Creed #2
“V. Will you starshoot us?”
“Of course.”
The tension in her bleeds out a touch, but it’s swiftly replaced with an all too familiar glimmer in her eye.
Someone—a lot of someones—is about to meet their end.
“Laney is my one and only concern. Once I reach her, then I’ll worry about the rest.”
We nod in understanding.
“Now are we ready?” She can barely contain the rage in her voice.
“Yes,” we each say.
V gives us no warning hoot as his power wraps around us.
One second, we’re in our living room. The next, in madness.
People’s screams echo from every way down this dirt path we’ve appeared on. The abundance of noise takes us each by surprise for a fleeting second.
It’s rapidly washed away when Thayla bellows, withdrawing my swords from her back, and hauls ass toward the house in front of us. She quickly glances at the neighboring house before charging through the already open door.
“Laney! Laney!”
She screams, tearing through the entrance hall with us hot on her heels. A few steps in, she slams to a stop. So do I.
She falls to her knees beside a woman on the ground. My gaze stays locked on the…being standing beside her.
My entire body runs cold as he turns his attention toward me.
In an eerie slowness, he glances down, and my focus follows.
The air in my lungs turns to stone.
The man standing here is the same man lying on the floor.
Unmoving.
Impossible.
“Help her.”
My eyes whip back up to him…his soul.
“Help her.”
I take a stumbling step toward Thayla, and her desperate pleas finally pierce the ringing in my ears.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Armend, it’s okay. I’m here. It’s me, Thayla.” Her wide, terrified eyes jerk from the wound she’s applying pressure to in Mrs. Armend’s stomach to Kyzen. “Please check the house for Laney.”
He nods and moves so fast I can’t track him.
“Laney.”
Mrs. Armend’s breath pours out of her in a struggling gasp.
“Yes, your daughter, Laney. Where is she?” Thayla gently tilts her head toward her and cups her cheek.
My gaze snaps up to Kyzen’s as he appears in the hall, wearing a tight frown and he shakes his head.
“Th-Thayla.”
“That’s right. It’s me.”
A sense of relief seems to pass through Mrs. Armend, and even lying here, on the brink of death, her body relaxes.
“Mel…Mellcom has her. The arenas.”
A deep, soul-shuddering breath falls from Thayla. She coils back tight once again when Mrs. Armend coughs up a stream of blood.
“No, no, no. Hold on for me. We’re going to get you some help.”
My heart cracks as I kneel on the other side of Lambrit’s mother and Thayla looks at me with so much hope in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, my endling.”
She thrashes her head back and forth.
“No, Creed, please. Please don’t.”
The wad of saliva I swallow goes down like shards of a sword.
“Her soul is calling and her husband’s is waiting for her.”
“Luther,” Mrs. Armend mumbles, lifting her hand in the direction his soul is literally standing.
Unbeknownst to that fact, though, Thayla grips it in her hand and holds her tight.
“Come on, Mrs. Armend, please stay with me. Laney needs you. Please don’t leave her.”
For a fleeting moment, Mrs. Armend’s soul flickers.
The light is washed away a second later as the pain and damage done to her body hit her again.
I grit my teeth so hard my jaw pops.
“I-I need,” she stutters through her coughs.
I lay my hand against her heart, and she takes a deep breath as her eyes grow clearer. The hopeful—thankful—look Thayla gives me sends a stabbing pain through my chest.
This isn’t her healing.
This is the last burst of life before death takes you.
“Listen to her last prayer, Thayla.”
Understanding dawns on her, and her eyes shatter.
She bites the tremble out of her lip and nods frantically before glancing down.
“Tell me what you need,” she says as she gently, tenderly moves the hair from Mrs. Armend’s forehead.
“Tell Laney I love her. I love her so much. Raise…raise her to be strong, like you.”
Her breath rips another cough from her mouth, and Thayla fights the tears trying their hardest to fall.
“I will.”
“Also, t-tell Lambrit. I’m so proud of him. I always have been even when I didn’t say it or show it. I’m—” A painful gasp gurgles in the back of her throat, and I tighten my grip on her soul. “I’m so sorry for not being the mother to him that I should’ve been. Please continue to take care of him.”
“I will. He’s done so good and he’s come so far. He’s going to be the God of Scripture someday and he’s already the High Chancellor’s personal assistant. He’s…he’s also in love. He found the love of his life. Her name is Rose and she’s so beautiful, and sweet, and kind, and—”
Her words silence as a tender, but harsh laugh falls from Mrs. Armend.
“Thank you, Thayla.”
My power pours out of me, soft and slow, as it wraps completely around her soul. Unlike any other time I’ve done this, I lift her soul directly out of her body and guide it over to her husband’s.
They smile at one another as their souls grow brighter.
Then they look at me.
My eyes drift shut.
“Valories, welcome them home.”
I release them with my prayer and breathe as my power settles back into my chest.
For a second, I sit in the silence, allowing my mind and heart to wrap around the fact I no longer see balls of essence, but fully formed body-like souls.