Page 34 of Reaper Unhinged
“So I’ve been told, and I’m running out of time.”
“Yet you came after your friend?”
What? “Yes, of course. I can’t just abandon him?”
“Even if it means the world might perish.”
“Oh God, you sound like Keon.”
“Your daemon companion.”
“You’ve been watching us.”
“Maybe. But answer me this, is he not right? Are the souls of the many not more important than one soul?”
“It doesn’t work that way for me. Every soul matters. Every soul has worth. I won’t sacrifice one to save another. I refuse to do it.”
His dark eyes lit up with excitement. “And what if you have no choice?”
“There is always a choice.” What the heck? Why was I having this conversation with this…whoever he was. “Who are you?”
He sighed. “No one. But.” He held up a finger. “I can help you. The power source you seek is due east.” He pointed left. “Follow the river, and you shall find it.”
Oh, thank God.
“And your friend was taken due west.” He pointed right. “The spirits move fast, but if you hurry, you might catch him. However, I cannot say if he will be intact when you do. The ancients like taking souls apart, especially celestial ones. But I should warn you that time works differently here. Sometimes it moves forward, and sometimes it stumbles back upon itself. Sometimes a day can seem like a month, and at others, an hour is a minute. Right now, we are in accelerated time.”
Oh fuck. If Keon were here, we could have split up, so one of us went after the power and the other after Uriel, but now it was up to me. I needed to make a choice, and I needed to decide fast.
The man on the log watched me from beneath his lashes while fiddling with the flute in his hands.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was my fault Uriel was here. He was my responsibility. I had to try and save him first.
“If my friend Keon comes this way, please tell him which direction the power source is in.”
I turned and headed west.
* * *
The forest grew thickeraround me as I jogged, calling Uri’s name. He had to be close by. The fucking spirits were going to pay when I got hold of them. Had Keon made it into the clearing? Had he gone after the power source?
Shit, what was I doing? This was insane, but it felt right. It was the right thing to do. I had to try.
I caught sight of movement up ahead. “Uriel?”
I broke into a sprint, weaving through the trees in an attempt to catch up to whoever was up ahead, and then the ground dipped, and I careened out of the tree line into a clearing. A river wound away from me, and a log sat on its side to my left.
What the actual fuck?
This was the same clearing I’d started in. Panic flared in my chest, and then the crunch of boots had me falling into a defensive stance. Keon appeared behind the log and skidded to a halt at the sight of me.
He held up his hands. “Fee, stop. We have to go after the power source.”
My head felt suddenly fuzzy. “What took you so long?”
“What?” He looked confused. “I was right behind you.”
“No, you weren’t. I was here, and I met a man, and he…he…Fuck. This place is fucking with us.”
