The Soul Reborn: From Silence to Sovereignty Chapter 79

Chapter 79: He Never Saw It Coming

As Noah started walking in the direction of the gas station, I crouched low beneath a nearby tree. I kept Lyra close to my chest; our heartbeats synced as we both waited in anticipation for Noah’s actions.

Then we heard it.

Pop… Pop… Pop…

It was a sound I had heard once before in my last life; my stomach dropped as I saw the attendant in the gas station fall to the ground.

Noah looked back after the loud sound.

“That was a gun,” I whispered, my voice low enough for only him to hear.

I watched as his muscles slightly tensed up; I'm sure he didn’t even know what I meant by gunfire.

The target grabbed all the cash from the register, took a few things from behind the counter, and then bolted out the door.

“Noah,” I said quickly, “he just killed that man.”

I felt Noah’s killing intent rise as the man fled into the dark. I didn't need to see his expression to know what burned in him.

“Don’t let that bastard get away,” I said my voice sharp. “You remember what I told you. Those weapons kill fast. I don’t know how well your body can handle one, and I’d rather not find out.”

The killer ran out at high speed across the gas pumps and down the sidewalk. This area wasn’t very well lit up, so it was hard to see him.

“You’re guilt-free, Noah. He’s a murderer; end him.” My face was serious; he nodded back. “Stay out of the lights. Cameras are mounted at corners… Look for black bulbs or little round glass domes. They record everything.”

He gave me one final look, his silhouette cast in the shadows, face calm but lethal.

“Kill him in the dark,” I added as he started to run. “No lights and no witnesses.”

I heard the ground slightly crack as he took off into the distance.

Cradling Lyra closer, I knelt down in the grass to shield her head. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my teeth as my eyes flicked back to the gas station.

He tore through the dark streets with a plastic bag of bills and a gun in hand. Every few steps he checked the shadows, fear guiding his pace. He was right to feel hunted, but he had no idea how truly hopeless it all was.

There’s not a chance he would see Noah coming.

Before I could blink, Noah was already moving through the gas station, barely visible to my eyes. He was a predator in the shadows, hunting his prey.

Once the thief jogged past a narrow alleyway between the station and a boarded-up storefront, Noah struck.

A single blur of motion and the man vanished.

I waited, holding my breath. Even though I was confident, there was still a little worry in the back of my mind.

Everything was completely silent. I didn’t even hear Noah strike.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, he reappeared at the corner of the building, stepping out from the dark.

He carried the bag in one hand and the pistol in the other.

His expression was stoic as he approached, calm and focused.

“He’s dead?” I asked curiously as he reached me.

“Neck snapped, no blood, I took everything he had.”

I let out a slow breath. The sheer efficiency made my stomach twist… And yet, I wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. It was me who gave the order, after all.

“No one saw?” I asked.

His face slightly broke into a grin. “No one left alive.” I decided not to ask him to elaborate on that.

“Good.” I looked down at the bag. “Let’s find a motel.”

Then my eyes moved to the pistol, still in his hand.

“You should learn how to use that; it might be useful in the future.”

He stared at it like it was some alien artifact. “You trust this?”

“No,” I said. “But in this world, you survive with whatever you’ve got, as we do back home.”

I stood slowly, Lyra still cradled in my arms. Without a word, Noah scooped us up again and disappeared into the night with that effortless strength of his.

We now had money, a weapon, and a destination.

Now it was time to get somewhere safe and raid this world for all the knowledge and tools we’d need to win the war waiting for us back home.

Cradling our daughter in my arms, I looked down at the pistol Noah gripped as he carried us with steady, unshaken strength.

“Careful with that,” I murmured. “Don’t pull the trigger, please.”

He gave me a sharp look of acknowledgment, but I pressed further.

“There should be a switch on the side,” I said quickly. “A safety… It is a small tab near the top. Flip it, and it will keep it from firing.”

Under a passing streetlamp, Noah shifted his grip and examined the weapon. A moment later, his thumb found the switch with a clean click.

“Got it,” he said.

“Good. The last thing we need is you putting a hole in one of us by accident.”

After twenty minutes of wandering, we spotted a motel. It was the kind that lives on the outskirts, with dim neon, a dimming red vacancy sign over a dusty parking lot, and a clerk asleep at the counter.

“There.” I pointed. “Set me down. I’ll handle it.”

I handed him Lyra, and after giving her a quick kiss and looking at the envious eyes of Noah, I laughed. Of course I gave him one too.

“Try not to look like a fantasy novel cover while I’m gone,” I whispered with a giggle.

He gave me a dry look but nodded.

I pulled Noah’s cloak tighter over my head, hiding my face and the bloodstained fabric underneath. Bare feet and all, I glanced down and shrugged. The front desk lady could deal with the weirdness. At least I looked like someone fleeing a Renaissance fair, not a murderer.

The door buzzed as I stepped inside.

A woman in her mid-forties, in a faded T-shirt and chewing gum, sat behind a scratched counter. She gave me the kind of disinterested look people in this world reserve for the homeless, the strange, or the slightly insane.

“I need one room; it’s just my husband and I along with our baby.” I said quickly.

“Cash?” she asked, looking annoyed I disrupted her beauty sleep.

“Yeah,” I replied.

I handed her a few wrinkled bills from the robber’s stash. We got about fifteen hundred dollars from the man Noah took out; I gave her enough for a few nights.

She didn’t question it.

Nor did she ask about my lack of shoes, my clothes, or the fact that I looked like someone who had wandered in from a different century.

“Room twelve.” She mumbled, handing me a plastic key card. “The Wi-Fi code’s on the lamp. Don’t smoke.”

“Thanks.”

I left without another word, the door buzzing shut behind me.

When I got back to Noah and Lyra, they both looked up, smiling. He passed Lyra into my arms, picked me up like a gentleman, and carried us through the dark toward our room.

Once we got there, I slid the key into the door, and the little green light blinked us inside.

“Wow,” I muttered, stepping in. “This is better than I expected.”

It wasn’t high-class or anything, but it had all the modern comforts. The bed was smaller than ours at home, but that wasn’t what interested me. I stared at the TV mounted on the wall and became excited. Also the air conditioning hummed gently, creating a comfortable atmosphere in the room.

Noah stood in the doorway like he was preparing for an enemy attack.

“Relax,” I said softly. “This is… safe, at least for now.”

I kicked the door shut behind him and locked the bolt.

Then we sat on the edge of the bed, Lyra resting in my lap as I looked around with a deep exhale.

“Okay,” I murmured. “We've got a place, money, and a firearm."

I looked over at Noah, who had set the weapon on the nightstand with careful precision.

“Welcome to a world that mirrors mine, though I'm not fully sure it's my original world.”

He looked around slowly, brows furrowed.

“It’s loud, bright, and full of strange magic.”

I laughed at his words.

“You have no idea, and what you’re seeing is electricity, not magic.”

We sat in silence for a bit just taking it all in, the three of us nestled together on a bed that felt too soft to be real after everything we’d just experienced. Lyra slept soundly, tucked against my chest as I lay on the bed, as if this world didn’t faze her in the slightest.

“You know,” I murmured, brushing a strand of hair from my face, “it was a really amazing call to hold onto us when this power… manifested.

Noah looked at me from the other side of the bed.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… What if you didn’t? It would’ve been a mother who just went through birthing her daughter and that newborn baby alone here.” I shivered at the thought. “All alone in a possibly dangerous place, you saw what that guy did?”

My gaze fell on Lyra, swallowing hard at the thought.

“That could’ve been real bad.”

Noah’s expression darkened as I watched him contemplate my words. His face looked apologetic even though that future never came to be, but it was still cute.

I turned towards the small table where Noah had dropped his emergency pouch. There were a few gold coins that spilled out onto the table; I took one in my hand and inspected it.

It felt heavy and could be pure gold.

“If we can turn our currency into this world’s money, we’ll be in great shape. I'm sure it will go for a lot.”

When I turned, I watched him blink a few times while listening to my words, clearly waiting for me to continue.

“If we sell one of these here,” I pondered while holding it up to the light, “we will get anywhere from two to four thousand dollars. That is more than most people make in a month.”

Noah just kept staring at me with his head tilted, then asked, “What’s a dollar?”

I laughed. “It’s currency. Instead of using gold or silver, they have paper money in this world. The exchange rate from ours to this one will be insane, as long as we find someone who doesn’t try to rip us off.”

Noah eyed the gold coin, and then nodded slowly, absorbing the information better than most might in his place. I had already told him plenty about this world. Now, I think he just wanted to see it with his own eyes.

He could map out a siege with ease, but Earth economics turned his expression into a question mark.

I looked around the room, smirking.

“You want to see something cool?”

Without him even responding, I grabbed the TV remote from the nightstand and pressed the power button.

The screen flickered to life, filling the room with sound and color. A fantasy drama had just started, full of swords, dragons, and far too many slow-motion shots.

Noah jumped a little at the sudden sound in the room.

“Remember when I told you about movies?” I asked with a grin. “This is it.”

His eyes widened as the screen shifted to a battle scene. “It’s like… an enchanted mural.”

“Pretty much,” I said. “Except it moves, talks, and lies most of the time. But it’s still awesome.”

I stood up suddenly, Noah instantly paying attention to my actions. After placing Lyra in the very middle of the bed, seemingly in a comfortable position, I grabbed Noah’s hand and took him to the bathroom.

“Come on; let me show you another miracle.”

Of course we had the ability through magic crystals to create hot water in the bath, but it wasn’t practical for anyone who isn’t super rich. Toilets also needed a major overhaul.

My bare feet slapped the ground as we entered the cold linoleum floor in the bathroom. He followed along with my whims.

“See this?” I pointed at the toilet. “This is where you go, and it flushes everything away at once. We need this, Noah.”

His face as the toilet flushed was pretty comical.

“Also… this,” I added, flicking the knob, “is a shower.”

Warm water bursts from the showerhead after a short amount of time, something every household needs in the North.

“You can control the temperature with this knob.” I looked at him with excitement; then he suddenly hugged me.

“It seems you really do miss this place,” Noah said melancholically.

I couldn't help but chuckle. “Don't be ridiculous, Noah. Why would I live anywhere but the North?" Of course I missed these luxuries, but now I could enjoy both worlds at the same time.

“Look. It's so convenient! Turn one way for hot, the other for cold, or stop in the middle to make it perfect.”

Noah stared as if he were seeing forbidden magic. At the same time, he accepted my answer and let go of whatever worry he had.

“I want this in our world,” I said dreamily, watching the water swirl down the drain. “No more cold showers just because we’re out of magic stones.”

He slowly reached out and touched the water.

“This world… it’s full of strange comforts,” he said in obvious awe.

“Prepare yourself, Noah… Because we’re going to steal every single one of them,” I said with a wicked grin.