Soul Bound

Chapter 11

RPOV

I was giving directions to Dimitri while he was driving. I was in the back and concentrating on Lissa. I could see which way they were going because they had taken off Lissa's blindfold. I guess there was no more use in pretenses. They were about ten minutes ahead of us. We had been speeding along the highway and had made up valuable time.

They slowed down, I had memorized the road they took, so this was our chance to get to them. They pulled up to a log cabin. There were a couple of Guardians stationed outside.

They brought Lissa inside, her hands still bound, but they weren't too rough with her. They didn't seem to want to harm her. Once inside she was brought to the main living area. There she met ViKtor. Lissa was first relieved, she thought he was there to save her. Then she thought maybe he had been kidnapped too. But when the Guardians were taking orders from Viktor, I could feel her dread. She hadn't made the connection yet and she was starting to realize Viktor had been the one to take her.

"Uncle Viktor, what is happening? Why am I here?"

Viktor looked at her with almost sorrowful eyes. As if he was regretting his decision.

"Ah my dear, I am sorry to have to do it this way. But I have no choice you see. As you know I am dying. But I am far from done with life. I have ambitions not only for me but for our people, and I need to be alive to achieve my goals. And that is where you come in, my dear niece. I would like you to heal me."

Lissa looked at him astonished. Viktor knew. I knew at that moment Viktor was responsible for placing the dying animals in Lissa's room. He was testing her. He needed to know she could do it.

"Yes, Vasilisa I know about your gift. More than you know about it. Ever since the accident, I have been following you. I was to take you a long time ago but you and Rosemarie disappeared. I was glad Guardian Belikov found you when he did, I was running out of time."

Had Viktor also been the one we had been running from two years ago?

"How? What do you know about it." Lissa's voice sounded small, she could not reconcile the fact that her uncle and practically the only family that she had left would kidnap her.

"My dear, you are a spirit user. It is a rare element forgotten in time. St. Vladimir had it."

So Dimitri had been right. It also meant Anna was bonded to St. Vladimir probably.

Lissa was reeling from the information. But there was one thing she didn't quite understand.

"But why kidnap me. I would have healed you if you would have asked."

Viktor's eyes turned from gentle to cold. I wondered too why he would need to kidnap Lissa. Viktor gave us the answer.

"Where the other four elements are physical elements drawing on physical strength, Spirit is a mental gift, and as one can imagine it costs mental capacity to pull off healings. It is why you suffer from depression from time to time. Although I can see that Rosemarie has played a role in keeping you grounded."

I was surprised. I knew that Viktor probably knew about the bond. Hence the need for distracting me to take Lissa, but he seemed to know a lot about this spirit. If it really was a forgotten element how did he know so much about it?

"You see my disease cannot be cured with one session. It is engraved into me and it will come back. It will take continuous healing from a spirit user to keep me healthy. This is detrimental for the spirit user, who would go insane from the drain of power each time. This, my dear, is why I needed to take you away. I am sorry. But I am more important for this world than you are and I need to fulfill certain goals before I am willing to give up this life."