The Soul Keeper

The ground shook as tendrils of darkness burst out of the ground all around us, separating us from one another. 

I only saw glimpses of the others before walls of darkness came in between us. Asher surrounded himself with lightning, Mona cast a spell as a green light enveloped her and Lucius and I found myself trapped in here with Fetheion.

"Now," He said with an almost wicked smile. "Let's see how long you can last – will they make it in time?" He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I could feel his power whirling around me as my heart raced. I tightened my grip on my sword. Where was he? I knew he could teleport, but he had never used it against me. I didn't know how to counter it.

I felt something, a movement, behind me. I turned, just in time to see the scythe swinging towards my neck. I didn't even try to block the sharp, deadly blade – if I did, he could just use his pure strength to throw me off balance and then, I'd be done for. Instead, I threw myself to the side and got rid of my wings – in this particular duel, they were nothing but dead weight. 

"Seriously," I mumbled as I rolled and got back up on my feet. "Why a scythe? They're not even good weapons."

He chuckled. "Says the man who desperately wants his own scythe back." Tendrils of darkness appeared around me, seeping out of the ground, slowly reaching for my legs. With a wave of my hand, I released some of my flames to protect me. 

"It's not any scythe and it's range is good during flight." I replied trying to buy some time. "What's your excuse?"

His lips formed a mischievous smile. "I wanted to annoy you." With those words, he dashed forward. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed as I barely blocked the long, curved blade of his weapon. While it wasn't the first time I was fighting against a scythe user, Fetheion's fighting style was much more aggressive than that of my previous opponent. I was having a hard time keeping up with him due to his weapon's incredible reach.

Unlike when he was fighting against Lucius, Fetheion didn't hesitate to use his magic against me at all. With each swing of his scythe, waves of magic spread, forcing me to defend against both his weapon, and his power.

Despite that, I somehow held on. Seconds turned into minutes as we remained locked in combat. Though I didn't feel tired yet, thanks to Soul's Aspect and Fallen Grace, I slowly began to worry about my limited mana pool. I'd be done for the moment I ran out of mana. 

"You seem worried," He said as he swung his scythe towards my feet. I jumped over the blade and dashed forward as soon as my feet touched the ground, hoping to get close enough so I could actually attack for once. 

His eyes widened for just a moment as he noticed his scythe wasn't too effective as such close range, but then he chuckled. Unsure of why he suddenly looked at me as if he'd already won, I threw myself aside, only to see a dagger strike the air right where my throat was a split second ago.

Fetheion laughed as I quickly backed away. His weapon once again changed into the scythe. "Nice try, I'll give you that." His smile disappeared. "But you'll need a hell of a lot more than that if you want to stand the slightest chance against Aelith." He spoke as his expression darkened. "Right now, you're nothing to her."

"We'll see about that!" I hissed through my gritted teeth, then shouted. "Now!"

The magic I had been feeling through the walls of darkness – Mona and Asher's spells – activated. Lightning bolts struck the walls of darkness as the ground shook and began to crack. Fetheion's eyes widened as Mona and Lucius came into view, above the walls of darkness. 

A massive plant rose, carrying those two on its large leaves. Mona leapt down, her spear aiming for Fetheion's scythe. Lucius immediately followed her, striking the shaft of the Divine's scythe.

I didn't hesitate as I released my flames – now was the best chance we were going to get. My purple flames were immediately followed by Asher's silvery blue lightning as clouds began to cover the sky. Fetheion just barely held on as Mona and Lucius' joint strength threatened to throw him off balance. 

For a moment, it seemed as if the darkness around us waned and the Divine had lost. Alas, that moment didn't last long as the blade of his scythe melted away. Mona, whose spear was leaning on it, stumbled forward and fell to the ground as the object she was pushing with all her strength suddenly was no more. The blade appeared on the other end of the shaft, causing Lucius to leap back to dodge the suddenly appearing blade.

"That's cheating!" Mona shouted as she got back up, this time with a handful of earth in her hand. "What kind of a weapon is that even?" 

Fetheion didn't reply. His expression was that of pure focus and now, his eyes were focused on Lucius. That glare and expression, and the constantly strengthening waves of power he emitted suddenly sent a shiver down my spine. He was serious – for the first time, we had actually posed a challenge. For that split second where we all worked together, he had to actually try not to lose.

Suddenly, we had posed a threat to him.

He spung his scythe around his wrist as he dashed forward, chasing Lucius. The young man's eyes widened as soon as he noticed the Divine's expression. Without even a moment of hesitation, he threw himself away from the scythe's path.

"Oh, no you don't!" Asher's voice sounded as his lightning strikes finally destroyed the walls of darkness and immediately formed a barrier around the young swordsman.

Fetheion's scythe struck the barrier, then bounced off. Lucius took this chance to put some distance between him and the Divine. As he did so, I noticed the large, clearly visible crack on the barrier's surface. 

"Lucius," I called to the young swordsman as he retreated to stand by me. "I'll go first, follow my lead and look for a chance." 

The young man's eyes widened. "You can't keep up your magic and fight at the same time!" He cried out as I dashed forward. He wasn't wrong in assuming that – I hadn't been able to do that since all of the souls I had gathered were taken away. But before, back when I was able to use the Phoenix' soul to control my flames, I could fight with magic and blade at the same time. 

With determination in my eyes, I struck Fetheion's blade with my own. "My turn again!" I hissed through my gritted teeth as my flames flared up once more. 

Fetheion looked at me with a wicked smile as his scythe melted away and turned into a sword. "Fine then," He said as his dark power seeped out of the ground. "Let's do this properly!"

I stepped back as soon as his weapon changed. We had a swordfight before – I knew his skill with a sword was greater than mine. I had to find a way to surprise him if I wanted to defeat him. Either that, or one of the others needed to give us an edge. Otherwise, we stood little chance.

My thoughts got cut in half as he stepped closer and swung his sword. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the battlefield, accompanied by the roar of my flames and the crackles or Asher's lightning.

Fetheion's pure strength surprised me once more as that single strike left my arms hurting. I gritted my teeth and fed more power to my flames. I had already enhanced my body as much as I could. Fallen Grace was active, and I was still using Soul's Aspect to maintain the corrupted demon's form. If I couldn't at least keep up with Fetheion at my current state, then I wasn't sure of what to do.

Noticing my surprise and hesitation, the crimson haired Divine didn't waste a moment. I barely blocked his flurry of blows and started my own assault as soon as he gave me a moment to breathe. Unlike him, my swings were much more calculated. I knew I couldn't just keep throwing random attacks until I won through the sheer advantage of strength. I needed to trick him – somehow get past his incredible defence while also holding back the darkness that threatened to swallow me.

I didn't dare using my fighting hand switching trick – he already knew I was capable of that and I couldn't imagine him falling for that twice. Instead, I stuck with somewhat easier to pull off feints, hoping either he would read me wrong, or Asher and the others would do something.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. Lucius appeared behind Fetheion as Mona once again came crashing down from above. I kind of wanted to tell her that using the same attack so many times in a row was less than smart, but she surprised me by throwing her spear aside and kicking the Divine's shoulders before landing a few steps away and catching her spear again. With no hesitation, she raised the sharp, metal end of it to the sky just in time to catch a lightning bolt, the threw the weapon towards the Divine.

Fetheion fell into a cloud of darkness as soon as he lost his balance, then reappeared a few meters away, only to see the spear turn mid air and fly towards him. Asher was controlling the deadly, lightning charged weapon. 

The Divine's eyes widened as the weapon quickly approached his throat.