Page 4 of Soul of Salvation

His shadows dance quietly around his lean frame, giving nothing away for why he brought me here. The moment I reach his side, every muscle locks up. Again, my mind doesn’t understand what I’m seeing because this isn’t just water. It’s something other. The pool is not clear, but a shimmery, silver liquid that I can faintly see through if I look hard enough. There are no ripples cascading along the surface, no sound from where the waterfall flows into the center. It’s motionless. Mirror-like from the luminescent glow, one that distantly reminds me of a magical light shining in the night that knows my secrets. Another memory from what seems like another life.

But what has me hesitant is the metallic scent that wafts from the water, a smell that is all too similar to blood. And I start to wonder if the flowers hold a purpose, a ploy to mask whatever might lurk beneath the surface.

Because something’s off.

“You have proven yourself useful to me, Emmerelda.” I tear my eyes away from the water and look up at my father, keeping the air still in my lungs.

This is how it has been since he brought me here. He told me that before my mother gave birth to me, my chosen name was Emmerelda. But when she hid me in the Mortal Lands of Helestria, she shortened it to fit it in with my new life. To keep me more protected and not connect me back to the God’s daughter. He is constantly calling me by my full name, as if testing out how it sounds. To override the name my mother left behind that I have grown to know. That maybe using the name I was supposed to be given will connect us more. That I am better left alive to be of use by his side.

But even in this state, I much prefer Emma. It's short and sharp, much like my favorite dagger. But deep down, it’s because of how it rolled off the tongue of a tattooed winged male, and it ruined all other names for me.

The beat of my poisoned heart is steady and slow as my father waves his hand out to the glistening pool beyond. “This, my daughter, is part of your next task.”

CHAPTER THREE

Emma

Whiro towers over me so that I have to tip my head back in order to keep my eyes locked on his. To not show fear in the face of death. He clasps his hands together behind his back while his face holds a shred of excitement with the way the corner of his eyes lift.

“I will admit, I was worried you wouldn’t accept the darkness when I first brought you here. That you would fight and become more like your mother.” He cocks his head to the side as his heartless eyes search mine. “But you seem to revel in the rush of instilling fear. To claim control, since your pathetic life before had you powerless under the guise of a false father.” A chilling laugh rumbles from his chest. “You want power.”

My breath stills in my lungs for a brief moment. He’s not asking. He knows, since he was able to sink his claws into the deepest, darkest corners of my psyche before all of this. Finding the years of suffering I shoved in a tiny box, hoping to seal away the pain for no one to see. Yet, he brushed away the dust collecting on it and smashed it to bits.

I may have killed King Oren, but the trauma he left me with is still embedded into my soul and the memories are vividly loud. The pain has numbed, but the infliction of every cruel deed is imprinted in my brain, and I don’t wish to see it anymore. Unbothered or not, the sight of my blood spilling, of my mother dying, of Cora torn open mid-battle, and the way the Dark Prince looked at me before I stepped through the portal. These are all past reminders I want erased.

The past is a distraction. An annoyance hindering my true goal.

But power…

Power will allow me to make sure none of this happens again. To fully rid myself of who I was and relinquish these memories of loss and torment.

I keep my voice strong when I respond, “Yes. I want power to forget my past self.”

That seems to be all he needed to hear because he reaches out, wrapping his long, obsidian fingers around my wrists. He tightens his grip, causing a freezing sting to race around the slender bone. It disintegrates the rope of shadows that have been cuffed around my wrists since I’ve been here. The rings of power never blocked my own—like the collar King Oren sealed around my neck—but Whiro’s cuffs physically kept me in Gehendra and prevented me from leaving this realm. I learned how to portal with my shadows, but these binds confined that ability to only this realm as a way to learn loyalty.

I gently rub my wrist where I can still faintly feel the essence of his power tickling against my skin. Blinking slowly, I drag my eyes to his once more with an unsaid question hanging in the air.

He tucks his arms behind his back again. “I’ve been in my realm for way too long and have lived more than your young mind can even comprehend, and I’m finding myself growing bored,” he says, his eyes narrowing. “You will bring someone to me and if you don’t…then I will destroy the lives of everyone in the world you left behind for your failure. So, I suggest you act wisely.”

I swallow the unease slithering up my throat. I shouldn’t care, but there’s this kernel of something building deep within. So much is at stake if I fail. The lives don’t matter to me, but failing? That’s unacceptable.

“Who?”

The corner of his lips twitches upward before he turns to look back over the water. “The heir to the Court of Asiza. The prince who failed to save you.”

Failed? I let myself become this for the battle to end, didn’t I? Not giving anyone a choice or even a chance to save me.

For a moment, I want to ask why he wants the prince, but pressure builds behind my skull, blurring memories and muffling truths. The whispers are pounding their fists, demanding the death of Prince Draven. I can feel it in my bones—a sharp ache that desperately wants to drive the sharpest sword through his chest.

I give a sharp nod. “Do you seek revenge?”

He peers at me from the side of his eye. My muscles tense slightly as he fully regards me now. “For once, I don’t, but I can see why you would think that.” He’s silent for a brief moment. “You should have never been able to escape my cells. Only my power was the key that could undo the locks I had in place. So, it seems my power is running through his veins. Then, add that onto the display of shadows he wielded in my library you trespassed in…” He trails off in thought.

The silence grows between us, but I refuse to say a word.

After another minute, he inhales deeply, as if trying to brush away any frustration eating away at him, and then jerks his head to the water before us. “What you see before you is my most cherished love—the Sea of Souls.”

My eyes immediately latch back onto the stagnant, polished water, and when I squint my eyes… Bodies. Corpses float beneath in a sterling sea of death. A deep breath fills the air as Whiro’s chest expands and deflates. “It’s waiting for the next soul I’ve chosen and the one I must own. You will bring him to me. The moment he is submerged beneath, his soul will be separated from his body and to the world beyond, where even I can’t venture.”

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