Oswin slowly reached out and took a hold of my wrist, then he put out the fire with a snap of his fingers. The darkness settled in, and all I could do was try to stay alive and breathe.
"Quinn," He whispered, "Don't move."
I nodded, staying as immoveable as a rock. "O-Oswin-"
He grabbed his blade with another hand, his grip tightening. There was a presence that I could feel on my shoulders.
The realisation sent chills down my gut. It didn't make it any better that something was definitely creeping around my throat. Was it grabbing me? Was it going to choke me?
I held my breath, eyes wide trying to adjust to the darkness. I could tell what Oswin was doing, where he was or his body frame.
He sat in position, staring behind me in glee. "Let go of him."
The next thing I knew, I was rolling on the dusty ground, leaves crinkling beneath me. I lay there, as I saw Oswin's blade glow a bright green, giving me a vision to the surroundings but I saw no soul.
I couldn't tell who threw me across the place, was it the soul or Oswin but I knew there was something that I was absolutely incapable of: walking alone in this area.
Oswin didn't move from his position, until he turned to look at me, a wide grin on his face.
I had never seen him make that expression.
It made me think, for a second, was Oswin going to kill me?
He threw his blade, directly at me.
Was it my last night?
My heartbeat was rising as high as I had ever felt. The blade stopped midair and a bright green light shone in the darkness right in front of my face, before the blade lost it and fell on the ground. It was almost as if it was directed at me, but it wasn't.
"Sorry, did I scare you?" Oswin jogged towards me, picking up his blade. "I killed the soul, you don't have to worry about it now, though there are more of them here."
"Huh?" I took a deep breath, licking my dry lips. What if he gets to know I thought so poorly of him?
"Turned out you were the soul's ultimate target." He offers me his hand to help me up from the ground. "Are you hurt? I really tried getting you out there as quick as possible, sorry I accidentally ended up pushing you-"
"It's fine, it's fine." I took his hand. "It's all good. Thank you for saving me."
"No way, I'm sorry I didn't tell you all about the souls." He scratched his head, while putting away his blade. "I though you might think it's bullshit."
"What do you mean?" I gulped.
"Few powerful souls feed on humans and take the human souls into possession. That makes them even more powerful. So to stop that, they should all be terminated." He laughed nervously. "Basically you were going to die if I had been a second late."
Was that how abilities worked?
My lips twitch exasperation, as I stare at him dumbly. "And you thought this was the best time to tell me?"
"Yes. Dont worry, though you are safe." He patted my back.
"I really was going to die tonight." I blinked. And it had been only few hours since I started my journey from Rustwood.
We were standing among the trees and souls during the crack of dawn. He was rolling up his tiny camp and we proceeded to travel again.
This time, my eyes were wide and alert, though I couldn't see any of the souls. He noticed, and smiled at me which I could only return with a frown.
"The souls don't come out in the mornings. You don't have to be afraid anymore." He told me, but I could not pretend to not have faced such a gruesome incident. "The next stop will be a village I think, we can have our breakfast there."
I agreed, "Sure, I'm dying to empty my bladder anyway."
"You can do it in behind those trees." He jammed his thumb behind us. "Though I don't recommend it."
"I wasn't planning to do so." I placed my hand on my heart. "I might have a weak body but I don't have a weak heart. So I'll come back to encounter these beings when I can use a weapon of my own."
Yes, I'll be back, and I'm sure I'll have to go through this route again to reach Aenor, and if I'm alone I'll have to survive.