David Baldacci - The Keeper

“How can a soul be lost? Despite what Astrea said I thought if a body died, so did its soul.”

“Oh, no. The soul is far more resilient than the body, which is actually quite fragile. The soul can live without the body. And, truth be known, the body can live without the soul, but I would never want to encounter a soulless body. I doubt the meeting would be pleasant. However, a bodyless soul can be quite nice and accommodating. In some ways, in fact, that might be an apt description of me.”

“Well, that’s not so bad,” I said.

“But do not, for one moment, believe that all souls disenfranchised from their bodies are like that, for they are not.”

“How do you mean, exactly?”

“An evil soul remains evil, regardless of whether it is wrapped in a foul body or not. Losing the physical does not change the soul. In some ways, it makes it even more evil. Thus it is a good idea to keep a healthy skepticism of all souls, Vega, until you can be sure on what side of the ledger they fall.”

“And how does one tell that?” I asked, wide-eyed.

“Well, a good indicator is whether they try and kill you or not.”

I had a sudden idea and took out Petra’s wand.

“You said you could tell if this is a Maladon’s wand?”

“Tap it against the parchment,” said Silenus.

I drew a long breath and did as he asked.

Silenus instantly vanished from the page.

I tapped my own wand against the parchment and he reappeared. We stared at each other.

“A Maladon’s?” I said.

“Without doubt.”

I said good-bye to Silenus and put the parchment away, my thoughts now filled with dread.

I walked over to Delph when it was my turn to take watch.

“Delph, we need to talk.”

“ ’Bout what, Vega Jane?”

“Petra.”

He suddenly looked sheepish. “We’re just friends. I told you I felt sorry for her.”

“I don’t care if you like her, Delph. She’s pretty and tough, high-spirited and, well, sort of amazing.”

“You mean she’s like you?” he interjected.

I was about to say something else but had frozen at his words. “Wh-what?” I stammered.

“She’s like you. You’re all those things. And more , Vega Jane. But you’re not alike in other ways.”

I felt myself turn red and I couldn’t look at him.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re always helping folks. Back in Wormwood, the way you visited your mum and dad and took care-a your brother. And you were the only friend I had while others made fun-a me. And back at the Obolus with that bloody Rubez, Petra was just fine with Lackland having to swim for it, because she knew she needed you to make it through the Quag. You never woulda done that.”

We looked at each other for a long moment. And then we both reached out at the same time and gripped the other’s hand. I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to kiss him, but he said, “You wanted to tell me something about Petra?”

I looked at him and then slowly let go of his hand. “It’ll keep. Get some sleep,” I added.

After he left I sat there thinking.

Petra could be as disconnected from her history as I had been from mine. But, to borrow Silenus’s phrase, on what side of the ledger would she eventually fall?

I knew at some point I would have to answer that question. I only hoped it didn’t cost me my life.

The sun rose, much to my relief. As soon as we cleared about a half mile of forest, we saw it.

The mountain that Delph and I had seen on our very first night in the Quag — which seemed a century ago now — rose above us, far closer than it ever had been before. The land at the foot of the mountain rose swiftly, forming spiny ridges. These ridges, like the backs of serpents, with deep valleys in between, grew steeper and steeper until they ran smack into the face of the mountain.

I eyed Delph. “Seems like we go over the mountain.”

He nodded, his gaze taking in all points. While the mountain still looked blue and stripped of foliage, from our vantage point, we could see the ridges leading up to it were lushly encased in green. However, there was nothing beautiful about this place. After all we had been through, I saw only the stark possibility of death.

We reached the spiny ridge in the middle and started to head up. The going was rough. The trees and other foliage were densely packed and the incline swiftly became steep. The footing was not so good either, and we each took tumbles several times. But we kept going.

Lackland had to use his sword, and Delph his ax, to cut a way through. I finally ended up using my wand to blast a path. Then we arrived at the end and looked down into a broad, flat valley nearly a mile across. I glanced to my right and left. The path had just ended in a sheer rock cliff! There was no way to keep going up.

Delph stood next to me and peered into the valley. He said, “Guess we go down, eh?”

“I can use Destin to take you down one by one,” I said. “You first?” I asked Lackland. I knew he was not so keen on flying and would want to get it over with.

He sheathed his sword and tightened the grip on his tuck. “Right,” he said, his face already turning gray and his brow sweaty.

I had him hold on to the leather straps on my back. I counted to three and then we leapt. Well, I leapt and dragged a squirmy, heavy Lackland along with me. I had to dodge past tree canopies, but we landed safely and Lackland gratefully placed his feet back on solid ground.

I flew back up for Petra and then Delph.

Harry Two was the last to come down with me. When we alighted, I unhooked him from his harness and looked around.

There was no one there.

“Delph?”

Harry Two yipped and started sniffing around.

“Petra? Lackland? If this is some sort of jolly on your part...” But I knew it wasn’t. They would never do something like that. Harry Two and I raced here and there, exploring behind trees and dense foliage, but there was not one sign of them.

My belly burned with anxiety. Then I had a sudden thought. I raised my wand and said, “ Rejoinda, Delph.” I prepared to duck when his large body came flying at me, but it didn’t. Everything around us remained still and quiet.

I attempted the same spell with Lackland and Petra. Nothing.

“ Crystilado magnifica .”

All that got me was a close-up of trees with not one living thing in or around them. I looked down at Harry Two, cold dread invading every part of my body. We were alone. I had no idea what to do. I had never felt so frantic. I rushed around screaming their names. I was a mad female, all reason struck clean from me.

Then another thought filled me with fresh panic.

This was the place of lost souls. Silenus had said that the physical could be separated from the soul, though an evil person’s soul would remain evil, whether it had a body attached to it or not. Had they been taken and their souls removed? If so, where were their bodies?

Stop it, Vega.

I was acting as if it was certain they were dead. I couldn’t think that way. I had to find them. And I would.

“Come on, Harry Two,” I screamed.

He jumped into his harness and I sprang into the air. We soared along and I did long banking movements to the right and left as I kept my gaze below, looking for any sign of my companions. I saw nothing and my spirits plummeted and my nerves once more threatened to run away with me. The longer they were gone, the more it seemed they would be gone forever. I could barely breathe. I was so scared, I couldn’t even cry. It was like I had been struck by the same spell I had used to freeze the jabbit back at Astrea’s.

As I looked up, I saw it materializing. At first I thought it was another storm blowing up because I had been flying for so long. Only it wasn’t a storm. I would have preferred a storm, actually.