The Way of the Soul Read Online Free PDF

let the do-kha connect even deeper. To your deepest, most precious feelings. Hide nothing.”
    Reon felt her body drift through the ceiling and back into the darkness. She thought about how many years she managed this duplicitous life. Even before she saw the pinpoint of light that would return her to the bedroom ceiling, she knew what she would see next. The moment she realized she could no longer live two lives. The first time Lord Harskill returned.
    She was seventeen. He arrived in the middle of the night. She bowed before him, ready to serve in any way he asked. But her time had not come yet. He said he only wanted to make sure that she still followed, still believed in him.
    Her deep passion and faith in the Lord Harskill overcame her. She stood and disrobed. She offered her virginity to her Lord.
    Floating on the ceiling, Reon watched as the Lord Harskill took her to bed and deflowered her with a sensitive, gentle touch. It was a glorious night. She had heard from other girls at school that the first time hurt. But with the Lord Harskill, it had been nothing but the purest of pleasure. All the thrills of a narrow victory mixed with the gentle wonder of floating at sea.
    “Now, my dear, open yourself to your darkest thoughts,” Lord Harskill said. “Look into your heart. Let the do-kha see what it is you fear you’re capable of. What is it that you dare not desire? Show the do-kha the ugliest side of you.”
    The thought hit Reon with startling ferocity. She heard screams, pleading, and the wet splash of blood. When she saw the pinpoint of light, part of Reon held back. She knew what those sounds meant. She had no desire to visit that dark dream.
    The light did not rush in. It did not get closer at all. Is it responding to me? If so, she didn’t have to witness the horrid scene awaiting her.
    But if she stayed in the darkness, she would fail this test. She would not be chosen. But if she did go, she would see the monster.
    “I will trust in my Lord,” she whispered and allowed her body to enter the light.
    This time she floated not on her bedroom ceiling, but rather she hovered above the kitchen. Her mother lay on the breakfast table staring up at her. A shattered plate of eggs littered the floor. Her mother’s body had been sliced open, organs and bones visible. Her eyes could open no wider. The terror trembling on her open lips could become no worse. The poor woman screamed and cried, but that only pleased her torturer.
    Reon had no need to see the blood-soaked girl causing all this pain — she knew it was herself. She had dreamed this foul scene many times.
    When Reon next opened her eyes, she could feel the floor against her back. Warmth covered her body like a favorite blanket. The icy ball of fear that had lodged in her chest now thawed. Lord Harskill reached down to help her up.
    As she lifted her arms, she saw the black do-kha upon her skin like the sleeve of a shirt. She glanced downward. It covered her entire body. The clothes she had worn were folded neatly in a pile on the floor. She would no longer need them.
    Lord Harskill put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed once before letting her go. “Congratulations. You now have a do-kha, and you are one step closer to being powerful, mighty, and with me.”
    Reon lowered to one knee and held the Lord’s hand. “I am yours to command.”
    “Eventually. But first you must learn to command your do-kha. You must learn its power. It has quite a lot. Ultimately, you must learn to create your own portal.” Lord Harskill waved his hand off to the left and a portal opened with a sizzle.
    Looking in, Reon could see a lush swamp. She wondered where that land existed.
    The Lord smiled. “Come. Your next test awaits.” He walked through the portal without her. From the other side, he looked back and waved her on.
    She thought of the book he had tossed into the portal before, thought of how it had incinerated and left behind a bitter, burnt odor. She would