triumphant smile.
It crouched down, pressing a metal knee against my chest. The weight crushed all of the air from my lungs. I had to use all of my remaining strength to gasp the next breath.
The Sorrow lifted an armour clad arm up to its artificial face, the screech of the metal joints like rusty door hinges. There was a click as it unlocked the straps. The mask dislodged with a wet pop.
So this is how it’s going to be.
The excited chattering rose into an ear-splitting roar. There was no escape. It started to pull the iron face away, wanting to show me what lay underneath. I let out a long, final sigh.
Now comes the end of everything.
I felt a sensation like an electric current rush through my body. Losing my soul didn’t feel how I’d imagined. It felt…familiar.
Alex.
The softly spoken word filled my mind.
Faru?
Yes Alexander it’s me. Listen, you must close your eyes.
There’s no point. It’s over. The Sorrow won.
It is not over. Please close your eyes, there isn’t much time.
The Sorrow loomed over me, the mask hinging away from its face as I closed my eyes.
It doesn’t matter. Gabriella’s gone. Faru, it killed her.
She’s not gone.
I felt hope bloom inside me. What do you mean?
I can still feel her link, its weak, but still there. If she were completely gone, then it would have been severed. Alexander, there may still be time.
But I tried to heal her, it didn’t work.
I believe your gift is rendered unusable when you are near The Sorrow. If you were able to defeat it…
The despair came back. Faru, I can’t, it’s too powerful. Even the Crimson Twins didn’t work.
Alexander, there will be a way. There has to be. Think!
I racked my brains, but couldn’t grab hold of anything. A sensation of crawling spiders prickled across every inch of my skin. I could sense that The Sorrows true face was exposed. I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as they would go. I knew if I opened them, that my soul would be taken. I could feel The Sorrow leaning closer. It would be a matter of seconds before it prised my eyes open and everything was over. My life-force would be devoured and used to fuel its own retched soul.
Its own soul…
Faru, give me your Farsight!
Instantly, I felt the psychedelic rush hit my mind. The world became a swirl of colours; the scaffolding around me shimmered as if not completely there. The Sorrow became a moving mirage of black and red. The holes where its armour had once been were darker than black. Unknowable creatures with crimson eyes scuttled about in the darkness. Where the soul eater’s face should have been was a swirling vortex of purple and black.
As soon as I saw it, my jaw locked open. Something deep within my chest began to unfurl and move towards my throat. My body grew cold. My mind began to waver. I could barely collect any thoughts. A blue beam of light pushed out of my mouth and floated towards the vortex. The Sorrow rose up, drawing my soul with it.
I had no time left. In seconds, I would become a Depraved, just like all the others that had stood against The Sorrow. Another hideous, mindless slave.
I scanned for what I prayed would be there — stared into the depths of the darkness, where the horrific red eyed creatures crawled. Then I saw it. Denser black than even the shadows around it, a pulsing orb of blackness at the heart of darkness. The eye of the abyss.
I prayed to any God that was listening and heaved myself upwards. My broken bones screamed and cracked as I lifted my working arm.
I plunged my hand into The Sorrow’s chest.
Unimaginable pain — burning and freezing and crushing and bursting all at the same time, raced up my arm. My fingers closed around the soul. It felt slippery. Raw meat coated in oil. The Sorrow let out a piercing shriek as I tugged backwards with every remaining ounce of strength. It snapped free. My fist slipped out of the darkness. Little wet strings of black ichor covered my hand all the way down to the wrist. The orb beat like a giant heart in my hand.
I drove The Sorrow’s own soul into the vortex.
The soul eater made a scream so loud and high pitched I thought my eardrums would burst. It tried to claw at its own face. A white light appeared in the centre of the vortex and grew. The exposed patches of darkness were overpowered by the growing brightness. The creatures squealed and vanished. The light shone through the cracks in the armour like rays of sunlight through openings in a curtain. It grew so bright that it seemed to draw all the other swirling colours into it. The giant sword clattered to the ground and dissolved into a black puddle. The Sorrow threw back its head and exploded in a shower of light. I shielded my eyes with a broken hand, but not before I saw thousands of souls shoot up in a fountain of pure energy. Something shot into my mouth, snapping my head backwards with incredible force. I knew beyond a doubt it was my soul returning to its rightful place. When the light had dimmed enough for me to look again, I saw the freed souls snaking their way into the sky. As soon as they hit the clouds, the Red Storm was consumed by light. The clouds dissolved and the rain stopped falling. Something tickled my arm. I looked down to see the black substance coiling its way up my wrist and onto my forearm. It spiralled and looped into various shapes and then set like dry ink. It had turned itself into some kind of strange tattoo. I was too tired to care.
Ignoring the excruciating pain, I heaved myself onto my feet and limped as fast as I could all the way to the entrance, where Gabriella’s body lay. As I grew near, I could feel my bones start to piece their way back together.
My heart broke all over again to see her lifeless, rain soaked body. The water had washed her blood into a shimmering pink halo. With Faru’s Farsight, I noticed something else. In the centre of her chest — so small and faint it was barely there at all — was her soul.
I knelt down to her body and lifted her towards me. I stared into her closed eyes and prayed for something to work. For a moment nothing did. I felt despair dragging away hope once again. Then I felt the charges start. They were no more than a tingle at first, but they grew quickly, gathering power. My body began to shudder; Gabriella’s body did the same. Behind her shining skin, I could see the little blue orb uncurl like a waking animal. It slid slowly up to her throat. I felt my own chest becoming warm. With my free hand, I ripped open my shirt. A bright blue light glowed in the centre.
An overwhelming need to cough seized my chest. I coughed a little, but the feeling didn’t pass. I hacked again with as much force as I could manage. My jaw unhinged and the blue light poured from my mouth. It surged towards Gabriella. Her own mouth fell gently open and tiny snake of light rolled out. Mine connected with hers and instantly Gabriella’s body arched upwards. Her soul grew brighter and more powerful. It changed from a pale blue, going through every shade until it became an electric blue. Her wound knitted itself back together, leaving nothing but a long, pink line.
The souls released each other and snapped back into our bodies. My head was thrown backwards, popping my neck with a loud crack. Gabriella’s eyes flew open and she gasped for air.
“Ella,” I wept, as tears of happiness flowed down my cheeks.
I wrapped my arms around her. Gabriella pressed into me so tightly it felt like we were going to merge into one person. I could feel from her own shaking body that she was crying too.
Over her shoulder, I saw that without The Sorrow, all of the Depraved had died. Somehow in death, they appeared more human. Each one wore an expression of utter serenity. The Sorrow’s steed was lying on its side — eyeballs rolling wildly in their socket. A ball of energy descended from the sky and settled nearby. The Unicorn looked at it and made a soft whinnying sound. Its eyes changed from red to pale blue and the madness was replaced by tranquillity. It looked towards me and then lay its head down and fell silent. I closed my eyes and held Gabriella close. Faru, it’s over. I know. We’re almost there. Hold on. There was no shudder before his answer. He
