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The Soul Keeper

The smell of blood invaded my nostrils. I watched helplessly as the woman standing over me raised her sword. I was completely drained, I had no mana left, no items, nothing. As the crimson tendrils held me down by my arms and legs, all I could do was wait for my death. As the sword drew near, I felt the last bit of courage I had disappear. I was going to die. Alone. In this god forsaken place filled with evil. And for what? To protect those ‘friends’? The same people who mocked me, took advantage of, and used me? Oh, who am I trying to fool? I was here only because of my own greed. Because I wanted to be useful to someone. Because I wanted to that group to need me. To value me. To have a reason to keep me around. How naïve I was, thinking that power would grant those wishes. All it did was help build a wall between me and everyone else. The sword approached. I saw the purple light reflect off the sword’s blade. After everything I went through, I hadn’t expected my death to be by the hands of another player. I saw her smile, but this time I didn’t think it was beautiful. It was an ugly smile because it was genuine. She was enjoying watching me die. She was enjoying killing me. The sword struck my chest and pierced my heart. I let out a scream of pain and agony. The pain was so real, all of this was so real. It shouldn’t be, but it was. What should have been a simple game had become my new reality – all of our new reality. A reality filled with magic, war, blood, and death. My vision darkened as the pain slowly faded. I felt the last of my vitality leave my body. It felt cold. I wondered to myself, when would I stop being? When would my thoughts disappear? Soon, I saw those words I feared for all this time appear before me. “DEATH”, in the pale blue font the game always used. They remained suspended in the air for several seconds. It was over. After a long time of fighting, grinding, and exploring, it was finally over. I had died. This was the end of my story. Suddenly, words before me shifted and changed into something different. I took a shallow breath as I heard a faint heartbeat. * * * Cover art by me * * * We have a discord! Come say hi, chat with me and receive updates on status of my novels! https://discord.gg/2EFthae7XR * * * This story is my submission for the 2020 Webnovel Spirity Awards.

Dweia · Jogos
Classificações insuficientes
341 Chs

The Silence of Death

My heart shattered as I stared into the big, innocent eyes of this small child. I wanted to say something, but a lump had lodged itself in my throat.

"She helped me and my brother when the beasts attacked." The child said, seemingly not noticing how much his words hurt me. "Can you save her too, mister?" He said, still tugging at my cloak.

I gulped to get rid of the lump in my throat, then knelt beside him. I could hear Rina trying to supress her crying behind me. She ran off – she probably didn't want the child to see her like that. After a moment's hesitation, I reached out and gently wiped the child's tears away.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I wish I could help her."

He stared at me wordless for a few seconds before finally mumbling. "That's sad." He looked down, then at his sleeping brother. "I thought you would maybe save her if I asked nicely." With dropped shoulders and a saddened expression, he returned to his brother's side. He leaned on the bed, then shot me a glance. "Like you did for my brother." He mumbled, avoiding meeting my gaze.

I couldn't bear to look at him. Instead, I slowly turned around and headed to the door. After closing the door behind me, sat on the steps in the front of the building and turned my gaze to the sky. The sun had dawned a while ago.

A soft breeze blew my hair back. While I usually enjoyed fresh air, now it carried the smell of ash and blood with it.

"Kai?" Rina's voice sounded from behind me. I hadn't noticed her open the door at all. "Are you ok?" She asked after a moment.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I said after a moment's hesitation. "How about you, Rina? How are you holding up?" I asked, finally gathering the courage to look at her.

Her eyes were red and swollen, she seemed to be barely holding everything together. "I'm ok." She said with a voice that clearly showed she was not ok. "Alex, on the other hand…" Her voice faded.

"I wish I had come here sooner." I finally said as she sat besides me. "I wish there were something I could do to help – anything." I shook my head. "I'm so sorry, Rina."

She shook her head. "I couldn't do anything either. None of us could." She tightly grasped the cloth of her dress. "We weren't warned – there was no way for us to defend this place!" Her voice was but a whisper. "Kai, so many died. Both Ereth and players like us." A tear rolled down her cheek. "Why are we stuck here? Why can't we go home?" She held onto me and stared me in the eyes as she spoke. "Why did this happen to us? Kai, how do we leave?"

Dumbfounded, all I could do was shake my head. I didn't have the answers to her questions. I was just as much in the dark as she was. All I could do was to offer a hug, which she gladly accepted. We sat there for a while, Rina shivering and crying in my embrace.

Only after a while had passed did she pull herself back. "I'm sorry." She whispered, wiping her tears away. "Let's go check on Alex." She said with a sniff. I nodded. Every fibre of my being wanted to avoid stepping into that room – I didn't think I could bear to see Alex like that ever again, but that wasn't something I could tell Rina. So, I followed her back inside the building.

Alex was in the same position as when I left her. The younger girl besides her had fallen asleep while hugging her.

"Hey, Alex." Rina gently spoke as she knelt beside her friend. "Can I bring you some food? Or water?" She asked. Alex shook her head. While her eyes were as lifeless as before, I saw a glimmer of… something, when she turned her gaze on me.

"Kai." She said with a broken voice. "Did you… take her soul?"

I flinched. I hadn't even thought about it. I felt sick to my stomach as the thought of absorbing a real, actual human's soul suddenly became very real. I quickly shook my head. "No!" I almost shouted as my face went pale.

"Is she here?" Alex asked with a speck of hope in her voice. "Can you see her?"

I didn't need to look around for the answer. "No," I said as I avoided meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry, I can't help you Alex." It broke my heart to see her like this, yet I was once again powerless.

"It's ok." Alex said after a short while. "I just hoped that…" She glanced at Rina, then shook her head. "No, it's nothing."

Why had she decided to keep whatever it was she wanted to say to herself? I glanced at Rina as well. She was watching the younger girl with a bittersweet expression.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me, Alex." I finally said. If getting something off her chest was going to make her feel better, even if only for a moment, I would gladly listen.

She hesitated, then shot an apologetic look at Rina. "I just thought that… Since you're the Keeper, maybe you could…" Her voice faded. Each word seemingly made the next one much harder to say. "I thought… Maybe you could bring her back."

I flinched. That was just… wrong. Especially now, when I could feel hundreds of souls resting peacefully, I couldn't imagine interrupting that rest to bring them back to life. Ever fibre of my being screamed at me that this was very wrong.

"I can't do that, Alex." I said, trying my best to keep my expression calm. "I'm sorry."

Rina breathed a sigh of relief. Alex just looked down at the covered body of her sister.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I guess not even the legendary Keeper of Souls can break the silence of death."