4. Clearing Connection

Time slowly came back into focus as I drew the gem out. The three members of the Dark Church leaned forward in anticipation. The Hysteria Stone glowed orange in the dim light and cast a glow on the three members. The blood in my veins turns to ice.

The three things in front of me are not human. Greenish scales cover the creature's face, and their eyes are golden like cats. Dragon people? Wait, Dredges, that's what these ugly things are, and they use magic. How do I? Before I can stop myself, a series of events begin to spiral out of control.

I grab the pouch with my free hand. Dropping the stone in the bag, and then into my sleeve. With that same arm that the pouch went in, I flip the table. It rolls towards the lizardmen while I move from my chair. This combination of actions somehow guided the bag back into my inside pocket.

As I begin to stand to start running for the door, I hear chains start rattling. My body dives to the left instinctually, and I dive into a table of pirates. A loud thunderclap sounded, and then people started screaming.

The Dredge had breathed lightning toward me and just barely missed. Other people were not so fortunate. The sounds of screams and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. I needed to get outside and into a better position or get fried. A knife comes towards me, and I roll backward, knocking drink off the table. I crash into a sitting person and land on the ground.

The woosh of fire engulfs the sounds of angry pirates yelling and screaming. Now people are panicking and are rushing to get out. The fire burned many people, and the roof was burning. I stood up among the masses of running people and could get outside before those things could get another spell off.

Finally, outside, I could see the roof starting to catch fire. Turning back to the alley, I start running. I have no idea where I'm going, and this alley is the only place I can remember. Once inside the passage, I continue to run. The alley is a lot longer then I expected, and it makes a couple turns before coming to another street. Before I reach the road, I stop to catch my breath.

The feeling warns me, and my hand reaches up to grip a slight wrist holding a knife. I pull it forward and use my other hand under the armpit. I lean forward and throw my assailant over my shoulder and onto the ground in front of me. It's the girl. Something is different, and my or the knight's mind begins to churn.

Silvia...

"Why do you keep trying to kill me?" I asked the woman on the ground in front of me.

"I already told you," she tried to say, but I cut her off.

"Silvia, It's me, Diamond," I said to her.

Her body relaxes, and she lets the knife fall from her hand. The hardened expression that had covered her face melted away, and her eyes began to water. I let go of her arm, and she stood up to face me.

Her eyes were like nothing he had ever seen before, or at least could remember at this time. There was no pupils, iris, or even eyeball. The holes instead had a galaxy in each where her eyes should be. It felt like he could fall into them, and somehow he felt like he had known this person for eons. Thoughts transcended, and I fell through countless lives lived in other times, places, even planets. Thousands of lives are all connected to this one single person.

The sounds of yelling snapped me back into reality, but now something has changed. My thoughts finally feel like my own, and I am filled with new certainty. I am Tom, Adriene, and I am Diamond. I am them all. I am a Soul Knight, and Silvia is my Bond. We transcend through time and space, collecting the Soul Stones of our race. Trapped and cast into the Multiverse by a dark god named Bzelorg.

We roam the Multiverse collecting the remaining souls of our lost people. We also must kill Bzelorg and any of his followers. They seek the stones to use souls to power devastating machines to dominate each world.

"It's nice to stop having to try and kill you, follow me," Silvia said to me as she turned and ran into the street.

"And I thought you were playing a joke on me," I say, smiling as I follow her.

She runs right and then turns left down another alley. As I follow her, I can hear the sounds of angry voices, but no chains. Silvia leads me through the city down paths and in between house for about an hour. We arrive at a small and rundown house. The place squeezed between two others, but Silvia walked in and motioned for me to follow.

Once inside, Silvia closed the door and led me into the next room and closed that door. Neither of the places had lights, and I started to get nervous until a door opened. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light that poured around Silvia. When my eyes could finally see into the room, I couldn't believe what I saw.