Young Writers Society

Chapter 4: Kenichi and the Soul Stealers

The Past

They came in a storm that descended from the mountain. Their husks were as black as onyx and their eyes were as void as a corpse’s. They descended upon the small village that had been birthed from the initial pool of humans. This village harboured thirty men, women and children, all of whom were to become prey to the mountainous evil.

They came in the dead of night, wrapped in a veil of darkness that shrouded their very existence. They clung to the houses and crawled toward windows, clawing for the people inside. Their voices were like a frigid wind’s howl and their fingers froze the objects as they touched them.

The people stirred to the howling and the scratching before they arose. The people gathered their children and their partners and hid away from the threat. The creatures slipped into their homes and advanced upon the innocent humans, taking their faces in their frigid fingers and breathing in their life. The humans were left empty and cold, soulless and dead. The creatures turned back to the mountain once they had consumed a soul each and were satisfied.

Morning broke as the remaining humans mourned their dead, hugging them in arms and kissing over their pale brows and cheeks, and sobbing. Their sobs rung out in echoes about the mountain, and it began to rain.

Lano, the child of Hikaru and a Child of Light, became so bottled up with rage after this catastrophe that he simply could not stand by and wait for these creatures to return for more souls. He knew that the village would not survive another attack. The population was down to only a few dozen people left.

However, Lano was dominated by Yin, so he was unable to muster any sort of feelings strong enough to make him desire to destroy the creatures. Instead, he ventured into the mountains in the morning and allowed himself to slip into the spirit world.

The world came into a new light; all of the greens became reds, all of the blues became purples, all of the browns became pale pink. The material objects in this realm seemed to be made of mist, just as the spirits seemed to be mist to a resident of the physical world. A dark aura began to emanate from one of the mountainside caves and Lano took this as his target.

He entered the cave and came face to face with a great serpent that was made out of pure darkness and despair. Feelings of hopelessness and finality began to leak into Lano’s resolve. The serpent spoke in a voice that was not its own, but in many voices-- some of which Lano recognized as his comrades He could hear his best friend, he could hear his love, he could hear his father, among so many- so very many- others.

“I can see you clearly, yet you are of the material world. Explain,” to which Lano replied;

“I’m a Child of Light. We are beings that can move between the spirit and the physical worlds. I was born of a human and a spirit, so I am even more so able to travel than other Children.”

A rumbling sound came from the throat of the serpent, in many different tones and pitches.

“Why have you come to me?” Lano’s voice caught in his throat as fear began to sink in upon realizing that this beast could likely steal his soul if it were displeased. When his voice finally rose to his lips, he said;

“I have come to make a deal with you.”

An interested tone rose into the serpent’s voices, “Is that so?” The creature slithered from its dark corner of the cave and presented itself to Lano. “What are you prepared to give me?” it inquired.

Lano was left to consider what he could possibly offer for a few moments. Finally, he spoke, “I offer to you my soul in return for the promise that you and your minions will never harvest souls from our race again. Never again will you steal a soul from a person again, so long as you can have my soul.”

The serpent seemed quite intrigued by this offer, so it began to examine Lano more closely, determining his desirable traits.

“You are brave, as you’ve faced me. You are heroic as you’ve placed your life before me for the sake of your people. Your soul is far more valuable than that of a normal human’s, as it is both spirit and person,” it slithered about his body before it settled before him, mouth opening to display a darker and more vast void of darkness than he already was. Lano struggled to keep his footing, so that he would seem dignified in his death. However, as if a tree had fallen upon him, he fell onto his stomach, eyes empty and body hollow of his soul.

However, the serpent was unable to capture and consume his spirit and it left his body in a fine mist. It returned to the air, shining down upon the village with a brilliance greater than the sun. He was the sign that the people would no longer have reason to fear the dark.

From this day forth, the Soul Stealers dwelled only in the mountains and only stole human souls in secret. If a human were to stumble into their cave, he would be reduced to a hollow body that would be eaten by the insects.

Lano became, to the people, the God of Hope and Bravery.