Lyra and I sat in a floating carriage, making our way towards the temple district where Lorik's workshop was located. We hoped he could assist us in finding a solution to the problem with the cores. However, bringing another person into the fold meant expanding the circle of those who knew about the situation, which was concerning.

As we rode, Lyra leaned against me and held my hand gently. "Are you okay, David?" she asked.

I hesitated for a moment before responding. "I think so, yeah," I said.

Lyra leaned back and looked at me with concern. "I know that couldn't have been easy. Don't lie to me, and more importantly, don't lie to yourself."

I looked into her beautiful purple eyes and nodded. "Alright... I'm worried, Lyra. I'm worried that I'm becoming evil, for lack of a better word."

Lyra didn't speak, but gestured for me to continue.

"I didn't hurt him, Lyra, but I probably caused immense mental damage. I know that he is involved in a sinister plot and all, but I'm not sure that makes it okay," I admitted.

Lyra nodded in understanding. "I know how you feel, David. Can I tell you a story?"

My vision blurred as my eyes began to water, and Lyra gave me a small smile before gently wiping my eyes with her sleeve.

She was so beautiful, and I kept seeing new sides of her. Usually, she was a happy-go-lucky girl who reveled in battle and the excitement of danger. Now, I saw a gentle woman with nothing but empathy in her expression, and I couldn't help but feel an intense feeling of love for her.

"What did I do to deserve you?" I whispered, and Lyra grinned. "Oh, you don't, so you better work hard at that!" she playfully teased before asking, "Do you want to hear my story, David?"

I nodded eagerly, and she began.

‘’Fifteen years ago, I lived in a small village in the eastern parts of the empire with my family. It was a good life, quiet and peaceful. Then the war with Archidon began and things changed. The soldiers that would usually patrol the province were called away, leaving only a skeleton garrison. That opened up opportunities for roving bands of raiders, deserters and everything in between.’’

Lyra took a deep breath before continuing, ‘’It was during this time that one such group attacked our village. They were ruthless, David. The men of the village weren’t fighters but did what they could. They were the first to die. Then the women who had protected the children fought, and they were either killed or worse. Finally, it came to us children. We had been hidden away in a temple cellar, but when they found us and dragged us outside, we saw what they had done to the village.’’

A tear ran down Lyra’s cheek, and I squeezed her hand. She wiped her cheek and gave me a small smile. ‘’Something snapped inside me that day, David. I wanted to kill them. My hatred was so intense! Usually, we don’t get our class until later, but I was blessed, I suppose, and I received my class then and there. It was painful, but it just fueled my anger further. I started an inferno, David. I was only thirteen, but I was like a fire demon incarnate. I remember the screams of the men as I burned them alive. I tortured them with slow deaths, burning them from the inside out, just because I wanted them to suffer as much as possible.’’

Lyra sighed, ‘’I don’t regret punishing those men, David, but the way I did it... I reveled in my ability to cause pain, to see the terror in their eyes. The worst part, though... once everything was settled and the village was ablaze, the looks the other children gave me. They were terrified of me, David.’’

I wrapped my arms around her as tears ran down her cheeks. ‘’I still fight that side of me, David, that fury, that demonic hatred still slumbers inside. I have let it out a couple of times since, and it scares me. I go out of control, lose myself in the rage... So, you see, David, I know something of regret and fear of losing yourself. You are not alone in this.’’

I hugged her tighter and nodded. ‘’And neither are you, Lyra.’’

We remained locked in embrace for a while, until I remembered to ask Lyra if she had taken care of Liza and Finn. She assured me that Isabel had taken care of them, which put my mind at ease. I was glad that they were safe, and we could focus on resolving the situation at hand.

As we entered the temple district, we had to return to work. Lyra turned to me and gave me a gentle kiss before saying, "Let's go save the city, eh?" I smiled and nodded in agreement.

Despite the late hour, the streets were busy with people. We weaved through the crowd to reach Lorik's shop, a large three-story building with an almost Victorian-era style of architecture that I found charming. It was a refreshing change from the big, ugly concrete buildings that dominated Earth.

As we entered the shop, a young man greeted us with a sleepy expression. He had messy black hair, a narrow face, and slightly crooked teeth. He was of average height and wore a brown robe with burn marks.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Good evening, how may I be of assistance?" he said in a bored-sounding voice.

Lyra and I stepped further into the room, which was filled with shelves of knick-knacks and random assortments of junk. As an enchanter's shop, I knew there was more to it than met the eye.

Lyra spoke up first, addressing the man behind the counter. "We are looking for Lorik, we have need of his assistance," she said, smiling politely. The man gave us a neutral look, then shook his head. "The master is sleeping," he said. "Come back tomorrow. Well, maybe not tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, perhaps."

Lyra looked annoyed at his nonchalant refusal, so I decided to take over. Walking up to the counter, I asked, "Could I have your name?" The young man shrugged. "I am Viktor Klenz, first apprentice to Master Lorik. And you are?" I replied with a smile, "David Wendell, nice to meet you," and we shook hands briefly.

I took a deep breath and looked Viktor in the eye. "Look, Viktor, our business is pretty urgent. Malik of the adventurer's guild sent us, and we really need to talk to Lorik." Viktor sighed. "I'm not denying the urgency, Mr. Wendell, but... okay, let me be frank. The master is drunk off his ass, and usually he is completely useless for a few days after that."

I stared into Viktor's deadpan expression, and I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing. "I see.. Here we are having a crisis, and the man we need to solve it is so drunk he passed out." Lyra tried to keep a professional straight face, but I could see her facade cracking.

Viktor frowned a little. "What crisis are you talking about?" I glanced at Lyra, and she shrugged. I pulled out the dead core and placed it on the counter. "This is a soul core, taken from an elemental golem. As you can see, it is rune-inscribed, meaning someone is doing something they shouldn't. Now, what we need is..."

I was cut off by Viktor waving at me to stop, and he bowed down to study the core intently, all signs of sleepiness gone like they had never been there. "This is very interesting, Mr. Wendell," he said, and I winced. "Could you call me David?" I asked. Viktor shrugged. "Where did you find this elemental, David?" I gave him a sad smile. "In the trade district."

Viktor's eyes snapped to me. "You are surely joking!" he exclaimed. I shook my head. "Do you know what this does, David? Do you have any idea how sinister this thing is?"

I looked at him in surprise. "Yes, for the most part, do you?"

Viktor shook his head slowly. "This is meant for trapping a soul, yes? Then using a nearby element of enough density, it creates an elemental creature. I imagine it would be violent and unpredictable, on account of it being an enslaved soul, and not an actual spirit."

I blinked at the man. "Um... You know your runes, which I have to admit is a bit suspicious."

Lyra had moved subtly towards the door to cut off any attempt at escape. Viktor looked up at me. "Of course, I do. I don't practice that filthy art, but what kind of researcher would I be if I didn't at least know about it."

I relaxed a little and smiled. "I see. I must apologize. As you can imagine, we are a bit on edge."

Viktor waved off my apology. "Never mind that. Have you found more of these?"

I nodded. "About four crates of them."

Viktor looked shocked. "How the... Where did they get that many souls for that? Each core needs the soul of a sentient being, and that means you have to..."

I nodded solemnly. "Tear the soul out of a person."

Viktor looked at the core in disgust. "This thing is filthy. You need to destroy them to release the soul. Would you allow me to crack this one?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You can release the soul inside?"

Viktor nodded. "I can, but I will use proper magic, not this filthy rune magic."

I gestured for him to go ahead, and Viktor picked up the Core with a long tong. "Follow me please, oh and you, woman, could you lock the door and put up the closed sign please?"

Lyra raised an eyebrow at being addressed as such, but followed Viktor’s instructions. He led us into the back of the shop where we entered a large workshop. Viktor led us between tables to a large workbench. He placed the core on the table and secured it with a large clamp.

"Keep your distance now," Viktor said and put up what looked like a large glass screen between us and the core.

Lyra and I observed as Viktor drew out a wand and aimed it at the core. He became focused, and the tip of his wand began to glow. With intricate patterns, he moved it in a circle around the core, which was then encircled by a purplish light. Symbols appeared within the circle, unlike the runes I was becoming uncomfortably familiar with, more like hieroglyphs or something similar.

Lines of light emerged from the circle and attached themselves to the core. After a few moments, cracks began to form, and purple light radiated from within the core. Finally, it exploded violently, sending shards in every direction. The glass between us and the core remained intact, but small fragments flew around the rest of the workshop, shattering several glass containers and causing some damage to the furniture.

Viktor sighed and lowered his wand, "the soul is free. Thank you for letting me do that." I nodded, and Viktor turned to me, "you said you have more? Will you let me dismantle those as well?" I gave him a wide grin, "I will let you do more than that! We need a safe way to handle these. They seem to have a built-in self-activation if someone handles them without meeting some kind of requirement. We need a way to pick them up without that happening."

Viktor tapped his chin in thought for a few moments, "I might be able to devise something for that. I will need a bit of time to think on it though. It would be helpful to have active cores to study." I clapped him on the shoulder, "well, you are in luck then, as I told you we have crates of the things!"

It did not take much convincing to have Viktor come back with us. Initially, he wanted us to bring the cores to him, but we explained that would be risky since we were unsure who would be watching.

After that, he wrote a brief note to his master explaining that he would be away for a few days. He gathered some things off the shelves, packed a large rucksack with various ingredients and tools, and we were off.

We spoke little on the way back to the house. Viktor appeared uncomfortable, and I assumed that he did not leave the shop very often. It was pretty late as we returned, and we found Isabel already waiting for us.