They Called Me FIVE

LANCE

I gaped at the figure. He's bowing to me. That should mean he was calling my name. But my name is Lance, not Lancelot. 

"Who's Lancelot?" The shadow back away in surprise. Then let out a sound between a chortle and a sneer.

"You are." He turned, a body part – I think his arm separated from his body and gestured towards the clearing, covered in the veil of mist, a single curve opening formed at the center. 

"Sam… was it? He's in there." I stared at the portal he's gesturing. "You should hurry. He's about to cross the First Gate." I looked over him. From a waist down he's an apparition. No feet, no legs, nothing. He doesn't have hands sticking out of his robe like cover. 

If it weren't for the glowing of his eyes, I would suspect this guy don't have a face. The dead grass on my feet crunch as I take a step backward. Determine to put some distance between us.

"What are you?" 

"I'm a Soul Keeper." Was there such a thing?

"Why should I trust you?" 

"Because you reach another level in wielding my Master's power." 

"Master?" My eyes lingered at the sky. Where no stars or light came to shone in this dark gloomy place. So high, so empty, just a bank of storm clouds that constantly in rage war with the wind. 

"The Deity of Death." 

A shiver ran through my spine. I don't like the sound of this. 

"Are you saying this place is where the dead goes? Like the Underworld?" 

He chuckled. "Mortals always have different perception of the afterlife. Stories from the first people, borne out of their imagination, are passed on by generations. This is what separates mortals from other beings. They lived a short life, yes, but words retain in the minds even if thousands of years has passed." 

"In case you don't know, there's a material called stone and paper. Stone is where Homo sapiens carved drawings and paintings, paper is where we write. But in the light of gadgets, those things are useless." 

If the shadow has a head, it made a gesture of scratching and shaking it. Before receding back to his dark lake. 

"Hey, where are you –" I cut myself off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure so familiar, it made me doubt myself for a moment. I rub my eyes. Look again. It wasn't an illusion. 

It's Sam. But something is weird on him right now. He looks… younger. More vibrant. The wrinkles, the worry lines, the bags under his eyes disappeared. Although he's paler and his figure without upper clothes made him look like a white shimmering ghost, he's evidently healthier looking.

"Sam? Sam!" I ran towards him, the slopes are steeper, the dead grass more taller it itch my legs. I ignore it. Sam is more important. When I got near him he's blinking blankly at me. 

"Sam!" I shook his shoulders. He didn't respond. He just stand in front of me. Blinking his eye in a slow motion. I waggled my hand in front of him. He didn't seem faze. 

The shadow appeared behind me. 

"Hey, what's wrong with him? Why won't he respond to me?" I pinch Sam's arm. No reaction. I slap his cheek. Still no reaction. His skin is still pale. Still deadly cold. 

"He's technically dead in the land of the living." The shadow reminds me. His voice is raspier than before. As if he's scraping for remains of his voice box inside his throat. 

"Yeah, but he's here right? That means this is his soul. I could bring him back." I said hopefully. The shadow shake its head slowly. 

"My Master didn't bring you here for you to only bring back your fellow Eklektos in the world of the living. He has different purpose." He said gravely.

My chest throb. My hold on Sam's arm tighten. "What do you mean?" He marched right past Sam and I. Waving the long cloak that seems to be his hand, as if to say, follow me. I glance at Sam's passive glassy face then to the shadow making his way farther from me.

I don't want to leave Sam here.

"Sam, come with me." I grab his hand, pulling him to come with me. He didn't move. His hands are turning ice to my hands. 

"Sam?" 

"If I were you, leave him." The shadow is a few feet away from me. His burning marsh light trained to my eyes. Now he's saying 'He's a big guy. He can obviously take care of himself.' But without the actual words. Just the look.

I find it scary. Stranger than listening to Seven speaking in my head. I was hesitant in letting go of Sam. Thinking if I'll leave, I might not see him again. He just appeared out of nowhere. 

He's my purpose for coming here. Foolishly letting go… won't it be stupid of me?

"Lancelot." The shadow called out. I tug once more. He didn't budge. I let go of Sam's hand and hurried to the shadow's side. Determine to come back where Sam is.

"Can you stop calling me Lancelot? That name's ancient." I said. It took a couple of few paces before he talks again. 

"She'll get hurt if she hear you say that. Especially when she's been waiting a long time for you." 

I frown. The image of Seven's look alike – Efta emerged at the back of my mind. 

"Who's 'she'?" He gave me a dismissive wave. So he talks about the 'her' then won't tell me much after? 

We trek the small hills covering the marsh land. I didn't notice this when the white mist covered the whole ground. Joining the sky and the barren land. 

Many times my shoes trip and I outbalance, making a grab to the Shadow's shoulder. My hand pass right at him. And I fell face first, into the mild dead grass. Choking some soil that taste decay to me.

"Careful now, the slopes here are steep." The shadow warned. Not giving me another glance or helping me up. My body is shivering. Not from the cold mist, but from the strange eerie sensation of passing through him.

It's like someone shoved me right in the freezer. I became instant ice. The land before us is getting darker, colder, the mist dissolved in our back. 

A metal gate stands a few meters away from us. 

"Is this the First Gate?" I asked. He pointed his hand to the right. Where the mist is thicker and I see movements dancing among them. 

"That is the first gate." He pointed out. "What I want you to see…is not there but here," he raised his head, the marsh light of his eyes glow dangerously. 

Barbed wire lined the top of the metal gates. Once or twice I see hands gripping the rails, when it came into contact with the wire, the person inside howled in pain. Blood drips out, hand disappeared. 

I strained my ears. Listening to the screams, the cries, all of them begging for mercy. They were in pain. Someone – or something is haunting and hurting them. The hairs on my arms stand up. It smells scary in here. More deadly, more evil. It made me think back to the things I went through at the hands of the faeries. 

The endless nightmares, the endless tortures. I was in the same position as them a few days ago. But this place…something is lurking inside of those gates, something that force the owner of those hands to crawl back up again and beg for mercy at us. 

"What is this place? Gates of punishment?" I speculate. My voice can't mask the shivers that made my blood run cold. Both in fear hearing their screams and the fears stuck in my head. 

"This is where the souls of all those mortals who were killed by beings from magical realm. Situation here is far worse than having Faeries absorb your soul and turn it into mana. At least, the existence will dispersed into dust, became a part of nothing that made this world to contain everything."

"I don't understand –"

"The Gifted people. What did the seeker tell you about them?" 

He's changing the topic. I don't know what he's trying to say here.. Still, I answered. 

"Gifted People are magicless mortals – they have the same statute as humans. More like they're the ancient medieval version. And they don't possess a blessing in their veins. Only the family of Rank Elders and Rank Rulers have one. The Rankers, however, was gifted with the immortality Mark from the deities. This is why Magnus said he and his comrades won't die. No matter how many times they were made as bait for hideous Beasts." 

The shadow heaved a sigh. I didn't hear him exhale. I just saw the air from his face puffed out like smoke. Indicating this place is getting colder, the longer we stay here. I tried my breath. And it's the same thing with me too.

"You're Seeker live his life not hating the people who raised him. He's willing to sacrifice his life for the cause he thinks was right. Not knowing the hidden agenda of the people he swore to protect."