Page 105 of Woven Souls

Elder Marigold turns her head to one of the Ghosts lingering on the closest wall to us. One walks forward without a word and comes to a stop next to her.

“Why don’t we remind Theodon that his position is one of the Fallen. He does not speak unless spoken to, or there will be consequences,” she says with a smile.

The Ghost takes two more steps forward until he’s in front of Theodon and pulls out his sword.

I stop breathing. “Wait just a—”

The Ghost uses the butt of his hilt to hit Theodon in the face. Theodon’s head snaps to the side, hard. He groans and then spits. A molar and blood land on the floor. Theodon raises his head slowly and glares first at the Ghost, then at Elder Marigold.

“I think it best we don’t lie while we’re together. Your end is set in stone. but how you meet it is up to you,” she says brightly.

“Fine, if we’re not allowed to lie in this room, tell me: are all the Elders corrupt?” Theodon asks.

“Would you believe us if we said no?” Elder Luthasi asks thoughtfully, finally coming towards us. He walks around Marigold and comes to stand in front of me. “Out of the twelve of us, only seven know the truth. There are some of us who need to believe the lie our predecessors have spun. Having them around gives the Brotherhood the air of righteousness our people can get behind. We play along but do work of a higher sort.”

I shake my head.

“The monsters we’ve been told we hunt were never a problem to this realm, were they?” I ask them. I already know the answer now, but anything to keep the conversation off of Willow.

Both Elders look down at me.

“Well, yes, they are still a very important issue we have to deal with,” Luthasi says with a shrug. “The multiple ripples all over the world were never supposed to happen. There was supposed to be just one, right beneath us where you two once walked through, where everything could be controlled and contained. Unfortunately, there is no exact science when it comes to meddling with realms. Each one is different, and each comes with its own unique problems. The Third Realm has a much stronger vortex and controlling where it opens is nearly impossible. It’s hard to keep track of where each ripple opens. More and more monsters are slipping through to this realm every day.”

Now it makes sense why there were always so many monsters coming for Willow. With multiple points of entry, unwatched and unpatrolled, they were probably coming from every direction they could once they sensed her. It also explains how we tumbled into the cave where we found Jonah. That ripple had been there for ages. It was not caused by the cursed book.

But if that’s the case, how are demons crossing over? That means there has to be an opening where they can just come through. I want to ask, but bringing up anything about the Realm of the Dead seems like a bad decision.

“Why are you mining for power over in the Third Realm instead of this world, like our people have done in the past?” Theodon asks.

“For one, this realm does not have power strong enough to sustain us. Also, it is exhausting trying to start anew.” Elder Marigold shrugs. “We must always start at the bottom of the food chain wherever we go. Why not remain where we are? Our people thrive here.”

“Thrive?” I say. “We’re huddled away in the corner of the planet. I don’t think we’rethriving.”

My comment earns me a strike across the face.

Pain blossoms from my nose, and I smell the blood before I see it. It trickles down over my lips and spills onto the floor. The Ghost steps back to stand behind the two Elders.

Luthasi glares down at me. “We thrive, Viktor. None of our people suffer from poverty, illness, and the like. The power they unknowingly ingest, which we sprinkle over the ground and feed to the livestock… it gives them a long life and better health. We are much better off than most in this world.”

“Before I joined the Brotherhood, my mother, sisters, and I lived in a two-bedroom house on the edge of Everlast with a leaky roof, windows without glass, and walls infested with rats. It wasn’t until I patched the roof, exterminated the vermin, and sold off what little we managed to keep in order to pay for the glass that our lives changed,” Theodon hisses. “I beg to differ thatallof our people are well off.”

Both Elders sigh dramatically.

“If your father hadn’t tried to stop us from reaching into the Realm of the Dead, he’d still be here, and your family would still be living in that big fancy house of yours,” Elder Marigold says with a shrug.

“What?” Theodon’s surprise causes his voice to come out strained.

Luthasi chuckles as he nods. “Your father was a crazy tyrant, but he was a great ally when it came to pushing for more and more power from the Third Realm. It was he who decided to have the stones installed directly into the homes of our people so that the power would just radiate naturally into our daily lives. When we learned about the Realm of the Dead and all the power there, he put his foot down. The night he went mad… Well, that was spurred on by a warlock, Fulton, I think his name was. He taught us a curse that would turn your father insane. That did the trick, and now the Ghost Brotherhood is an unstoppable force with no one to tell us what to do.”

My mouth drops open in surprise. I look at Theodon to see how he’s taking the news. His face is pale, but other than that, he remains unmoved. If we get out of here, I bet he’s going to stew until his head pops off.

“What are you talking about? What is the Realm of the Dead?” Theodon asks carefully.

The Ghost moves to stand in front of him, preparing to strike, but Marigold raises her hand to stop it.

“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I have a feeling the woman with him wouldn’t have shared where her power derives from,” she says to the warrior without taking her eyes off Theodon. “The Realm of the Dead is where all souls reside. Anyone who ever had a lick of power in their blood carries just a little bit of that over with them when they die. And you know what? All the power is just floating around, wasted. It would be an untapped and everlasting supply of power that we could use and harness. We could forget about the Third Realm altogether if we had access to that power.”

Luthasi steps closer to us, his eyes boring into mine as he flashes me a yellow-toothed grin.

---