Soul Keeper

Protectors were aware of the pain of loss as they all had been through this phase in one or other time. But it was not the right time to mourn their past griefs.

With every ticking second the evil power of their enemy was amplified and another sacrifice of innocent helpless soul was added to it.

Impatient Neihar broke the silence in the cave.

"Saisha we are really sorry for your loss. We know the pain of your loss but for the greater good will you break your silence now"

All the others joined Neihar.

"Yes, He is right" [Mekhala]

"We need to know the things before we help you" [Sakda]

"Please let us know what is this all about" [Yathin]

"Serpent Queen, please" [Orzala]

Zesiro as cold as always, "We need to know"

Saisha got hold of her shrugging away her grief as she already knew this was inevitable.

"This was inevitable. The curse of the past will never let us live in peace"

"Curse!"

"Yes. A mistake committed my late father the former King of Serpents. My father loved his wife, our mother dearly. Unfortunately, she lost her life giving birth to Nathair. Since then all the people in the city considered him unworthy.

Days passed by and Nathair was blamed for queen's death and in other hand my father was losing his patience. He was distracted by the absence of my mother and rumours spread about his dear son. He wanted to bring back my mother. So he went to plead her.

The keeper of our holy shrine. Solikha, she looked after the souls after their death in the shrine. In other word she would lead those souls into the world of dead without letting them escape their fate. She would also capture the unsatisfied tormenting souls thus keeping our land in peace.

The day my father visited she was quite weak. My father pleaded her to tell her the secret of resurrection. She denied him stating that it was a forbidden technique and performing that could bring menace.

Flaring up in anger my father ordered her misusing his power as a king but she kept refusing. Finally, a war broke out between them. Considering Solikha was powerful, that day my father did not heed to her weak condition and attacked her with full force.

By the end of the battle when my father realised his reckless action it was too late. Solikha lost something more than precious. Her unborn child.

A soul protector has a special ability to capture souls and a supporting strong core surging with immense power. As a result, they don't die and they can also create a true copy of their own but only once in a lifetime losing a portion of their core energy.

Solikha gathered her core energy for a thousand year to create a single cell of clone which approximately takes hundred years to develop into a stage of a foetus. It was her foetus inside the womb which was lost at the hands of my father's anger.

Flaring up with anger Solikha cursed our family that "Helpless as me, every parent in your family till eternity will witness the death of their sole heir." She added that it will not be a physical death but a mental death were they will lose their peace of mind and brutal death will await their way.

Her anger did not stop with this, she started capturing the souls of younger kids and played with their parents. She turned into a witch. My father was at the fault but to safe guard the people of the city he called some sages to seal her inside the cave near the shrine.

Now she is released and I don't have any idea what she is preparing for."

"What about you leaving the city? Why did you leave?", Yathin questioned out of curiosity.

"After few years of my father's demise I was crowned the queen. Me, my husband, my son and my brother were happy. As they say nothing last's permanent.

Demon king Kalhar with his aim of conquering every inch of the land attacked our city with his army. Though he was not impressed by our city and its poor forest kind of infrastructure, he found our poisonous fangs useful.

He killed many one was my husband. My only son was captured and I stood helpless. I was under the control of Gaagi, the trusted servant of Demon king, a powerful witch playing with minds of people."

"Seems like a tough competitor," Mekhala mumbled.

"So your son is with Kalhar?", Neihar asked

"Yes. He is caged in the crystal palace."

"Complex things. Where the hell am I stuck. All credit to my dear father", Orzala uttered in low voice.

Saisha inhaled and expressed in a sad tone, "I know I have put all of you in a tough position. I am putting all your life at risk for the mistake my family committed. Though I wish for all of your help, I won't force any of you unwilling to stand by me."

An echo of words of support,

"We are willing to do"

"It is the duty of us as a protector"

"Yes". Everyone nodded except Zesiro who was gritting his teeth with a tight fist mumbling the name "Kalhar", in aggression.