Soul Aside by Xia Nightingale (the gingerbread man read aloud .txt) 📕

Ouroboros’ quiet whisper. “It’s time to continue our journey.” Zayne nodded, they had already overstayed their welcome. If they wanted to reach the next settlement without encountering any complications, it was best to leave now.

Ouroboros howled to the night sky, a twister of shadow and magic surrounding them. Just before the cloud completely consumed him, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. A small patch of white flowers some distance away, they were too far for him to be sure, but he was almost certain that they were the same flowers from his dream.

Chrysanthemums…

Please, don’t leave me alone… The desperate words of a girl he did not remember or see echoed in his mind. He reached out a hand, but quickly pulled it back. Now was not the time to chase after dreams.

Then darkness consumed him once more.

chapter-two

 

 

Faeturna, a massive continent surrounded by islands both in the sea and sky. Long ago there had been many other continents that covered the world, but they were all gone now – lost in a time thought to be no more than a myth. As the darkness lifted from his eyes, the light from Eos greeted him in all its glory. They were in an open field of green hills and ruins of the distant past. “Where are we?”

“About 15 miles south of the Lana Forest – the Vestige Plateau.” Ouroboros stood at Zayne’s side looking at the land with a quizzical eye. “I had hoped to take us farther, but Eos came out sooner than I had expected. The closest settlement isn’t for another day’s journey.” Zayne could have sworn he heard a growl in his companions whispering voice. Ouroboros, a creature of night and shadow, did not particularly enjoy the light. For some unspeakable reason, the light just seemed to drain its energy.

“Do you want to hide?” Zayne asked. The beast looked at him with its violet eyes, obviously offended. He shrugged. “You were out all night, just wondering if you needed a rest.”

“…I can handle another couple of hours.”

He gave a slight nod, took a deep breath, and then started walking.

Just as the name implied, the Vestige Plateau was a collection of discarded hope and memories of the past. It could have even once been one a country of its own. It was hard to say. As Zayne walked past a somewhat intact pillar coated in glass, he could not help but wonder why no one had decided to build a settlement in this area just for the materials alone. This single pillar would be enough to assist in the creation of four buildings. The glass could make a king out of a lowly scavenger. “Ouroboros, why aren’t there any settlements here?”

 “I believe it has to do with the fact that this place is part of the Climb.”

The Climb, a pilgrimage many…special individuals took hoping to find healing and salvation at the end. Unlike most travels, the Climb demanded the individual travel the roads less traveled – the Vestige Plateau being a part of that road. From the Southern Wastes, through the Blare Desert, then the Vestige Plateau to the Scar Canyon, until at last the devout individual reaches the black crystal mountain passes of the Aero Spine to the northeast. What lay beyond was a mystery to him, all he did know now was that there was no salvation or hope to be found there.

Not for the last 5 years.

“I doubt anyone bothers to go through with it anymore,” Zayne said the words, but he really had lost all interest.

Ouroboros stopped walking; it’s dark lucid body tensing. “Though it might be true that the Climb has lost its purpose, humans will forever be fools of desperation.”

Before Zayne could ask what he meant by that, his right arm started glowing a bloody crimson through the fabric and an incomparable pain seized him. Causing him to crumble. Very rarely does this happen, and only on the most specific of circumstances. Either they had found him, he was at the point of death, or…another of his own kind was close by.

He looked to the land ahead. That is when he spotted him.

A man in ragged clothes stained with dirt and blood ran through the ruin maze about a mile away. His wild red hair whipped across his face and he held his broken left arm close to his body, however, what caught Zayne’s attention most of all was the blazing red light coming from the man’s chest. Another sharp pain shot through Zayne’s right arm. The red light seeping through the cloth forming an intricate mark of thorns and runes to make the likeness of some sort of beast.

The mark of a Sinner.

“Did he notice us?” Zayne said through clenched teeth, trying to choke down the pain.

Ouroboros observed in tense silence until at last, it answered. “No, he’s heading north. Going through his own Climb, however, judging from how quickly his mark is growing he won’t make it.”  He had no doubt in Ouroboros’ words. Even so, his companion didn’t relax. On the contrary, Ouroboros started to snarl. “He’s not alone!”

Two streaks of golden light shot through the landscape after the man. The mark on Zayne’s arm burned even more as if it was on fire. He knew that light, he had been running from it for the past five years since he awoke to this twisted world. “Blades...”

In the time when the world experienced a new era after the glories of the past turned to dust, a strange phenomenon occurred all over what remained of the globe. The laws of the world had become undone, ushering in the Age of Depravity.

When the encroaching darkness became too unbearable for humanity to bare; the Lord of Creation, Elyon, sent down His Heritor of the Blade, Laminae, to provide His children with salvation. So she came, pushing back the darkness with her blade of light and death. Though she had saved humanity from the edge of chaos, she could not completely destroy it or remain in the world.

Before she faded away to nothing, she left behind a Testament stating that any who sacrifice themselves to her blade and judgment, sacrificing all for the sake of the next dawn shall wield a portion of her power and be able to provide salvation to even the darkness itself. So mankind was able to control the power of an angel, coming together to form the divine Order of Laminae, all members Blades to the cause. If chaos dares to drive the world back to the Age of Depravity, they shall cut it down without hesitation. Even if those seeds of chaos were innocent men, women, or children.

This time the light wasn’t after Zayne, but someone who still believed in salvation at the end of this long road. Once that light reached him he will find another salvation at the end of a blade. There was no saving him. It was either the mark that would consume him or the Blades will catch him. If Zayne dared to intervene his own light would catch the scent and be upon him. He could not leave the area either, the pain too fierce.

“Ouroboros can you get us out of here undetected?” Zayne asked in desperation.

“No, even if I could I wouldn’t. Judging by the power resonating from those Blades they are not mere acolytes. Most likely canon’s which would mean that they would detect us the moment I used my power while Eos is ablaze.” Meaning no escape…

All he could do was wait and watch the Blades kill yet another forsaken Sinner.

The Sinner continued with his desperate escape, at some point the two lights dissipated changing to two juniper robbed figures. It would not be long now. Whether it was out of fatigue or because of the treacherous earth, the man fell. He must have twisted his leg because he did not get back on his feet, rather he started to crawl for his life.

Zayne felt a dark pit in his stomach. He could not watch anymore. Ouroboros seemed unbothered by the tragedy about to take place. “As soon as they deal with him, that will be the best chance to quit this place.”

In order to survive, I must allow others to die. That is how the world works. That is how this bloody world works! He bit down on his lip adding to the pain. Remember all the other times! It will all end the same. The Blades will make it quick and painless. Their mercy is the only one left in this world!

The Blades were roughly three feet away from the man. He stopped crawling, instead, he was screaming to the air. Perhaps begging for his life or lamenting the world in his final moments. Whatever it was he could not understand, and he was glad for it.

A sudden breeze swept through the plateau, carrying with it petals of white.

Don’t leave me alone!

Zayne grabbed Ouroboros. “Take us there!” It made no protest. The beast gave a harrowing roar that resonated throughout the area. Flames of shadow consumed Zayne, like an arrow he shot through the terrain straight to the Sinner and the two Blades. There was no turning back now. Once he reached them he will have to fight. Someone was going to die.

He was going to make sure that it wasn’t himself.

“Once there, you are on your own. I can take no more.” Ouroboros' voice came from all around him.

“I know, all I need is Laevatein.”

The violet crystal horn materialized before Zayne. He grabbed it, violet flames blazing.

“…Be careful.”

Imprint

Publication Date: 01-25-2019

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To the One who gives us life, My family and friends that remind me why it is great to be alive, My wonderful niece Eevee whose story has only just begun, And of course to you.