7 The Worth of a Promise

Yaldo dodged the second eater, but felt its talons rake his soul. He cried out. The dead felt pain; the eaters had hurt him before so he knew it was true. They also felt fear. Lots of that. These were among the first lessons he’d learned in Tharaxis, but unlike others, he’d learned them and survived.

Not without help, of course. He cried out to his friend, hoping she might hear as two eaters closed, trying to corner him. Yaldo fled through the streets, dodging into alleys and through windows and doors, up and down stairs, and back out into the streets. One of the eaters must have gotten distracted, but the second one kept pace.

Yaldo couldn’t shake it.

Screams erupted around him. There were other eaters and the dead tried to flee, but few could move like Yaldo. He’d learned that lesson early too. He seemed to have skills other souls didn’t; he didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter. The why of anything rarely did. You either survived or you didn’t. He had noticed his skills had grown since those times he’d been ill. He wasn’t sure why that should be either.

This time, however, it all went wrong. The first eater, whom he’d thought had quit the chase, appeared in front of him as he neared another doorway, wings beating a storm to prevent him slipping by. It had anticipated him.

Yaldo tried to dodge to the right, to slip between the one behind and the one blocking his path, but then a third appeared.

Yaldo cried as he felt their talons pierce his soul, pinning him to the cobbled street of Tharaxis. Eaters never paid this much attention to one soul. Why were so many after him? They’d targeted him.

The other two gathered close, little mouths on their skeletal arms and legs puncturing transparent skin. The nearest one opened its main jaws wide, and along with the mouths on its body, began to feed on the boy’s soul.

It took a moment before Yaldo realised it wasn’t feeding at all. It was doing something else. He screamed as he realised what.

They were changing him.

The souleater screeched in rage as something struck its chest, knocking it back. The other two leapt away from Yaldo in surprise, hissing. A large bolt protruded from the first as it struggled to get up. It didn’t bleed or seem injured; in fact, it looked inconvenienced more than anything else.

‘Yaldo!’ a voice cried. ‘Run!’

The boy didn’t need to be told twice, though he did feel weaker. He hobbled towards a doorway and fell into the gloom of a building. He couldn’t go any further.

More of the bolts whizzed by, some hitting their mark. No matter if the souleaters weren’t being harmed, they didn’t appear to like facing such resistance. He guessed they weren’t used to it. Souls weren’t supposed to fight back, he guessed, and they weren’t meant to have crossbows. His friend could imagine things and make them real. She was amazing like that. He’d hoped she could imagine his family back to existence too, as souls in Tharaxis with him; unfortunately, even she had limits.

Through the doorway, the dead boy could see the three eaters being forced back, as a flurry of bolts struck home. Maybe they did feel pain or they were just confused. The street began to bubble at their feet, flames rising. With a final unified shriek, the souleaters retreated.

Moments later, hands touched Yaldo. ‘How do you feel? Are you alright? Yaldo?’

‘Still dead,’ he muttered, and managed a smile.

That earned him a laugh though he could hear the strain in it. There were other souls outside the building in which he lay, in the street, armed with massive crossbows, making certain the eaters didn’t return.

His friend had been training a small resistance, though few wanted part of it. Few had any sanity left anyway. There had been more at the start, but too many had fallen to the eaters. Yaldo had been among the first to join up before he’d even met her. Her father had been magnificent, a king with a crown and all. Until the eaters got him.

He’d survived Tharaxis a long time without Aiyana, but she’d made it a bit easier, always looking out for him. Then again, she was always looking out for everybody. ‘I feel strange.’

‘He’s been infected,’ said a new voice, though Yaldo couldn’t tell if it was male or female. Then he noticed the creature, a mass of shadows in human form hovering close.

Yaldo smiled. ‘Hi, Ax.’

The shraed formed a face and smiled back. Then another soul stepped into view. She had dark brown hair and golden eyes. Those glowed in the near-darkness, not too bright, but you knew they were there. She had a stern solemn face, and she was beautiful too. He kept staring at her in a way he’d never done with Aiyana. Sure, Aiy was beautiful, but he’d always seen her as more of a sister. This woman was gorgeous, and he just knew she’d come to save him. He didn’t know how he knew. He just did.

He wanted to tell Kael about her, since they’d never imagined a beautiful woman coming to rescue them, and turned to do just that before he remembered. Then he felt sad all over again.

‘This is Yaldo, a friend, and the one we were waiting on,’ said Aiyana. Gesturing at the woman she added, ‘And this is Lorn. She’s going to help us fight the souleaters. What do you think of that?’

Yaldo just shook his head. ‘They got Kael. I promised to keep him safe, but they got him anyway. He knew it was going to happen, although I don’t know how. He just knew, and it didn’t matter that I was there. I couldn’t save him. It was like he gave up. Didn’t try to run or nothin’.’

Lorn crouched down to look at him more closely. ‘Ax is correct,’ she whispered. ‘He looks infected, like those Fractured.’

Yaldo looked down at his body and saw the wounds. They didn’t bleed blood like a living person of course. That would’ve been stupid. Instead, they leaked a white sickly light. ‘I don’t want to be one of those things,’ he whispered. ‘Don’t let me turn into one of them.’

Aiyana pulled him closer. ‘It’s alright. We’ll find a way to save you. I promise.’

Yaldo didn’t say anything. He knew what promises were worth after all.