The Soul Keeper

A faint, barely visible barrier appeared around the group rushing at us, allowing them to pass through my flames harmlessly. I gritted my teeth – their magic users were going to be an issue – I was the only person in our group who could use magic for anything other than buffs and heals. Was my magic going to be enough to counter theirs?

As our enemies drew closer, my grasp on cold, metal shaft of my scythe tightened. My heart was beating quickly, with a mix of emotions. The anticipation of battle, the fear of death and loss, the sheer excitement of testing my strength against other. Yet, a darker, ominous feeling dampened all of this – the thought of killing another player. Another person. 

What happened when we died? We honestly didn't know. Did we just wake up on the other side? Back in our world? Was there damage to our minds? Or did we just die? So far, everyone had acted on the assumption that death in this game meant death in the real world. But was that assumption really correct?

"Ready?" Vincent's low, somewhat stiff voice pulled me away from my thoughts.

"As much as I'll be." I stepped forward and used Fallen Grace. Flames danced on the end of the feathers of my wings. "Fight to live, not to win." The young man nodded. 

And with that, our first clash began. 

The first of the seven who climbed up to us completely ignored Vincent. A rather heavy greatsword in hand, he leapt up and brought his blade down on me. I raised my scythe parallel to the ground and blocked his strike, then kicked him in the stomach with all of strength. Already having been staggered, he tumbled down, all the way back to the foot of the hill.

I had no time to watch his fall though, as a volley of arrows rained over us. I raised my right hand to create a gust of wind to scatter the arrows and at the same time swung the scythe with my left hand to keep the next two assailants away.

To my right, Vincent and Erik were keeping the remaining four busy. I had no time to look at Joshua and Alina. All I could do was hope Joshua would keep the young priestess safe in the backlines.

The two that came towards me hesitated as they saw their friend thrown right back to the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately, their hesitation only lasted for a moment as one of the people fighting Erik shouted at them. "Don't let that freak stop you! Come on!"

I rolled my eyes. "Freak? Really?" I mumbled as both of them attacked me. couldn't they have found something better? Blocked their strikes with ease and with a simple move of my scythe, wounded one of them. He staggered backwards, holding the deep cut stretching across his entire left arm.

I let go of the scythe with my left hand and allowed my flames to gather in my palm as I blocked the other person's attack with very little trouble. I hurled the small fireball at the wounded man, then focused my gaze on my last remaining opponent.

He hesitated, glancing at Erik and Vincent. "Wish you were fighting them instead of me?" I asked as a wicked grin formed on my face. His face turned pale. Then, even more so as Vincent sent both of his opponents tumbling downhill with a clean kick and strike. Taking advantage of his hesitation and fear, I whirled my scythe, then hit him in the head with its lower end. His eyes rolled back, and he also tumbled down, along with the others.

"And off you go as well!" Erik shouted. A bright light shone from his shield before he sent his own opponents flying. Vincent couldn't help but laugh at the young paladin as he stabbed his sword to the ground and made a 'hmph' sound.

"Arrows!" Joshua shouted. At the same time, I heard their whistle. I quickly raised my hand and with a targeted gust of wind, scattered them.

"Nice one, Kai." Vincent breathed a sigh of relief. I noticed a wound on his left shoulder as he turned back to glance at Joshua and Alina.

"Joshua!" I called out to the young man. He looked at me with his usual frown – despite everything, or maybe because of everything, he didn't want to have anything to do with me. "Can you get Alina to heal these two?" I asked, glancing at Erik's arms. He also had suffered a few cuts, though nothing too dangerous.

"We're fine-" Vincent began to speak, but I shook my head and cut him off. "We don't know how long we will be stuck here." I raised my hand and got rid of another volley of arrows. "I need all of you to be in top shape."

After a moment's hesitation, they nodded and approached Alina, leaving me to guard the path. Those who tumbled all the way down had gotten up already. While four of them quickly returned to the woods, three of them decided to circle the hill. 

"Watch them." I pointed at Joshua. Though unhappy about this, he did as he was told. In the meantime, I narrowed my eyes and tried to count the shadows hidden behind the treeline. I counted up to thirteen before I lost count. 

Glancing at the sky, I sighed. It wasn't even dawn yet. There was at least one more hour until the first rays of sunlight would reach us. I took a deep breath, then slowly released it.

"Asher," I called out to him through our connection. "I might need some help." 

His response came almost immediately. I calmly explained the recent events. He reacted with shock and anger. Promising to set off immediately, he cut off the connection. I smiled – help was on the way. All we needed to do was hold out.

"Why are you smiling?" Erik's voice startled me. 

"I was thinking of how you threw those two back down there." I said with a grin. He chuckled. "Well, you did it first."

We laughed a little, then Vincent joined us. Joshua was still watching the three men walking around the hill, looking for another way up. 

"So," Erik sighed as another group left the woods and began climbing the hill. "How long will they keep this up, any bets?" 

Vincent grinned. "Until Kai decides to burn them all."

They laughed, but Vincent's words had prompted me to think again. Why had I kicked them down instead of outright killing them? 

I was honestly terrified. What if I did kill them? Could I live with that blood on my hands? What would happen to their souls? Did they have souls?

A thought struck my mind. My eyes widened as my heart skipped a beat. 

"Arrows!" Vincent shouted. I raised my hand and got rid of the incoming volley almost instinctively. "Kai, snap out of it." I noticed the four armed men in front of me at the same time as Erik shouted.

Almost instinctively, I swung my scythe, aiming for their legs. Three of them threw themselves back while the last one jumped over my scythe and tried to stab my left eye with a golden knife.

I had to use one of my wings to push his arm aside and make him miss to get out of that one unscathed. "Seriously," I said as I hit his forehead with the lower end of my scythe. "Don't stab people's eyes. That's not even lethal." The guy fell down and slowly rolled down the hill. I was fairly sure he was unconscious now.

The remaining three did something smart, in fact, no one else had ever used this against me before. They used their numbers advantage and attacked from three different directions. I was even somewhat impressed!

I blocked the overhead strike with my scythe and moved my body to the left to avoid one of the others' attacks, but I couldn't do anything against the guy on my left – his sword hit me in the side.

A muffled clang sounded, and my skin felt like it was tearing, and then the man's sword bounced off me. All three of them stepped back in confusion, mixed with fear, I grinned. "What?" I said swinging my scythe. They barely blocked my strike as I continued. "Did you think I was just show?" 

I spun my scythe around and hit another one in the chest with its lower end. I heard the sound of his ribs cracking and summoned a strong wind to push him off. 

To my side, Erik had knocked one of them out and he was punching the other one's stomach with his armoured glove. The poor guy looked like he wanted to puke, and he did so as soon as Erik let go of him. He ran downhill, leaving puke in his wake.

"Ew," The Paladin said with a sour expression. 

Vincent, on the other hand, was struggling. His opponent was a spear user, and the young fighter couldn't get close enough. Thankfully, Erik was quick to realise this and stepped in to help him out. 

I directed my gaze on the two remaining people. One of them was slowly stepping back – he was ready to run away. The other one had grasped the hilt of his sword tightly. He attacked me with stiff, erratic movements. I easily cut through the skin and flesh of his right hand, then kicked him down as well.

I heard a muffled scream behind us. Quickly turning back, my eyes widened at the scene before me.

Joshua removed his dagger from a man's heart. 

"What have you done?"