Pitch black, the only thing that Zahra could hear was the thunderous voice of the demonic skeleton. All she could remember was that she felt a slight dizziness before she lost connection to the world around her. Panicking, all Zahra could do was to shiver in fear as the demon performed its ritual. "Calm down, I'm trying to focus here," the thunderous voice said, as two glowing orbs of light appeared in her vision. "Absorb them," the voice said, which Zahra had no idea what it meant. "Absorb the two orbs," the booming said again, slowly losing patience. Although still not fully understanding what it meant, Zahra somehow managed to move closer to the two glowing orbs. As she drew near, a strong pulling force dragged her fowards, the two souls started to tremble in delight as if they found something to feast on.
Floating above the three souls, Jason observed the reaction between them. Suddenly, Jason felt a slight tug, pulling on his soul. The force was really faint, not even enough to make him budge, having the same effect as a slight breeze. But for Zahra, it was like a powerful vacuum suctioning her towards an endless abyss. For Darren's soul, it was as if he found a way out of this situation. His soul craved for Zahra's weak soul, he felt like once he managed to devour it, he could definitely evolve into a new being that could escape from the grasp of the unknown skeletal demon.
"Oh damn, I forgot to seal their consciousness," Jason finally realized why one of the souls was so eagerly seeking to face Zahra's soul. Unlike the demon souls who lost their consciousness because of Savitr's blade, the souls of Darren and Kierok still held their ego and consciousness, which proved to be too strong for Zahra to handle. "Seal," he casted, two blood red arrays appearing right on top of the two souls of the goatmen. As the crisom glow enveloped the souls, Zahra suddenly felt the suctioning force subside. She quickly began to absorb the closest soul, which was Darren's. Although sealed by Jason's spell, Darren's subconscious still struggled fearlessly, not willing to be absorbed by Zahra. The two egos clashed, but since the majority of Darren's consciousness had already been sealed by Jason's spell, he was no match for Zahra. In no more than one minute, the last surviving piece of Darren has been wiped out from the face of the earth.
Feeling power surge through her body, Zahra finally understood the weird being's intention. It wanted her to devour the souls of her companions, seeing what she'll turn into. She felt her power reach levels she had never dreamt of, she felt like she could cast dozen more spells before she need to recover. Since there was no going back, she turned to the faintly glowing soul Kierok. But before Zahra could try and fight Kierok's soul, she suddenly felt a ripple of warmth that had a slight tint of sadness to it. Jason also felt the pulse of emotions, since his perception abilities were tenfold more sensitive and powerful than Zahra. "Interesting," he thought, as he unsealed Kierok's spell.
Seeing the red array disappear, Zahra backed up, afraid that Kierok was going to do the same thing as Darren. But that was clearly not the case, since she could only feel pure sorrow and care radiating from Kierok's soul. "I messed up this time, live on with pride and dignity, and remember to take care of yourself," Kierok's soul said, as it trembled with sadness. As he finished saying his last words to Zahra, his soul turned around, staring straight up at entity that he had no chance of beating.
"Admirable," Jason thought, as he overheard the exchange. Thoughts of sparing Kierok even began to sprout. Kierok's soul flew bravely at Jason, like a small sailboat heading right towards a raging storm. "Will you hold on a second, I'm deciding what I'm going to do to you," Jason nonchalantly said, torn between whether he should set Kierok free. But Kierok took the words as an insult, furiously rushing towards Jason in a blind rage. Seeing Kierok this "ungrateful" for his mercy, the malevolent voice inside his head appeared once again, "KILL HIM NOW! NO ONE SHALL DISRESPECT US." Somehow affected by the voice in his head, Jason was irritated. With a wave of his hands, he unleashed his soul's power. As the pulse washed over Kierok, his ego easily shattered, turning him into one of those wandering souls without the ability to think.
Mood ruined, Jason sent the soul of Kierok flying towards Zahra. "Devour him right now," Jason said impatiently, clearly irritated. Seeing that the demon was in a bad mood, Zahra didn't dare to object. With a slight feeling of sorrow, she devoured Kierok's soul. After a couple of seconds, Jason sensed no dramatic difference, only a decent increase in her soul power. "Quite disappointing," Jason muttered underneath his breath, he thought Zahra's soul would have undergone some sort of metamorphosis, evolving into a new kind of being. She instantly felt like an inflated balloon, the power contained within Kierok's soul was definitely much stronger than Darren's. She could feel like she was a only a slight nudge from a break through. "Need a little more soul power," Zahra murmured.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"What did you say just now?" Jason asked, hearing Zahra's remark. "Um... I feel like I'm really close to a breakthrough," Zahra repeated her words. Hearing this reignited Jason's interest. "Well, there were four of you, where is the fourth?" Jason asked. Hearing Jason mention Enzo, Zahra's soul shone with a red light, indicating her anger. "He abandoned us, running away right before you appeared," Zahra said, fuming. Guiding Zahra's soul back into her body, Jason also returned to the fiery skeleton that was silently waiting for his return. "Lead the way," Jason said, shaking Zahra's body. Finally return to her own body, Zahra stood up abruptly. But as she took a step, she shot fowards faster than she could ever move. "Oh yeah, forgot to mention, your soul is two times stronger than your body, so you got to be sure you don't send your body into overdrive," Jason said, watching Zahra tumble again and again. Finally able to control her newfound strength, Zahra could feel the power coursing through every cell of her body. She felt like she could run swiftly like the wind, wielding the power of an ox. "He should already be back at the village," Zahra said. With Edo nowhere to be found, she concluded that he must've returned to their village. Jason could now understand Zahra since she now knew how to communicate through vibrations of the soul, or Telepathy. Blood still boiling for revenge, Zahra was going to blindly lead Jason to her village, not really thinking about what could happen once Jason found more souls to reap.
With Jason following slowly behind with wobbly steps, Zahra traversed through the lush forest. With her improved strength, she was not that scared of the beasts that lurk within the thick vegetation. Demonic flames enveloped Jason, incinerating everything that stood in his way. For about two hours or so they ventured through the forest, when Zahra suddenly stopped. "We are almost there, my villiage is up ahead," Zahra said, as she began to recognize more and more landmarks around her. Jason's flaming eyes lit up, an eerie but enchanting glow radiating from his eyes. "Was," he said simply. Confused, Zahra replied, "What do mean by was?" "In about half an hour your village will cease to exist," Jason replied nonchalantly, as if he was delivering some minuscule news.
Confused, Zahra stood their blankly for a brief moment. Finally realizing what Jason meant, Zahra instantly began to panic, rushing towards the direction of the village. There was definitely no way Jason was going to match her speed if he was still going to walk slowly with his two feet. As the surrounding mana fluctuate, two large, translucent wings of a bat sprouted from behind his back. With a flap of his wings, he whipped up a duststorm. Reaching speeds that exceeded the fastest birds, he easily caught up to Zahra, who was running like there was no tomorrow. Beginning to pick up a faint smell of rust, Zahra knew that Jason didn't lie to her. Hearing sounds of an intense battle from afar, Zahra couldn't imagine what was happening currently to the village.
When she finally caught a glimpse of the village, she froze up in place. Corpses of goatmen were lying everywhere, puddles of blood everywhere. Wolf-like monsters were gnawing on the bones of her dead people, crushing the bones and devouring the meat. "Wargs!" she exclaimed, as she shuddered from the gory sight. The ring on Jason's finger glowed brightly, as Jason saw hundreds of glowing orbs being sucked towards his ring. "Quite a good haul," Jason thought, wondering what Zahra would turn into once she devoured so many of the souls. "What's your next move?" Jason asked curiously, watching from the sidelines. He had enough of saving others, being betrayed by Savitr. How foolish he was back then, wanting to give up his life in order to save humanity, only to be backstabbed by his own partner. There were only around a dozen of goatmen left, the ones remaining being the elites of the village. They were fighting fearlessly, holding their ground against a pack of wolves even if they were already pouring blood from all the scratches and bites on their body.
Zahra rushed towards the group, sliding down the rocky slopes. The rigid landscape bruised her as she tumbled down the hill. Ignoring the scratches and bumps, she stood up and rushed towards the survivors. But just before she could get near, the defense line had already started to collaspe. At first, they were doing quite well against the fearsome foes, even starting to push the line back, but one of the surviving goatmen, who just so happened to be Enzo decided that he could have a better chance of survival if he just escaped on his own. Activating a ability, he sunk into the shadows, vanishing without a trace.
Suddenly, there was a gap in their defenses because of Enzo's selfishness. The wargs began to fight more fiercely, making much riskier attempts. With one of the wargs chomping down on the forearm and crushing it with its fearsome bite force, with one of the goatmen getting taken down, the others fell like dominos. "NO!!" screamed Zahra, seeing familiar faces one after another. "ENZO YOU COWARD!" she screamed, cursing the escaping goatmen. With the last goatman's throat being slit open by a warg's sharp claws marking the end of the village, Zahra's heart and soul was void of any emotion besides hate and vengence.