Carnival Souls

Soulbound (part 1)

Lira scanned the crowd for any sign of Genzel or Vivian, but even with her vantage point it was nearly impossible to discern anyone or anything beyond the small pool of light cast by the carousel bulbs. After thirty agonizing seconds she still hadn't spotted them, but then her gaze locked on another dueling pair near the center of the battle: Zabaria and Bebinn.

The two were volleying, each trying to get the upper hand on the other. Bebinn was quicker than Lira had expected and her grey gown had constricted into armor that allowed her to move unencumbered.

Zabaria gave a half-turn, boot and staff striking the ground. Roots erupted from the earth, twining around Bebinn's ankles and wrists, trying to pull her down, only to be burned to ash seconds later by some kind of fire magic from Bebinn's fingertips. The flame coiled around Bebinn's wrist, forming a whip that she swung over her head and down towards Zabaria in a crackling arc, doused just before it connected with the forest spirit's face by a wall of water that left Bebinn drenched.

Sodden, her auburn hair undone and plastered in dark ribbons against her cheeks, Bebinn let out a scream. Shadows pulled themselves from the air around her, pooling on the ground and racing toward Zabaria.

The staff came down hard again, pinning the shadow in place, sparks of light emitting at the point they connected, hissing where they struck the dark mass until it crumbled into a pile of fine gray powder. Both women paused for a heartbeat, gathering themselves.

In that moment, Lira couldn't say what drew her eyes from the dueling sorceresses, but her gaze flickered over their heads to the right, landing squarely on Owen, who was shoulder to shoulder with Jacks, trying to keep Bebinn's fury from devouring Genzel. Her body went cold all over as she watched the harpy dive toward the trio, Owen ducking and slashing at its underbelly while Jacks lashed out with his whip, trying to lasso the creature's foot. It broke away screeching, throwing Jacks to the ground, angling out to the left for another dive. Jacks shouted something, unintelligible at this distance, to Owen who was bent over the unconscious carver.

What were they doing out here? She wanted to yell at them to run, but everything left in her was being used to fuel the music. What little voice she had had was gone.

She watched as Owen tried to drag Genzel to safety, only to drop him bodily to the ground to fend off the next fury attack. And then the battle shifted and they were lost from sight.

Lira swayed on her feet; her fingertips numb but still moving, her heart leaden but still beating. She willed herself to stop, telling her hands to let the instrument fall, reaching as far into herself as she could to try and find the edges of her soul to pull it back, even if it meant leaving a piece of it behind in the violin, but she couldn't. She shouldn't find it, couldn't stop.

The music was filling her up like a physical presence, replacing her blood, covering the sound of battle until it was all she could hear, invading her mind until there was only the smallest part necessary left free to keep her arms and hands moving. Her vision grew blurrier still, the fighting now just flashes of light and moving shapes.

She wasn't cold anymore. She wasn't anything but the violin and sound.

Is this how Baleros felt? She wondered, trying desperately to hold onto the tiny part of herself that still belonged to her. Is this what happened to him in the end?

###

Owen flung himself to the ground, tasting blood and dirt. A hot wind rushed over him as the fury swooped low, and there was a sharp tearing sound as his shirt ripped where the talons raked over him, just grazing the flesh of his back in a stinging caress. The crack of a whip made him flinch and he heard Jacks curse as it fell back to the earth without a target.