Beyond - Legends The Soulreaper Chronicles (Far Future POST Legacy OCs)

Chapter Six

I crawled across the floor to the cot in the corner, trying to ignore the things that squelched beneath my fingers or crawled over my hands. The fever seemed worse, wracking my body with cold sweats and shakes. I climbed up onto the cot, groaning with every broken motion, until I lay down. My head span.

As I lay there, I tried to take stock of my situation. Not good. Locked in a cell in the most secure prison in the Empire, accused of murder, a new soul rattling around in my head, and the summons from my mistress would probably kill me by the morning. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more that last seemed a silver lining.

I drifted for a time, the fever leaving me light headed. Sometime later, it forced me down into scattered dreams. In one, I piloted my X-wing through the Wyrding, pursued by a Fael ship I could not see. In another, two moirae pursued me across the dunes of Tatooine and I knew that they were coming for my soul. In a third, I wandered through the empty corridors of the Three-Eyed Goat, following Tess' disembodied voice.

When I came to, I don't know how many hours later, a woman stood at the end of my bed.

Lizzy. It had been months since her soul had come out of hiding. Left weak by the fever, I could only lie there and stare at the woman I had loved. The woman I had killed and whose soul I had stolen.

Covered in blood, she held her arms out towards me, her mouth moving silently. I moaned and tried to move away, but in my weakened state I could barely even lift a finger.

She drew closer to me. I felt a cold draft wrap around my body, giving me chills due as much to her presence as to my fever. She clambered onto the bed, her body moving with erratic, jumpy movement. Slowly, she started to climb up my body.

I lifted my head and watched her draw close. Soon, her face hovered above mine. She still wore the same terrified expression on her face as she had the day I killed her. Even up close, I couldn't read her lips enough to decipher what she was saying. Finally, she lifted her fist and made a knocking motion on my forehead. Then she vanished.

Moments later, I heard knocking.

I lay there, unable to move. The knocking came again. I mumbled for whoever had knocked to go away, I wasn't in any state to have visitors. Besides, the Wookies were still playing sabaac in the corner. Or something to that effect.

The knocking came again, louder this time, and followed almost immediately by a cracking sound. I turned my head very, very slowly and saw the metal deck plates a few steps away crumble inwards. Out of the hole appeared a flashlight, followed by an arm, then a shoulder. Moments later, a man's face appeared. He seemed vaguely familiar, with half of his face hidden behind a leather mask, from beneath which grew half a head of dirty blond hair.

The man who lived beneath the floor grinned when he saw me.

"Welcome back, brother."

I opened my mouth to reply, but instead I vomited over the side of the bed.

Then I fainted. Again.

***

When I woke up, I was sat in a chair. Great waves of pain rolled over me, descending from my head down to my toes and then back up. Over. And over. And over. I started to shiver. I couldn?t move anymore than that. My head rolled back against the cushions. The fire beside me held back the cold from outside, but the cold inside my body left my teeth chattering and my knees trembling.

I heard a door open behind me. Moments later, Tess appeared behind the chair opposite. My eyesight wavered, and the mirrormask she wore over her face seemed to ripple like water. Only her eyes were visible, green as a Rodian?s snout, but holding the cold passage of time locked in them like some ancient creature frozen in amber. At that moment, though, they were filled with fear and panic.

?Danil? What is it?? She looked past me at the man who had appeared from below the floor of my cell, and who now towered above my chair. A man I now recognised. Drea. Talon Drea. ?Talon? You didn?t tell me it was this bad.?

 

Very happy you updated this.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned before but I'm wondering about Danil and Tess' relationship. How did they meet? How did they end up together? She's older, right? And Danil loved her as a mother and a lover -- see now that's highly interesting here.

I really loved the tattoo. That is an amazing little trick there. I'd have been beyond pissed in Danil's place. And she placed it on him when he was a kid? That's a major trust breaker.

Looking forward to more.

 

Hi Ceillean,

Thanks so much for the comment. Glad you enjoyed the chapter.

No, I haven't mentioned exactly how Danil and Tess met, but it will be revealed more as the story progresses. Their relationship is highly complicated, because of the age difference and the fact that they started off as mistress and apprentice before becoming lovers...

The tattoo was a way of showing the influence that the Fael have had over the Force in this future. Yes, a major trust breaker for Danil.

More should be coming tomorrow night.

Thanks again!

 

Chapter Seven

We walked down four or five floors, then Tess stopped in front of an ancient wooden door, something that must have dated back to the days of the last Galactic Republic, if not the one before. Muttering under her breath, she dug an ancient metal key out of her pocket and twisted it in the lock. I heard the distinctive click. Tess twisted the handle and the door opened inwards. Moments later, the foul air from inside rolled out and I almost pulled the door closed myself.

"Sithspawn, how long has he been dead?"

"Three days," Tess said.

Three days. No wonder. In two or three breaths, I smelled sickly sweet rotting meat, highlighted by hints of days old **** and piss, rotten eggs and lost somewhere in the midden heap the musty smell of an unopened room. My belly threatened to empty itself, but somehow I was able to keep it under control. I don?t think I would have had anything to bring up anyway.

I waited until I was sure of my stomach before speaking. "You do remember that means I might not be able to get anything from him? There's not likely to be much soul left. Probably not even fragments."

"I have the utmost faith in your abilities, Danil."

Her words triggered a memory, taking me back to the apartment in Imperial Centre where we lived on our return to Coruscant. She had said those words to me the first night we made love. I remembered being so nervous I thought I was going to be sick. I was seventeen, she was thirty-five. The memory was so incongruous with the smell wafting from the open door, I couldn't help but bark a laugh.

Tess looked at me, as if worried I was going mad. I shook my head and motioned for her to lead the way. She rolled her eyes and walked through the door. I laughed again. It died, though, the moment I stepped into the room.

The body lay on a slab in one corner. It was naked. For the second time in as many days, I was glad for the training Tess had given me. Another man would have run from the room screaming. Part of me still needed her approval though, so I forced myself to calm as I walked round the body, taking in the details.

Pale skin, covered in scar tissue, mottled and slightly wrinkled, seemed to indicate that the Yuzzhan Vong corpse had spent time in water. The whole body was decomposing rapidly. Some kind of maggot was infesting a gaping wound in the chest and belly, writhing around in the cavity and feeding on what tissue was left.

?Where did you find him??

"One of Talon's little eyes and ears found him floating in a water collection tank in the lower levels two days ago."

By this time, I was studying the most interesting part of the corpse. The Yuzzhan Vong?s face had been completely burned away. Eye balls had burst, leaving trails like teardrops on his cheeks. The nose cavities and cheeks had sunk even further inwards, the bones collapsing from the heat. His skin was the colour of aged bark. No way to identify him.

"Anything beyond the gnullith to identify him?"

"Nothing," she responded, shaking her head.

I sighed. I was delaying and she knew it. I had attempted to reap such souls before, never with much success. None of those had been particularly pleasant experiences. I wasn't looking forward to trying it again.

Trying to ignore the nausea that flickered on the edge of my consciousness, I pulled a rickety old metal chair over to the table. The odour was overwhelming, waves and waves of the stink crashing against me no matter what I did. I took a deep breath, pulling my gloves off and slowly folding them to slip them into my pocket. The feeling of Tess' eyes on me was ever present. Trying not to think about what I was doing, I reached out and laid two fingers on what was left of the dead man's chest.
Nothing happened.

I could feel the fish like consistency of the corpse's skin, springy and hard and cold and wet beneath my hand. But there was no beading on the lips, no exhalation as the body prepared to give up its soul. I pressed harder, closing my eyes and reaching out with the Force, using the

 

You leave me with a cliffhanger!



When's the next update? I want to know what kind of memory he's found.
For that matter, what's so important about this Yuuzhan Vong?

 

OMG you are an excellent writer.
I almost heaved in the last part. I deal with fish all the time, now I'm going to look/feel at them very differently!
Your story is so griping/compelling I don't know where to start. Just keep on going! I'll try to read each post faster next time [you gave me 5 days notice then added]. Youve got my vote when best story comes around that is for sure!

 

I second this.

 

Hi Ceillean and aalagartassle!

Thanks so much to you both for your kind words, I am so flattered that you both think enough of this to put it up for best story. I really am!

Ceillean

Apologies for the cliffhanger... Actually, no I don't!

I promise to have it resolved by tomorrow night with a new update. You'll get a chance to see this memory as well as the importance of the dead Yuuzhan Vong. So, more tomorrow!

aalagartassle

Wow, your praise means a lot. I don't know about excellent, but I'm glad that the story is working for you.

I promise to keep on posting while people are reading! Like I said to Ceillean, I will have a new update up by tomorrow night. There may be a slightly longer delay between that one and the next one 'cause I need to do a little bit more work on it than this next part.

Thanks again to you both!

 

Please add me to your PM list, this is fascinating!

 

First of all, hi dm1! Thanks for the message, you have been added to the pm list. I hope you'll join in the fun and leave some more comments.

In the meantime, here is the next chapter. The present tense is intentional, to differentiate between Danil's voice and his soulvisions. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eight

The Priest stands beside the altar and stares into the burning fire. Beside him, the Senator hums absently to himself, his fingers gently caressing a statue of Yun-Yammka. His eldest son stands rigidly by the fire, hands twitching. Above them, the apartment is quiet, the Senator?s wife and other children asleep, the servants vanished into their cubbyholes below stairs.

He wonders how long he has been hiding here. A month? Two? He has lost track, spending an ungodly amount of time locked in tiny cubby holes as the Empress? guard and her Sith-hounds carry out their endless searches.

The sound of footsteps echoes in the hallway outside. The Priest rises out of his chair, glancing at the old Senator. His face is as stressed and wrinkled as very old bark, but he is not afraid. A brave man, for a human. His son, though, is almost hopping in place. He is a mere shadow of his father. The Priest wonders what will happen to them when the old man dies.

He tenses as the door to the hidden temple flies open. Two of his men come stumbling in, one Yuzzhan Vong, the other a Bothan, cloaks wrapped carefully around their forms to hide their ooglith cloakers and masquers. A young human priest hangs between them, covered in soot and ash. His face is blood stained, but white beneath. Behind them come the other members of the congregation, six priests of the Purifier sect. A solemn procession.

The stink of burnt flesh follows the men in, clinging to the young priest. The Priest sees that he is shuddering. A reaction to the pain. Or shock. No way to tell. His face is sheethed in sweat, eyes wide and twitching like a mad man?s. The Priest can smell the fear beneath the sweat, an acrid scent.

The two priests holding him deposit him in the chair, dropping him like a bale of hay. The Priest looks to them, sees them nod as in confirmation. Holding back a sigh, he walks over to the other chair, sits down opposite the young priest.

Lifting a silver chalice, he looks at the way the fire light reflects in it, distorting his own face back at him. Without taking his eyes away from the surface, he asks, ?Was it difficult my son??

The young priest starts, turning his head as if seeing the Priest for the first time. The Priest sees that he is crying, tears running down his cheeks. Hiccoughing softly through his sobs, the young priest nods.

?Did all go according to plan??

The boy tenses, then nods again. ?Yes, Lord Priest.?

?Are you sure?? The Priest allows a hint of steel to creep into his voice.

Fear passes over the boy?s face like a cloud over the sun at noontime. ?There? was a girl.?

?A girl??

?Yes. She? She used the heretical Jeedai magic to stop the flames. I did everything I could, Lord Priest, you have to believe me. I tried. I did everything you told me to do. There was nothing I could do. Nothing I could have done. Please, I beg of you??

?So you failed.? The Priest spits the words.

A flinch. ?No,? the younger man gasps. ?No. The Gods? fire was released, Lord Priest. I swear it. The demon was sent back to hell.?

?I doubt that. You know what he was? what he is! If there was a girl, if there was magic? He could well still be alive.?

The Priest knows that he lives. The device had been enough to destroy a dozen of the orbital ships circling above in the Dregs, but this man? He was a ghost.

?I...?

?He is still alive.? The Priest stands, working off the anger he feels boiling in his stomach. ?How could he have been killed if there was Jeedai magic involved? If the fire did not run its course? All we have achieved is another demonstration of our power. A demonstration would have been better served in a more public place. These Dregs are? pointless. It

 

Again excellent work. Very deep. Great inflection.This chapter reminds me alot of Aztec blood sacrifice rituals.

well done