Soul Gem Collector 6 Chapter 1

“The guards are right behind us,” I said as I sat back against the seat of the carriage. “There’s only a few for now. We should be able to outrun them, but more will join them when we pass the towns.”

“Where are we headed?” my djinn girlfriend, Noura, said from beside me.

She had discarded her Diaflorian disguise when we left the city behind, her hair was once again made of flames that licked at the air around her without harm to anything, and her dark red skin pulsed with fire underneath its surface. She used her powers to guide the carriage further away from the city, and she forced the wooden structure to travel so fast the wood creaked like it would fall apart at any moment.

“The capital,” I told her. “We need to get to the king and show him our proof that the Iron Dwarves are about to start a war. And that the Korlems are helping them.”

“And that the Chief Constable was working for the Korlems,” Taslyn, my sexy vixen girlfriend added.

The fox-woman had her amber eyes closed as she lay her head against the cushioned headrest across from me, but her fox ears twitched while she took in every sound. She reached up to pull down the hood of her black cloak, the wind from the open windows tugged on the long red braid that fell over her shoulder, and the freckles on her face shone against her pale skin.  She had exhausted too much magic during our escape, and needed rest, but we needed to get to safety first.

I had killed the Chief Constable of the City Watch when I discovered he was on the Korlems payroll, he was about to reveal my name, and that I had betrayed the treasonous elvenborns. I managed to retrieve the amulet of the secret meeting between the Iron Dwarves and the Korlems, as well as the black book that proved the chief was dirty, but the treacherous nobles had sent their men to capture us, and I had to escape the city with my girls.

“We can’t let them catch us,” Aylara, my business partner and girlfriend, squeaked. “The Korlems will make an example of us if they do.”

She was a mouse-born with platinum blonde curls that were cut short to bob around her chin. She had small, half-moon shaped ears, one brown and one gray, and both of them were back as her bright red eyes looked towards the window. Her petite frame was squeezed between Taslyn and the wall, but her gray tail still had room to swish behind her nervously.

“I’m sure the trial will at least be public,” Janel, my elvenborn wife, said with a frown on her wine red lips. “But that won’t save us from the gallows.”

Her dark green eyes were focused on Taslyn, worry creased her brow, and her long tan fingers fidgeted in her lap. Her black hair was pulled up into a bun, two braids crossed over her forehead, and her pointed ears had dangling earrings that matched her robes.

“No,” I said. “It won’t. But we’re not going to get caught. Noura is driving. Janel, you and I can use battle magic to stall the guards.”

Something thunked into the carriage above my head, and when I looked up I could see the shiny metal of an arrowhead that was wedged into the wood. Another followed it, the third flew past the window on the right, and I saw the shimmer of a shield as the arrow fell away.

Shit. They were getting closer.

“I can keep us safe from the arrows,” Noura said. “For now. But I need to focus on the road ahead of us and I can’t pay attention to both.”

Noura lifted her hands, and in the middle of the cabin a bubble formed then expanded until it showed the road ahead of us. She shifted her attention to the town that we neared, all of the people rushed inside at the sight of us, while the few guards in the town hurried to mount their own horses.

“They’re about to get reinforcements,” I sighed.

I reached into one of the many inside pockets of my leather jacket to grab my soul gems. They were illegal, and I could be killed by the Council of the Illuminated Ones just for possessing them, but I needed them to use magic. I was the only human who could use magic in the entire world and I had only discovered the power to make the gems in an accident that happened in my lab where a chamrosh died.

The little creature had been the pet of an elvenborn in the battle mage program, a goon of Janel’s ex-fiance, and an irritation to me. During its life, Ferox had been an annoying little pain in the ass, but now that I had his soul in an amethyst and a mental link with him, he had become much nicer. He warned me when I was in danger, sometimes before I even realized, and at the moment he growled and barked like crazy.

I poured the stones into my bouncing lap so that I could take a look at them, each of the gems had a different soul collected from either a creature or a person, though the people had always been killed in self defense and as a last resort.

One of the people was a vampire assassin that had tried to murder me, and he gave me the ability to hide my aura, but I was sure with more practice I could become invisible. Another was a tracker from the Korlem family that let me see auras and trails of all sorts of creatures.

The only other person was Janel’s ex-fiance, Valerys, son and heir of the Korlem family, and giant asshole who had repeatedly tried to kill me. He had discovered that Taslyn and I had robbed his uncle’s jewelry store for the gems that his uncle had bought illegally from the Iron Dwarves. Val had attempted to murder me, but Taslyn and I had gotten the better of him then burned his body and hid it around the city.

Every other gem held the soul of a creature, and each one gave me different powers, though what that depended on the type of magical being it was and what stone it had been captured in: amethyst, diamond, ruby, sapphire, or emerald. The stones shimmered with the powers inside of them, most of them were fully charged and ready to use, but the diamond ring with Mama Skelk only had traces of the glittery magic.

I had used Mama Skelk to transport my girls and I out of the chief’s office and into the alley, then into the carriage when Aylar had brought it around. The carriage hadn’t been far, but the skelk had a limited range, and transporting four people twice had used a lot of her magic. She would need to recharge before I could use her again, though I might be able to transport us one more time if it was absolutely necessary, but it couldn’t be any kind of long distance.

The stone that held Valerys’s soul still had some magic left, but I had depleted most of it when I had used the yellow willpower magic to force the corrupt Chief Constable to drop the mirror he used to call Mr. Kay. The crime lord hadn’t learned my name, the call had been interrupted, but the chief couldn’t be allowed to make another call so I used Valerys’s yellow magic to will his heart to stop. After that, I had used the orange fire magic to hold off the officers in the alley while we waited for Aylara and the carriage.

Hawthorne, a sentient hawthorne creature who had attacked us in the forest, had most of his magic left, but he usually didn’t expend too much to trap people with vines. He also didn’t seem to use as much when he got the chance to attack people, and I had only used him on the guards at the gate so we could get safely out of the city.

I hadn’t tested my new ice worm, and the emerald it was trapped in didn’t always have offensive magic, so I put that one back in the back with Mama Skelk and Valerys. I still had Mr. Limey, a limestone elemental that would summon stalagmites or walls that could block the soldier, but I didn’t know how much limestone was in the ground we raced across. I had three others that I could use but the lightning and water gems might kill them, and I didn’t want to hurt anyone if I didn’t absolutely have to, so that left Hawthorne and my wind elemental. With my decision made, I stuffed all of the gems back in their pouch, and then secured them in my inner pocket once again.

“The guards are almost on us,” Aylara warned as another arrow bounced off of the shield Noura projected.

I should help, Taslyn said through our psychic link, but if the strong-willed woman couldn’t even form the words on her petal pink lips, then I doubted she would be able to help much, and I needed her to rest.

It’s okay, I told her. You’ve done so much already. Janel and I can take care of the guards.

If you’re sure… Her jaw cracked as she yawned, and with a sigh, her head lolled to the side as she slumped against Aylara.

“She must be exhausted,” the mouse-girl gasped. She had not been Taslyn’s favorite person initially, but when she joined us to fight against the Korlems, the vixen had warmed to her, and now she loved her like a sister.

“Let her sleep for a little while,” I said. “Janel and I will handle the guards. Are you ready for another battle, wife?” I grinned at my bride, we had only been married for a week, and I still got a thrill every time I had the opportunity to call the beautiful woman my wife. I had fought side by side with her in a battle tournament, and won the entire event for our school, she was well-trained in bardic magic, and though I was still new at battle magic, I had proven that I was a natural.

“Of course, husband,” the elvenborn smiled. She was a noble elvenborn, like the Korlems, though her family had been established longer, and she had been taught since she was very young how to enhance her husband’s magic with her songs.

“I’ll have to let down the shield for you to use your magic,” Noura grunted as she navigated the carriage around a sharp turn. “You won’t be protected from their arrows.

“That’s okay,” I said. “We just need to put as much distance between us as we can.”

“The guards at the last town seemed ready for us,” Janel noted. “What if the City Watch has called ahead? The Korlems have to know we’re headed straight for the king.”

“We’ll stay away from the towns as much as possible,” I said. “Noura, can you keep an eye out for side roads that we could use? Something that will hide us in the forests and away from people.”

“Yes,” she said. “Though all I see right now are fields and flat surfaces.”

“That’s okay,” I reassured her. “Just keep an eye out.”

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, I would have to see the guards if I wanted to use my magic on them, and that meant I needed to stick my head out of the carriage window. I had no intention of being shot by an arrow, so the riders with bows would have to be taken down first, and then I could focus on everyone else.

“Ready?” I asked Janel as I scooted closer to the window.

“Yes,” she responded. “Be careful.”

“Always,” I winked at her.

She rolled her eyes, but her wine red lips tipped up into a smirk that sent my heart racing. She pulled her shoulders back as she prepared to sing, then she edged closer to the window that I sat next to.

“Can you stay inside the carriage?” I asked when it looked like she would squeeze out of the window with me. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I can,” she replied. “But it’d be easier if I could see what you were doing.” Her tone held a note of defiance, and I could tell that if I tried to get her to stay inside of the cabin with the others that she would argue, so I sighed and nodded my head.

“I’ll make the window large enough for you both to fit comfortably,” Noura said.

We hit a hole in the roll, and the carriage rocked perilously to one side before the djinn could get us righted.

“Sorry,” she muttered as her eyes narrowed on the magical window in front of her. “We’re getting further from the city, and I don’t know how well these roads are kept. We may be in for a somewhat bumpy ride.”

“What if they fall out?” Aylara gasped. “We need to tie them down or something.”

“Is there any rope in this carriage?” I asked as I scanned the cabin.

There were rich red silks hanging from the windows and along the walls, but not ropes that I could use to tether us to the inside of the carriage. The silk decorations could be braided, though it would take precious time that we didn’t have.

“Here,” Noura grunted as she snapped her fingers. “This should be what you need.” The smile she gave us was strained, and didn’t last long as she narrowed her eyes at the road in front of us.

A long, red silk rope dropped to the floor of the carriage to curl in on itself like a snake. It had a clasp on one end and a hook on the other, and as I looked around the cabin, I noticed a gold ring that hadn’t been there before.

“Aylara,” I said as I handed her the hooked end. “Put this through the ring then hook it in and make sure it’s tight.”

“On it,” she squeaked.

“Janel,” I turned to my bride as I knelt in front of her, “I’m going to wrap this around your waist and then mine. If I fall, you use your knife to cut me free and save yourself.”

“I will do no such thing,” she huffed.

“My love,” I sighed while I looped the silk cord around her thin waist then tugged to make sure it was secure. “I will be fine. I can use Limey to build a wall around me. You need to stay with the others and protect them until I can catch up.”

“None of us are going to leave you behind,” she told me as she placed a soft hand on my cheek.

“Definitely not,” Aylara grumbled. “I can’t believe you’d even suggest it.”

“I will not leave my master behind,” Noura responded, though her attention was still fixated on the window to the world in front of us.

“I guess I better not fall then,” I sighed.

“Exactly,” Janel nodded. “Now, let’s get these pesky guards off our backs.”

“As my bride wishes,” I teased while I tied the rope around my own waist, and then secured it with the clasp.

Noura risked a glance towards the window as she snapped her fingers, her magic stretched the wooden opening until it was large enough that both Janel and I could look out, but so big that it would be easy for us to tip over.

“I’m about to let the shield down,” she warned as we hit another hole. She swore under her breath, and then reached into the picture in front of her and wiped her hand on the packed dirt like she could rid it of any large stones or debris. “Aylara, can you help me make sure I don’t run into anything else? This carriage is moving so fast that it's trying to fall apart and I’m having trouble noticing everything.”

“Okay,” the mouse-girl squeaked. She gently shifted the sleeping vixen so her head rested on a cushion, and then slipped over to the newly vacant seat next to Noura.

“Shall we?” I asked Janel as I stepped up to the window.

There was a ripple of light in front of me as Noura released the shield, and then wind rushed in like water that had been held back by a dam. The air whipped my jacket around, but my gems were once again secure in my inner pocket, and even the fierce wind couldn’t pull them free.

I held onto the wooden frame of the window as I peered out, and almost groaned when I saw that the number of guards had doubled. There were at least thirty of them, all on horseback, and half of them had bows gripped in one hand while the other held their horse’s reins.

What’s going on? Taslyn grumbled in my mind as she woke up.

We’re about to take care of the guards, I told her. How are you?

I feel like I haven’t slept in years, the redhead sighed.

Then get some more sleep, I responded.

I can help, she huffed.

I need you to be well rested just in case we run into any more trouble later, I said as I squashed down the worry that bubbled up. I didn’t think she had used that much magic, but if she was still tired, then there might be something else wrong.

I just used my sight longer than I’m used to right now, Tas muttered, and when I looked back I saw her yawn again. I think I’ll go back to sleep. If you need me… wake me up.

I will, I promised.

“Zayre?” Janel asked from her place next to me. “What’s wrong?” Her eyes darted over to the sexy fox-girl who had already fallen back asleep.

“Nothing,” I assured her. “She just used too much magic. She’s going to sleep it off while we take care of the guards.”

“I’ll make us a feast tonight when we camp,” Noura vowed.

“I should be able to hunt--” Janel was cut off by an arrow that lodged itself into the wall next to her head. Her attention slowly shifted from me to the weapon that almost killed her, and her face paled before rage flashed in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I reached a shaking hand out to make sure it hadn’t hurt her, my own anger boiled in my veins, and I almost burned her as Valerys’s flames tried to surface.

“I’m fine, Zayre,” she said. “But we need to get them out of here now.”

“Gladly,” I growled.

Her voice lifted into the air as she braced herself against the doorframe, it was in a language I didn’t recognize, but immediately I felt like I could take on the entire world.

I turned away from her, and then wedged myself into the window between her and the guards. They were close, the nearest one was almost at our wheel, though there were others right behind him that I decided to focus on first because they were the ones with arrows aimed directly at us.

Fire tried to lick at my fingers again, but I wanted to hold off on Valerys’s powers for the moment, just in case I needed it later. The flames died down as I concentrated, though I could still feel them coursing through my veins like the rage in my chest.

With effort, I managed to pull on Hawthorne’s vines, but they were too late to grab onto the horses as they passed. I had used the power in battle before, I just needed to be faster, and with my second try, I managed to trip one of the horses. The rider and horse careened into the man on his right, and both of them went down to block the path of a few of the other guards.

“Stop this carriage!” the rider closest to me shouted as he drew his sword.

I pulled on the plants from the fields, and vines shot over to wrap around the man’s wrist. I had the living binds yank his arm backwards so that he dropped the sword, the force of the motion made him coax his horse to a stop so that he could free himself, and left me with the four other horsemen who had notched arrows on their bows.

“Get back inside,” I shouted to Janel as the archers released their weapons.

I grabbed her and we both dodged the piercing metal heads, one of them came inside, and buried deep into the wood near the door. I had narrowly escaped death, so had my girls, and I was more determined than ever to stop the guards.

I redoubled my concentration as I leaned back out of the window, and then summoned vines to snag the hooves of the horses. I held them in place as the creatures stomped and screamed while the thorns discouraged more movement, and the vines crawled up the riders to bind them to the saddles.

There were still at least twenty other guards, and they had started to gain on us, even though their arrows couldn’t reach us yet. The ones that I had bound were released by their comrades, and the faster steeds pounded the road to catch up.

“Are we getting slower?” Janel asked as her song ended.

“I can’t keep up this pace,” Noura said. “The carriage is going to fall apart if I push it. It’s not exactly designed for this kind of chase.”

“How long do we have until we have to stop?” I glanced at the djinn, and then back out to the men who were much closer.

“I don’t know,” she  responded. “Once we stop I can summon us another carriage.”

“But then the guards will catch up to us,” I muttered. “Okay. Just keep us going for now and I’ll take care of the guards.”

“I’ll sing a song that’ll make your magic stronger,” Janel said. “But the fields are thinning out. Do you think you can still create vines?”

I leaned out of the window to look at the scenery around us, my wife was right, the fields had already been harvested, and there were no trees anywhere near us.

I needed another plan.

But there was plenty of wind that buffeted the carriage, and I had a sylph.

“I’m going to use the wind,” I told the beautiful elvenborn. “Do you know a song that will help me direct it towards the guards? I’m trying not to kill them.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “I have the perfect one.”

She lifted her head and then closed her eyes as she began the new melody. It was sweet and clear, but as it began to build, I could feel the power of it washed over me.

I drew from the strength of my sylph, I grabbed the wind around the carriage, and then redirected it towards the guards on our heels. I had expected it to be a strong gust, but Janel’s song bolstered it until it became a wall of air that shoved the riders off their horses. I focused on the remaining guards, and after another blast, I managed to get rid of another five.

There were only ten left, and none of them had arrows, but my relief was short lived as one of the guards began to summon magic. His hand glowed bright and orange with fire, and then with a complicated move of his hands, he formed a fireball that he threw right at the carriage.

I lifted my hands and a wall of wind blocked the fireball before it could hit us. I didn’t just have the archers to worry about, they were trained battle mages, and I had taken out all of the men that had been in the way of their spells.

“Noura,” I called as I blocked another fireball. “Is there somewhere we can lose these guys?”

“There’s no woods or towns,” the beautiful djinn replied.

“What’s that?” Aylara asked as she pointed to a thin line on the image, the magical window shimmered underneath her finger, and then steadied itself.

The carriage rocked as a fireball blasted into the side, a hole tore into the window, and wood fell to the ground as we barrelled along the road while the curtains began to burn. The fire started to spread fast, but I redirected the wind to blow it out before it could get too far.

“It’s a bridge,” Taslyn grumbled as she woke up. “What the fuck happened to the carriage?”

“Battle mages,” I said as I focused another wall of air back towards the guards. They had to pause their attacks to avoid it, so it gave us at least a few more seconds.

“You’re right!” Aylara clapped her hands together as the bridge started to take form in the projected image. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“What?” I asked as I glanced over at them.

“That’s a chasm,” the mouse-girl gaped.

“We’re at the Indira Chasm already?” Tas yawned. “How fast were we going?”

“Quick enough that this carriage won’t make it much further,” Noura huffed. “We’ll be lucky to get over the bridge.”

The battle mages had started to speed up, or we had slowed even more, either way it meant that we were about to be overrun. The one closest to us pulled out his sword, and lightning began to crackle down the blade as he pointed it towards me.

All of the fields had given way to rough stone, and as I looked down, I realized it was limestone. I reached down into the earth, and then pulled up as hard as I could to form a thick wall of green and beige stone between the rest of the guards and us.

A crack of sound pulsed over us as the lightning struck the limestone, and then rolled down the chasm, before it echoed back up in an eerie mockery of the original.

“Zayre,” Taslyn’s voice pulled my attention away from the crumbling limestone wall.

“Yeah?” I asked, though I didn’t look at her as I reinforced the stone wall.

“The Indira Chasm was made from an old mining operation,” the redhead informed me.

“We can’t hide in one of those caves,” I said. “We’d be trapped.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” she huffed. “I mean it’s been abandoned for a very long time. And the bridge isn’t exactly used a lot. There are other paths to the capital that aren’t over the chasm.”

“So it’s going to collapse?” I asked, my tone a little harsher than I meant as the battle mages broke through the barrier I had created.

“It doesn’t look very stable,” Aylara breathed.

“Fuck,” I muttered while I created another wall, and a few stalagmites that the horses would have to avoid.

I looked over to see that the chasm was wide enough to fit a small town inside of the opening, too large for us to jump, and too deep for us to survive a fall into it. I studied the bridge and saw that Tas and Aylara were right, the stone that held it up was cracked, and the ropes that were supposed to reinforce the bridge were all frayed.

“I have an idea,” I said, then glanced back towards the battle mages.

There were only three of them left, but they didn’t seem like they were deterred by the precarious bridge. One of them summoned another fireball, he aimed it at our wheels, and then released it.

I used the wind to push it away, though it was sloppy, and it landed a few feet away. I held onto Janel as the carriage wobbled, and then glanced at the others to make sure they were okay too before I threw up another wall to distract the battle mages so the girls and I could talk.

“Does it involve going over the bridge?” Aylara asked.

“It does,” I replied. “If we can make it to the other side, I’m going to throw a lightning ball at it and blow it up.”

“Can you strengthen it with Mr. Limey as we go over it?” Janel asked.

I reached into my pocket to fish out my soul gems, with a glance at the battle mages to make sure they weren’t about to attack again, I pulled out the stone that held the limestone elemental. I sighed as I saw the few green and beige swirls, he was almost empty, but it would give us a little support as long as I didn’t use him against the guards anymore.

“I can help a little,” I said. “But we’ll have to make it fast.”

“I can help to hold off the battle mages,” Tas said as she scooted over to the gaping hole that was once a window.

“Are you ready to use your magic again?” I asked. “I don’t want you to push yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” the redhead said as she blinked her amber eyes.

“I can give her some strength,” Janel offered.

“It’ll just be a small water spell,” Tas replied. “There’s mostly stone beneath us but there’s dirt too. If I can make it into mud, then it’ll slow the horses enough for us to gain a little ground.”

“Alright,” I said with a nod. “Noura… can you keep the carriage together long enough for us to get to the other side?”

“Yes,” the djinn muttered. “But it won’t get us much further.”

“Let’s do it then,” I replied.

We had a plan, I just hoped the bridge wouldn’t collapse before we could get to the other side of the chasm.