A Battle of Souls Read online

  Harper

  The material world around me had vanished.

  I was weightless, hovering in a vast, white emptiness.

  Nothing hurt anymore.

  Am I dead?

  I heard water flowing nearby. I looked to my right and saw a stream flowing through the white void, snaking toward me.

  The wind blew, brushing through my hair and whistling past my ears.

  The small river passed by me, then around me, drawing a liquid circle.

  In front of me, a tree grew from the water. It was all so strange, yet… so beautiful. I couldn’t understand any of it, but still, it all made sense at the same time.

  The tree groaned, then fell backward and scattered into moss. It was as if all matter in this emptiness were not tied to a single form or function. The moss moved around and drew another ring around the one of water.

  Fire sparked out of nowhere and formed a third, larger ring around the other two. Air flowed into the fourth. I could see it rippling softly. Then another water circle formed around it, followed by dirt and moss, then fire, then air again.

  It went on like that for what seemed like an eternity.

  The rings surrounding me changed their form once in a while, in no particular pattern. Water became ice, then water again. Moss became sand, then clusters of raw, precious gems, then splinters of wood, then dirt and moss once more. The air was stable, ever flowing between the layers. The fire crackled into lightning, then back into flames.

  I was witnessing a superb spectacle of nature, as all the elements gathered around me in billions of circles, displaying the full power and beauty of the world and its elements of life. One didn’t exist without the other. Not really.

  The rings kept spinning around me, as if orbiting my body.

  I gasped as I looked down. I’d lost my flesh. I was but a wisp of white light, much like the vast nothingness surrounding me.

  “Is this real?” I heard myself ask, though I couldn’t understand how I was able to speak with the absence of a mouth. I had no lips or tongue to enunciate my words, but I could still hear my voice.

  Do you believe in the elements, Harper?

  That voice! Ramin. The Ekar bird. My dying breath as Shaytan brought his sword down. I remembered everything. I recognized the voice. It had asked me to let go.

  “Am I dead?”

  No, Harper. We’re just having a conversation, far from the outer world, the voice whispered. Tell me, do you believe in the elements?

  “I think so… I can see them. Yes,” I replied. There was no point in denying the only things that were now a part of my existence. Wherever this was, it made everything surprisingly clear and real. “The fae themselves are proof of the elements’ existence, in a way.”

  The fae are mere conduits, Harper. They’re not the elements. They’re vessels designed to hold us, to connect us to the material world. We are the elements. We are energy, Harper, and the fae are just some of our tools. We give them the power, and we can also take it away.

  “You’re the Hermessi?” I asked.

  I am a Hermessi, yes. That’s what the Nerakians call us, anyway. The ancient Nerakians, that is. The ones who used to believe in us, who used to make us strong.

  “How does that work? I’m not sure I understand.”

  We function on the energy of belief, Harper. The more you believe in us, the stronger we are. The fae are genetically engineered to be our conduits, but we cannot thrive on their life force alone. We require belief so we can make our rivers flow stronger. Make our winds blow harder. Make our fires burn brighter. Make our trees grow bigger. The world as you know it, Harper, is but a fraction of what the Hermessi can do.

  I thought about that for a while, mentally rummaging through all the pages of folklore and mythology that I’d read over the years. Not once had I ever heard of Hermessi, but I could still distinctly remember even the humans back on Earth, who had once worshipped the natural elements.

  “Would the world still function without people believing in you?”

  I don’t know, Harper. There are creatures who still believe in us somewhere, in this universe and the others. The more who are aware of our existence, however, the stronger we can become, the better we can manifest. Here, on Neraka, I am weak. Barely anyone still believes in me. On Zathura, some little planet a million years away from here, the Hermessi are strong and powerful, and are worshipped by the thousands.

  A few seconds passed. I stared straight ahead, fixated on a black dot. I hadn’t seen it before. It seemed as though it was moving. Getting closer.

  “So, the more people believe in you—the more of us believe in you—the stronger you become?”

  Yes, Harper.

  “And what do the Hermessi do with such power? What’s your end-game?”

  The voice became clearer—soft, male, like drizzling honey melting into a pot of warm milk. He chuckled softly. It made me smile on the inside.

  I have no end-game, Harper. I only want to thrive, to feed on your energy, to put the love you give me back into the world. To make things right again.

  The black dot grew bigger. Only then did I realize it wasn’t actually black, but red.

  It had wings.

  It was flying toward me.

  Part of me already knew what it was.

  “Ramin… You’re Ramin.”

  “That is the name I was given most recently, yes,” the voice replied, suddenly much clearer and louder, echoing through my very being.

  The Ekar bird approached me in flight and burst into flames.

  “Whoa,” I murmured, staring at the creature that took shape before me.

  The flames flickered and poured into a humanoid form, with a head, two arms, and two legs. It didn’t have eyes or a mouth, but its voice—his voice was the one I’d been hearing. Ramin was a Hermessi, and he’d been talking to me.

  He’d been asking me to believe in him.

  The more I looked at him, the firmer my belief, the more sense I could make of this world, in a way. “This is so weird,” I added.

  “I know,” Ramin replied. “It’s been forever since I could manifest myself like this.”

  “But why the Ekar? Why were you a bird?” I asked.

  “The Ekars, like the fae, are conduits,” he explained. “But their consciousnesses are different. I, as a Hermessi, have never tried to speak through a fae. At least, not through the few I’ve come across on Neraka. But I’ve done my best to empower them, in the absence of belief.”

  “And the birds?”

  “Their consciousnesses are different. They make it easier for me to settle inside them, to use their physical forms in order to manifest myself,” Ramin explained. “I haven’t truly felt the need to speak out before. But then I met you, Harper, and everything changed.”

  I was getting answers, but I was also getting more confused with each minute that went by.

  “What do I have to do with anything?” I asked.

  “You believed, Harper,” Ramin said. “You didn’t even know it! You believed before Neha even told you what a fire spirit was. Your energy, Harper, it’s unique. Before I met you, I simply watched Neraka’s tragedy unfold. It didn’t matter to me whether the Imen, the Dhaxanians, the Maras, the Adlets, the Manticores, and all the other creatures lived or died. It didn’t matter. The world would go on. The cycle of nature would continue. My fire would burn either way. The other Hermessi would continue to exist as well. Water, air, fire, and earth’s destinies are infinite and not bound to the creatures that cannot live without them.”

  “So my belief gave you strength?”

  “Yes, Harper. I do not need to feed on your soul like the daemons or the Maras do. That is perverse. I do not take anything. I feel, and I give back,” he replied. “And I can feel your emotions. Your love, your hope, your joy and your grief. Your sorrow and despair. I do not like it when you’re sad. I can’t explain it, but… I just don’t like it.”

  It hit me then. Ramin was someh
ow attuned to my soul. Whether that had something to do with my sentry nature was yet to be determined, but if he could feel what I felt, and if he drew power from my belief without draining me of anything… then he could even help me.

  “Tell me, Harper, do you want to live?” he asked, as if reading my mind. He’d probably done just that.

  “I do. So much, you have no idea.”

  “Would you give up your own life to save Caspian?” he replied.

  “I would die if it saved everyone. Caspian would do the same,” I said. If I’d still been in my body, anchored to reality, maybe my answer would’ve been different. But given my circumstances and unprecedented clarity, I stood by my words. “The daemons, the Maras, they cannot win. The Nerakians deserve freedom and peace. I will die for it. I will.”

  The fire figure cocked his head to the side. Had he had eyes, he probably would’ve narrowed them, watching me intently, filled with curiosity. I could feel it.

  “You will die for Neraka’s freedom, then?” he asked.

  “Yes. Though I’d obviously rather not,” I muttered.

  I’d made my peace already, in a way. I wanted to live, but I couldn’t live if I couldn’t save this planet. If my death meant that Neraka would regain its freedom, that its people wouldn’t suffer at the hands of daemons and Maras anymore, then yes. I was okay with dying. It wasn’t my best-case scenario, but it wasn’t my worst, either.

  I couldn’t take my gaze off Ramin. He was so beautiful, even though he was just a humanoid wisp of pure fire. His flames licked at the emptiness around him. His sparks reflected onto the surface of all the water rings around us.

  “I understand,” he said. “I’d like to offer you a deal, then, Harper. I will help you defeat Shaytan, if you grant me a favor.”

  “What favor?” I instantly replied. I wasn’t accustomed to making deals in general, not to mention deals with fire entities from dimensions I’d never been to before.

  “I will collect it later. It will be a favor of my choosing. I cannot tell you what it is because I do not yet know it myself,” Ramin said. “But it is a risk you will have to take if you want my help. Consider it your sacrifice, Harper.”

  I thought about it for a few moments. “Can you really help me kill Shaytan? He’s insanely powerful. You’ve seen it yourself.”

  “Harper, I am the raw force of nature. Fire destroys everything. Do not doubt me. You know what fire can do.”

  “Okay, then. Let’s do this,” I replied.

  I had no choice but to accept, anyway. It was either this or useless death, since I had no guarantee that Lumi would finish the spell before Shaytan would find her—not without me wedging myself between them, of course.

  I needed to be a good wedge for a little while longer.

  Suddenly, everything vanished into blackness.

  My eyes popped open.

  I was outside the Palisade again. I was on the ground, bleeding. Everything hurt.

  Caspian was wheezing, struggling to move and to breathe. Idris and Rayna were slowly moving toward him, their auras blazing red from their own injuries.

  I looked up to find Shaytan holding his charmed sword over his head, ready to bring it down and split me open. This was it. The split second I’d missed while conversing with Ramin. Wherever it was that I’d been, time flowed differently there.

  A bright flash made him freeze and squint.

  The sky above us rippled.

  Something was happening.

  Harper

  Like a transparent sheet burning from the bottom to the top in bright sparks of yellow, the cloaking shield that had been covering Neraka for weeks disappeared. Lumi had done it!

  “The shield is down,” I heard Hansa murmur.

  I could breathe and move again, though every atom in my body screamed from the pain. Shaytan was speechless, gawking at the sky, unable to believe what was happening. That was my split second to try to move back before he registered my presence again. I was the closest he could take his wrath out on.

  “You,” he said, his sword arm trembling from the rage as he looked down at me. “You did this. You… You ruined everything!”

  I held my breath for a moment, quickly and quietly assessing my physical state. My chest wound was closing up, but I only had seconds to get away from Shaytan. That had just become an impossible mission, since his red eyes were fixed on me once again.

  My sword was within my reach, inches away from my fingers.

  “I told you we’d do it,” I muttered. “Not my fault you didn’t believe me.”

  “You think your people will take me down?” Shaytan replied, raising his voice. He was having trouble controlling his breath. His fury was going to be the end of him—and I was hoping that would come sooner, rather than later. “I’m undefeated! I am the champion of Neraka! The undisputed king!” he roared.

  “Then why do you reek of fear now?” I asked, spotting Ramin on the roof of the Palisade.

  There was something different about that bird. As it ruffled its feathers, sparks flew from every plume. It was weird, but it filled me with energy—like the kind I needed to move. I realized then that it wasn’t the Hermessi giving me anything. It was me, channeling the ounce of life force I had left inside me to make the final push.

  Shaytan sneered and narrowed his eyes at me.

  “It’s time for you to die, you filthy little—”

  I cut him off. “It’s time for you to experience defeat!”

  He snarled and raised his sword over his head again, ready to bring it down and kill me.

  “Harper, no!” Hansa screamed.

  I heard the others gasping and struggling to get back on their feet. They were desperate to stop Shaytan. All I could focus on was the daemon king, blocking everything else out until the flutter of wings made my heart skip a beat.

  My hand found my sword. His blade came down. I was ready to block it, hoping I had enough strength to stop it from slicing me open.

  The Ekar bird shot through my field of vision. It burst into horrendous flames as it hit Shaytan right in the head. The daemon king was caught by surprise, grunting as he moved back, trying to fight off the Hermessi. I was stunned, watching as the fire spread quickly and ate his whole body up.

  “I’m not done here! No! I’m not done!” he cried out, his arms flailing as he fought against the flames to no avail.

  I managed to get up and grabbed my sword. He dropped his with a painful clang.

  It was as if I were watching a tragedy unfold in slow motion, only there was barely a sliver of sadness left for me to feel toward Shaytan’s demise. I didn’t like taking a life, no matter whose it was. But, still, I knew I had to, and boy, did he deserve it!

  I was amazed by Shaytan’s ability to resist the flames. He muttered a variety of protection spells, hundreds of tattoos lighting up beneath the blaze. Too little, too late, as the fire kept eating away at him.

  His eyes glowed red through the flames. He roared and came at me with his bare claws.

  I broke into a cold sweat and swung my sword out. I cut his forearm first.

  He growled and tried to attack me again, while I kept my distance from the fire that had engulfed him.

  “I’m not done here!” he cried out.

  “Denial isn’t the mark of a leader,” I muttered, then retaliated with multiple sword hits.

  I managed to cut through his chest several times. He howled from the pain, but still, he didn’t stop. This was his Hail Mary attack. It was no longer either my death or his. We both had to go, in his twisted mind.

  “I will not be defeated!” he screamed, the fire burning through his flesh.

  The smell became unbearable. I had to end this.

  “You don’t get it, do you?” I replied, then raised my sword, the tip pointed at him. “You were defeated the moment you ate the first soul.”

  I didn’t give him a chance to respond. I wasn’t even sure he could. It was a miracle he was still standing, at this point
.

  I dashed forward and jumped. I drove my sword through Shaytan’s neck as I tackled him.

  We both fell. I landed on top of him, refusing to let go of my sword.

  “Harper!” Fiona screamed. “Harper, get out of there!”

  The flames were licking at me. But they didn’t burn. It was a strange sensation.

  Beneath me, Shaytan was unrecognizable. His beard and hair had been destroyed by the flames. His skin was gone. The flesh and bones beneath were blistering as the Hermessi kept burning him from head to toe. And yet, all I felt was warmth.

  I looked down at myself and exhaled. Ramin was keeping me safe.

  My blade had gone straight through Shaytan’s throat.

  He stared at me, choking and gurgling, finally giving in to it all.

  I watched the life dim in his red eyes, before the flames consumed them and turned them into goo.

  “Harper!” Hansa cried out. “Harper, get away from there!”

  “It’s okay,” I replied, unable to take my eyes off Shaytan. “It doesn’t burn.”

  I was straddling the mountain of flesh that was—or, until a second ago, had been—Shaytan. The daemon king was dead. I’d killed him. I’d kept my word.

  Heat filled my body. I needed the warmth.

  My whole being hurt, but I pushed myself back up and stepped away from Shaytan’s burning carcass. It was over.

  I watched him for a while.

  One deep breath. Another deep breath. By the third, I started tearing up, as I looked to my left and saw Caspian on the ground, burned to a crisp. But his eyes were wide open and fixed on me. He blinked once, as if telling me yes.

  Fiona and Zane were better, and so were Avril and Scarlett. Hansa and Jax. Patrik and Ryker. Caia. Rayna and Idris… Wyrran… Peyton… There were Adlets and rebel Imen and Maras standing up again, unable to take their eyes off Shaytan. Those whose emotions I could see spoke for all of us—hope and relief surged through them. Joy and determination.

  I rushed to Caspian’s side and dropped to my knees, leaving the daemon king’s corpse behind me. Hansa, Jax, Caia, and Rayna were the first to reach us. Caspian couldn’t move. He was in a lot of pain. I could feel it all, clutching my heart and squeezing so tightly it made me sob.