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Vibrant hues of life pulsed through the forest. A hare a few dozen steps to his right, a mammoth a quarter hour’s walk, and a few stags. Some other small creatures moved about, but they were easy to tell from sentient beings. Humans, Witches, and Angels. They were his main concern.

But none had seemed to follow him. With the right spell, they could shield their energy signature from most, but never from Lux. Never from a necromancer.

With all his focus, knowing he was alone, he searched instead for Usui. Her soul was a glorious sight to behold. Bright orange, like the sun of Lux’s new world. Red slid through it, bits of yellow at its core.

As a boy, he’d marveled at it while she attended dinners with his father. He knew that soul well, both its aura, and its appearance.

But as Lux’s ability to sense shot out like a wave over the city, through the neighboring villages, across the entire continent, his stomach twisted.

He couldn’t find it.

No matter what happened, he could find the soul of someone he knew well. As long as he was on the same world as they were, he could find them.

Except, he couldn’t.

Usui’s soul was nowhere in sight.

Before he leaped to conclusions, he remembered two spots where he couldn’t trace a soul. Laiad, a county in the south, and the caverns.

Searching Laiad as the sun set would be a bitch. He’d do it if he had to, but at least the caverns would be a decent temperature.

He lapsed there.

In the brush, out of sight, obviously. Lux was many things, but not an imbecile.

And much to his shock, a guard stood at its entrance before the boulder used as a door. Lux wasn’t sure if he should smile with relief or grab that blade at his hip for something aside from his image.

This land was not guarded. There were spells around it that did that job. If a guard was stationed here, it meant someone was inside.

Luckily, Lux knew the spell to enter. Just as he knew a sleeping spell.

Killing the guard would’ve been easier, but Lux didn’t want to ruin his robe and fur.

He cast quietly. The moment he began speaking, the guard turned towards him. He squinted into the brush, reaching for his bow.

The man made it five steps before he tumbled to the icy mush.

Lux closed his eyes and scanned the vicinity for souls again. Like before, all he sensed were animals.

The snow crackled underfoot as he walked to the boulder, lit up bright as blood by the red sun setting on the horizon. He lifted a hand and waved it.

The rock rolled away from the cave’s entrance.

Lux opened his hands at his sides and recited the incantation. He knew it like he knew his own face in a mirror. Which was very well; there was nothing he liked to look at more.

His mother had made him recite these spells every night before bed as a boy.If we’re ever in danger, she’d said,you need to know this. The caverns are the only place on this world where we are forever safe.

Like it was supposed to, a wave of golden light started at the ground and floated over the cave’s entrance. Once it made it to the top, it burst into an explosion of white light.

Grabbing the torch off the wall on his right, Lux started inside.

Just as he knew the spells, he knew the maze of these tunnels. Many would get lost inside, but not Lux.

Droplets of water plopped from the ceiling to the stone underfoot as he walked. A rat scurried a few steps ahead. He searched for the throb of life once more, this time keeping his eyes open.

And he saw it.

Ahead, far ahead, was that vibrant orange laced with yellow and flecked with red.