The Clement Chronicles

chapter 3

Chapter 3
“My soul? Okay, I’m convinced that you’re crazy – no – I’m crazy. I finally cracked under the pressure, haven’t I?” I yelled at Caspian while he sat, sipping his shake like this was not a big deal.
How am I even alive if I didn’t have a soul? Thinking back to Sunday school, I remember Pastor Sherman saying that all living things had a soul – wait – why am I even believing all of this crazy talk? I am dreaming a messed up dream.
“Look Cyra, Love, you don’t remember me or your past lives but you did trade this soul to me.” He put his shake down and rolled his shoulders inwards.
“I don’t understand – I gave you my soul?” I said in disbelief.
He sighed and stood up. He towered over me, stretched out his long arm and touched my temple with an index finger. I gasped at the sudden contact and connection he made not with my physical body, but with my conscious.
A strong woman had her back facing me and stood in what seemed to be a castle of gold. She had her elbows propped up on a balcony, overlooking the stone city below her. The stars shown clearly in the sky and she picked up her goblet and drank what seemed to be red wine. The moon illuminated her fine figure and her silky hair caught the moonlight.
“I summoned you hours ago, Tenebris.” The woman spoke with a cold voice – my voice. She turned to face me and to my surprise it was me – staring back at me.
“One does not summon me, Ryth. I come when I want to.” A masculine voice spoke and I immediately matched it to Caspian.
I watched from Caspian’s eyes as my past self, smirked and stood with such pride and confidence – a queen watching over her kingdom. A queen in her prime.
“We were friends once upon a time Tenebris…I need your help.” I – Ryth sipped on her wine while she walked over Caspian or shall I say Tenebris? Her hair was pinned up and her magnificent down sashayed as she walked. She was a sight to behold and every step she took radiated power.
“How the mighty sorceress has fallen, what is it that you need, Friend?” there was an edge in Caspian’s voice now and I felt cold. The midnight air chilled under their strained meeting and even the insects and nightlife seemed to quieten around them as Ryth smiled and twirled her drink.
“I need you to take the Amulet of Kiryth and hide it… My father seeks it with a bloody thirst to wreak havoc on this world – he has already taken Hames for it – please.” Ryth said with despair and Caspian froze as Ryth unhooked a silver necklace with a simple sapphire pendant off her neck and placed it in his hands. Her eyes widened in fear and her hands shook slightly while she pulled away her hands from his. A nerve wrecking trade.
“Ryth – he has taken Hames – he will stop at nothing to find this then. He will kill you. I can’t take this. You cannot make me take this.” Caspian said with so much of pain that I began to ponder exactly what kind of hatred ran between them. Caspian’s free hand flexed as she pulled away and his heart began to beat uncontrollably – so fast, that I thought it may even fly away- taking him with it.
“He will kill me either way. You said to whatever end – show me that you meant it, Tenebris. Show me, friend.” A single tear fell from Ryth’s face as she pulled out a dagger from the sleeve of her royal blue dress.
Overcome with worry and fear, Caspian lunged for her but he was too late, she had already plunged the dagger deep into her abdomen.
He caught her before she hit the ground and cradled her head in his lap as her blood stained the stone floor. Her blood smelt so sweet and it was unnaturally warm against his thighs. He tried to slow the bleeding down by placing pressure on her wound with his own hands – but it was no help, she went to deep and they he did not have time to call for help. It was a power play – her last…
“Take my soul, Tenebris… so they knew it was not your choice, but mine if they ever come to know.” She smiled and reached for his face as she took her last few breaths.
Tenebris touched her chest and pulled out what seemed to be golden light which flowed from her chest, into a little orb he fashioned from the air.
“I will tell no one of this, Light-bringer…” and with a feeble attempt, Caspian left the balcony and vanished into thin air.
                 
I took a large gasp off air as if I was being suffocated for a while and finally managed to fill my lungs with enough air. Caspian had just shared with me one of his memories and I had so many questions.
My past self – Ryth - needed to hide away an amulet so desperately that she made a deal with Caspian? Who was Hames and why did he have to die?  Who was Ryths’s father and where and when did that happen? A million questions were flying through my mind and I looked to Caspian for an explanation.
His calloused hand began to trace small patterns on the table and he gestured for me to sit. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that revisiting that memory was something he often did and each time, it brought him immense pain to see his friend die in his own hands.
He finally looked at me with a serious expression, his golden eyes gleamed as it caught the soft, buttery light that only the winter’s sun in Seattle could provide, his soft lips- wet and lush after sipping on his shake and his groomed brows rose as he began to speak.
“Ryth was the closest thing the world knew to a goddess – the most powerful sorceress ever born. Her father was a monster who hunted her down every single second of her life. He wanted her amulet – the gift of the gods bestowed upon her for her kindness. It made Ryth stronger, fierce and a protector of the weak. It was also what caused cruel men with a great deal of power to never open a portal into other worlds and bring darkness into the lands… A long time ago, a foolish sorcerer had opened a rift between the worlds and out of it, darkness grew and death and suffering fell upon this world. Ryth, and a few comrades battled this darkness with great difficulty and many loses. She won – barely. The gods gifted the amulet to her for what she gave. It was never her task to protect the humans – it was her fathers – the very sorcerer who opened that portal. Ryth gave until she could not anymore.  You see, her father was at that time – the strongest sorcerer who ever lived and he wanted more – power, lands and magic– he wanted more… “Caspian explained, there were many holes in the story which I would ask him to fill me in on soon.
“You speak of darkness like it was inanimate, what do you mean?” I edged him on.
Caspian looked uncomfortable but I was determined to understand the entire story. If I’m about to pay for something my past self did, I should at least know the entire story and why Ryth’s father did what he did. Caspian rolled his shoulders in again and rubbed his wrists. Was he anxious?
“If you let me finish this tale then you can ask all the questions you want, “he rolled his eyes at me and I narrowed my eyes at him, “The darkness was an army of demons not of this dimension - Anyway, Ryth’s father, compelled by greed had opened this portal and had nearly taken over not just this world- but others. His plans had one flaw, He had never expected his own daughter to betray him. She stole away his magical staff and broke it into ten pieces and hid them away in different places. He was never able to conjure even a little spell after that and Ryth , who had suffered so much was given a gift – an amulet which had as much power as all the magic folk in the world combined – furthermore – she was given the gift to use her magic without a talisman such as a staff.  She and all people like her were eternal beings who would walk the earth so long as good remained. Her father – Allenon, and many other jealous magic folk had amassed their very own army and had come for her. She would fight them off but you see, she fell in love with a man and they had a son, Hames… who was butchered and sent back to her in a wooden box. Soon after, this group of people wreaked havoc in the world – from Pompeii to the fall of Babylon – it was all them. As much as she fought them off, she was grief-stricken over the loss of her son, she was tired of the death they caused as they wanted that amulet so that they could be just as powerful- Allenon had convinced them all that if they retrieved that amulet, they could open worlds that gave them more power than what Ryth possessed. Allenon wanted to conquer worlds and exploit the magic in these worlds. Ryth knew that if she were to disappear, along with that amulet she could hold off the killing and so she did – for many millennia, hidden away from even her lover until one faithful day they found her and hurt the people close to her once more. It was then that she came to me for help, her last option. When she took her own life, many assumed it was murder and her amulet – lost forever. The darkness and the uprising died down – until Ryth was born again – a warning from the gods that something sinister has awoken and it was time for her to do what they had tasked her to do. Every evil thing out there thinks you’re her and that you have the amulet. “
My throat closed in and my insides began to well up. Oh god! Every dark thing out there – the darkness is looking for me? I’m a human being. I am literally the last person who could yield such a strong power.
“I thought you said eternal beings walk this world forever does this mean I’ve been watched since birth? How did Ryth die if she was immortal? I don’t – I can’t give what she gave. I am not her – I don’t – I can’t even keep a level head or keep my anxiety in check – “
Caspian grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me up until I focussed on him and his honey gold eyes. My breathing was still hitched. Ryth had given so much, she has given her son – her friends – her life. What can I possibly give to help this cause?
“I will help you. Just stop panicking. We are both in this mess and I cannot leave this place until I fix this mess. Now, first things first, only an immortal or a mortal with a scelp can kill an immortal. It all has to do with power and right now you smell of mundanity so I suppose that helps. They will not be able to sniff you out easily.”
“Them? “ My eyes would have most probably popped out of their sockets from my worry and shock.
Caspian lulled his head to the side and watched as if I was a new born calf trying to walk for the first time – vulnerable, I was vulnerable.
“Remember that woman who tried to kill, Envy? She is someone very powerful and we were lucky to have survived her attack.”
“Envy, like the sin? Wait! Aren’t you the devil? Doesn’t that mean you’re evil and oh so powerful. Why are you helping me?” I bellowed.
It doesn’t make any sense. Nothing about this makes sense, what even was my role in all of this? What do I do from here? I cannot fight off a pigeon at the park let alone a demon from another world all together.
“Firstly, I was speaking metaphorically. I am a half-breed. A being of both demonic ties as well as sorcerer descent. I don’t know who my parents were so don’t ask me about the intricacies. I was one of Ryths comrades. Secondly, A sin, yes. Seven lethal sins who have direct ties to Allenon who is very much alive and since he knows you’re alive we are going to have to move quickly and move your loved ones somewhere quickly.”
I became cold once more, I never had many people in my life who cared for me – but I was not complaining. I had Eli, my parents and my brother… they would do anything for me and if they were in danger because of who I posed to be in the grand scheme of things, I will protect them with my life for they have given so much for me… maybe, I was little bit like Ryth in that aspect, I too would give myself for the sake of the people around me – even the stranger who smiled at me on one of my rough days – I will defend the good around me because they gave me hope when I didn’t have any.
“I don’t have many loved ones, It’s just my mom and Eli…”I said softly and inhaled a sharp breath. I didn’t know if he knew or if he even cared about it. Whatever it was, I didn’t want to speak to him about it. Not when he sees me without the pity. He looks at me like I’m a warrior and someone who could help him fix this mess. No, to Caspian, I was able to help him turn the tide and clear things up. I was not the broken thing I believed myself to be, I was a ray of light in a very scary world.
“It was not your fault… the less you have the less they can hurt you, Cyra. Being without a soul makes you hard to detect. It is one of the reasons very few people saw you or mixed with you. Those who did most probably have ties to the supernatural world or better yet – belongs to it. Your father and brother were brave and they did not know who or what you are… You had nothing to do with happened to them. You should know that.” he whispered to me as I bit my lower lip.
I looked up at him and he almost looked bewildered.
“What am I then?” I whispered back to him with all the confidence I could muster.
He smiled at me, snapped his fingers and the door instantly opened.
“Let’s find out.”