The Court of Souls?

“In Indian religions, Apsaras are beautiful, supernatural female beings. They are youthful and elegant, and superb in the art of dancing. They are often wives of the Gandharvas, the court musicians of Indra. They dance to the music made by the Gandharvas, usually in the palaces of the gods, entertain and sometimes seduce gods and men. As ethereal beings who inhabit the skies, and are often depicted taking flight, or at service of a god, they may be compared to angels.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Inanimatum***

***Shade***

I turn around and head back to the writing desk in order to give Tisha time to get herself into a presentable state. It's also an opportunity to concentrate on Paolo's soul. Killing him was easier than I expected, but apparently he was just a minor deity. The one who is truly in control is Inanimatum's leader, Enwick.

Paolo surprises me in showing remarkable resistance to the first horror scenario I manage to imagine. I threw him into the sewers with the slimes, but unlike the town guard he manages to endure the pain.

I play with the thought of accessing his memories directly, but that's a risk which I have no need for right now. It would be very close to merging our souls. And that's something I certainly don't want to happen after seeing his preferences regarding women.

I drop myself on the office chair and start skimming through the files. What's not interesting gets thrown directly to the floor. I am searching for a special item. The higher immortals must have something like a master switch to control all the slaves. It would be stupid for them to hand the control over their fighting force to lows and mids. Higher immortals may be strong, but there are so many lows and mids in this city that they could pose a real danger if they are ordered to attack their masters.

“Who are you? I hope you know what you did by killing the idiot! I surely won't have as much luck twice in getting a lazy master who doesn't secure me properly with orders! If they catch me again, Enwick surely will keep me as his personal toy. He won't hand me out a second time to a mentally deficient underling.”

I look up and find Tisha in a black dress which isn't much better than her previous outfit, but at least it covers the important parts. Her hands are balled to fists and trembling.

My attention wanders back to the drawer under the desk. I pull it out and pour the content onto the desk. Writing utensils, paperweights and other useless stuff which I would expect in an office greets me. I swipe everything from the table and take out the next drawer.

“You know, Mom, for twenty-five years of slavery you look awfully fine to me,” I note and continue my search.

She gapes at me like a fish, then she actually manages to press tears out of her eyes. “Shade? You survived. Why did you come back? Didn't Ishaan take you in?”

“He did. But I have unfinished business with Inanimatum. I'll destroy this clan! Where are Aswang and Manticore?” I pull out yet another drawer; only two remain. Then I have to search somewhere else.

“I placed them with my resistance movement. And what do you mean with destroying this clan!? There are innocent people living inside these walls and you can't fight all of their immortals! They are too strong. And what are you searching for?” Tisha gestures at the mess I created.

Only one drawer remains when I dump the content onto the table. Then I weigh the empty drawer in my hand while I search through the random items. “Paolo was in charge of managing this city. He must have some way to control all the slaves. A safety key. I just need that item to order them to fight their masters.”

I dismantle the drawer by smashing it onto the table. My vandalism reveals a hidden compartment under the false bottom. The compartment is neatly sealed by a barrier to stop the magical item inside it from leaking energy. It contains a plain, silver ring. “And I think I've just found what I was searching for.”

Tisha gasps. “How did you know? It was well sealed and took me a year to find it!”

I furrow my forehead. “Let's just say that this particular drawer was heavier than the others. And it irks me when inside dimensions don't match outside ones.” I take the ring and study the fine layout of runes which are engraved on it.

“That alone won't help you. They are a set and the commander of the slave soldiers has the other one. It's one of the reasons why I am not already out of here. And there is a third one which can overrule the other two. That's the real problem. Enwick has it.” She starts kneading her hands with a frightful expression.

I take my eyes away from the artefact. “You still haven't explained why you are in such a good condition.”

Suddenly she starts chuckling, but catches herself in time. “Good? But I suppose from your point of view it seems to be good. Let's just say that my nature makes me resistant to the sort of treatment which was given to me. That's also why Paolo didn't dare to touch me.” She smiles, revealing a set of sharp, pointy teeth.

“The last one who got lazy in giving me instructions found himself without a very important body part. And I've been living in this realm for more than four thousand years. It takes a lot more to break someone who is already broken.”

I sigh. She will be a troublesome one to deal with. “I understand. Let's just say that my former self is quite proficient at magic. If I have the second ring, I can adjust the spell formation to overrule any other commands. I hope Tormentor is still the head of the facility?”

Tisha blinks. “If you mean Crowbent, then yes. I think Aswang and Manticore are calling him that. He is also a higher immortal. Be careful. I heard that he is a good fighter.”

Tormentor is a higher immortal? I blink, wondering why I never realized that. Though I was a child back then and had no way to gauge someone's power level.

I reach into my pocket and retrieve a charm from it. The item is made from wood and grass and based on shamanistic magic. It hides ones aura for a certain amount of time. Even a god's. I throw it and Tisha catches the item. “What's that? A spirit catcher? It looks like one,” She mumbles.

“It is a charm which hides your aura. Carry it with you and go to where Aswang and Manticore are. Then hide. I'll go and get the second ring. Then I'll order every slave to kill their masters.”

Her eyes widen. “You can't do that! It will be civil war! Hundreds, thousands will die!”

I slam my fist on the table and she flinches. “So let them die! I already said that I will end Inanimatum.”

“Not like this!” she answers.

I get up and lean forward. “Do you want to have the collar back and fight with them? That can be easily arranged.”

Tisha grabs her dress and avoids my eyes. “What happened to you to be like that.”

I walk around the table to stand in front of her. “When I escaped this facility I swore to destroy this place. And I don't care if innocents die in doing so. Because they aren't innocent. They are simply too weak to stop those who are in power.”

I grab her upper arm and take her with me into the shadows. We float out of the window and down to the streets where I release Tisha in a dark alley. She drops to her knees and shivers. “What was that place? It was so dark and cold.”

I shrug my shoulders. “Don't know. You tell me. Another part of this reality, maybe? Can you get to safety on your own?”

She shudders and gets up. “I'll find Aswang and Manticore. Though I can't promise that they will keep their heads down.”

I glare at her and step closer to look deep into her violet eyes. “Then make them! You are a god. They are not.”

Tisha draws a sharp breath upon getting a close up look of my eyes and nods. “They became stronger than you might expect. But I will do my best to convince them that caring about their immediate friends is the best thing to do tonight.” Then she hurries down the alley to disappear into the night.

I grind my teeth. Probably I could have been nicer, but I made up my mind about this long ago. Tonight will be a bloodbath and not even the gods know how it will end.

I laugh and head towards the facility. Not even the gods know. That's a good joke. Especially because I am supposed to be a god.

When I reach a dark corner I dive into the shadows and dash towards the facility. Once there, I notice for the first time that the facility is actually very well protected when it comes to magical intrusion. The walls are imbued with wards and spells to uncover the invisible.

Probably it is to keep the slave soldiers from escaping, but now it also keeps me from entering the place.

So that was the reason why the walls had to be clean at all times.

I ponder for about five minutes over the situation until I decide to descend to the dreaded sewer system. My knowledge of this part of the city is quite intimate. Even years later I didn't forget a single drainage pipe or tunnel. And being a shade also allows me to use the smallest passages which were a problem even when I was a child.

Bypassing the security in this way turns out to be a little troublesome because I run into more wards against magical beings. Something which didn't bother me when I was a child.

Now it is a nuisance. I disable the weak protections and finally emerge close to the river which is flowing through the facility.

Two minutes later I find Tomentor's office building and use the keyhole to break in. Most of the barrack is dark, but at the end of the corridor is a room with light.

As luck would have it, I find him there. If I could snort in this form, I would do so. He is playing cards with his friends. He always did so at night, when there was nobody to torture. Isn't he bored by such a monotonous lifestyle? All three of them start laughing when one of the players plays a card called wrath of god.

Apparently not.

“Didn't it get awfully dark for some reason? Is there a problem with the lightglobe at the ceiling?” One of the men looks up.

“Hope not. I recharged the damn things just three days ago.” Overseer number three gets up and climbs onto his chair to reach the ceiling.

That's when I strike.

I partially materialize from the shadows and kick the chair out from under the man. Pulling him down with one hand, I guide his fall to break his neck on my knee.

Still stunned, Tormentor and his flunky ogle me with shocked eyes. I gesture at the remaining overseer and send a bolt of electricity at him. The man jolts and is flung backwards while still sitting in his chair.

Tormentor gets over his shock and throws himself at me. Both of us collide and go down in a heap. We wrestle on the ground, using our mana to empower our bodies. But when I feel him unleashing a huge spell I take both of us into the shadows.

He unleashes a fireball and I feel hot flames wavering over my body, burning my clothes and my skin. The pain breaks my concentration and we return to the light.

“What the fuck are you!” Tormentor screams, his breath creating an icy fog upon leaving his mouth. He must have taken a good, deep breath while we were on the other side.

“Just a shade!”

I close both hands around his neck and pull. Not at his physical form, but at his soul. Taking the soul of a higher immortal isn't as easy as it is with the lower ranks. They are much stronger and better anchored to their bodies than those of lower tiers.

His face distorts in pain and then turns to horror as he realizes what I just tried to do.

Changing my approach I hit him and fumble for my dagger. I need to end this in a silent manner. If the fight didn't already alert the whole facility so far, then a full blown fight between Tormentor and me surely would.

Somehow I get my dagger out and sink it between his ribs. He opens his mouth to scream, but I ram my whole hand down his throat to shut him up. He bites and his teeth sink into my flesh, causing me to hiss in pain.

Then I start working on him with my dagger. The first three times he tries to catch my hand, but I am too quick. Finally the light leaves his eyes and I take his soul. A dreadful minute passes while I try to pry his jaw apart to get my hand back.

The wound heals fast enough, but I still hold my hand protectively to my chest while I use the uninjured one to search his clothes. In the end further interrogation of his soul isn't necessary. I find a second ring, just like Paolo's one, on a chain around his neck.

Relief rushes over me. I almost messed up with that one. The other two overseers were just mids, but the time it took me to take them out allowed Tormentor to react. If he had chosen a more aggressive tactic from the start he might have alerted the whole city.

But he didn't expect me to be his match in power. Had I been a low, or a mid, he could have subdued me easily enough.

He must have assumed that a higher immortal isn't able to sneak his way into the city. Therefore an assassin has to be unable to take him head on.

I right one of the chairs and sit down at the table. The bloody dagger is thrust into the wood to be in easy reach, just in case someone comes in. The cards go to the ground with a swipe of my hand, then I concentrate on my prize.

The rings form a delicate magical rune circuit to command any slave collars within the vicinity. But the commands which are given by the wielder of this set clearly are not priority commands.

I take the dagger and use it as a chisel to change the runes on the rings. An hour passes until I am finally done with my work and nod with satisfaction. Thanks to Angrod's and Ascathon's memories, this was a piece of cake. Those two past versions of myself had intimate knowledge of magical items and crafting.

After throwing a last look at Tormentor's dead body I put on both rings. I feel nothing at first, but after a few moments the rings start draining mana and glow in a blue light.

With confidence in my steps I walk silently out of the barrack and onto the exercise area. The night is cool and silent, but I can barely hold in the anticipation. I have thought and dreamed about this moment for so long, I can barely believe that it's finally here.

In the centre of the exercise area is a small stage from where Tormentor always gave his announcements on which sadistic punishments he thought of next. There is also a big bell which is used as an alarm signal to wake the entire facility.

The recruits are trained from their first day to gather in front of the stage upon hearing the bell. Tormentor often rung this bell in the middle of the night for no good reason. I suppose he was bored or couldn't sleep, so he didn't want anyone else to have a good sleep. 'Midnight training' he called it.

I grab the pommel of the bell with both hands and start ringing. With the fifth stroke the first doors open. With the sixth my first soldiers appear and run towards the stage to form a line. With the seventh a steady stream of obedient slave soldiers appears out of the barracks.

When I reach ten, I stop ringing and turn to face the army which gathered in front of the podium. There are people of all ages, from five years old to adults. The older ones are in full combat gear.

Among the slaves are some lower ranked overseers who also got alarmed. One of them steps closer and addresses me. “Who do you think you are, Mongrel!”

I ignore him and spread both hands towards the crowd. “I am your master and this is a command: Kill all the other masters and don't take any orders from someone else.”

The overseer's eyes widen and the training area lights up with attack magic. Before he can say a word, he is buried under a group of ten year old children. They bite and claw at him like wild beasts, dismembering him in seconds.

The few overseers stand no chance to the wild army and seasoned fighters. I suppose that many of the older ones are actually veterans of many missions.

When they are done with their immediate targets, the army of slaves aims for the facility's gates and takes them down. I start running and follow them while screaming my commands, repeating them to any slave who might be in earshot of the streets. While doing so, I order the stronger warriors to stay with me. They have to clear a path and establish a chain of command.

Our wild advance doesn't stop and the few free citizens who encounter our rampaging horde are taken down with ease.

When it becomes clear that my revolt gained enough strength, I give additional orders to free all slaves who aren't affected by my commands. Their collars have to be removed. This should create a second independent group which is fighting on its own accord.

Upon hitting the first ring street our army gains momentum, as there are still many people awake and outside to do their business. That also means that there are a lot of slaves to hear my commands. I infuse mana into my legs and force myself to run faster while screaming my orders to kill the masters.

Flames start rising from the city as the fighting parties set fire to some of the buildings.

Nobody stops me even after completing my first circle around the city. Wherever I show up the free citizens suddenly have other problems than stopping me. Mainly to stay alive while trying to fight off their servants.

After completing a second round on the second ring street I start wondering where the higher immortals are hiding.

I assumed that they will rush out into the city to stop me, but apparently that's not the case. Maybe it is harder to find me among the mob than I assumed? Most likely that's indeed the case. Or they already tried to stop the fighting and took losses. Even higher immortals can be taken out by a lucky shot, if a few dozen mids and lows gang up on them.

And who says that I didn't unknowingly free a bunch of higher immortals among the slaves?

Did Enwick order to bail out? Maybe they are waiting to see how things evolve without them? I suppose laying waste to their own city isn't among their wishes. So they will probably wait until the unrest calms down and try to retake control from whoever establishes a new command structure.

I think I've caused enough chaos, time to go directly after them. My new orders guide the flow of unwilling freedom fighters towards the palace, or should I call it a citadel? The slaves hand my orders down the command chain and I grin upon imagining that the mob is now converging from all directions on the citadel.

My soldiers do all the work in taking down the guards and breaking the gates. I follow them with fast steps until I encounter my first higher immortal since I started the revolt. He fights hard to protect the entrance of a central building inside the inner walls. His strength is obvious as he takes down my men like an adult fighting toddlers.

Even so, the odds are against him as the mass of slaves presses forward. I use the fact that he is distracted and gather mana in my hand, sending a burst of energy at him.

My attack doesn't kill him, but it sends him off balance and creates a chance for the slaves to overwhelm him. I don't stay to watch his death.

I follow my troops into the building to find out that it is a single big hall. At the far side of the hall is a group of men next to a dark throne. They are fleeing through a red portal.

Among them them is a big, pale man with brown hair. His face is hard and has a single, big scar running across it. He wears a black, metal armour and his long ears could suggest that he is an elf. But I know that he is actually a war-demon, a nightmarcher.

“Enwick!”

I call out, but he just spares me a short glance with a sour expression on his face. It's the look of someone who lost an entertaining toy, but otherwise he seems unconcerned. Then he steps through the portal.

I dash across the room and ram my foot onto the lower edge of the ring. My hands grab the sides and I push my mana into the ring of swirling energies, forcing the portal to remain open.

Beyond the portal is a group of men, Enwick among them. They stare at me in open surprise and Enwick looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Enwick, the night isn't over. Why are you running away?”

Pushing even harder I support the magical formation of the portal with more energy and widen the portal again. Enwick grabs a spear from a staring warrior next to him. Then, without a word, he throws it and the spear embeds itself in my mid section.

I roar, but not so much in pain as in anger. The impact forced my hands to slip and the portal slammed shut.

Drawing a deep breath I pull the spear out and rely on my healing abilities to do the rest. Then I stagger to the throne and sit down. “Cursed ancestors, what a coward!”

That's when Tisha enters the hall with a group of people. They carry a random assortment of weapons and look around the hall as if searching for something. Some of them immediately start freeing my warriors from their slave collars. So much for my willing army.

I spit blood on the ground to clear my mouth. “Didn't I say something about hiding until the mayhem is over?”

A woman with a baton steps forward. “Half the city is burning and the streets are filled with dead and wounded people! How can we keep our heads down with such a catastrophe at hand? And it's all your fault! Thousands died because of this!”

I glare at her and choose to let my aura leak. Some of the weaker immortals go to their knees without even thinking about resisting. “I suggest you try to show a little more respect to the one who ended this reign of terror.”

A man steps to the woman's side. “You didn't just end their rule, you also ended us! The food depots caught fire! If we don't find a source of food, people will starve within the month.”

Is that so? What a lucky circumstance! The left corner of my mouth twitches upwards as I start adjusting my plans.

Tisha steps between us. “Stop this. Enwick obviously escaped or he would be here. We have to consolidate our position or he will be back in power within the month! If he isn't actually the one who set the depots on fire. Weren't you guys friends? Manticore? Aswang?”

They are Manticore and Aswang?

“I don't remember being friends with someone who has that little respect for human lives.” Manticores spits on the ground and throws a gesture at me, sending five poisonous nails in my direction.

I dive into the shadows and the nails pass through me, doing no harm. Purely physical attacks can't harm me in this state. Then I stretch myself thin to cover as much space as possible and to be big and intimidating.

“You are right. I don't care for the lives of those who fought today. I didn't care then and I don't care now. While they chose to grovel in front of their masters, I decided to reach for power. As slaves they were damned to be tools until their end. And as tools I gave them the opportunity to bite their wielder's hands.”

When Manticore and Aswang step backwards I know that I took the wind out of their sails.

“But I feel generous today. I will give you another choice. And this time, it is even a choice you can make on your own. First, you stay here and starve as free cowards. Second, you stand up for your freedom and follow me when I open a portal to crush those who granted Enwick and his goons asylum.”

“Many more will die! And where did he flee? Aren't we putting even more innocents at risk by following him?” Tisha replies.

I turn my attention to her. “So will they if they stay here and do nothing. Everyone who dies to put down Enwick is one mouth less to feed. It is a win-win situation for everyone with a shred of self-respect. And if I interpreted the exit coordinates of their portal correctly, then we won't hit any innocents. Our goal is Parle, Inanimatum's allies!”

Suddenly one of the freed slave soldiers drops to his knees. “Open that portal! I will follow you.”

“So will I.” “Me too!”

Others bow their heads and before long almost the whole room is on their knees.

I look around and slowly shrink back to my physical form. “I thought as much. How about going out there to arm up and gather every man and woman who can do more than being a victim?” I gesture at the door and head back to the throne. It's the only convenient sitting opportunity in this hall.

The former slaves hurry out of the room, leaving Tisha with Aswang and Manticore behind.

Manticore follows me. “What happened to you and Legna to become such a monstrosity? And where is she?”

I clench my teeth and debate with myself on how to answer this. This isn't a happy reunion with childhood friends. Aswang and Manticore seem to have taken a brighter path than me. They still have hope and obviously care for this clan and its people. That's something I can't do. For all this time I've steeled my resolve to do what has to be done to crush Inanimatum.

“I killed Legna because she was weak when she should have been strong. Just like I killed that overseer and that boy.” I concentrate to show them my gathered soul orbs and green lights start orbiting me. “They died because they were too weak to make a choice!”

Suddenly Tisha walks forward and takes my hand. “Please, don't let yourself get eaten up by your inner demons! Weren't you with Ishaan during these last years? I had hoped-”

I pull my hand out of hers. “Ishaan isn't the person you once knew. And I would suggest that you don't get within his sight. He harbours less than friendly feelings for you.”

Tisha drops to her knees with a pained expression on her face. “It wasn't like that. I never meant to-”

I interrupt her. “I don't know what you meant. But you have to understand that my path doesn't let me stop until I have satisfied my thirst for revenge. Understood? I won't stop.”

“Then you should better prepare yourself to lead us.” Aswang mumbles.

I turn my attention to him. “What!?”

Manticore gestures at the door. “The soldiers. They listen to you. You are their commander now. It won't be that easy to get that out of their heads now.”

I rub my temple. “Foolish idiots altogether. One doesn't need a commander if he can think for himself. Attacking Parle is our only viable choice to solve the food problem.”

And I want Enwick!

Finally Tisha gathers herself and gets back to her feet. “I'll try to organize them. Since I had a good look at the city's government I am the best choice to organize what's remaining of it.” She stalks out of the room with a stiff expression on her face.

Two hours pass while Aswang, Manticore and I wait for her return. We don't speak during that time. What's there to say? Probably a lot. But the manner of our reunion hangs like a big canyon between us. And I honestly don't know why I snapped like that. Maybe I had hoped that they would treat me as the big hero when they see me.

Tisha returns after a while. The stiff expression is gone and replaced by something like determination. “We have six thousand people who can fight. Sixteen higher immortals were freed during the rebellion. That means, with us, we have twenty higher immortals on our side. Parle and Inanimatum have about fifty to seventy higher immortals. We don't know for sure because we don't know how many fell this night.”

I place the fingers of my hands in a position of mediation and lean forward. “Tonight I saw three of them die. And as for the others... I strongly suspect that these also hold some value in Parle.” I raise my hands to show them both rings.

“Why should they? Parle and Inanimatum aren't under the same leadership.” Tisha asks astounded.

I furrow my forehead. “Because I know from Ishaan that Parle doesn't have someone who can forge slave collars. They buy all their collars from Inanimatum. And now tell me why Inanimatum should sell them a collar which they can't control with their master switch?”

None of them has a suitable answer, so I get up and return to the courtyard. When I touched the portal I got a very good idea of where it leads to. I will simply use its energy signature to open portals all around it. Opening a portal directly on spot strikes me as dangerous if there are too many defenders in place.

On the way out I rip off an arm from the immortal who fell at the entrance. Then I use the bloody arm to draw the rune systems for several portals. The stone pavement in the courtyard is a good surface for the task.

When I am done I am approached by Tisha and a young girl who looks no older than fifteen. Her hair has the colour of straw and the eyes shimmer golden, even though it's dark. They remind me a little of my own eyes. But where my eyes are ominous, hers are beautiful to behold.

“If we could suggest a little change to your plan. This is Shastra, one of our immortals. She is an Apsara.” Tisha explains as if that's already everything I need to know.

I raise an inquisitive eyebrow and look down at Shastra who tries her best to hide behind Tisha. When I say nothing the girl decides to add an explanation. “Apsara are cloud spirits who have a strong affinity to air. I don't have many offensive capabilities, but if you give me those rings I can carry my voice to every corner of Parle.” She tries to smile, but it's clear that she finds me suspicious.

I s