A demon-boundnecromancergave aLife Bringerhalf of my soul?
Then how did it end up in the hells?
“Are all gold souls fractured?” Ryc asks before I can ask anything else.
But it’s a question in the long slew flying about my head and I wait for the answer. If all gold souls are fractured, finding Ryc’s is about to become my first priority once this whole ordeal is finished.
I can’t leave him broken. I won’t.
Not when he continues to stand beside me.
“When I found them?” Cenviri shakes his head. “No. Not all. But that’s not to say Netharis hasn’t shattered them since.”
I may come to regret it later, but it feels safe to assume Ryc’s soul is intact. Surely Gaia isn’t the type of goddess to exploit her children in the same vein as Netharis.
Cenviri’s eyes linger upon my hip before they travel upward tomeet my stare. He offers me a rather remorseful smile. It’s as if there’s something more he wants to say, but hesitates in saying it and ultimately refrains.
“Why did Netharis collect them?” Ryc asks and all traces of well-masked worry vanish from the necromancer’s face.
Within the expanse of a heartbeat, defensive concern flickers across Cenviri’s features. It’s gone before it can settle, before I can draw a full breath.
“Why did Netharis seek anything? For power. Only a few of these souls exist across the four realms,” he replies. “They’re imperative to the world we live in, as such, they’re Fated.”
My mind wanders to the Fate given to me.
Thisprophecyof altering the realms.
I ended Netharis.
That alone shouldalterthe realms enough.
But it raises a concern I’ve yet to consider… a gold soul is less than forgettable. Until I opened the obsidian box months ago, I’d never seen one before. If there are people like Cenviri who can sense these souls… can he tell? Can he tell the soul is mine?
Does he sense Ryc’s soul, too?
For something that’s supposedly powerful and rare,threeFated souls stand together now.
“The gods have discovered a way to control them, innate ability and all,” Cenviri adds.
To say I’m not surprised is an understatement.
Netharis craved the utmost control in all things.
Ironic considering the inherent chaos of the hells.
“And now free of my contract—in large part thanks to you,il-akiv—I have to correct what I’ve done,” Cenviri says. “I must find and free and mend the ones I damned. The ones I gave to Netharis. Mine and my mate’s included.”
He’s going to stand against the hells.
Wagewarwith Vaelyn.
If there’s any one living creature capable of such a thing, it would be a necromancer. Their understanding of the hells and death eclipses that of anyone else. But… even then… he’s going to be bound by his body.
He’s lost before he’s begun.
“Share your thoughts, little love.”Ryc’s gentle voice slows my racing thoughts.
“This… this is larger than I could have ever imagined.”I shift in my seat, lifting my chin to meet his stare.“You… you’re also—”
