Chapter 137

Soulbond

He stood upon the precipice. The tower and all of its ancient secrets was before him. He looked up at the night sky. The heavens held the twin moons—one blood-red, the other icy blue—gleaming full and watchful, like a pair of heterochromatic eyes surveying the world’s deepest mysteries. Only when both eyes are open shall the path be made clear. The words rang in his mind as he looked out over the roiling sea, which had pulled back farther than he thought possible.

Out in the expanse, the tower stood now exposed like an ancient sentinel. Even with only the twin moonslight, he could only make out the dark outline of it.

From this height, he could see the bridge—crusted with coral and growths of seaweed—arching across the sea below like the spine of some leviathan long dead. The bridge stretched, reaching across the black waters to meet the tower at its midpoint.

This was where Krastac had come. Driven by madness or ambition—there was little difference now. Fled from Elyina and her crusades, to escape the purges she’d waged against the Khandameis, the self-styled Lords of Death. Krastac sought an ancient power… the source of it all—the place where everything began. But he could not be allowed to reach the Reaver’s Gate.

It’s time to end this.

He had come here to end it… to close this chapter for good.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward, feeling the cold air rush around him as he launched himself from the cliff.

***

Rowan’s mind was foggy. Where was he? What was this place? The air smelled of pine, with the crisp cold of a winter morning. But all around was an endless white fog. He turned, disoriented, and caught sight of a campfire through the mist. By it sat an ocelix, clad in worn leather armour, an ornate spear resting beside him on a stone.

“Hralvek brought you here?” the ocelix said, his tone more statement than question.

“Hralvek?” Rowan asked.

The ocelix gestured, and the fog lifted, revealing a clearing deep within a forest. There, atop a massive stone, the red-and-gold ferrax lay curled, its immense body rising and falling in a steady rhythm as it slept. Around the clearing, Rowan thought he could see shadowy figures, but they faded whenever he tried to focus.

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“Ah… that’s his name?” Rowan asked, feeling the ground beneath him steady, though his mind still felt hazy.

“It is.”

“And you… are?”

“Also Hralvek.”

“Right. That’s… confusing.”

“When your mind is closed, but it will not always be so. You have come here seeking power?” The question was not made in reproach, it was… amusement?

“Yes,” Rowan answered. He couldn’t quite remember why, only that it had something to do with the rak… or was it the tower? Memories blurred and twisted.

“The strength you seek,” Hralvek began, “is bound by the power of your umbra. Alone, it has reached its natural limits. But with a soulbond, it could grow beyond.” He cast a wary glance toward a shadow lurking at the edge of the trees, “there are other less palatable forms of augmentation.”

“And this will give me the strength I need?”

“The soulbond will merge the pool of your umbra with that of another, allowing both to make use of it.”

“That sounds… intimate,” Rowan said.

“Of course it’s intimate,” someone scoffed, “you’re talking about mushing two souls together.” Rowan turned and saw an Aeth man, leaning against a tree. He was tall, lean, with long silver hair.

“What are the risks?” Rowan asked, forcing his focus back to the ocelix.

“The risks… many,” Hralvek spread his clawed hands open, “the part of the soul that is you—the anima—your nature, your memories, your life. You will be laying this bare before another being. Your anima will be vulnerable to them, and theirs to yours. Without complete and utter trust, your anima and umbra both may be consumed by the other entirely. They might not even mean to do this, but the nature of the soul is instinctive, if it senses a hostile presence within it, it will work to eradicate—to cleanse it and absorb it into itself completely.”

“That’s… confusing,” Rowan’s head hurt.

“It is a complex thing,” Hralvek replied, “and not to be taken lightly. You will have become part of him, for eternity. It is an incredibly powerful thing. It is a state that we all aspire to. You should be honoured that Hralvek is willing to do this. He takes just as much risk in the soulbond as you do.”

“So… I could lose myself?”

“Entirely,” Hralvek said, his voice grave. “But in the same breath, the bond grants unimaginable strength. And yes, you may change—become part of him, as he becomes part of you.”

“Is this common practice among the Aeth too?” Rowan asked the Aeth man.

“I didn’t know much about it,” the Aeth admitted, “although to many, soulbonding with a tree seems a lot more appealing than soulbonding… that.”

Rowan looked toward Hralvek—the ferrax Hralvek. Even sleeping, the beast’s fangs could be seen poking out. He was a predator. His nature was to kill to survive.

“Will my… anima,” Rowan tried the word but felt strange saying it, “will I change? Will I become more like him?”

“It is likely,” Hralvek confirmed. “We all changed. It is in Hralvek’s nature to be a killer, to be ferocious and aggressive. You may find these traits becoming hard to resist. But it is hard to say. Your nature will likely impact us also.”

“Us?”

“Yes… we, too, will be changed by you. The bond is not one-sided.”