The Feast of Souls

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Four years ago …

It was over almost as quickly as it started. Indeed, if I hadn’t just entered the dining hall and saw it happen for myself, I would have believed it happened far before I got here. As it stood, however, I did get here … but not in the nick of time.

Barely breathing, I looked around at the massive dining hall into which I had emerged. This dining hall was known as the Kent House Dining Hall, created and owned by my father and patriarch of the House family, Kent House. It was located on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, hidden from amage eyes by a set of powerful and convincing illusions that could even fool lesser mages who didn’t know what they were looking for.

It was one of the most beautiful buildings in the Texas magical community. With a large domed roof for the main hall, plus towers and spires for the other rooms that groups could use for meetings, it was a throwback to an earlier era of architecture where style mattered just as much as function. The Dining Hall itself was massive, capable of seating well over 100 mages along one long table, with colorful banners with the House family crest hanging from the ceiling at regular intervals. The chamber itself was illuminated by floating crystalline chandeliers shaped like stars, while tall marble columns supported the massive ceiling like Atlas holding the Earth on his shoulders.

Normally, I loved visiting this place, because it was very different from most places. It felt like I had stepped back in time to an earlier, simpler era, where I could sit back and relax and enjoy beautiful architecture that very few people made anymore. It also helped that, as Kent House’s son, I had access to it whenever I wanted, so I used to throw parties here with all of my friends when I was a teenager that were a blast.

But now … now it felt like I had stepped into a graveyard.

All along the long, carved oak table in the middle of the chamber sat 100 mages. They were some of the Texan magical community’s most prestigious and beloved figures, including politicians, lawyers, doctors, and more. Having lived among the higher echelons of magical society from an early age, I recognized the faces of most of the people here, though I didn’t know them all equally well.

Each and every one of these mages was here to celebrate the one year anniversary of the death of Lord Raith, the most powerful and dangerous Demon Lord to have ever existed. This was supposed to be the first of what would become an annual celebration of Raith’s death, which everyone was invited to attend. My family had intended to attend, but due to a sudden and unforeseen medical emergency for my grandfather, we couldn’t go.

That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, because it meant we avoided the awful fate that befell each and every one of the mages who did manage to attend.

To the untrained eye, one might assume that everyone here was still alive. After all, they all sat upright in their chairs and showed no obvious signs of being murdered, such as having their throats slashed or being stabbed in the chest or anything like that. The only clue that something was off was how unnaturally still and quiet everyone sat … as still and quiet as corpses suffering rigor mortis.

But I knew. Even if I hadn’t just seen it happen before my eyes, I knew that every last person sitting at that table—from one end of the table to the other—was dead.

Their pale skin, lifeless eyes, unnaturally stiff bodies … all of it pointed to death. And not just any kind of death, but a very specific, rare kind of death: Death by soul eating.

“Simon,” I said under my breath, staring at the soulless mage bodies sitting around the table. “Can you see any of their ghosts? Any at all?”

Simon, my black cat familiar, sat by my feet with a stunned expression on his face before he shook his head. “No, Noah, I don’t see any spirits. Their souls really are gone.” He looked up at me questioningly. “Why’d you even ask me that question, anyway? You saw it happen as I did. I can’t see souls that are eaten.”

“I just wanted to make sure,” I said, my gaze locked on the bodies seated around the table. “I can’t see souls as you can. I just wanted to make sure we weren’t overlooking anything.”

“We definitely aren’t,” said Simon. He shuddered. “I can’t believe what we just witnessed. I’ve never seen that many souls eaten in one go before. Never.”

My blue Mana energy sword materialized in my right hand. “And with luck, Simon, you never will again.”

Raising my voice, I shouted, “Show yourself, demon! I know you’re still here. If you’re willing to kill one hundred mages, then surely you’re not afraid of one mage and his familiar!”

A deep, dark chuckle came out of the shadows. A harsh, cold wind blew through the Dining Hall out of nowhere just then, making Simon and I shiver and blowing out most of the candles in the chandeliers. The Dining Hall suddenly became much darker in an instant, but I could still hear that satisfied chuckle.

“I’m right here, Killer of Lord Raith,” said a strangely high-pitched voice. “And quite satisfied by that meal I just had. You might even call it a feast.”

When I blinked my eyes again, I saw something sitting on the table. It looked kind of like a huge, mangy cat, with long, matted purple fur and blood red eyes that glowed with gleefulness and savagery in equal measure. It licked its lips hungrily, its massive tail swishing back and forth behind it in an irregular rhythm which made me tense.

But I didn’t run. I simply looked at the demon and said, “Awappo. One of Lord Raith’s former Generals, if I’m not mistaken.”

Awappo chuckled again. “So the great Killer of Lord Raith remembers me after all. Here I thought you had forgotten about me, given how we’ve never even met before.”

My eyes narrowed. “I’ve spent the last year hunting down the remains of Lord Raith’s army, picking off his Generals and Lieutenants one by one. I’ve been pretty successful so far.”

Awappo’s slit-like eyes darted back and forth rapidly. “I am not human, of course, but I am not sure how allowing a demon like myself to devour one hundred human souls could be called ‘successful.’”

I scowled. A part of me knew that Awappo had a point. Though I was well aware of the kind of power Raith’s Generals wielded, I had become too complacent, assuming I could kill any of them anytime I wanted before they got away with anything too bad. I was the Chosen One, after all. If I could kill Raith, then I could kill any demon, no matter how powerful.

But I’d messed up this time. I knew that Awappo was going to attack the Dining Hall tonight, knew he was going to try to eat as many souls as he could, but I still didn’t kill him when I should have. Things shouldn’t have gotten this far at all. I dreaded to think what my dad would say once he found out what happened here, or even worse, the American Magical Government. It would take too much explanation on my part to get out of trouble for this.

Pushing such thoughts out of my mind for now, I said, “That still won’t stop me from killing you, Awappo. No matter how many souls you eat, you’re still just a really fat cat.”

“One who just had an excellent meal,” said Awappo. He yawned. “But I didn’t just eat these souls because I was hungry. No, I ate them to become powerful, powerful enough to kill you. If I can do that, then I can take the title of Demon Lord for myself and unite the forces of Hell under my rule.”

“It’s all about power for you demons, isn’t it?” I said. “Power, and status.”

“What else is there to strive for in this world?” said Awappo. His eyes narrowed. “I am done talking. It is time to finish you.”

Awappo rose from the table on all four of his thick legs. His red eyes glowed even brighter than before and another harsh gust of wind blew through just then, making Simon and I shiver again. This time, however, the wind grew stronger and stronger, until it was practically tornado force, sending plates of food and cups of wine flying everywhere and even knocking hats and clothing off of the corpses seated around the table.

Awappo himself did not move from his position on the table. He simply rose higher and higher into the air, seemingly supported by the strong wind blowing through here, until he reached the top of the ceiling itself.

Then, without warning, Awappo roared, a sound that was so loud it would have rendered me deaf if the Dining Hall wasn’t so open. Cracks began to appear on the ceiling and then, without warning, the ceiling exploded open, exposing the Dining Hall to the pitch black sky outside. Storm clouds had already gathered, crackling with thunder and lightning as Awappo looked down upon us with red eyes that glowed so brightly they looked like searchlights.

“Behold the power of one hundred devoured souls, Chosen One,” said Awappo, his voice distorted and monstrous. “Power beyond even what Raith could dream of, could imagine. Power you will not live long enough to see the true extent of.”