The Soulkeeper

PROLOGUE

"When will we let him out?" Cervil asks as I drop the lid on my friend. I like to think of the device as an incubator and not a casket though it seems like one.
"Until we find a cure!" I say and it's enough for Cervil. Until I find a cure for his condition,Cervil will feed him intravenously with all the required medication. No more waiting, I need to go and find that cure. One of my ravens flies in and I watch it head towards me. In the light of the dim bulbs, it's diamond claws glitter. It drops a note in my palm then flies to it's cage hanging from the roof,alongside my other ravens.
I read through the note. It's from one of my informants telling me there's hope. He has located someone who has the antidote and has arranged a meeting for us. There is a chance it could be false information or a trap but I have faith in the source. He is a friend to Cervil so even though he doesn't formally know I'm the Soulkeeper, I trust him. I fold the note and put it in my pocket then tear off two leaves from a book.
I write two letters to two different people then roll them carefully and hand them to Cervil. He won't read them unless I tell him to.
"If I die,send this to Tobias Labore and Phineas!" I say. He doesn't question my premonition about my death. He knows as well as I how easy it is to meet your end in this line of work. He nods as an affirmation before I walk out into the remains of an underground railway that it's construction began but never quite ended. It's a tunnel half a kilometer long with a railway that suddenly comes to a stop. Almost everyone has forgotten about it but it leads to my secret abode.
I emerge into the cold Altar city night and get on a rooftop. Evil lurks everywhere in this city, a darkness hovering over it, but tonight, at least until I finish my first goal, I'll give evil a rest. My friend should find his cure because it's impossible to stop the evil in this city but possible to save him. I hear trash cans fall then the meow of a cat. Hastily but silently, I rush toward the noise jumping from one rooftop to the next.
A man lies in the pile of junk and there's a cat perched on the fire escape and it looks angry,it's fur sticking out. I inspect the situation closely. The man is a drunk and has apparently fallen into a litter of the cat's kittens. Drunkards are not worth saving. Perhaps the cat will teach him a lesson that life has failed to impart. A few scars on the face and possibly rabies ought to give him a lesson on why he shouldn't drink.
The drunkard's screams announce my departure as the cat dives. I'm headed towards the Raven part of Altar city. From my current position in Nexus,it's about two kilometers and the most convenient means of travel would be a car. The only problem was their were so few of them and purchasing one is too expensive. Riding in a horse carriage would be faster but just like a horse on it's own,it would announce my arrival and anyone waiting to ambush me would have the day of their lives.
Twenty minutes later, I land on a roof at Raven. You tell it's Raven by the thickness of the evil. It's almost tangible. The evil is at its peak here, the darkness almost winning the fight against this city,against me. As the Soulkeeper keeper it is my duty to push back the darkness but I've failed miserably at it. The best I've been doing is keeping it at bay which is just under good enough because already the evil is rooted in deep in this city that its almost acquired a soul of it's own. It is two souls fighting for control of Altar city and unfortunately, the good side is losing. Still,I'm hopeful. One day, even though it may not be by my hands, the evil in this city will be annihilated.
I land lightly on a rooftop a few metres from where my date for the night is. I watch him closely, looking for any tells that this is a trap. There are none and my eyes search the night but there are too many shadows and the mist is just thick enough to limit visibility to about a ten meter radius.
"I know you're here. Show yourself!" He says.
So he already knows I'm here but has no idea of my exact whereabouts. It's odd that he knows of my arrival or maybe he is just guessing but whatever... He turns around, three hundred and sixty degrees, but doesn't look at the rooftops. I move and drop five metres behind him. He turns on hearing the noise and I can see the fear coursing through him from the magnitude of his trembling. He is like a leaf in the rain. His fear isn't new to me. Just about everyone in the city fears me and everyone who has seen my face as the Soulkeeper lies six feet under. I don't blame the poor guy for his display of fear. He is the first person I'm meeting beside my informants who will walk away with his life.
"Do you have what I came for?" I ask.
"Yes!" He says his voice quivering then he reaches into his coat pocket and reveals a glass vial. He holds it in the air then before he can utter his next words, I hear a gunshot then blood starts flowing from the hole in his forehead. He slumps to his knees then falls over, the vial in his hand breaking on the stone road.
I already know it is a trap and there's nothing much I can do about it. I stand still, thinking as several of the evil people in this city surround me. They are armed with guns and all I have is two revolvers. I came under prepared but even if I had more guns, there's no way I could take out all this people before they took my life. It was foolish of me to come here without an escape plan for such a situation. Fact is, I had never anticipated the scum in this city could work together to take me out.
"Good evening, Soulkeeper!" A voice I know well enough says and I turn towards him.
"Will you reveal yourself or should we take a look at your remains for a clue?" The traitor says and I set my hat straight. It is a good night to die.