Soul Swallower – Work in Progress

I think that’s the name of the series. I like the alliteration anyway. Better than Soul Gulper.

I don’t have too much to share yet, but here’s a brief peek at Raze and the act of swallowing a soul:


Raze lingered alone by the hearth, the remainder of the freehold tucked beneath woolen blankets. In no mood for company, the solitude suited him. Briyon’s soul catcher dangled from a cord twisted through his fingers.

His grief unearthed old ghosts, his mother among them, an ageless portrait suspended in the gallery of his mind. Not so his memories of Mirelle. Those lingered with infinite fluidity, entangled with visions of the past and dreams of a future that would never be. Six years had shuffled by since her death, five since he’d joined Briyon at the freehold, and yet he’d found no lever long or strong enough to pry her from his heart. Loneliness punched the breath from his lungs and sapped the strength from his back. At twenty-two he was master of the freehold, a tired soul, angry at a world he couldn’t control.

He rolled the pendant over in his hand, keenly aware of its delicate beauty. The white soulstone had transformed, no longer solid but translucent with pale tendrils of color swirling like morning mist. Copper wire no hardier than a strand of hair coiled around it, holding a round sliver of lapis in place with a final twist of two tiny leaves. It glowed with a soft light, indicating the presence of a soul. A soul he loved.

With great care, he unhooked the tiny copper leaves, unwound the wire, and removed the blue gem capping a small hole. Inside, an iridescent sphere resembling a pearl shone with a brilliance that startled him. Were all souls so bright? He didn’t know, this soul-catcher his first. He rolled it into his hand. Would he swallow it? Did he want what Briyon offered? Was there anything to fear?

The sphere glimmered in his palm, sharing no insight. He placed it back into the pendant. No need to choose, no decision pressing him to act with haste. The round gem refitted, he coiled the wires, paused, and then uncoiled them. In one fluid motion, he uncapped the pendant, tipped the luminous pearl into his mouth, and swallowed.

A rush of heat streamed up from his belly through his heart and into his head. It coursed down his limbs to his fingertips and toes. His body trembled, the sensation alien but not frightening, and it subsided as quickly as it overtook him. Eyes closed, he accepted Briyon’s soul. In the quiet of night, he exhaled a long breath, crept to bed, and dreamed another man’s dreams.


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