Soul Cry

Prologue: Holes in the Dark

Darkness cannot defeat darkness, only light...

-Martin Luther King Jr.

He flexed his muscles shifting from the pain of having his arms strung up above him. The chain tightened its hold in response. A hiss escaped his lips, as it broke into the skin, causing fresh blood drip down his arms, over the already dried blood.

Like a living thing, the black metal twisted and worked its way deeper with every struggle, blocking his body's ability to regenerate. A toy that could only belong to THAT woman. It was annoying, but the pair of piercing eyes glowing in the corner of the room posed a more immediate threat.

She sat there. Unwavering in her resolve to watch his every move from the shadows of her perch, on what used to be HIS chair in HIS home, the crafty little one had stolen it all in less then a day. How did she even get in? He sighed shifting through the day's earlier events trying to think of anything unusual.

Though he lived alone his palace was built like a fortress there was one way in and the gate was always shut. And like any other day in his complacent existence of solidarity, he was collecting and sorting souls; guiding them through the gate to join the River Zenshi. Being able to glimpse at a life without ever having to leave the comforts of his home was one of the many perks of being immortal.

While figuring out where to place a particularly naughty soul, he was ashamed to admit that he did not sense the presence of the small fury as she burst through the room taking him down and leaving him strung up half naked and bloody, like a piece of trophy meat. The first woman to ever get the jump on him, quite literally. With a wave of his hand he could have fixed this mess... if only he had his hands... stupid woman.

He struggled, craning his neck, looking for anything around the room that might help free him from his bonds.

The room was dark. Thin rays of dusty light shone through the high window casting long twisting shadows in the corners of the room. His eyes, well adjusted to the low light, made out her shadow shifting back and forth in a predatory stance on the chair.

"You there!" He called to her, trying once again to get a word or a reaction from that steely gaze. "Girl! Are you listening? Do you plan on telling my why you have me tied up?" She turned her head feigning disinterest while still keeping one sapphire orb on him.

"I'm assuming you don't know who I am. So I'll give you the chance to release me and I may show mercy. Fail to heed my words and I will put some real fear in you!" He boomed, trying to make his voice sound as intimidating as possible. A bluff really, he was no warrior.

The girl cocked her head, her teeth glowing in the darkness as her smile grew wider. She leapt down off her perch her long midnight hair flying in dark waves as she advanced on him. Her deep blue eyes held no emotion yet she was giggling.

"You are a funny, threatening to put 'fear' in me. How will you do so when you're all tied up?" she racked her clawed hands across his chest giggling louder as blood spilled out.

"Crazy bitch," he growled through clenched teeth. He had succeeded in getting her attention. Probably not the best idea.

"Ziya! Stand down," a bodiless voice echoed from the corner of the room.

The girl's head snapped to attention to where a figure seemed to manifest from the shadows, taking on the corporeal form of a beautiful woman. Her long black robes billowed behind her as she strode towards them. Hair, black as the night, was intricately woven on top of her head framing a fox like face from which two silver eyes danced.