Soul Guardian

Spent from a day of shopping and arguing Bael barely had time to look at his book before he fell asleep. Perhaps it was the hectic day or the unwelcome memories the old man had managed to stir up, but Bael’s dreams were far from pleasant.

It was like walking through a slideshow, each one worse than the last. He could hear Six crying, screaming in pain, he knew that he had to get to her somehow.

Bael found himself walking through the ruined remains of the mansion, his hooves crunching through splintered wood and powdered ash. He looked down to find his fingers wrapped around his old halberd. Fresh blood was on the blade. The cursed weapon was drinking it up, absorbing it through the metal to replenish its strength. Confusion washed over him, how had he gotten ahold of it? Wasn’t it supposed to be back in hell?

The weapon was curiously light in his hands as he continued down the hallway. Moonlight was streaming down on him because someone or something had ripped the roof clean off. He could hear Six’s cries even stronger now. He reached for the door to the summoning chamber and shoved with all his strength but it wouldn’t budge. He tried leaping over but an invisible force smacked him back down and knocked the wind out of him.

Six’s cries for help were suddenly cut off and Bael’s heart froze in his chest. He had to get to her, he had to save her. Bael started hacking at the door with his halberd, chips of wood went splintering off with every blow but it wasn’t enough. The shaft of the halberd snapped in his hands from the abuse so he tore at the door with his fingernails. He could feel the blessed wood ripping into his skin but he didn’t care. He had to get to her, he had to get to Six before it was too late.

***

Someone yelling his name woke Bael from his nightmare. He came to with a half eaten waffle in his lap and Maharet looking down at him with concern. Bael was drenched in sweat. He looked at his hands expecting them to be raw and bloody but found perfectly healthy human fingers instead. Everything had felt so real, it couldn’t have just been a dream.

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“You were calling out in your sleep and the whole house was trembling.” Maharet said, obviously shaken as well. “You were saying something about a door, a door you couldn’t break through.”

“I had a dream, no… a premonition.” He shook his head, trying to clear out the cobwebs. “Six was in trouble, she was in the summoning room and I couldn’t get to her. Then she went silent and I… I was too late.”

“What else can you remember?” Maharet pushed, “What other details?”

Already the dream was fading from his memory and as hard as Bael tried he couldn’t hold onto them. “I remember the mansion, something bad had happened here. The roof was gone and there were ashes everywhere. But I have no idea what led up to that.” He growled with frustration, the hot anger rising within him. “All I know is that we have to leave as soon as possible. If we leave now there’s no way Six can get trapped in that room.”

Bael felt a cold wash of concern. Why did he suddenly feel concerned when moments before he had been filled with overpowering anger? He looked up at Maharet and suddenly realized that he was feeling her emotions. “What did you do to me?” He asked, feeling the anger rising again. “What’s happening to us?”

“You know what’s happening. It’s interdimensional travel 101.” Maharet said. “We came through the portal together… bits of me bonded with bits of you and vice versa. As much as I might not like it, we’re connected now.”

Bael had heard of it before, they called it the Travelers Bond. It affected demons who went through portals together, the longer the journey the deeper the bond.

(Humans underwent a similar transformation. Couples that traveled together tended to become annoyingly close. Everyone knew that one couple that traveled everywhere together and seemed to be joined at the hip, but very few people realized the causal relationship between the two.)

As the bond grew they would start to feel each other’s emotions and eventually hear each other’s thoughts. As a lifetime schemer Bael could think of nothing more horrifying than sharing the innermost recesses of his mind with someone else, much less with a fire demon that despised him.

“We’re going to talk to that angel tomorrow.” Bael said. “The sooner we get Six adopted the sooner I can get you out of my head.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Maharet shot back. Her words agreed with him but Bael couldn’t help but feel the briefest hint of sadness. But he wasn’t sure if that was his emotion, or hers.