Chapter Thirty Hunting the Soul Snatcher

It had been a hard march to reach the Soul Snatcher. Stopping only once for some rest before marching into the forest near the villages of Ferki, Perin, and Tulk. The night had been largely restless since the two parties were on guard the entire night against Drava Husks, but thankfully the Soul Snatcher and its minions never found them and they did manage to get some sleep in the end.

Now the group of nine found themselves on a ridge overlooking the clearing in which the Soul Snatcher was planted. The view was giving them a good chance to scout out the area and a view on the current state of the Snatcher’s domain.

It was a rather strange sight, the Snatcher itself was a massive and majestic tree with blood-red leaves marked by golden trim and silvery bark. If it wasn’t for its evil nature the thing would have been gorgeous. Well not entirely evil, the soul-stealing aside its presence wasn’t entirely negative, as evident by what the army of naked girls under its thrall were doing. They were tending the land, caring for the plants around the Snatcher.

Arlie had a lovely view of the fields the Snatcher was cultivating. They were a mix of edible plants and gorgeous flowers. Even plants normally considered weeds were being tended to in their own fields, while plants harmful to the growth of others were removed.

There were hundreds of girls down there dutifully tending the fields under the direction of the Snatcher, some as young as two, others fully grown adults, but there was a distinct lack of elderly. Not that Arlie was surprised, Snatchers had little use for the elderly aside from their rich souls. Stories of them discarding the husks of the elderly were common, even if somewhat overstated. They never discarded their husks carelessly, they’d be put to work even if a husk couldn’t work the fields it might have uses in some other capacity. The Drava patrolling the clearing was a clear sign of that, their reptilian forms were not suited to tending plants, but they had strong bodies and lethal forms which made them excellent guards. That naturally was leaving out their magical acid and its paralyzing effects. 

The Drava were ideal for abducting victims. Likely part of why this tree had already grown to be an elder. The more souls it consumed, the faster it grew and the more it grew the greater its influence and ability.

“Looks like it’s got every female it could find tending the fields.”

Polca commented, “It didn’t seem to be taking the men.”

Arlie replied, “The damn tree likely has a taste for female souls, not surprising since I think this one is a female.”

Hikari frowned, “Does that matter?”

“Hard to say, but the female trees prefer female souls. Male trees prefer males, beyond that?” Arlie shrugged, then sighed, “We don’t actually know much about Soul Snatchers. They aren’t exactly something you study.”

Hikari took another look, “I can see why.” She gestured at the scene below, “Those things are dangerous.”

Polca gestured at the packed-in earth leading off into the woods, “Danger aside we know a few things. The trees take care of their husks, so we will need to find the living quarters it has prepared. Those trails might lead somewhere.”

Arlie nodded, “We will have to check them out, but after we take the tree. We’ll also need to deal with the husks, not all of them can be saved.”

Hikari frowned, “People keep mentioning that, what do you mean?”

Polca sighed, “The Soul Snatcher doesn’t just steal souls, it devours them, just not right away.”

“We think it devours the souls, we don’t actually know for sure,” said Arlie.

“Yes, but regardless of what happens, the fact remains that you only have a few days before the process is permanent. Kill the snatcher early enough and the husk is saved, but wait too long and they stay a husk.”

Hikari blanched “That’s terrible!”

“Exactly why we take these things out as quickly as we can.”

Hikari also firmly understood, in that moment, why the damn things were not well studied. They were too dangerous to ignore. It didn’t matter if they were evil or not. They represented a fundamental threat to society. She wasn’t going to sit here and let that thing live, “Alright, how do we kill this thing?”

__________________

Plan in hand, the expanded party of nine arrayed in a battle formation marched into the clearing. Stealth wasn’t much of an option, they already knew that from the last encounter. Not to mention how do you sneak up on a tree? None of them could answer that question, so they had come up with a different plan.

Arlie, Polca and Hikari were in the center of the formation with Lily and Rose taking up positions in the rear, their bows at the ready, alongside Eren standing ready to defend them against flankers. On the other side of the formation, Kuon’s armored figure was centering the vanguard with Horon and Thron on either side of her, axe and sword at the ready.

They were noticed rather quickly but the Husks didn’t attack right away. The women calmly stood up, gathered and shifted positions while the Drava rushed into positions, moving to circle them. 

For a moment or two both sides stood watching the other, positioning. The battle began with a twang, two arrows leaped across the field to pierce the eye of a Drava. Two husks fell and the rest roared, just before the skies opened up, a female voice crying out “Frost Storm.” The air turned cold, the sky filled with a frosty fog and rained bolts of ice down from above like a freezing hailstorm. Frost nipped at their skin, as the bolts that missed released a frosty blast of fog that froze all it touched. Hikari sat there watching the spell in action.

Polca had told her about it, but she hadn’t really comprehended the spell till she saw it in action. Next to her Arlie was chanting, and raised her own hands toward the heavens. Thunder cracked as an electric web filled the sky and she called out the name of her spell, “Lightning Storm!”

The sky cracked and a bolt of lightning struck a charging Drava, then more came. Arrows flew, and beasts fell to the blade. All Hikari had to do was watch, she had no spells to cast and her staff couldn’t reach any of the Drava who fell long before they could reach the two High mages raining destruction upon the swarm of Drava charging at them. Yet Hikari noticed something, the Frost Storm seemed to be the far more destructive spell, more Drava were pierced by bolts of ice or turned to statues than those struck by lightning. It lasted longer too, as Arlie had cast her spell twice before Polca’s ran out.

“Is Frost Storm a stronger spell than Lightning Storm?”

Arlie spoke, “Bad time to ask, short answer yes, Lightning Storm!”

Another cast of her spell changed the sky and rained more lightning down on the Drava as the women fled. It seemed they weren’t going to fight. Nor it seemed, they would need to, the trees shook and new monsters poured from the woods and they weren’t Drava, they were Lizardi. Yet they mixed in with the lizards in harmony, showing the same lifeless eyes the rest of the beasts had. They were husks all the same.

Arrows flew at them, behind them Eren caught a flanking Lizardi and killed it with two swift strikes. Her tail fluttered as she stepped around it, practically dancing, each movement swift but deadly. More arrows flew from the twins, every bolt finding an eye, every shot a kill. Their accuracy was deadly and unmatched. Hikari could only think of the twins as snipers. If she could hand them a sniper rifle and the ammo to go with it, they’d likely slaughter a battlefield. As it was, they were incredible, so fast to fire and so accurate. She’d never thought a bow could fire so quickly.

Arlie suddenly stepped forward, “We’ve got an opening. Hikari keep close.”

She nodded and moved forward holding her staff at the ready. In part wishing she could switch to a sword, but she needed her staff for after. Hikari also knew they would need her healing spells, it was a powerful area of effect magic. It would help them heal the husks, if they were wounded, they didn’t want to kill too many of them. If they could help it, they were here to save them. Thankfully she had three uses, three chances to heal if required.

Following Arlie, she sidestepped a lightning bolt, just seconds before a Drava leaped at her. She barely thought, bringing her staff around to smash the thing in the face with a sickening crunch. It crumpled to the ground, just before a buddy spat at her, only for the bolt to freeze less than a meter from her chest. Hikari gasped as the frozen bolt of paralytic acid slammed into her chest. It felt like getting punched... hard. She rubbed her boob, wincing, while Arlie blasted the thing with a fireball. Then hit another with a lightning bolt before taking a breath.

A moment later, she roared, from her mouth a beam of blue-green fire, crackling with lightning shot forth to slam into the Soul Snatcher. Something screamed, a scream of primal pain that split her head. Hikari cried out, clutching her ears. Yet it didn’t help, it was like the sound was coming from the depths of her brain.

Then suddenly it was gone, and every husk in sight suddenly charged them in a mad frenzy. Arlie panted, “Be careful, it's not dead yet, I only wounded it.”

Hikari shifted her staff to a ready position, just as the vanguard shifted into blocking positions near them. “Did you just breathe fire? Like a dragon?”

Arlie didn’t reply, instead taking a breath and roaring. Her cry echoed in her ears, like the mighty roar of a predator, just as another stream of charged fire shot from her mouth. The deadly stream tore into the soul-stealing tree, and it cried out again.

Hikari could feel the cry, it was like her brain was being turned to mush. The damn things death cries were hurting her! She clutched her staff tighter and began to pray. The tip glowed and she cried out yet the words didn’t reach her ears. Even so the light came forth and with it she felt relief. Just as Arlie let loose a third roar, this time finally felling the foul tree.

A loud crack was the only warning before the silver trunk now scorched black broke and the tree fell. Its leaves lost their color, just as a strange light shimmered through the dying trunk. The goddess's words hit her, and she planted her staff, a prayer on her lips. “May these lost souls find their way, by my light I reveal a path, by the goddess’s will may they be restored!”

Suddenly the shimmering light in the tree exploded in a dance of color, mesmerizing it was all she noted. Barely seeing the husks just standing there confused as balls of light shot into them. Many monster husks just stood there or darted into the woods. Leaving only an army of young girls standing there confused, but with some of them she could see the light had returned to their eyes, yet others remained lifeless but something was different about them.

______________________
Hikari and Polca followed the innkeeper they’d met in Ferki and a couple of young girls down a tunnel. It had been a couple of hours since the fight; nearly half the girls had been saved. For the rest it had been too late, they remained a husk. No longer controlled and somehow different, there was a spark of something but that was it. They were going to be taken back to their villages and cared for. Apparently they’d be fine, more or less. Although they didn’t have a personality at all, they’d respond to questions, eat, follow orders, and the like. Polca said they’d get better with time but the old them was gone forever. A new person would be born in their place but that would take time.

This tunnel they were in had an entrance at the end of a nearby trail. What they were going to find however was the question. Hikari spoke up, “You haven’t told us what we’d find at the end of this?”

She turned her white hair fluttering, “I didn’t?”

“No, just that we had to hurry, that there were more to save here, but this is an odd place.”

Polca gestured, “It looks brighter up ahead.”

The innkeeper sighed, “Sorry I felt we should hurry and still do.”

One of the younger girls commented, “We didn’t often come this way unless we were taking a baby to the nursery. Older girls had other things to do.”

Hikari blinked and picked up the pace, soon emerging into a larger room. Several elderly women were in the room, the floor was packed earth and flat stones. The walls were lined with numerous earthen alcoves while wooden tendrils hung from the ceiling. Yet that wasn’t what she noticed most.

Every alcove from floor to ceiling was filled with a baby girl, some basically newborns, others a few months old. Wooden tendrils entwined their forms, and many of them whimpered and cried as well. Not that she blamed them closing on one baby, she noted several roots piercing her skin, thin and small they ran under the skin of her belly and towards the center where they vanished. More thin roots entwined her thighs, vanishing under the skin. A thicker root ran around her leg up her thigh and towards her small vagina, penetrating the urethra. That didn’t look comfortable.

Checking the other alcoves she noted it was similar, but some babies had many more roots penetrating their bodies. Aside from the roots, they seemed to be fairly healthy, with good color to their skin, a healthy amount of fat, and good muscle tone. Turning on an elderly woman, she inquired, “What the fuck is this?”

“The tree wanted her babies here so they could be cared for, our job was to monitor. There isn’t a problem is there? They all seem to be doing alright.”

Hikari gestured, “They have a bunch of roots growing into them!”

Polca sighed, “I don’t think she’d be much help, her soul is gone.”

The innkeeper said, “Come on, we need to get them out of those alcoves.”

Hikari took a breath, “Help us cut them free.”

The old woman just nodded and came over to help. It took a while to get all the babies free, but doing so started to hurt them. Worried Hikaru ended up using her healing spell again, to heal the babies.

Slumping to the ground, the babies all looking happier and healthier, she said, “Why didn’t you help them?”

The elderly just gave her blank looks and the first lady said, “We weren’t told to.”

Polca rubbed her shoulders, “The soulless are like that, unfortunately.”

“They are?”

Polca nodded, “Uncaring, lacking in initiative, no personality, there just isn’t much left once the soul is lost. Just the husk that remains.”

Hikari sighed, “It’s pretty sad.”

“Come on, we should get these baby girls to the surface with the others. From there we can get them back to their families.”

Hikari nodded and they went to work. She later learned that the other trails led to what were basically communal barracks space for the husks not working. If there was anything else, they didn’t find it. By sunset they were marching for Ferki with the innkeeper. There were groups heading to the other villages raided by the thing. Some of the girls they rescued thankfully knew how to fight, some of them were even mages with a good number of spells. Hikari was personally looking forward to a private inn room; the innkeeper had promised her one as a thank you for the rescue.