than this." The words were hoarse, forced through a body that no longer wished to move.

But now the darkness once again spread through Makom's eyes, and he smiled. "Now I see you for what you are, and I cannot let you continue on this path."

As Katherine finally fell, her body stilled as it lay on the ground. Makom strode forward and knelt beside her. "I don't understand how a witch like you had ended up with that hero, trailing along behind him all this time, but now your journey is at an end." He rubbed the stone is his hands gently, caressing the smooth surface. "I am almost sat to see you go. Don't worry, though. This won't kill you, at least not immediately."

He chuckled. "I have bigger plans for you, my dear. Much bigger." He ran his hand along her cheek, the feathery touch sending violent shivers down her spine. He leaned forward and stared at her, as though trying to see her deepest thoughts. Seemingly satisfied, he leaned back and placed the stone on her back. "Until we meet again, my dear."

Then the clouds thickened and Katherine saw no more.