A Soul For A Soul

"Take me instead," Nali's voice echoed across the empty plane, towards the creature, the reaper, walking away from them, "Take me and let her go." "Annie-"   "No, Jay." Nali turned her head and grinned at her former queen, "This is my choice." The reaper stopped moving. It's head tilted, listening.   "You have made your choice." The reaper turned back towards them, its blank face unreadable. "A soul for a soul."   "No. As your queen, I refuse to let you do this, Annie, stop." Desperate. Pleading. Ignored.   "Yes. That is my choice. You take me and let Jayna go." Analia's voice was firm. Unwavering. She turned to Jay and bowed. "It was an honor to serve at your side, your Majesty." As she rose, Nali flashed one more wicked looking grin at her friend before she turned and walked towards the reaper.   "The deal is made." Black tendrils of magic swarmed Nali. Jay tried to shout, to run to her friend, to move, but she was frozen, the reaper holding her in place. "The price of imprisonment has been exchanged." Jay fell to her knees. The magic faded and they were gone. It was seconds before the darkness returned and enveloped Jay too.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Nali wasn't exactly sure what happened. Had it worked? Would Jay be able to leave the plane of the dead? She was falling, she couldn't see anything, but she felt the wind, or what she thought was wind, blow past her face.   "Analia Darya. You have exchanged your life as payment for the soul of Jayna Avery." The reaper's voice.   "Her price for imprisoning her sisters has been given to you. Your soul will feed the rivers of the damned for the rest of eternity. You will-" the voice cut off as she hit the water below.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Rhian was running. He'd found Kay (he found her!) and had started running towards the reapers palace, Kay right beside him. He'd tried to ask about what had happened to her all those years she'd been missing and why she was here (she said something about Vaedralay, alters, and an angry reaper), but he hadn't been able to put all of it together. They needed to get to the river of souls, the separation between the living and the dead. It wasn't far and they reached it quickly.   "Nali!" Kay sounded desperate as she shouted "Jay! Where are you?" They should be on the other side. Rhian gripped Tarla's sword tightly, the only thing that could kill a reaper.   "The living do not belong here." A deep voice rang out from the empty air. It sounded like it hadn't been used in a long time. "I'm looking for my friends. They're here, I know they are. Please help me."   "You are the friend of Jayna Avery?"   "Yes, she-"   "Her soul has been exchanged." Darkness swarmed and faded. There was a thud as Jay rolled to the ground in front of them. Rhian was on his knees in seconds, helping Jay.   "Where is Analia?" The air behind Kay shimmered and dark wings flared behind her.   "Souls and payment were exchanged. Analia Darya has given herself to the river."   "No."   "She is falling as we speak."   Three heartbeats passed and- Rhian's eye widened as Kay dove into the water.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Nali was sinking. The light was fading above her, barley visible through the murky water. All she could feel was the burning the water caused. Screams of souls filled her ears. Something touched her hand. Something, Someone, grabbed her and pulled her upward, towards the surface.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Jay screamed as Rhian's sword dropped from his hand. The reaper's arm pierced his chest, his life energy glowing a dark purple, so different from is normal green, as it flowed to the reaper, devoured by the undead creature. She ran towards the reaper, runes flowing around her arms. She reached for the light, so often called by her spells- She faltered, tripped over her feet. It wasn't there. She had reached for the energy and felt nothing. Her runes faded as the reaper hit her, cutting through Rhian to do so. She felt her head hit the ground and it all became black once again.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Nali sputtered, coughing the acidic water out of her lungs. Kay was already on her knees, a sword forming in her hand.   "Rhian!" Nali's head shot up at Kay's scream. The reaper had pierced Rhian with Tarla's sword. He was on the ground, the sword stuck in his chest. Kay ran towards the reaper, likely with the intention of getting it away from Rhian. Nali could see Jay, unconscious twenty yards away. They weren't going to make it out of her alive. She had to do something, anything. Nali struggled to her feet and began to run towards Rhian. She fell to her knees as she reached him, pulling the sword from his body. Runes swirled around her head as she pressed her hands to his the gapping wounds in his chest. His blood was running through her fingers into the ever growing puddle on ground. It was a healing spell. To late. He was gone, she knew it, but she kept trying different spells. More and more runes appeared as her pleas for him to stay, to hold on just a little bit longer, fell on dead ears. The green glow of his life energy formed an orb over his chest before shooting up towards the sky. The runes stopped swirling as Nali moved to hold his face in her hands, to look into vacant eyes. Her jaw set and she set his head on the ground, closing his eyes and grabbing the hilt of Tarla's sword before getting to his feet.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Kay fought the reaper, trying to stave off the dark tendrils of magic. She'd let her wing fade, not wanting them to get in the way. She dodged, avoiding a magical spear, before trying to cut the reaper. She hit it... and her sword glanced off. Mother above, Tarla's sword. That was the only thing that could kill a reaper and Rhian, Rhian, was the only one who could use it. She cut through another tendril. She had to take the risk. She turned to grab the sword, but it was gone. Her eyes widened and she turned to face the reaper again, but it hit her before she could block or dodge. Her back hit the ground and the reaper stood over her, tendrils of magic poised above her chest. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she heard the reaper scream.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Nali had stabbed the reaper and the following pain was worse than the river. Worse than the corruption or Zazon forcing his blood into her body. The sword pulled her life energy from her and she screamed. She let go of the sword, but lines of red energy connected it to her. A continuous stream of life force. She stumbled back, trying to breath, but it felt as though her throat had closed. Her legs collapsed beneath her and she fell to her back. Kay was over top of her, holding her head, saying something she couldn't hear over her heartbeat pounding through her head. Nali's vision began to blur. Her body felt as though it was in fire, her soul being ripped from her. As her vision faded completely and she passed into oblivion, she hoped her death meant something. That the rest of them made it out alive.