Authors: Stuart Jaffe

Tags: #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Epic, #Sword & Sorcery, #Science Fiction, #Adventure, #Magic, #Fantasy, #Post-Apocalyptic, #final, #action, #blues

The Way of the Soul (31 page)

“No.” She looked hard at Tommy. “I don’t want you or her or anybody using magic to prolong my life. Heck, I never wanted you to fix my arm, why would I want you to give me artificial years?”

Tommy squeezed her knee. He understood.

To answer the confusion on Fawbry’s face, Malja said, “This morning, when I woke, my do-kha had shriveled into a ball on the floor. I no longer have enough life to feed it. So, I know my time is near.”

“You’ve got to let us do something. You don’t deserve to die so soon.”

“I lived enough. I’m content. But I want a few things done after I’m gone.”

“Stop talking like that.”

“Stop arguing with me. I’m dying. Accept it.” Malja let her words hang in the air until Fawbry sat back — unhappy but knowing he couldn’t change things. “I want you to give Viper to Hirasa. She’s a wonderful fighter, and she deserves a wonderful weapon.”

Fawbry glanced in the direction of the fireplace that Viper hung upon. Wiping a tear from his cheek, he lowered his head with a slight nod.

“Thank you. Tommy, I want you and the Artisoll to take my do-kha and return it to its world. I don’t know if it’s still alive, but even if it’s dead, that’s where it belongs. The grandchildren can have anything in my house that they want. Whatever is meaningful to them, whatever will bring them joy, they should have it.”

Fawbry sniffled. “Yes, absolutely. Whatever you want done.”

“And to you both, I have nothing to give but my thanks. Thank you so much for helping me all those years ago and for being my family. Ever since we defeated Harskill and retired from that life, there hasn’t been a day in which I didn’t give thanks to you both in my heart. I’ve thought a lot about the things we saw, the things we did. I’ve wondered if we were good or just another part of the problem. I know we tried to do good, but even Harskill believed he was trying to do good.”

“There’s a huge difference between him and us.” Fawbry forced a smile. “For one thing, I’m a lot more fun.”

“You certainly are. I don’t know if I ever could have survived all that we did, if I didn’t have you to bring levity into my life. And Tommy, you brought me a greater purpose. You’ve been a son to me. Nothing could ever come close to what I feel for you. You both have been loyal to my true self — even when I failed or when I went against my own beliefs, the two of you stayed by my side and helped me regain my footing. If we did any good, it was because of you both.”

“We saved a lot of lives.”

Malja stared into them. “We did. But we took a lot of lives as well. I can only hope for us all that we balanced out our bad with the good we accomplished. And even if we failed in that equation, there is one good I know to my core that we succeeded in. We saved each other — our very souls.”

They sat together for a few more hours. They were quiet for much of it. Occasionally, they reminisced about one adventure or another.

At length, Malja stood and ushered them away. Fawbry cried a little more and Tommy shed a few tears, but in the end, they said good-bye one final time and walked away. She knew they would come back in the morning, expecting to handle her cold body and carry out her bequests. But they would not find her. She had another plan in mind.

She walked through her house, giving a moment to each room, but mostly she wanted to spend a little time with Viper. It was too heavy for her to take off the wall, so she stared at it and ran her hand over the hilt. Yes, Hirasa was the right one for this exquisite blade. She would make it sing again.

“Nothing left to do,” she whispered.

Her heart fluttered with a sensation she had not experienced in ages — fear. It brought a smile to her face. She could feel adrenaline trickling along her veins. Closing her eyes, she had no trouble seeing herself on the battlefield, preparing to take down a terrible enemy.

Her eyes snapped open as she stepped onto the porch. The ocean roared at her. She clenched her fists and narrowed her focus.

One last fight.

The battlefield stretched before her.

She walked into the water. Cold enough to make her gasp.

And she kept walking.

You've finished Malja, now meet Max!

THE MAX PORTER PARANORMAL MYSTERIES

Delving into the dark secrets of the South.

When Max Porter moves to Winston-Salem, NC, he soon discovers his office is haunted by the ghost of a 1940s detective. Thrust neck-deep into a world of old mysteries and dangerous enemies, Max will face ghosts, witches, curses, covens, ancient spells, and much more.

Real North Carolina history meets the paranormal in this thrilling mystery series.

"
Southern Bound
gets it right! A great blend of ghosts and gumshoes. If you like haunting mysteries, you'll love
Southern Bound!
"
- Edgar-nominated author, Joel Goldman

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are always so many people to thank, but when it comes to this series, they've all been thanked before. For this final time around, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all properly. This series has meant so much to me because it was the first one that you guys really latched on to. Without you reading and reading all of Malja's adventures, I would not have been able to go on and write the other works I've done. Especially The Bluesman series. Without that series, I wouldn't be able to do The Bluesman comic book limited series and so much more.

So, thank you.

I say it all the time, but without you, I'm just telling stories to myself. So, thanks for reading and keeping me out of an asylum!

About the Author

Stuart Jaffe is the author of
The Malja Chronicles,
the
Max Porter Paranormal-Mysteries,
the
Gillian Boone
novels,
Real Magic,

After The Crash,
and
10 Bits of My Brain,
as well as numerous short stories appearing in magazines and anthologies. He is the co-host of
The Eclectic Review
— a podcast about science, art, and well, everything. For those who keep count, the latest animal listing is as follows: four cats, one albino corn snake, one Brazilian black tarantula, three aquatic turtles, seventeen chickens, and a horse. Thankfully, the chickens and the horse do not live inside the house.

Stuart can be easily found online at these sites:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

The Way of the Soul
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

THE WAY OF THE SOUL

Cover art by Jeff Dekal

First Edition: July, 2015

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