Soulmaker

  Chapter 10

  Elanora scrambled frantically out of the gateway after Scrufkin. A rush of energy drained from her. Ashden had vanished. Scrufkin had vanished. She was alone without even a souling for company and the darkness loomed menacingly ahead.

  She was about to step back into the gateway when something froze her to the spot. Her shadow, densely black and unnatural, spread in front of her. And rising up to consume it was another, with edges zigzagging in every direction. Her feet wouldn’t move. The inky shadows moulded around her shoes and stuck her feet fast to the floor.

  “Ashden!” she screamed before her face was forced into long fur that choked and bristled her mouth.

  Elanora woke in a dimly lit cavern and blinked. Weak flaming torches on the walls greased the air with their oily smell and a shadowy hedge of bodies hunched in front of the only tunnel out. Over their heads, in the distance, a brighter light shone over a low wall woven from a conglomerate of used building supplies.

  She was lying on her side on a soft rug. She rubbed her face against it, vaguely aware of the texture. “Must’ve hit my head,” she murmured and rested back into her half dream. No, something did happen, she answered, coming around completely. Her eyes snapped wide and she stared about unblinking at a menagerie of malicious faces surrounding her that ground teeth and slopped drool.

  “Silence!” snarled a voice. All heads lowered and tails slipped between legs.

  Hard, illuminated eyes pierced the dimness and all those eyes were on Elanora. Dogs, cats, birds, exotic species, a whole collection hungry to hate. Elanora’s insides melted.

  “You!” spat the voice. Elanora was nudged roughly forward by a dry nose and she rose unsteadily to her knees. High on a podium sat a sleek black panther with sapphire eyes, icy and impenetrable, staring down at her full of loathing.

  “The human with the power to grant not just one life, but lives in abundance!” he roared, inciting a cheer. He cast his eyes quickly over several of the larger beasts whose looks implied a thinly veiled scepticism.

  His voice dropped to a threatening purr. “We know what you are. We know what you do. We have been waiting for you.” The panther beamed at his followers, licking his lips with satisfaction.

  A round of chatter passed through the smaller beasts. Their looks revealed hope and anticipation. A congregation awaiting a miracle.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Elanora squeaked.

  Suddenly a miniature ball of puffed up fur charged at her, jumping at her chest, flashing tiny razor teeth.

  “Don’t insult me with your ignorance,” the panther continued scathingly. “Would an animal such as I waste any breath on a being like you if I didn’t know the truth already and have no other option? Don’t make the mistake of underestimating me, child. The time for playing dumb is over for us all.” There was a more confident roar from the assembly. Tails reappeared and beat the air.

  A Siamese cat sidled confidently up to the panther. “You see. We have proof,” Panther smiled, putting his paw on the cat’s shoulder.

  Elanora remembered her. The skittish cat on her front porch. A spy the whole time. Well, the offer of friendship is off! she thought angrily. “What do you expect me to do?” she asked, scanning the cavern for an exit.

  “Only what you were born to do. Do that, and I don’t expect we’ll have to hurt you.” The undertone in his purr quickened her pulse. “We need you,” and at this admission he winced, “to bring my children into the fold...all our children,” he added, glancing at the larger beasts whose eyes were on him. He glided from his platform and paced closer.

  “Sadly my own flesh and blood were born with no thirst for truth or knowledge.” His muscles rippled as he walked. “I only want what every parent wants for their offspring. I want them to live life to its fullest, not as dumb and thoughtless beasts.”

  “I don’t really understand,” she replied, a sweat breaking out on her forehead.

  “Life! A chance at a real life!” he pounced at her, his velvety face centimeters from hers. “You hand those lifeless toys of yours life without merit or reason. Tell me why my offspring should miss out. Why they cannot see the world as it truly is, while something not even of living flesh has its eyes opened. You will give my children only what they deserve. A soul for all our offspring!” His last words thundered signaling permission to cheer.

  “Zsa Zsa!” he commanded.

  The Pomeranian who had snapped at her previously, puffed over and led the way through the crowd of animals with his head high. They parted as he approached and he snapped at the heels of any who were slow to fall back.

  While she strained to find an escape path, Elanora noticed that most of the dogs were purebreds. Terriers, Silkies, Poodles, Alsatians, Huskies. And the cats, mostly pedigrees. She had seen their sort in her own world. Elegant animals loved till they were overblown with self-importance and arrogance.

  She was ushered between the rabble to a gate fixed into the back wall. Behind it was an enclosure where a group milled about, swinging their heads low, their tails tucked, under the scrutiny of the mob. Some cowered in the furthest corner, others dared to snarl. Some didn’t know whether to attack or roll over. There were sores on their lips and fur missing from their flanks. But the closer she studied them, the more bizarre their appearance became. It was as if two different species had been pulled apart then glued back together again in all sorts of weird combinations. There was the long-bodied dog with whiskers, the dog with panther ears and feline tail, a scaly legged black cat with a forked tongue lolling sideways and a big cat with four fingers on each paw instead of claws. They were monstrous combinations of Panther and other.

  “These animals aren’t natural,” she stammered, recoiling.

  “Not natural!” the panther bellowed. “This is nature at its greatest. Species joining species in perfect unity and I, father of them all. Beautiful new beings birthed into existence right in our own tunnels. And you! You look down on them? You who fawns over synthetic copies of the magnificent beasts of the world. Mere toys with their plastic eyes and molded faces. Replicas!” he roared.

  “Do you blink an eye when a toy presents to the world its artificial skin in its hybrid of colour and form? No! You tuck it into your bed and caress it. Don’t think I haven’t seen humans and their nauseating practices. What animal has a chance at human affection, at a soul, when that right is stolen by replicas! Our history tells of generations of animals abused, harnessed and bred for humanity. Yet still we show loyalty. What payment is there now for our sacrifices? Humans spend their soul making gift on undeserving rags that know nothing of suffering. And you dare label them as cute,” and he shot the word from his mouth like a poisonous dart, “but look at my children as if they were monsters!” His whiskers twitched with murderous desire.

  “You will love my offspring to life or I have no use for you. Or them,” she heard him add under his breath as he turned to leave. His followers dipped their heads as he passed.

  They may have deferred to the panther but the beasts showed no sign of deference to his offspring. She saw their contempt quite clearly once the panther’s back was turned.

  “This way!” ordered the Pomeranian, snapping at her heels.

  With all eyes again on her, she was led to a tunnel next to the gated enclosure. Where she thought there had been no other exits, there proved to be many, hidden by the darkness of the walls. Unlike the tunnels she had just been in with Ashden, these were tarnish hard.

  Elanora was pushed inside the narrow opening and stumbled to an awaiting cell. Inside the tight space was a bucket, a fur rug and one low table supporting a bowl of brown water. A lamp glowed feebly in the corner.

  “Here’s your kennel princess,” Zsa Zsa scoffed. He trotted out as a hulking brown bear lumbered in, turned up his nose and promptly dropped to the floor with his back to her, assuming the position of guard at the mouth of the tunnel. Zsa Zsa turned his nose up even higher at the bear and squeezed past.


  Elanora stared at her surroundings, twisting the tail of her plait in shaking fingers. She touched the walls of her cell. There was no give in them, just a solidified mass that sucked light and life in rather than shining it out. A foul smell coiled through the air from the opposite wall where another narrow tunnel led off. Figuring it was unlikely to contain anything life threatening, as it seemed clear she was wanted alive for the time being, she summoned her courage and went in to investigate, considering a danger seen was less terrifying than one unseen.

  The tunnel was low and winding and the foul smell choked it up. Elanora held her breath at intervals and bent over, treading slowly. After forty slow paces she entered another cavern, reeking of wet dog and unclean bedding. There was a trough of brown water on the side and dirty straw stacked in piles. Just as she wondered about its occupants, there was a creak and a crack of wood against stone and a gate opened allowing all the malformed creatures from the enclosure to be herded in. The gate bolted shut.

  Now she was standing in the middle of their territory, their den. They sensed her fear and circled about, sniffing, agitated by her presence in their domain. Elanora’s legs shook, her hands trembled. She backed back into the tunnel and back to her cell, away from the mutant creatures whose manic eyes chilled her blood.

  She leant against the hard wall and slid to the ground expecting to be lunged at and taken by the throat. Instead, the giant bear in the passageway shifted its haunches and shook its coat, fur filling the air.

  They’re definitely not from my world, she thought of the offspring, and I doubt if I could love them into life even if I wanted to. Which I don’t!

  Elanora determined then and there not to love a soul into any of them, whatever that truly meant, no matter how much pressure the panther put on her, nor how sorry for them she felt. She wasn’t about to use her powers to help that murderous panther. Besides, they’re not even real animals! At least I know what a toy is! she shouted in her head. Her thoughts made a racket inside her skull as they bounced around.

  Did every human have the ability to create a soul? Why could she create more?

  The stench of her prison filled her lungs like something fibrous.

  The minutes ticked by soundlessly but for the breath of beasts.

  Coldness seeped into her skin.

  Hours dragged. Hunger gnawed.

  What if she never found a way out?

  What if no-one came to rescue her?

  What if no-one noticed she was gone?

  Not even Ash.