Hidden Mysteries: Soulforce

Chapter 32

                                                   Chapter 32:

                                                      Blaise

“Apply yourself both now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, You cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation.” - Plato

I sighed, “Chris, not now…” I sped around the restaurant, delivering and taking orders from the customer’s. It was a busy night, he should know that!

A low chuckle was heard, ‘Oh, so that was his name…’

‘Was?’ I paused, almost bumping into another waiter. “Blaise!” the waiter called angrily.

‘I killed him…’ the voice continued in a nonchalant manner.

 “Sorry Nicko!” I mutter and go behind the counter, acting like I was fixing the cups or getting some napkins. “You killed Chris?!” I looked up and saw Metus floating above the sidewalk his arms crossed as he came in through the window.

I cursed at myself for revealing his name and glared at the dark lord, openly, then realized that I wasn’t alone in the restaurant. I quickly looked back down and cursed at him through head at the same time searching for Chris.

Metus seemed unfazed and grinned as he summoned his long katana. My eyes flitted around the restaurant, looking for anything to use as a weapon until I remembered: I could use my powers! Drawing the image of a shield in front of me, I started concocting it when suddenly someone burst through the wall. I started a bit and quickly stooped down to pick up the pen I had dropped.

A clang of swords was heard and I looked up, half in relief to find Chris fighting off Metus – through the unknowing customers. I winced as a sword passed right through someone’s skull. To humans who couldn’t see us, they were perfectly fine. In a way, their ignorance saved them. If one of them knew, their spirit would become more “independent” so to speak, and would be much more prone to all these dangers. Luckily, what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Me on the other hand…well,

“Blaise!” My mother called from the kitchen.

…That was another story…

“Coming!” I called and ducked into the side of the restaurant where an adjoining room we used as the kitchen was located. I grabbed a notebook and headed out to the table where I was supposed to get the order from. I quickly stretched a shield over myself and expanded it so that no stray hit could fall on me. Luckily, Chris was taking this fight outside.

I waited, keeping the two fighting figures always in sight. Now they were battling on the sidewalk, now in the street with cars going through them, now on the sand.

“Yes, and a large chef salad would be good.” My attention was drawn back to the customer as I jotted down what they had ordered. “That would be all,” they smiled. I nodded, stealing a glance outside as I turned and headed back to the kitchen.

Suddenly, Metus disappeared and Chris stood there, catching his breath. I excused myself, declaring my early break and crossed the busy street to Chris. It would be slightly inconvenient for my family, but the curiosity was gnawing at my insides. I pulled up a beach chair and situated it a bit farther away from the crowd, between my family’s restaurant and the other one close to us. I sat down and stared out at the water, talking with him through my mind.

“So?” I start, leaning back.

‘So…?’ Chris asks, floating near me.

‘What the hell was all that about?’

He shrugged. ‘I was doing what I was raised to do. Fight. And my purpose is, first of all, to protect you and secondly to defeat the dark lord.’

I rolled my eyes at the first part and watched a seagull swoop by, grabbing a piece of bread an unlucky visitor had left. “Protect me? From what? I don’t need protecting.”

‘From everything,’ he insists.

‘You think women are weak? Is that what you think?’ My tone made it sound serious, but I was only joking. I was in no mood to fight at the moment. Metus's words had conjured up an image which I had never thought about before: what if everyone did die? What if Alexa and I were alone? Spirits could be killed too… shadow creatures, according to Chris’s lessons, were spirits that had gone rogue, that had done too many bad things in their lives and had degraded into those measly, ugly inhumane… things. We had killed those and they had turned to dust… apparently that happened to everyone.

His silvery-green eyes widened, ‘No! Of course not!’ I grinned at his expression and then scooped up some sand, watching it trickle through my fingers. My countenance fell as I remembered I had school tomorrow…

My head lolled back to the beach chair and I lay there, looking up at the night sky. The star twinkled faintly as if giving me sympathy for this unknown and dangerous destiny… We hadn’t seen anything yet… so much lay ahead and there was no way I’d be ready for the war. It was already mid-September! The prophecy with the cards I had done… it came back to my mind, resonating like a broken record. It would be coming true, that much was for sure, and hadn’t Alexa mentioned something about a king during our latest phone talk? Damn those tangents… I had to ask her next time. Or…

I sat straight up, almost calling Chris’s name out loud. “What’s the name of the king in your dimension? The one you’re fighting in? The one who’s sided with Metus?"

Chris blinked, trying to remember, ‘It started…with an N…’

“Big help…” I mutter under my breath too lazy to communicate via head. It took too much brain power…and I was planning on using it during school to think about math problems, not like this, talking to a spirit.

I considered his words for a bit more. The villagers for sure would know who their king was. Now, just a matter of approaching them… I looked at Chris out of the corner of my eye, then thought of the place I wanted to go to. Since I had never been anywhere in the village, but for the forest and a small magical dimension created by warlocks for training, the forest would do. Instantly, I felt my body disconnect and I closed my eyes until I felt the bump of earth beneath me and the smell of clean, forest air filled my nostrils.

I looked around and took notes in my head. The stoné pal remoné was to my right, diagonally behind my body. So that meant I should be headed straight left towards the west. And that is exactly what I would be doing. I set off to gather information… my soon to be specialty because – at this I grinned to myself – I had a lot of ways of obtaining it. Moral…and sometimes…not. Of course I had never tried some before…but I was more than willing to.

I paused at this thought. Maybe I was watching too many movies…