Seven

Chapter 5

   Asshole. Seven had been warned that some warlocks would be like him, bored with life and amused by tricking people into doing dangerous things for their entertainment. She'd thought it'd been an exaggeration, but she'd underestimated the Leopal's willingness to possibly kill someone he'd just met for something as stupid as calling his name pompous.

But what Seven had learned. . . that changed a lot. It changed everything. She'd always had a soul, and she'd never known it. She'd been lied to for all six centuries of her existence. What else had her maker lied about? Certainly about the importance of the altar she'd guarded for the majority of her existence. In all the years Seven had been there, the only humans to appear had been the nomadic tribesmen that visited every so often to drink from the small freshwater spring in the center of the shrine. They weren't a threat, they just wanted water. The only threats were the sand wraiths who brought dust storms with them wherever they went, and they hadn't given a crap about the tumbled black stones she guarded.

   Those people were the only reason she'd gotten free. The only reason she'd wanted to be free. Seven hadn't known the real meaning of the word before them. She hadn't understood exactly how large the world was beyond the limits of how far she could roam, until they'd taught her of what existed beyond the flatlands. She'd thought the entire world was wind blasted grassland, people's lives dependent on the rainy and dry seasons.

   One thought tugged at the back of her mind, in the chaos of this massive realization. One little thread of an idea, beckoning her towards its full extent. If Seven acted upon it, she'd be traveling for months. Years. She'd either have to learn complex magics that she might not be capable of wielding, or find a warlock with the proper skill set. Her recent encounter had warned her off of warlocks.

After all, if She has a soul. . .

. . .that means there are six others who do as well. Six others who've been locked in the same place for hundreds of years. Six others who Seven could set free.