The Soul Snare

by Verna McKinnon

Table of Contents
Part 1 appears
in this issue.

Conclusion

“You’re more civilized than many we have met who had advanced technology.” He took another sip. “Your world is unique. A planet of small continents, like scattered islands, is amazing.”

“That’s why we travel a great deal by sea and river. We trade, visit, explore.”

He relaxed a little, enjoying the warmth of the wine in his blood. He tried a little brown cracker. “It’s chocolate,” he laughed.

“Don’t all civilized worlds have chocolate?” she asked.

“Yes, I think it’s a main qualification,” he grinned. They nibbled the crackers and sipped wine. “How were you chosen as my guide?”

“I work in the diplomatic division. My job is greeting and taking care of visiting dignitaries and officials. I make sure they are comfortable. I speak twelve languages, and have a degree in from the University in Cultural Law.”

“Twelve languages? Manually learned?”

“Yes, Jason. But don’t be too impressed. We have over thirty-five hundred languages and dialects on our planet.”

“Still, it’s very impressive. What’s cultural law?”

“The knowledge of various laws, etiquette and customs of our people from the various lands. I was a bit put out when you were assigned to me, since I had no knowledge of Earth customs.”

“You’re doing splendidly. I will make sure your people know this.”

“Good. Maybe I will get a raise.”

“I’m sorry your first contact with Earth had such wretched beginnings.”

“It’s not your fault, Jason. Nor is it Earth’s. It is a cruel twist of fate that sent Thero Rham here. But because of that, his soul will be destroyed, never to stain the universe again.”

“Do you really believe that? That a soul can be killed? How can you tell if anyone has a soul? You can’t see a soul. It’s invisible.”

“Normally, a soul is invisible to the naked eye,” she agreed.

“But then how-”

“The soul snare will make it so. All living things have souls. Most souls are good. Some are misguided. Some neutral. Then there are souls that are so evil, so black, that the only justice is to eliminate it from rebirth and soiling another life. Don’t you believe you have a soul?”

“I don’t know. Many of my people believe in some sort of faith that involves the belief of a soul or spirit. They also have penalties for sins, heavens and hells, but I don’t follow any faith. I believe the soul is the mind, and even that dies.”

“We believe souls know no race, no species. They are beyond that. They fill the universe with life. They are the core of all living things. We are taught that souls are always being created by the universe. Souls inhabit life because the universe made them for that purpose.

“But in the chaos of creation, when the universe was born, some evil souls were made, too. The battle of light and dark, if you so choose to see it that way. There are many beautiful things, amazing things, in the universe, but there is also evil so heinous and ugly that the only decent, responsible thing to do is kill it.”

“I cannot argue with that,” he replied sleepily.

“You’re tired.”

“I’m fine, Shayda.”

“Our wine is strong. You won’t be able to walk back to town on your own.”

But he was already asleep.

* * *

A repetitive ringing in his ears woke him before dawn with a dreadful headache. He sat up, tangled in a blanket, realizing he had fallen asleep on Shayda’s sofa. She must have covered him with a blanket. He felt miserable, like a bad guest that overstayed his welcome.

Shayda ran into the room, wearing a blue dress, her hair awry, zipping up her boots. The look of panic on her face concerned him. The sound of bells outside also made him realize it wasn’t exhaustion that caused the ringing.

“What’s happening, Shayda?”

“I’m not sure. It’s the warning bell. Something is wrong. They only ring the city bells in an emergency. We need to get back to my office and find out what’s wrong.”

They walked briskly to town, which was dimly lit and void of people, except for several tall Utropans in their dark gray uniforms he recognized as their police walked the streets with urgency, carrying long clubs.

She stopped one of them, “I’m Shayda from the Diplomatic Circle. This is Ambassador Abbey. What is happening? Why are the warning bells sounding?”

“The Blood Thief, Thero Rham, escaped about half an hour ago. I would suggest you get to safety, Mistress Shayda. You, too, Ambassador.”

“Damn,” Jason said. “I should have known he could find a way to break out.”

“Let’s get to my office now,” she said.

“Let me inform the Captain of my ship. He can send men to help hunt him down.” He felt in is coat pocket. “My communicator must have fallen out at your house.”

“We can’t go back. It’s too risky,” she said.

He put his arm around her, “I agree. Let’s go somewhere safe.”

They ran hand in hand down the street. The darkness and low lights of the street lamps made Jason edgy. A foul, familiar odor alerted him as they turned a corner. “Wait,” he said, stopping.

Thero Rham stepped out of the shadows of an alley, wearing a gray Utropan uniform, long club in one hand, a knife in the other. Rham struck hard with the wooden club, and Jason fell backward, his jaw flaring with pain. Shayda started to scream, but Rham punched her in the face, She fell unconscious.

Jason scrambled to his feet and attacked, avoiding the swing of Rham’s knife, but Rham grabbed Jason by the throat in a strong grip and rammed him against the wall. In the struggle, Rham brought down the blade, piercing Jason’s right hand. Jason howled with pain.

Two officers sped into the alley. Rham’s killing rage and strength were unbound; he snapped the neck of one officer and stabbed the other. Jason tried to crawl to Shayda’s side; she was stirring awake.

Rham quickly pulled her up, held her with one hand, and pressed the tip of his bloody dagger to Shayda’s neck. Jason froze.

“Make a sound and I’ll slice her open.”

“Don’t hurt her, Rham. I’ll cooperate. Let her go.”

“Good boy,” he whispered. “I’m leaving this world. We’re taking your ship. Both of you are my insurance. You fail to pay up, you both die. You will anyway, but how soon or how painful is up to you.”

“My ship is outside the town, in a field. I’ll take you there, just let her go, please, I’m begging you.”

“No. She may be useful to me in many ways until I am done, but for now she will keep you honest. Right now the law is hunting me. I don’t like being hunted.”

“I can lead you to his ship, without anyone seeing us,” Shayda said in a thin voice, her eyes pleading with Jason. “In the temple there is an old secret tunnel that will take you directly to the field where his ship is. We will avoid the officers. No one else need die.”

Jason had to follow Shayda’s lead on faith; he had no chance or way to ask why.

“Take us there, before I get impatient and start carving.”

They entered the Law Temple. It was dark, but Shayda managed to guide Rham to a wall near the dais. She pressed three wall tiles. True to her word, the wall opened into a tunnel. A musty smell and dust clogged Jason’s nostrils as they entered. Several long cylinders hung on the wall.

“They are light wands. We will need them to see.”

“Take one, Jason. Make yourself useful,” Rham ordered.

Jason took one, but there were no switches or buttons. It did nothing.

“Shake it,” she said.

He did, and it began to glow with blue light.

They walked for nearly an hour. Jason had never been so tense, or afraid, in his life. Not for himself, but for Shayda. After a time, Rham got antsy, and Jason feared for Shayda’s life. Finally, they came to the tunnel’s end.

Keeping the knife at her throat, Rham said, “Now what? Is this some trick?”

“No. The right tile with the three moons on it, press it.”

“You press it.”

She obeyed. A door popped open. Rham made Jason push it wider. A rush of clean air revived him. When they stepped outside, the sun was rising in the distance. Rham followed Jason into the open, still pressing the blade close to Shayda’s neck. Little trickles of blood ran down her throat. Jason felt like killing Rham for that alone.

They were not in a field, and Jason’s shuttle was nowhere to be seen. Instead, an open temple of white stone glimmered in the sunrise. Old pillars framed a pyramid-shaped floor of multicolored stones. Several smaller, slim, waist-high stones sparkled in the growing light. All were encrusted with what looked like valuable gems: rubies, sapphires, emeralds, onyx, opals and rare smoke diamonds of iridescent black. Some of the jewels were massive.

The treasure trove must distract even Rham with greed, Jason thought. Dammit, Shayda, what are you doing? Jason wondered.

“Nice place. I think I’ll take a few baubles for a nest egg.” He looked around. “Where’s the ship?” he asked angrily.

“About a half mile from the temple,” Shayda lied calmly.

“Lying alien bitch,” he flared.

“Don’t hurt her! She’s telling the truth!” Jason pleaded. “Let’s just get to my ship and leave.”

Thero Rham licked his lips as he tugged Shayda toward one of the jeweled columns. A large black diamond glittered in the at its base; it was as large as his head.

The knife still at her throat, Shayda lifted a booted foot and brought it down hard on the diamond. A flash of dark light infused both Thero and Shayda.

“Shayda!” Jason cried.

“Get off the temple floor!” she cried. “Now!”

Jason looked at Rham, but he seemed frozen, unable to move. Good.

The desperation on Shayda’s face propelled him to get her away from Rham now that they had the chance. He rushed to her, but a flash of light stunned him and threw him back.

“Damn it! What is this! I’m going to kill you now,” Thero cursed, but he was still unable to move.

Jason got to his feet and ran toward them again. He had to get Shayda away from Rham. The other gems of the temple had begun to light up, and a low hum vibrated within the pyramid.

“Jason, stay away!” she cried.

He would not and could not. He leapt into the multitude of lights that danced within the ancient ruins and reached for Shayda.

A bright, crippling light erupted, throwing Jason back again. His body pulsed with strange energy. Fighting his fear, Jason crawled up the steps to see a terrible vision emerge within the flare of dark lights.

An enormous creature emerged from the lights. It seemed to be made of white, liquid fire. Sheer to the eye, its outlined form stood over twenty feet high. Its eyes burned with a terrible, transparent power, as though they had seen the rim of the universe and known its secrets . Completely alien, this life form was also bestial.

Rham looked up at the monster with rare terror. For the first time the human monster knew fear. The alien looked down on Rham with what Jason could only describe as hunger. It looked down on Shayda too.

Jason ran into the temple again as the beast placed an enormous clawed hand on Rham and Shayda. Her screams made Jason run harder. Rham was still frozen, and Shayda was also a prisoner of the power.

The heat of the temple was draining Jason’s strength, but he grabbed for Shayda just as the beast touched Thero. It ripped Rham from Shayda’s side and she fell into Jason’s arms. The hand of the creature brushed Jason’s shoulder, leaving an eerie sensation.

Clinging to each other in terror, Jason and Shayda watched the alien beast lift Thero Rham high. His screams rattled Jason’s bones. With it other clawed hand, the beast reached into Rham’s body. It ripped away no blood or organs but extracted a black, foul sheath of energy. The alien dropped Rham’s physical body and held his oozing, quivering, sinister soul in its claws. The beast bit into the soul and began ripping it apart as trans-audible shrieks of agony pierced Jason and Shayda’s minds. Slowly, the alien creature devoured the dark, tattered bits of soul until nothing was left.

Shayda wiped tears from her face and knelt before the creature. “Ancient Being, forgive me for calling you in this way. The soul you took was marked as evil for your judgment. But he held me and my friend captive.”

The beast looked down at them. “I have not been called in centuries. The people of Utropa have not needed me. This soul was evil. It is no more.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Your souls are clean. You are spared.”

“Blessings on the Universe,” Shayda cried.

“Blessings,” it replied, and as the lights dimmed, it returned into the darkness of the temple. All was as it had been, except for the dead body of Thero Rham.

“My God, what was that?” Jason gasped.

“One of the beings from another realm, or dimension, as you might call it. There are many such realms. The universe is so big, it’s hard to explain. We have walked with many: ethereal beings, beings of flesh and bone, and other, much stranger things.”

“Your temple is a conduit?”

“Its design and use of gems are only part of it. Anyway, the soul snare was our only chance. Forgive me for risking your life.”

“Don’t apologize, Shayda. You did the right thing. But how do you travel through-”

“Our minds travel streams of energy. It’s difficult to enlighten an outworlder about how we do it. It may take a great deal of time to teach you.”

Jason sighed, “You must think us very arrogant.”

“Not at all. We prefer to keep our connection with the universe quiet, so it will not be abused.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” He touched her hair gently, “Are you all right?”

“I am now, Jason. How’s your hand?”

“Rippling with pain, but I’ll survive.”

“We need to get back to the city. The people need to know that Thero Rham’s sould death is accomplished, that he is dead, both body and spirit.”

“I think I’m going to need a lot of wine,” Jason said.

“We’ll get drunk together.”

Jason suddenly felt smaller than ever in this vast universe. A thousand thoughts filled his weary mind, about justice, fate, and other realms. He also had the comforting — yet disturbing — knowledge, that he did indeed have a soul.