Soulbound

20

The world reformed around them in a rush of cold wind and fractured light.

One moment, Avery stood in the shimmering void between realms; the next, her boots struck pavement slick with rain.

The mortal city was unrecognizable.

Twilight bled through a haze of gray clouds, and the streets pulsed with a low, unnatural hum — the kind of vibration that settled deep in the bones. Cars sat abandoned mid-street, their doors open as though their owners had vanished mid-flight. Glass crunched underfoot, glittering like frost beneath the storm’s dim light.

Avery’s breath hitched as she took it all in. She’d seen death before. She’d even seen corruption. But not like this.

“Veil distortion’s high,” murmured Liora, the team’s scout — her eyes glowing faintly amber as she scanned the street. “Fifteen percent above threshold. It’s spreading faster than the last report.”

Kael’s voice cut through the static of the comm channel. “Keep your masks sealed. Any contact with corrupted essence will destabilize your link to the Veil.”

The team — seven reapers in dark armor, each bearing a distinct scythe or blade — moved into formation. Avery found herself near the center, where Kael had placed her deliberately, flanked by Liora and the silent tank of a reaper named Corren.

“Stay sharp,” Kael said. “We move east toward the epicenter. The Council marked an anomaly near the old cathedral district.”

They started forward, boots echoing through the empty streets. The deeper they went, the worse the signs became. The city’s lights flickered erratically, bending and warping as though something unseen passed through the power grid. Shadows stretched against logic — twisting the wrong way, lingering too long.

Avery caught movement out of the corner of her eye — a flicker of a shape darting between cars. She stopped instinctively, raising her scythe.

Kael’s head turned immediately. “Report.”

“Movement,” she said, voice low. “North quadrant.”

Before he could answer, a sound ripped through the air — a scream that wasn’t human. It rose and fell in layers, like multiple voices trying to claw their way out of the same throat.

Then came the shapes.

They emerged from the edges of the street — tattered remnants of what used to be souls. Their forms shimmered and pulsed, faceless and skeletal, dripping black mist that hissed against the ground.

“Corrupted fragments,” Kael barked. “They’re scouts. Form perimeter!”

The reapers moved instantly, forming a circle as the entities lunged.

Avery swung her scythe, the blade slicing through one of the wraiths. It exploded into vapor — but not cleanly. Instead of dissolving into light, the mist clung to her weapon like tar, tendrils writhing toward her gloves.

She gasped and tried to shake it off, but the residue clung stubbornly.

“Focus,” Kael ordered sharply, stepping beside her. His own scythe cut through the mist with fluid precision, the corrupted matter evaporating under the silver arc of his blade. “Don’t let it latch onto your essence. It’ll try to anchor.”

Avery nodded, swallowing hard as she adjusted her stance. “Right. Anchor bad.”

A faint smirk ghosted over his mouth — brief, gone as fast as it came.

The fight was quick but brutal. Within moments, the corrupted fragments were gone, leaving only the hiss of dissipating energy and the faint smell of burned ozone.

Liora crouched to examine the residue seeping into a storm drain. “They’re stronger than last report. If these are just the scouts…”

“Then the core’s evolving,” Kael finished grimly. “Which means we’re out of time.”

They pressed on.

The city grew worse with every block. The air thickened, heavy with static. Streetlights bent like molten metal, their glow flickering in sickly hues. The corruption was spreading like a disease, consuming both the physical and spiritual planes.

When they reached the cathedral district, Avery stopped dead.

The church that once dominated the skyline stood twisted and broken, its spire bent as though gripped by an invisible hand. The stained glass windows had shattered, their shards floating midair — suspended in defiance of gravity. Dark energy pulsed around them in rhythmic waves, every beat echoing through Avery’s chest.

Kael held up a hand. “This is it. Liora, Corren, perimeter sweep. Marek, with me. Avery—”

She looked up, expecting an order to fall back, to observe, to stay out of the way.

Instead, he said, “You’re with me.”

Her pulse jumped. “Me?”

“You’re still tethered to the shard’s resonance. If we’re going to find the source, you’ll feel it before the rest of us.”

That wasn’t exactly comforting. But she nodded, tightening her grip on the scythe.

They moved toward the cathedral steps. As soon as her boot touched the cracked stone, the tether in her chest burned — not painfully, but sharply enough that she gasped.

“It’s here,” she said, breathless. “Kael, it’s—”

The ground split open beneath the altar.

A torrent of dark energy erupted from below, sending debris spiraling into the air. The strike team scattered, shouting over the roar as a massive shadow surged upward — a humanoid figure made of swirling void and fractured glass.

It wore no face, only a mask of shifting light. Its voice, when it spoke, was a dozen layered whispers.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

Kael’s scythe blazed with silver flame as he stepped forward. “On my mark! Contain the perimeter — no one breaks formation!”

Avery’s heart hammered in her ribcage. The tether in her chest screamed in resonance with the creature — like it recognized her.

She raised her scythe, voice trembling. “Kael— it knows me.”

His head snapped toward her. “What did you say?”

Before she could answer, the entity lunged — and the world dissolved into chaos.