Soul Shelter Read online

  Soulship Book 2: Soul’s Shelter

  By Nathan Thompson

  CHAPTER ONE

  The ship stopped shaking before I did. The world of blue light, dark steel, and high-hanging shadows slowly brought its rattling to a halt. My soul continued to quake for a few more moments, as the three different powers that had chosen me for greatness rustled about, redrawing their boundaries as they all grew within my soul. Source energies, Vessa had called them. They each brought their own strengths, and their own obligations. Essence, its primal power providing a mighty body and fellowship with the natural world, demanded that I become acquainted with my environment, either through meditation or constant combat—the latter being far more frequent as of late. Right now, it wanted me to stay still, to make sure my soul had finished digesting the fruits of the last battle. If I obliged, the new mosaic located in the belly of my soul would be able to finish defining the crack that had just formed. Mana, the Source energy that granted explosive short-term power and direct manipulation of physical laws, insisted that I immediately apply what I had learned from the last fight, that I study its events and make deductions to instantaneously test and further deepen my knowledge. It desired to coalesce and further define the new vapor floating about the metal ore that had developed in my spirit’s mind.

  Finally, the qi in my body, the force that provided a middle ground of short-term and long-term power, wanted me to fall into some kind of rhythm, be it motion or breathing, so that it could predict how my body and soul needed to be further refined and balanced. If I complied, it silently promised, a special power would tint both of the newly condensed drops now flowing through my soul.

  “Jas?” a voice asked. In my confusion, I could not identify the speaker.

  Then I realized I could identify the speaker, because there was only one other person inside this giant steel boat that was floating through space.

  She just had more than one mouth, because she had more than one body.

  “Jas?” the speaker repeated with concern. “Jas, are you okay?”

  “He’ll be fine,” another, more tired voice said confidently. “He just needs some time to adjust. He Advanced again, in all three of his Sources.”

  “That’s...” The first speaker paused, as if she was struggling to remember something. “Impressive? To accomplish so fast?”

  “...debatably,” the tired voice qualified. “Though the fact that he just started a short time ago makes it noteworthy. Considering his age, and the resources he needed to consume to get to this point... never mind,” she said quickly. “You’ll have to protect him until he gets stronger, Nova.”

  “Of course I’ll protect him,” the first voice asserted. “It’s my turn to be there for him. Just tell me what he needs, so I can provide it.”

  I wanted to look at the two women speaking, or rather, I wanted to look at the one woman talking to herself with two bodies, but my mind’s eye refused to concentrate on anything but the insistent voices inside my soul. With a furious shake of my head, I focused on the spiritual image of a floating world within my chest, my Soulscape. I commanded it to spin in place, as if suspended on an invisible axis, at a steady revolution. The three Sources seemed satisfied at this, and ceased demanding my immediate attention.

  “I’m fine, Vessa,” I said as I was finally able to refocus my gaze on the women. “I mean, Nova. I mean...” I shrugged as I gave up. “Okay. I have no idea what just happened, or how to speak to either of you.”

  Now that I could see clearly, I could make out the two women before me. One was the beautiful, confident woman I had grown up with among the slums of the Glorious State. Nova was young, roughly my age, with beautiful pale blue eyes and hair the color of golden sunlight. She was still dressed in the uniform of a Glorious State lieutenant, grasping the heavy baton that doubled as some kind of magical firearm. Vessa, my new mentor and supposedly the heart of the very ship we flew in, was a slender, gray-skinned woman with black hair, who was currently lying down in the recovery capsule that also served as an emergency control console for the Soulship we were traveling in. Her grayish-blue eyes glowed faintly, projecting an alert demeanor, but a closer inspection revealed her to appear far more tired than she had been before the last jump. Her beauty and vulnerability stirred all kinds of protective impulses within me, impulses that were potentially unnecessary, and further muddled my feelings in regard to Nova’s recent surprise confession of romantic desires toward me.

  And, according to the conversation they had just had before the jump, they were two parts of the same woman. And this entire ship was a third part.

  “Further apologies,” I began, “but how many women am I even talking to right now?”

  “Just one, Jasper Cloud,” Vessa confirmed.

  “We’re still two women, Jas, don’t worry,” Nova said at the exact same time.

  They immediately shot each other an annoyed look.

  “Excuse me?” Nova asked with an edge in her voice. “What do you mean ‘we’re just one woman right now?’”

  “What do you mean ‘excuse me?’” Vessa demanded back. “And why are you confusing him about this? We just talked about this. We literally merged our bodies back together for a moment in front of his eyes. You know you’re a part of me.”

  “No, you’re a part of me,” Nova rebutted. “I’m still the woman he grew up with, the one that wants to go back and save the world we call home. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m especially not abandoning him,” she added as her blue eyes flashed. “That was non-negotiable, remember?”

  As she spoke, my Soulscape reacted. Another bright flash of light from a distant, exploding star somewhere in my soul swept over the small world.

  “Void-balls,” Vessa exhaled irritably, putting a hand on her face. “I forgot just how stubborn and annoying I can be.” The woman sighed wearily from her capsule bed. “Fine. Look at it this way. We’re a part of each other, okay? And I already said you’re not going anywhere. Even if I could just reabsorb you back into myself—which I can’t—I wouldn’t, because I need a healthy version of myself to assist me in re-powering the rest of my ship-body and subsequently saving all the worlds under my care.”

  “Like Earth,” Nova said firmly, not backing down an inch.

  “Yes, like Earth!” the gray woman snapped from her bed, her own passion rising. As the heat entered her voice, my Soulscape shifted again. The minuscule boat sailing around my spiritual world glowed with a blue light, and began to orbit more quickly. “You’re insulting yourself if you don’t realize that I feel most of what you feel, except that I probably feel even more protective about your own planet than you do! Earth is a special world within the night sky! Bereft of Source energy in a way that the other worlds aren’t, but still containing its unique and special treasures that must be preserved at all costs!”

  That was news, I thought to myself as I watched the fight in front of me, uncomfortably wondering if I should step in to try and stop it in some fashion, or just stay quiet and pretend I wasn’t here. A second later, I thought of a solution and began walking to the food cooler that was a short distance from Vessa’s capsule bed.

  “Well, if that’s true,” Nova shot back. “You’ve done a terrible job of—”

  “I’m hungry,” I interrupted loudly as I rifled through the cooler. I pulled out three of the packets containing the green, smoothie-like liquid, and held up one of them. “Is anyone else hungry?”

  “No!” the two women snapped irritably, turning their gazes on me at the same time and with identical expressions. But upon seeing the raised pouch, their faces immediately and simultaneously relaxed. “Actually, yes,” they said in unison, holding out their hands.

  Then they shot each other annoyed looks, and
opened their mouths to start yelling again.

  “Catch,” I said, cutting them off while tossing a packet to Nova, who managed to nab it with both hands. “You tear a hole in the top and just drink it like the smoothie drinks we sometimes got for rations back on Earth. Don’t worry, it tastes better.”

  “I knew that,” Nova mumbled as she opened one of the pouches for the first time. “Wait,” she said, freezing suddenly. “Why do I know that?”

  Vessa just sighed.

  “I’ll take one too, Jas,” she murmured. “Thanks for asking. Sorry you had to watch us—me—fight.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said, tossing Vessa’s packet a bit more carefully, since she was still prone and looking exhausted. “I tend to think a lot better after I’ve had one of these. Speaking of which,” I contemplated as I tore my own packet open. “Where are we?”

  And where did you go, Nestor? I finally remembered to ask mentally, searching for my bonded Sourcebeast.

  Right-here, the little mouse sent back to my mind, at the same moment that my bond indicated he was right at my ankle. The fluffy little ball of currently blue hair rose up on his hind legs and sniffed at me, lashing his fur-tipped tail excitedly. Share-food?

  Of course, my little friend, I said to my lifemouse as I knelt down and held the packet out to him. I should have offered sooner.

  Nestor let out a happy squeak of forgiveness as he scampered over to the pouch and carefully tipped it low enough to drink from.

  Full-now, the little creature said as he finished and waddled away with a contented burp—something I clearly remembered normal mice were unable to do. Thank-you.

  Nova giggled at the sight, no longer angry.

  “Oh, he’s adorable,” she said, finally taking a quick sip from her food pouch. Her eyes brightened immediately, and she took a much longer swig. “Wow, Jasper, you’re right! I feel better already. This is like some tasty combination of vitamins and premium-grade coffee.”

  “That’s the idea behind it,” Vessa replied as she propped herself up and took a drink of her own, closing her eyes as if to savor it. “Mmm. These are emergency rations designed to keep myself and my crew alive for long periods of time, in case my ship-body gets badly damaged far away from a place that can repair it.” She grew quiet for a moment, cradling the pouch in her hands. “As far as I know, there may not even be a shipyard that can repair me anymore. Which means it could be a long time before I am ready for combat again.”

  “If your old foes were as powerful as you have said, we should probably avoid thinking about combat at all,” I replied, remembering what the ship-woman had shared with me. “Speaking of which, where are we?” I repeated. “And did your enemies follow us here?”

  “We’re safe,” Vessa said after swallowing another mouthful. “I performed a controlled jump with my emergency stealth systems activated. They might have realized I had left and arrived again, but they have no idea where I’ve gone. I’ve jumped to a system containing another one of my Beacons, one they should have no reason to know about. In fact...” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Completely clear. No one else is out here right now. These worlds are free of star-traffic.”

  I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that, but I chose to take it as a good sign.

  “What about Earth?” Nova asked urgently. “You said you were chased there by something. Will it turn upon Earth now? Is our planet safe?” She cast a quick, anxious glance toward me.

  I had mixed feelings about my old world. The only people I really cared about were the ones in Mother Anne’s orphanage. The rest had either done nothing to help me as I starved on the Global Republic’s streets, or had helped the so-called Glorious State murder my parents for the possession of overly useful knowledge. As vast and bloated as the world’s government was, I probably had far more people wishing me some level of harm than I had found possessing even a scrap of mercy toward me.

  But as I thought harder about it, I realized I really did want to save my old world.

  So that I could tear apart its false gods with my own bare hands.

  “Earth is safe for now,” Vessa said, shaking her head. “There are too many interested parties monitoring it, and none of them are currently invested enough to fight over it. The main lure of the planet was—and likely still is—to entrap me. In time, others will arrive to compete with the humans and dragons currently ruling it, but no one’s willing to risk a fight over it presently, since its treasures are primarily historical.”

  “Which means most of its treasures are now destroyed,” I interjected bitterly. “Since the current government wished to erase all knowledge of the past.”

  “It’s unlikely they would have done so,” Vessa said as she shook her head a second time. “Knowledge is power, and dragons have a desire to hoard instead of destroy. It’s more likely that most of your world’s treasures have been locked away somewhere. Probably either with the human kings or the oldest and greatest of dragons.”

  I desperately hoped that was true. There was much my parents had taught me that I no longer remembered, though I fought to retain as much as possible.

  Thankfully, as my mind grew stronger and my body grew healthier, that was becoming easier day by day.

  “It still needs to be saved, though,” Nova insisted, scrutinizing us intently as she clutched her now-empty food packet. “People are suffering down there. And those who know me and Jas might still be in danger.”

  “We’ll help them,” Vessa promised as she finished off her own meal. “I promise you both. I may not be able to free your planet overnight, and I definitely don’t want to create a vacuum that will be replaced by another power, but I will do all I can to save that world, piece by piece. That was usually the way tyrants were brought down in the past, and it can be done so again. For now, though, I need to rest and repair.” She stifled a yawn. “And you both need to get used to your newfound power. Especially you, Jas,” the gray woman said as she fixed her gaze on me. “Nova’s Advancement is inherently stable, at least in the beginning stages. However, we need to ground all of your recent gains, in order to allow them to be further defined.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, examining my internal scenery again to inspect all the drops and cracks and wisps that begged to be defined in my spirit.

  “I mean exactly what you’ve already noticed,” Vessa stated firmly. “It wasn’t a problem when you Advanced the first time, because the initial substage of each Source is always vague. But by the time you reach the second substage in any of the three energies, you will need to focus the power in a certain direction. You’re going to have to specialize in something for each substage, even though it will also give you a general power boost. Essence wants a physical aspect of your body to improve, mana wants a skill to specialize in, and qi wants an abstract idea for you to establish. The official names are instincts, sciences, and arts, in that order. I’ll give you more detail later, but know that you’ll need to pick at least one for each. Preferably two, since you technically have two substages in each Source.”

  “Alright,” I agreed with a nod. “Can you tell me what stage Nova has reached, though, since we will probably be working together?”

  “That...” Vessa hedged, “may not be necessary, Jasper Cloud. But know that you have done well in freeing her, and in caring for her those many years you grew up together. And my flesh-body already owes you at least two life-debts. I may still ask you to help me in a limited fashion, but know that you have done more than your part for the night sky, and have every reason to focus on your own well-being for now.”

  I wanted to tell her that she should not caress a man’s pride with the sharpened part of her hand, but I knew Vessa well enough by now that she had not done it on purpose and would not understand my complaint.

  “I’m already at the bronze stage of mana advancement, Jas,” Nova said sadly, because she knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t accept an assurance as vague as Vessa’s. “I’m also
at the pool stage of qi Advancement, and I’m about to enter the wailing stage of essence Advancement. I’m a tri-practitioner like yourself, since I’m a Soulship’s Beacon, and I’m going to grow even more quickly in mana, and probably qi, than you will. I should be able to reach the gold stage of mana Advancement by the end of the year, possibly even platinum if I get the right resources. As of right now, though, I’m already two whole stages beyond you in mana, one stage beyond you in qi, and seven substages beyond you in essence. I don’t think you’re strong enough to battle beside me at this time.”

  And probably never again, she left unsaid. I knew both of them expected the battle with the cage-drake to be our last collective battle together.

  “But I promise you, Jasper Cloud,” Vessa added softly, with needless formality that put new distance between us, “if I successfully recover enough, you will go down in history as the young man that accomplished both saving my life and turning the tide of the greatest battle ever waged in the night sky. The records of every world will carry your name and the truth about your noble nature.”

  Nova nodded enthusiastically in agreement, and I suppressed a wince.

  You both mock me without realizing it, I wanted to shout. I am not noble, and all records can be burned.

  “In that case,” I said neutrally, forcing my expression to remain smooth, “I will focus on my own Advancement, in order to grow and achieve my new goals.”

  Because this is my night sky as well, I thought to myself. And I refuse to let go of a single corner of it.

  “Good,” Vessa smiled, evidently failing to read my inner thoughts. “In that case, let us take a brief rest. Afterward, we can train and plan.”

  I nodded in feigned agreement. “Nova, you can take the second bed if you are sleepy. I would like to sit down and calm my Soulscape.”

  As I spoke, I realized that she may not know what a Soulscape was yet, but she nodded anyway.

  “Are you sure, Jas?” she asked awkwardly, her earlier confidence fading with each interaction.. “If you’re really tired...”