Soul Child: Dweller Saga, #2

Thane hadn't felt the human part of him stir for ten years. He’d endured ten cycles of winter and summer, each dreadfully the same in Tiebern’s protected climate. The forcefield still hummed against his ears like an unrelenting insect. After the drought of the past two generations, the gods were back in Alterine. They made frequent trips to Tiebern now that the field had been settled into place. It coalesced enough Aethyre to allow their bodies to safely adjust to Alterine’s harsh reality.

Pilgrims flocked to witness their renewed power, but there was a price to serve the gods. No one came into Tiebern without a pass. And no one left the city—ever.

Dwellerkind had kept their thumb on Tiebern, their control even stronger now that they'd secured the Nexus anchor. All because Cynthia had been sacrificed to feed the gods and their endless thirst for power.

No one would tell him what had become of Cynthia, but it was the only answer to how much power the gods had found. She’d been growing in Aethyre in leaps and bounds, and instead of welcoming her, they’d taken her power for themselves. Each god reeked of the icy treachery. Cynthia was gone, and Thane would never forgive them.

The battle at the Nexus border had changed him. Igraine’s ice and the tainted Aethyre of the forests had fused with him, giving him solid control over the flesh of his host. This had always been Jakob’s body, and Thane was meant just to be a visitor. Yet, his human had gone silent ever since the purge of Aethyre. Only his anchor seemed to remain, sending endless pangs of need through his body to take more of the succulent life-force for the gods. They would never be satiated.

He’d spent his days in a haze. Bloodlines continued to filter into the Estates and the woman before him, clutching onto her son, was just one of many. But something about this particular human reminded him that he’d held onto a tiny slice of hope that Jakob would one day come back to him. When he looked into this woman’s eyes, something foreign in him stirred. Her eyes, such a light blue he felt as if he could peer straight through into her beautiful soul. What he saw there was a creature not unlike himself, one who had been betrayed too many times, yet still held hope that her world could be saved.

The small child tugging at his robes was that world. Her protective grip on his little shoulders said that she'd do anything to protect her son. Anything to give him a future that met that promise of hope he saw in her eyes. Even if it meant giving her son to the gods.

Thane resisted the urge to tell her to get out, to run and take her son as far as she could from this place. For his anchor cried out in need when it smelled the power wafting from her little boy in ways that made his insides twist.

Thane had tried abstaining. He'd starved himself until he'd nearly unhinged. Lilith had come to the Estates and forced him to feed. The Seers thought him mad to deny a god that had taken the time to come in person to his chambers. But Lilith wasn’t how Thane remembered her. Perhaps he’d always viewed her through the filter of lies to be something that she wasn’t. She was his goddess no longer. Now, she was his captor.

She’d told him to feed on Aethyre, and every time he refused, she’d slit a human’s throat right in front of him. It had been an innocent man at first. Then a woman. When she’d brought a child, a girl who looked so much like the human sister he'd lost, he'd finally broken.

Please, sire, my son. The woman had been speaking for quite some time, her words pecking at him until he finally heard her plea through the surge of blood in his ears.

Sweat broke out along his hairline and Thane wiped it away with the back of his hand. Brandishing a weak smile, he knelt and forced himself closer to the boy with unruly white hair that tangled curls around his face. No matter what he did, it was too late. Tiebern was cut off from the rest of the world and these souls were trapped here with him in this giant web of lies.

What is your name? Thane asked, his voice a low rolling growl as his tiger disapproved of the cage he was in.

The boy should have been afraid, but he leaned in with fascination and pressed little fingers to the arch of Thane’s left cheekbone. Hurt? the boy asked.

Thane went completely still. Only a Dweller could see his true form—or a child with enough Aethyre to see through the mirage of his flesh. The Dweller part of him had a scar that Cynthia had given him during their first battle. His tiger would forever be marked by the scar she’d given him. What do you see? Thane asked.

The boy smiled. Cat!

His mother gave him a light shake as her features twisted in horror. Alfred! Don't insult our sire. Her eyes found his again and she offered a grimace. I'm terribly sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him.

Thane straightened and reached into his robes. It's quite all right, he assured her as he pulled out a gleaming coin.

The boy’s eyes went wide as Thane danced the metal across his fingers. It was a trick he'd picked up from Barnes when the old man entertained his rare bouts of lucidity.

The boy bounced on his toes as he watched the display. He extended tiny hands and grasped the air.

The woman moved to calm him, once again horrified at her son’s behavior, but Thane shook his head and gave the boy the coin. The child’s eyes sparkled as he took it gingerly, as if Thane had handed him some great treasure. He cupped it in his small hands, holding the coin close to his chest and gave Thane a grin.

Thane patted him on the head. Can’t be in Tiebern without giving a donation to the gods.

The woman shifted uncomfortably. You don’t have to do that sire, we brought—

Thane cut her off with a wave of his hand as she shuffled through her robes for what few coins they’d brought with them. He didn’t want them to donate a single coin to the gods. He often recycled the coin for the poorest of pilgrims that found their way to his door. Where are you from? he asked instead, straightening as the boy scampered across the room to the miniature replica of Lilith. And may I have your name? He pulled out a small notebook and sharpened stick of coal as if to document their encounter, but he had no need to write anything down. He would engrave every moment with this woman in his mind.

She smiled as she watched her son carefully place the coin at the statue’s feet. The love in her eyes was so pure that it made Thane simply want to gaze at her. My name’s Gwen, sire. We’re from Lothrun. Her gaze grew distant at the mention of the elvish city of art and music. Or at least, we were. We’ve been living in Watermill for the past ten years.

Thane closed his notebook. Not only had Gwen overcome Tiebern’s barrier, but she’d also surmounted an impressive wall that Tiebern had erected between Lothrun at the Nexus border. Pardon me asking, Thane began, but how did you manage to get out of Lothrun?

Gwen smiled, a mischievous glint returning to her eyes. Our god disappeared long ago. The city is run by power-hungry elves now. They think they’re all knowing, but they’re not. She made a fist and hid the tremor behind the folds of her tattered dress. Men tend to underestimate me.

Thane had no doubt that this was a woman not to be underestimated, but taking a closer look at the child, he understood why the Aethyre ran so strong in him, as well as why he didn’t favor her midnight wavy curls. Instead the boy had fine hair that seemed to float about his face. As he swayed, he spotted the slight upward curve of the boy’s ears. Was his father an elf?

Gwen frowned. Is that a problem?

Of course it was a problem. Elves were an experiment gone wrong by the Ancients themselves. Their god, Loth, had been a Dweller and an Ancient-sympathizer.

It might cause… complications, Thane offered.

The child eased closer to the statue as it came to life and took the coin. Smoke swirled around the replica and a short melodic laugh echoed as the coin disappeared into shadow. Mama! the boy cried excitedly. She accepted it.

Gwen’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. Of course, Alfred. The gods are alive and well here.

As the boy sat and clapped his hands, mesmerized by the twirls of smoke that still emanated from the statue, Gwen lowered her voice. Her striking eyes held Thane captive. Lothrun’s sanctuary is dead. She straightened defiantly. To admit as much in Lothrun is treachery penalized by death. But the statues there no longer take the Aethyre that is offered. I came here on pilgrimage because I heard that Tiebern’s sanctuary may yet be revived. Is it true?

Half the sanctuaries of the world had gone into slumber when the gods had fought amongst themselves, their Aethyre dwindling until their immortality couldn’t hold any longer. Tiebern was home to all of the gods, but it was still technically part of Lilith’s domain. Now that her power had returned, the Sanctuary had been cleared of ghouls and the city revived.

Tiebern is back to its full glory, he assured her.

Her shoulders relaxed, but she chewed on her plump lower lip. Her midnight hair contrasted against the airy lightness of her gaze as she wound her fingers through a tangled curl. I’m a good judge of character, sire. You tell me good news, yet your heart is heavy for it. She tilted her head. What is awry in Tiebern? She placed her hand on his and a jolt of connection shot through him. Her eyes went wide, having felt it for herself. What is your name? she asked softly, as if that question was suddenly far more important.

He should have played the arrogant Seer and scoffed at her audacity to ask his name. He should have snatched his hand away lest she feel his body tremble, but his fingers couldn’t deny the need to touch her. I am Thane.

Thane, she said, his name a caressing sound across his ears. Have we met before?

He was about to cross a forbidden boundary and admit to this woman he barely knew that he suspected they had. The empty soul inside of him jerked at her touch and whispered echoes of Jakob’s past lives. Memories streaked across his mind of warm flesh against his, sweet murmurs in his ear, and a love so powerful that it transcended time and space.

His human was still alive, somewhere in the tangle of Aethyre in this body, and this woman was the soulmate he’d been looking for. Thane had no doubt about that. Yet now that Thane was fully merged and overpowered this body, he felt the connection for himself. He wanted to indulge in this feeling of humanity. He wanted to take something that didn’t belong to him.

His primal compulsions were interrupted by a gurgling sound as the boy flopped over onto his side and began to convulse.

Alfred! Gwen cried and ran to her son. She crouched and held his head up.

Thane froze. He’d seen this before when Dweller were exposed to the raw, wild power of the elves. If the child’s father really was an elf, then he had Ancient magic in him. Those experiments had always ended poorly, especially when humans were involved.

Can you help him? Gwen asked, her eyes pleading with such desperation that Thane found himself easing to the boy’s side.

He placed a hand to Alfred’s fevered head and gold streaks lit up across his knuckles and forearm as his Seer marks came to life. He shouldn’t feed on the child. Draining the Aethyre would only weaken the boy. But he couldn’t deny Gwen’s hope and tell her that there was nothing to be done. So he drew a sliver of Aethyre into himself and jerked as the poisonous power surged through his veins.

Gwen gripped his wrist. What’s wrong? Why are you in pain?

Thane curled his fingers away as the boy eased into a peaceful sleep. As I said, Elvish blood causes complications.

She frowned and gathered the limp child in her arms. I didn’t risk my life and that of my son just for you to tell me saving him is difficult. If you’re not capable, I’ll find a Seer who is.

Thane balked as the woman made her way to the door. She moved with the grace of a servant trained for dance and pleasure in the city of Lothrun. Her dress slit up her thigh, revealing a winding brand that marked her as such. Thane knew why her son’s father had been an elf. She’d been a slave.

He watched her go, his anchor still reeling from the invasion of elvish Aethyre and his heart twisting to know that Gwen had born a son out of captivity. Slaves were harshly treated in Lothrun. Without a god to monitor the arrogance of the elves, he couldn’t imagine what her life had been like. The fact that she’d risked so much for her son, a child that represented the depths of humiliation she’d been put through, his heart yearned all the more to know her.

Yet, his hands still trembled and the echoes of Jakob’s memories remained simply that: echoes that bounced off the hollow empty spaces in his mind. His human may yet be within him, but even his soulmate couldn’t bring him back out. Thane was utterly and truly alone.

2

Ten Years Ago

Gwen shook as disgust wound through her to see how many elvish men had shown up to her auction. She lingered behind a wall of glass that only she could see through. The elves took their seats in the dim indoor arena, the center stage alight with elvish magic. The blue glow danced with motes of red, a testament that even if their god Loth might be dead, Aethyre ran powerful in Lothrun.

Do you think Lord Ulric will be here? asked one of the other virgins that would be for sale this night.

Gwen frowned at the excited tone of the girl’s voice. You wish to be sold like cattle? she snapped.

The girl shrank into herself and twirled the sheer white lace that barely covered her delicate frame around a finger. Oh, it’s just—

Don’t listen to her, Emily snapped another with an even more revealing gown that clung to her skin, wrapping around her legs to allow her to move. The sheer silk left little to the imagination and streaks of gold covered her most private areas, the gold ropes winding down to her ankles. Her eyes, a rare blazing red, marked her as the rare breed called Rubies. This one has strange Aethyre. She’s just bitter that she won’t be selling to one of the lords. It’ll be a fat merchant who picks her up.

Gwen knew that she couldn’t compare to the girl who glowed with a dangerous red power. Those who’d lived for generations in Lothrun absorbed the altered Aethyre that came from the elves. It blazed in their eyes and flashed through their bodies, earning them the name Ruby. Taller by two heads, she glared down at Gwen with disapproval.

Gwen knew that Emily would be roughly awakened to what it meant to be sold as a love trinket in Lothrun. Even though he’d never touched her, Gwen had been the brothel leader’s pet all her life. She turned to the glass to find Hendrik lingering in the shadows, his red eyes aglow with fierce desire.

In some ways, Gwen had felt her own heart pang in reaction to his lingering gaze. She tried to deny herself such feelings. She simply had never met another man. She knew that her desire for Hendrik was foolish. But his clear desire for her didn’t make sense. She didn’t have the ruby eyes that marked her as Lothrun’s esteemed human bloodline, nor did she have the grace associated with the most talented artisans in the city.

She’d kept Hendrik’s attention in spite of all that. He’d always kept her close as if she were some great prize. The other girls had no idea that Gwen fully expected to be sold thrice the highest bid simply because of her association with him. Her midnight hair and striking gaze was an unusual contrast that was a testament to her heritage. She didn’t come from Lothrun. Her bloodline ran deep in realms long forgotten. Hendrik had told her that she was special, but she’d never known what he’d meant by that. Perhaps the other elves knew. Yet, it felt like there was a secret in her soul, and now that she was about to be sold, she’d lose any hope of discovering what it was.

Who is that? Emily asked, brightening as she spotted Hendrik emerge.

It made sense that the girls from other brothels wouldn’t recognize the elf who ruled them all. He kept all the virgins shielded from reality as much as possible. He didn’t allow them to know that they were planned and paraded about like cattle. They’d been told very little of the outside world.

Hendrik’s honesty with her had won him a piece of her heart. Yet as his gaze lingered on her, her insides twisted. How could he allow her to be sold? Why couldn’t he just keep her at his side like he’d