Hunting a Soul by Viola Grace Page B

normal shape.
    “I don’t want to hurt him.”
    She gathered her energy and hoped he would keep talking.
    “How sad. He is screaming around in his own mind right now.”
    “He doesn’t realise that you feed on fury, on hate and on sorrow.” She cooled her emotions and hoped that her hint had gotten through.
    She didn’t have time to wait; she stuffed his energy and her own through the pendant, the tear of Resicor.
    Light blasted him, and her energy became hands of flame that peeled at the shadows.
    N’ran must have calmed down, because the shadow peeled off his calm, and Lee stumbled back with the shadow in her grip.
    It screamed and fought her, so she increased the power she was pouring through it. When she had pulled him away from N’ran and had him up in the sky over the dunes, she opened her hands, and ripped the energy that made up his consciousness apart.
    The light of the pendant burned the shreds as they fell.
    Lee fell to her knees, and Krix chirped and chortled in commiseration. N’ran knelt next to her, and she put her arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder.
    “Anyone else, I would have stabbed, you know.”
    He pressed a kiss to her head. “I know. I was at your final weapons combat trial.”
    “Thank you for catching on.”
    “It was difficult. I wanted to kill him for what he was doing to you.”
    A glowing figure spoke from a rock nearby. “That is why they win. The chaos shadows link in and hold tight through the hate. They feed on it, and it holds them to their host.”
    Lee didn’t get up, and she held N’ran down. “I gathered as much, stranger.”
    “You have taken to your training well. Resicor had great hopes for you, and she has been proven to be correct. I have to admit, you surprised me, Leadra Brikar. Perhaps there is hope for some of your kind after all.” The glowing figure stood and dusted off her clothing.
    “What are you, stranger?”
    The figure cocked her head. “Oh, the natural enemy of the chaos shadows, but you may call me and my kind the Sisters.”
    “What are the shadows?”
    “I can tell you that they are the evolution of a dead race. We separated in our evolutionary paths. They went one way, we went another.”
    “Are there many of you?”
    “Enough and too few. Now, you need to get back to your ship. You little friend there is about to give birth, but he has been too polite to tell you. You might want to get off the surface before he becomes an invading species.”
    Lee looked at the city in the distance. “This is going to take a while.”
    Lee blinked her eyes, and she was kneeling with N’ran next to their ship. Krix was quiet, but she could feel him squirming.
    She nodded to her partner. “You take off and I will make the nest. I will brief the peacekeepers once we are under way.”
    He bustled them into the ship, “You will need to call for clearance.”
    “Fine, get me a headset and let’s go.”
    Lee rifled through her bag for the wide, inflatable ring, the soft fabrics, the pillows and the towels.
    She made the nest on her bed and supported it with the bag itself. N’ran brought her the headset and she ordered the immediate clearance for medical reasons. When they asked for proof, she took an image of her bloody suit and they were given leave in seconds.
    She eased Krix around her and rubbed his head. His fluff flew and lined the nest. He had his wide eyes scrunched closed, and when he was naked and shaking, she curled a warm wrap around him and they took off.
    When they left the atmosphere, Krix shivered over and over again. They were on their way back to Balen.
    N’ran came in and held her hand as they kept Krix company. He shivered and ducked his head. They brought him water and food when the shivers stopped, and he attacked the shredded meat with extreme aggression.
    “Do you think he is all right?”
    N’ran held her and stroked her shoulders. “I think he is as good as he can be. He has been under stress, but he should be