Rayne Read online

  “He was a good man,” Rayne agreed with her.

  She nodded and looked at him. “It will be up to us to find any who survived and reunite them again.” She looked around for a moment. “I didn’t see what happened at the end. Where is the orb?” She asked him.

  Rayne grimaced and turned his gaze to her eyes.

  “The orb was destroyed. When Samuel tried to attack me, I had to use the orb to shield myself from his sword. The orb exploded and killed Samuel.”

  “Well, that is one less thing to worry about,” she said in a sigh of relief.

  Rayne bent down to help her up, and then his body froze. There was no explanation for it. One minute he was trying to get to her and the next, he was paralyzed.

  You are mine now. Said a menacing voice in Rayne’s head.

  To his horror, his arm started moving again, but it wasn’t in a way he expected. Instead of reaching down for Rose’s arm, he was reaching toward her throat.

  Rose looked at him with fear in her eyes.

  “What is wrong with your eyes? They look like they are covered in shadows,”

  Rayne couldn’t respond to her. He tried to move his body or say something, but he couldn’t do anything. His hand gradually made its way to Rose and grasped her around the throat. His other hand joined the first, and he felt his muscles tense up while squeezing on Rose.

  He watched in panic as he was strangling Rose, and nothing he tried worked.

  “Rayne… fight it. You’re better than it!” She gasped out in struggled breaths.

  Rayne railed against his mental prison. The struggle didn’t seem to do any good at first, but eventually, he gained a slight feeling of control. He got his fingers to twitch at his command and started letting the pressure off of Rose’s throat. She was turning blue in the face, and he worried he might not be able to fix this in time.

  Further struggles against his mental bond allowed him more control, and he loosened his grip on her throat some more. His control slowly returned to his body as he pulled away from her. His hands flew to his head, trying to comfort the headache he was experiencing under strain.

  “R…Rose, you have to r…run,” Rayne gasped out. “I can’t s…stop it.”

  Her eyes widened in terror as she crawled backward and then rolled to her stomach. She pushed herself up and started limping away as fast as her damaged body could take her. Rayne’s right hand started to tremble and move on its own, so he grabbed it with his left hand to hold it steady.

  Rose had made it halfway across the room and was picking up speed as she made for the door. A quick glance over her shoulder reflected a mixture of terror and remorse. The look made Rayne think she was more scared for him than she was of him. He was almost ready to breathe a sigh of relief when the voice returned.

  This is my kill, and you will not interfere. I will have her life-force.

  Rayne felt like someone had punched him in the face, and all of his control over the situation fled. His body bolted into action after her. A shadowy tendril reached out as his body neared hers and swiped her legs out from under her, sending her back to the ground. His hands returned with full crushing force as the being in him forced him to watch Rose slowly suffocate. A tear fell from her eye as she looked at him with sorrow. Unknown to him, a matching tear of his own had run out of his shadowy eye and down his cheek.

  Rose stopped breathing, and shadows swirled down to her body, and after a few moments of writhing, the body disappeared, and any evidence of Rose was no more. Control returned to his body, and he fell to the floor with his hands on his face and tears running down his cheeks.

  Rose (Level 16) has died.

  “What have I done…?” He whispered to himself.

  Rayne sat on the floor in shame and anger until a primal urge to flee overtook him. Others would arrive to investigate what had happened before long, and he couldn’t be caught with the bodies of two dead nobles.

  In his rush out of the manor, he considered nothing else other than the blood on his hands. Had he been of right mind, he would have taken some of the steel weapons that had been used during the fight. They would sell for enormous amounts of money and would have made his situation semi-stable with his family. Instead, his fear drove him forward and out of the building as quickly as possible.

  There was no one in the halls as he ran through them and back to the door they had entered through. Outside was a graveyard of bodies. By his quick count as he left the building, it didn’t look like any of their team had survived but himself. The warehouse was a flurry of activity as he approached.

  Unsure of what to do, he slowed his pace and checked what was happening before he made himself known.

  “We won’t have to worry about the others anymore. I am in charge now, and you all answer to me. It is our time to rule these streets, and we will tolerate none of those stupid restrictions we worked under before.” A man that Rayne recognized as Brent said to the other thieves around him.

  “When they come back, there will be no hiding from them. They do not tolerate betrayal, and I have no intention of dying for it.” Another man said that Rayne did not recognize.

  “They won’t be returning. I made sure of that. Some of them talk a little too much when planning a last-minute job.” Brent said with glee in his voice.

  This admission pissed Rayne off. He now knew who had betrayed their plans to Lord Clearly and had been a major cause of all the death for the evening. Had this man not tipped off the lord about the attack, the resistance would have been minor compared to this evening, and most of them would have survived.

  Rayne’s blades slid from their sheathes and into his hands. He stepped out of the shadows to face the bewildered man.

  “Too bad one of us survived, and I intend to make sure this is your last night alive,” Rayne told the man in a deep and menacing tone.

  “What are you…” the man said as he saw shadows begin to creep over Rayne’s eyes and flow over his hands and feet.

  “Your death,” Rayne said calmly as he flew forward.

  His speed caught the man flatfooted and, before he could react, Rayne had stabbed him in the chest with both of his daggers. There was no finesse to it. Just mere brutality as Rayne continued to remove a dagger and stab the man repeatedly. Even after he had collapsed to the ground, Rayne continued to stab the man as he had died.

  You have dealt 200 damage to Brent (Level 12) with Dual Strike (Critical Strike) (Mortal Blow).

  Brent (Level 12) has died.

  A burning rage built up in him as he continued to attack the man, and shadows swirled around him to envelop the body. The shadows writhed over the man, and the body disappeared as Rayne’s blades met open air. He looked up to see all the other thieves in the area looking at him in shock and fear. One of them had even pissed himself in the carnage.

  This is more like it. Let me help you. The voice in his head told him as it seized control of his limbs again.

  His body shot forward at incredible speed, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not knowing what else to do, he checked his status.

  You have been inflicted with Soul Possession. You have lost control of your body until you can overcome this soul.

  Well shit. It would figure that I could see what had happened, but there would be nothing that would give me a hint of what I needed to do.

  His body had closed in on the others that had been present, and, to his dismay, it was killing these men indiscriminately. There was no rhyme or reason to it. A few slashes here and there were all it took, and then the shadows would emerge, and the body would disappear. It forced Rayne to see the carnage as if a spectator in an area watching the fights, only he knew it was his body doing the fighting and killing. When all the men were dead, and the spirit had stopped moving his body, he forcefully pulled the spirit within him and threw it to the back of his mind and away from him. This caused the control to return to him as he observed the blood on his hands and weapons.

  Thief (Level 10
) has died (x12).

  He turned to the side and vomited onto the ground at the memory of what had just been done. His skin turned clammy and cold, but he felt like he was sweating. He wouldn’t be able to stay in this town like this. It was time for him to find a way out.

  The warehouse was deserted, and, with the entire crew dead, there was no reason to worry about consequences. He entered the building and made his way to Rose’s office. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he searched through the room for anything of value. A small bag of coins made it into his pouch and a few small pieces of jewelry that were nothing more than show. For being the headquarters of a secret group, there wasn’t much of value here. Lord Lyan must have most of it stashed at his house.

  As tempting as the idea was to go find anything of value at the man’s house, he decided he had suffered enough and to let it go. Rayne would be on his own now, and there was nothing that would help him otherwise.

  Rayne left the warehouse behind as he shambled his way to his house. It had been two days since he had checked in at home and dropped off the last round of food. Last time he checked, his family had looked healthy. As he neared the building, his anxiety rose. He heard shouting coming from inside, and it told him his father was in one of his moods. He considered leaving and coming back later, so he didn’t have to deal with this today, but he also couldn’t allow his sister to get caught up in the mess.

  Rayne entered the room to absolute chaos. Furniture had been torn up and thrown across the house. Cooking utensils lay all over the place, and his father was standing over his mother, holding a kitchen knife covered in blood. Rayne’s fury ignited at the sight. His mother was lying on the ground and covered in cuts and stab wounds. She appeared to be still alive, but it didn’t look like it would last long. He frantically searched the room for his sister and found her huddled in the corner. When his eyes found the cuts on her arms, he voluntarily gave up all control.

  Kill him and make him suffer as much as you can. I could never inflict as much damage as this man deserves. He told the soul in his head.

  It would be a pleasure. The voice told him with glee as the shadows exploded from him, and his power rushed to envelop his father. The man screamed as shadow energy caused small cuts and punctures all over his body. The shadow energy coalesced into a tornado of power and held the man aloft with its force. Rayne’s body stepped into the eye of the storm, and the shadows crawled over his face.

  “You have gone too far this time. I warned you to stop, and you wouldn’t listen. Now suffer in hell.” Rayne told the man. The soul didn’t even try to resist as Rayne spoke through his body. Instead, it continued its effort as both of his daggers were in his hands, and his body rushed around his would-be father while constantly slashing and cutting at every inch of the man.

  Red streaks appeared and eventually grew to envelop almost every portion of the man’s body as the cuts grew more numerous. The sight was amazing to behold, but it was odd was that there wasn’t much blood. The angry red lines were showing up everywhere, but nothing was coming out of them. This assault continued as his father had his head reared back, and his mouth opened as if screaming, but no sound ever emerged.

  When Rayne thought there was nowhere left on the man that hadn’t been cut, the storm slowed for a moment, and in that instant, blood sprayed from every cut on the man’s body. The storm of shadow greedily drank in all the fluid as it continued to emerge from the man, and his eyes rolled back in his head. He crumpled, dead, in midair, and the shadows closed in to devour him. When he left, the air stilled a little, and the shadows receded.

  Rayne looked to his mother, and she had passed from the world during this time. As he looked back to his sister, he saw the fear reflected in her eyes.

  She looks delicious. The voice said in his mind as he felt his control failing again.

  Rayne looked on in shock as he advanced toward his sister, and the shadows started to writhe again.

  You will not have her! Rayne screamed into his mind as he grabbed the soul with every bit of power he could muster. The shadows swirled around his body to display their struggle of might. Rayne grasped for the soul within his mind. It felt like a writhing ball of shadow, and he got a firm grasp on it.

  You will release control, and you will obey me, or I will crush you. Rayne thought to the mental picture of the soul he had caged. For a moment, nothing happened, so he started to apply pressure and squeeze the soul in his mind.

  I relent! The voice yelled into his mind.

  I want your word that you will not try to control my body any longer. Rayne thought to the entity.

  What do I get out of the deal? The voice asked him.

  You get to live. If that isn’t enough, you will be allowed to leave my body for another host when I perish. This, I swear. Rayne intoned.

  Agreed. The voice responded, and Rayne heard a chime.

  Congratulations, you have entered a Soul Bond with a Soul of the Shadows. You will now gain abilities from this bond.

  Congratulations, you have gained the ability Shadow Form.

  Soul Bond Ability: Shadow Form

  Requirements: Soul Bond with Soul of Shadows

  Cast Time: Instant

  Effect Duration: 30 seconds

  Description: Increases your movement and attack speed by 40% while also making you 50% more difficult to hit with targeted attacks.

  Drawback: Soul Weakness - When this skill ends, your health and mana regen rates will be reduced by 40% for an hour.

  Mastery Level: 1

  His body returned to normal, and he had full control again. His sister was huddled in the corner and had tears running down her face.

  “It’s okay. No one will hurt you anymore,” Rayne told her quietly.

  She looked to his face and started sniffling. “What was wrong with you, brother? You scared me.”

  “It is nothing now. I have taken care of that problem, and it is not yours to worry about. We must leave though. Mom is gone, and we will never have to worry about Dad again, but we will have to leave town. Too many bad things happened today, and I am afraid they may follow me here if we don’t leave quickly. Make sure you find anything you need around the house because we are leaving before daylight.” He told her gently as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

  “I promise I will protect you. It’s just you and me against the world.” Rayne told her with a grin.

  Her mood picked up a bit, but the tears came back as she looked to the dead body of their mother. Rayne shook his head at her gaze.

  “Don’t worry about that. I will take care of Mom. You make sure your things are ready to go.”

  She nodded and took off to check her bags by her bed. Rayne made his way to their mom and crouched near her. He looked at the woman with pity. She had never been brave enough to stand up to Lou, and that haunted her. The man was a parasite and never contributed to the family. She would have been better off leaving him years ago.

  Rayne hunched over and picked up her frail body. He carried her out to the back of the house and found the one small patch of ground that wasn’t stone. Using his hands and knives, he dug a hole big enough to fit her into. He gently lowered her into the hole and covered her body up. It wasn’t a very good burial, and he was sure it wouldn’t take long for it to be discovered, but it would buy them enough time to get out of town.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Mom. You deserved better than to die by that evil man’s hands.” Rayne whispered to the grave in front of him. A single tear slipped from his eye, ran down his cheek, and splashed onto the grave. He didn’t want to spend time contemplating what had happened but something inside of him broke. The sorrow of the night hit him full force and the tears fell like rain. The anger at Lord Clearly was drowned out by anger for his weakness and inability to save Rose and his friends. They had relied on him and he had killed Rose. She was the sunlight in his dull world. After an undetermined amount of time, he finally got back to his feet, dried his face, and return
ed to the house.

  Once back inside, he discovered Libby had most of her things packed and was sitting in a huddled position near her bed. Rayne searched the house for essentials but knew there wouldn’t be much to work with. He found a few pieces of dried food that had been set aside and would work as travel rations. He had some food from the warehouse that he always kept on him for missions, as well.

  They sat together through much of the evening until Libby finally dozed off. After some time, Rayne joined her in a short nap. The sun was still down when he woke up next, but he could tell that it would rise soon. He gently woke Libby and told her to get ready to leave. She tossed on her clothing and grabbed her bag. She stood in front of him and nodded to him.

  “Time to go. Stick with me, and we’ll be fine,” Rayne told her, far more confidently than he felt.

  Chapter 7

  Journey to Seora

  Rayne had been thinking about the problem for most of the night until he fell asleep. They needed to go somewhere to avoid the upcoming fallout over Lord Clearly and Lord Lyan’s deaths. Rayne had considered multiple possibilities, but decided he wanted to pursue the mission of the Shadows of the Flame. In doing this, he could at least honor Rose and Lucas.

  Rayne had never had a true purpose in his life until they had brought him in. The Shadows of the Flame was the first thing that had meaning and struggling to connect with that meaning kept him moving forward.

  This left him with one clear choice. He needed to go to Seora. During the meeting, he spied on with Lord Clearly, Lord Preston had been in attendance, and Lord Preston himself was a good target to start observing to determine how deep his roots go in this evil plan.

  With his sister in tow, they quietly exited the city as soon as the gates opened. There wasn’t a large crowd, but two relatively poor looking people were generally left alone. Rayne had tossed an old and shabby cloak around himself to cover up his nicer leather armor, and his sister had no clothing of any quality. The trip from Esmere to Seora would take them a few weeks on foot, so they stayed to the road as much as possible. The road wasn’t always the safest place to travel, with times being as desperate as they were, but it was generally better than trying to travel the open land.