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The Otherworld, where the old magic still reigns and Chromatic Gods are unwelcome at best. Some say the beings between worlds ran them off, and now they spend days hunting for lost souls searching for the Great River.
“How did I get here?”
Rynlin’s face remains flat, as if greeting a newcomer here is one of his more unpleasant duties. “Soul Fragmentation leaves a question about what is to be done with the soul. It’s why it’s forbidden. The Council of Gods has decided to give your soul time to reform before we toss it into the Underworld.”
The Underworld, where lost souls are tortured and devoured by underlings.
“Bitch,” I curse under my breath as I yank my eyes from the spectral being.
As if I’d said nothing, he continues on about the doomed fate of my soul as if discussing the weather. “Each of the four pieces will have their own body when they’re ready, scattered across realms, seeing to their own needs and desires. It is quite fascinating watching all the parts of one soul work towards different, sometimes even opposing, goals.”
Rynlin says the last bit as if to himself. A scholar noting something of particular interest, perhaps?
“Four Soul Shards? So how do I put them back together?”
“You don’t. Come, we can discuss this much more in the time to come. We’ve prepared a room for you in the West Wing. The light on that side of the palace is most excellent at this time of day. Perfect for pursuing the arts if that is your calling.”
The arts? I shake my head as he opens the door for me to enter. “You want me to sit around and paint pictures?”
“I don’t want anything of you. It’s merely an observation I’ve made of the lighting.”
Thoughts fall away, my mind empties, as I wordlessly comply with his instruction. Huge murals line the walls of the castle’s foyer. The tall stone walls lead into a dome with a glass ceiling, revealing a cloudless blue sky. Rynlin takes my arm and guides me past a guard standing outside a gilded doorway. His eyes follow us as we step across the white marble floors. The sounds of our soft steps padding towards a hallway are the only thing I hear. As we walk further into the palace, my mind sputters alive again.
What just happened? Rynlin gives me a tour, pointing out so-and-so’s room for something I’ve never heard of. I’m barely listening to him. Half the words and names he uses are completely unknown to me, anyway.
“Hold on. I’m supposed to just sit here and wait? Wait for… what exactly?”
As if he’s perturbed by my rude interjection, he sighs loudly before speaking in a tone that a teacher might take with a particularly unruly child. “There have been very few shattered souls across all time. You are only the seventh we have seen. Each time, the owner of said soul waits here until all of his Shards are given new body. If they can come together again and reform the soul, then you will be returned to your lands and eventually your soul will rejoin the Great River upon your death.”
“And how do they do that?”
He gives a shrug. “It’s never been done.”
The pit of my stomach drops. “Are any of those souls still here waiting?”
“Not anymore.” A touch of regret in his voice.
“Never been done doesn’t mean not possible, though. The Council wouldn’t waste time on an impossible task.” I press him.
“Yes, this is true. For now, let me show you to your room. You can rest and recover here.”
“I don’t want to rest. I need to fix this!”
“There is no rush, Prince Dan’thiel. The only path to fixing anything is through the Vessel, your fated mate. And…” he checks something that I can’t see, like he’s turning the pages of an invisible book floating in the hallway.
“Your mate is not living currently. Her essence is drifting among the Great River of Souls, waiting to return. Come,” he commands.
My mind reels as I follow the creature that’s not quite male or female into the old fortress, a maze of stone corridors. I’m soulless? Malicryn’s words spin around me.
Even if you find your fated mate, you won’t be able to bond her.
Did she know that finding my mate would be essential to my reunification?
I jog, pulling up alongside Rynlin. “You know who my mate is? What does she have to do with this?”
“It is theorized that if the Vessel bonds each of your Shards, the four could merge back into one true soul and restore you to the living realm,” Rynlin says dismissively.
“How much time until my mate is born again?”
