Chapter 87: Shepherd or Sheep

Trint slid closer and extended both hands palms facing up.

“Those are some interesting markings,” the Chief said, “Are they Soul Scars too?” Trint didn’t get time to answer as the Chief grabbed him by the wrists.

The warrior and the Chief appeared in a room like the one they had sat in. But it was inside the Chief’s Soul. The man appeared older and stood while stretching his arms above his head.

“The scar on your hands. Is there a story there you care to share? Trees and hexagons…” the old man turned away from Trint and toward the soft light behind him, cutting off what Trint could hear after that.

“Not right now,” Trint shook his head.

“No matter,” the old man nodded and smiled turning back toward the younger man, “Let us not waste time. If I am to heal whatever damage you have accumulated, then I need to assess you first. Please come over by this fire.”

“Oh, you have a fire in your Soul space too,” Trint was happy to see something familiar. Like when he visited Arneala’s Soul. I wonder why everyone has a light or fire? Maybe it’s just universal to have a light source to cook and stay warm with.

“Yes, but this is not just to keep you warm inside. All Shepherds cultivate a flame that both heals and yet has a great capacity to harm. Our Life-Blades can do both but focus more on the blade side while in battle. Where I focus mainly on the Life side. I used to fight but prefer to avoid it. Now, place your right hand over the flame. It will not hurt you.”

The whole time, Trint had been restraining his Soul. Part of him wanted to relax his grip and unleash his Soul to expand and influence and open his senses in this place. It felt like his Soul was a clenched fist. It was easy to hold tight together and didn’t hurt but he wanted to relax the tension. I need to be patient. Let him show me what they do, Trint reminded himself.

Trint reached out over the flame. Nothing happened.

“That is strange. Have you been healed recently? Or…are you able to heal yourself perhaps?”

“I believe I can heal myself to some extent. But there is damage in my Soul. Would you like to see it?” Trint asked tilting his head to the side hopefully.

“Yes, I thought you were restraining my ability to see somehow…” the man said but was cut off as Trint transported them both into his Soul Space on Pneuma’s side beneath Trint’s Soul. They appeared near the damaged section that was still siphoning Soul to God knows where. They were otherwise surrounded by the veil of dark void.

“What? Where? Why is it so dark? Oh, this is interesting?” The man didn’t wait for answers as his questions kept coming. Then he noticed the outline of Trint’s lost creation.

“How is this possible? I have seen Soul blades break and a similar gap in a Soul would form. Are you able to summon entire manifestations like whatever this was with your Soul?”

“Yes, this one was killed while outside my body,” the warrior dropped his head in frustration but then noticed his hands clenched in anger.

“Well, that is impressive,” the old man grabbed his chin to stroke his beard while nodding his head, “Typically, a warrior would be forced to create a new blade from their Soul, and we would just seal off the leak. But your Soul feels larger than normal. Do you know what your measurements are? The System usually measures by Scope, Scale, and Capacity. Do you know yours?”

“That’s not something I know. But I can give you more of an idea after you tell me how you normally seal these off.”

“Oh,” the man balked but then continued, “Well if you have the capacity, I recommend you not seal it.”

“Why?” Trint’s surprise showed as his eyes snapped to lock with Chief’s own.

“With enough capacity, you can allow this scar to refill the Soul Space that was cut off. You seem to have plenty and with enough time the creation will be restored. Blades we use are not sentient and just need time to be reformed. Your creature, was it able to think and act on its own?”

“Yes,” Trint confirmed and nodded.

“Then it likely won’t remember much of the time surrounding its death. But by naturally healing over time, it should be able to regain previous memories and functions.”

“I can deal with lost memories, I thought I’d lost a part of my Soul forever,” Trint was so relieved he had pulled the Chief into a hug.

“Yes, well, that is just what I’ve seen once before,” the chief assured while politely extricating himself from the hug. “I only recommend it if you think you have the Capacity for it. You might lose a little overall capacity if you choose to not have me seal this.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about Capacity,” Trint smirked.

“Not even a little?” The Chief was surprised. From his vantage, they stood in a dark room with just a soft outline of a Soul scar. He was not able to see anything beyond the immediate darkness otherwise.

“How about I give you a proper tour of my Soul? If I promise to surprise and impress you, will you agree to keep what you see a secret? At least till I allow you to share more detail?”

“I am sworn to the Coyriel family. I will have to reveal any threat or share anything asked of me by the Head of the family.”

“Well, I’ll just ask you only to reveal what you are required,” Trint encouraged. “If you don’t want to see more, we can just return to your Soul.”

The old man’s face scrunched up in frustrated concentration, wrinkles increasing by the dozens.

“Well, I can still honor my sworn vows and keep certain things vague. I promise to not reveal the extent of what you show. But in return, you must promise not to cause problems for our family. Do you agree?”

“I hardly know your family and I’ve had mixed experiences so far…” This time Trint pretended to consider, looking up to the void, then seemingly coming to a decision he turned back to Chief. “But I agree, no trouble from us while you reciprocate toward me and my friend. Deal?”

Trint reached out to shake hands. The old man not used to this gesture reluctantly reached forward to clasp hands. As their hands clasped, Trint gripped uncomfortably tight and yanked them from where they stood to the topside of his Soul dome.

“This is my Soul,” Trint extravagantly waved his left hand to display everything around them, while continuing to tightly hold the old man by the other hand. They were now about a mile in the air over the Tree of Life in the central courtyard of his Soul palace. And the old man was dangling from Trint’s grip.

“What! Don’t drop me!” He said sputtering, clearly afraid of heights and the sudden stop at the end of a fall. He clung to Trint and tried to get a grip with his other hand.

“Oh yes, apologies” Trint exaggerated a surprised apology as he formed a solid black step below Chief’s feet that rose slowly to be even with Trint’s floating form.

Chief still didn’t relax his hold on Trint’s hand but finally took a moment to take in the sight. They stood a mile high and could see to the horizons of Trint’s Soul. The palace below was a mere outline of walls and splotches of green gardens. But the Tree and its canopy were vibrant and exuded power felt even this far away.

“What is that Tree? Why is there a city? This can’t be your Soul! Where have you taken me?” Chief rattled off in shock.

“Let’s get down from here,” Trint laughed at the rapid fire of questions.

They popped into the space in front of the palace outside wall. The river flowing was tranquil as it slowly passed in front of them. There were lush plants and some fish in the river seen by their vibrant colors.

“This is my Soul. Everything you see is a projection of my Profession and Soul. I won’t go into all the details, but I can expand this space and create whatever I wish here. I can also, obviously, bring others here. My talent also extends to helping others expand and strengthen their Souls. I’m still learning and new to all of this but some of it feels natural to me as I experiment and learn. The more I learn the more confident I have become with my Soul.”

The old man was finally silent as Trint answered more and more of his questions.

“The Tree is an Anchor. Are you familiar with Soul Anchors?” Trint turned from the river to face the man gauging his reaction to his explanation.

“Yes, the System stats show the place they will appear but mine are blank. How to gain them is a closely guarded secret in this that only higher iterations are known to possess.”

Trint considered; I suppose the Cease we met were the young elite and their mentors. Their cave was not public knowledge either. I’ll have to experiment to see if I can help him gain a Lineage or Seat.

“Well, I would like to help you if you’ll allow it,” Trint turned to fully face him, “I don’t believe you will see this kind of result. But I can help you progress. Any interest?”

“Yes,” the man extended the word in an excited and eager tone.

“Great, then I will introduce you to a fellow Soul Master and researcher. He is our best bet in getting you an Anchor. Finry,” Trint called as he turned to look at the city beyond the river.

Chief jumped from another surprise appearance when Finry materialized next to him.

“Finry, thanks for coming. Finry I’d like to introduce Chief Shepherd. Chief Shepherd, this is Finry,” They greeted one another with a respectful bow.

Trint instructed Finry on his intentions with a quick mental communication and suggested they spend time together.

“Chief, do you mind if the three of us go to your Soul and do some initial work there?” Trint recommended while offering a slight bow of his head. The man eagerly agreed.

“Let’s go then,” Trint smiled, and the next thing they knew the three were all in Chief’s Soul space.

“Why don’t you sit and focus on your Soul? Meditate on how you would like to see it grow. Focus on your intentions and hold tight to your motivation for your future,” Trint coached as he placed a hand on Chief’s shoulder and guided him to sit facing the cozy fire burning in a ring of head-sized stones.

“Just meditate and you’ll help?” Chief looked back at the much younger man.

“Yes, it won’t take long,” Trint reassured and stood behind him leaning down with both hands on his shoulders.

After Trint gave him ten minutes or so to focus and meditate, he pushed with his Will and Soul into Chief’s Soul. Trint focused on what he could perceive of the old man’s desire and motivation. Trint recognized images of what he assumed was a compound like the Coyriel’s they were physically sitting in and areas that looked like a hospital. It was filled with beds and more yoga studios. Trint chuckled at the similarities from his old world. There were mats and statues and people sitting in posed meditation.

Trint pushed with his will focusing on the old man’s images for his Soul. Trint felt the expansion solidify. It was a solidification of the images. It wasn’t an exact reproduction of the mental images, but it was close. The man had a solid foundation as a Shepherd. Trint supposed Chief spent a lot of time in his Soul. But the new expansion was at least as large as the Coyriel compound.

“You can open your eyes now,” Trint encouraged. “How do you feel? Can you sense the changes?”

The old man exhaled with a smile and moan of pleasure like he just ate his favorite meal and was satisfactorily full.

“Yes, this feels great. I can’t put words to how I just feel, more complete. More strength, more comfort, more…” Chief smile only grew as he stood and closed his eyes. “What! This is unbelievable. My Soul is huge! Not like yours but compared to just a moment ago. Thank you,” He bowed with complete reverence and thanks after his childlike wonder turned to awe.

“Well, that was fruitful,” Trint pulled the old man out of his bow. “Let’s return to the Coyriel’s and then if you want, I’ll have you rejoin Finry for some more instruction. I believe we are now connected, and I’ll give you partial access to my Soul. He will guide you to get your first Anchor. Sound good?”

The old man agreed, and they returned to the Coyriel compound and their physical bodies. Pneuma and Jelica were drinking tea and sitting on the opposite side of the room.

“That was fast,” Jelica quirked her head to the side as she looked at Chief questioningly.

“Yes, Jelica we need to speak,” Chief’s tone was serious as he rose from his seat and hurried to her side. “Excuse us gentlemen,” Chief addressed the two and pulled Jelica away out of the room.

That good? Pneuma mentally asked his partner.

What? Trint smirked as he silently asked. You expect me to not show off a bit? They are not that advanced but there’s still stuff to learn here. If they are as willing as I think they are, then we will have a place to stay for as long as we want.