Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,24

originate in the ancient Near East—Egypt, Persia, parts of China, where Buddhism blossomed.”

Sophia knew this very well. When she was Kira, she’d been immersed in the studies of body and soul as part of the healing arts that were typically forbidden to women.

“However,” Eveline continued, “if I trace back in the Dark Ones’ mythologies, and as all of us Immortals know, souls have always existed. It is the soul that could live forever, or have multiple incarnations, while the body is mostly temporary. Not all souls, but those with the Goddesses’ spark. It is the soul that dictates the mind and heart; the soul is the essence of who we are.”

Rain nodded. “This is why, in Eastern healing arts, it’s just as important to heal the soul as it is to heal the body. Without the body, the soul has no substance; it is not ‘alive.’ And the same is true of the body. Without the soul, the body is merely a shell.”

“My theory, without knowing the specifics of how Medusa went about it,” Eveline said, “is that she and her scientists figured out a way to separate or segregate the various parts of the soul from the body. And that is how they are turning the soldiers.”

“If you think about it, the way vampires used to turn others is the same concept. A vampire injects a part of their soul into the subject’s body. Some humans die from the process because their own souls depart and the fragment of the vampire’s soul isn’t enough to sustain them. Others survive if their own soul is very strong.”

Sophia seemed to recall that the Dark Ones’ Hunter was one such example, according to the intelligence Aella had gathered and Jade eventually confirmed, once she joined their ranks at the Shield.

“While the vampire lives, they would have influence over the subject they turned through the fragment of their soul in the subject’s body,” Eveline continued. “But of course, there’s a limit to how many turnings they can do, given that the fragmentation of their own soul would lead eventually to madness and death.”

“Not just Dark Ones,” Rain commented thoughtfully. “Look at Animal Spirits. In the context of souls, those ‘spirits’ possess humanoid shells as well as animal ones. And in Chinese, Japanese and Korean mythologies, there is a creature known as the Nine-tailed Fox, a spirit that wears human shells.”

Eveline dipped her head in acknowledgement. “Animal Spirits have been around almost as long as the earliest gods. My point is that—if we want to bring the Paladin back to himself, it is the soul we must heal. The body is par of the course. That’s the easy part.”

“I disagree,” Rain interjected in her soft but firm way. “I think the body is also key to bringing the warrior back. Medusa and Wan’er’s experiments focused on the body from what I can tell. I do not have evidence of what else she might have done in the turnings, but the physical evidence of her manipulations can be found in Dalair’s blood. Somehow, she used the body to suppress the soul. Or fracture it and compartmentalize the pieces.”

“By that logic,” Eveline murmured as she finished her bowl of stew, “there may be a way to heal the soul through the body.”

“And vice versa,” Rain concurred.

Sophia remained silent as she absorbed the discussion, her mind awhirl with what all of this could mean.

And then Benji said, already at work on his second cinnamon roll, “I think Sophie should just love him lots. The Book of the Dead from ancient Egypt basically says you’re supposed to talk a lot, cuz magic comes from words. So just tell him you love him all the time, Sophie, like a spell.”

He eyed her sideways, stuffing almost half of a roll into his mouth.

“You do love him, don’t you?” he mumbled with his mouth full.

“Yes,” she managed to reply faintly, rather astonished by his leaps of logic.

He swallowed after chewing too few times for healthy digestion and said, “And there’s the other thing that book talks about to help the healing process.”

His expressive face scrunched in a grimace that only little boys can make.

“What?” All three women asked as one, helplessly intrigued by Benji’s extrapolations.

“Saliva.”

He grimaced again.

“There are a bunch of spells in the book that talks about healing through saliva. So I guess you can lick him a lot too. Eeeww.”

Despite herself, Sophia smiled as she remembered Benji’s remarks, which derailed the entire conversation while also somehow enlightening all participants.