Song of Souls - Skye MacKinnon

Chapter 1

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Song of Souls © Copyright 2020 Skye MacKinnon

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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

Cover by Wilde Book Designs.

Published by Peryton Press.

skyemackinnon.com

Blurb

Nobody can resist his call…. not even her…

The Piper’s music is alive, drawing souls from the world of the living to the domain of Death. Those who hear him have no choice but to follow - when the Piper calls you, you will do as you are told.

Everything changes…even the unchangeable…

Autumn is on the run from the Cult of the Hundred after witnessing something she should never have seen. She's fighting for survival; she doesn’t have time for distractions. That is, until she meets a man nobody but her can see. When he speaks, her body does what the Piper commands, but she’s not going to accept that. Not at all.

A new song has begun…

He’s played his tune for a hundred years, but no living human has ever seen him. Until Autumn. His music is only supposed to control those destined to leave this world, but to make Autumn stay with him, he might have to change the rules. Forever.

A quick word before we get started

This book is set in a world very similar to our own, but a few hundred years before our time. The difference to our world is that technology, science and society have developed differently, as you will see once you get started.

This book is written in British English and uses some British expressions and idioms. Please don’t see these as spelling mistakes. We say mum rather than mom, use a lot of ‘s’ instead of ‘z’ (cosy, realise, …) and use ‘got’ as the past participle of ‘get’ (instead of ‘gotten’).

And finally, subscribe to Skye’s newsletter for updates about new releases: skyemackinnon.com/newsletter.

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For Laura, Song of Soul’s fairy godmother who wished this book into existence

Prologue

It has been one hundred years since our children left.

Mothers wept.

Families were torn apart.

They all searched for them.

Not a single child was ever found.

And amongst it all, the question, the oldest question there is.

Why?

Chapter 1

Him

Time has lost all importance. It's a leaf on the wind, carried away into oblivion.

Only the music counts. The Song guides me from town to town, compels me to do my work before leading me to the next place. It has been one hundred years since the day I first set foot on Earth, yet most of the time it feels like only a day has passed. Only sometimes do I feel the heavy burden of time, when I give in to the very human sensation of boredom.

Every day follows the same pattern. It is reassuring that way. I don't have to change my ways. The Song never ends. And on and on I go, travelling the land, never seen, never noticed. Even the humans with the Song inside of them can't see me. They follow my call, eager and willing, yet they never get to know who's herding them to their destiny.

I'm not a vain person, yet sometimes, I wish they could see me. I have not spoken to anyone since I was placed in this world. Lie. I have spoken to humans, whispered into their ears, but they never reply. They cannot hear me. I exist in the corner of their eye, in the shadows they fear, never seen. Some feel my presence, a shiver running down their back, the feeling of being watched, but none of them sees me.

I understand why it has to be that way. They would never follow my call if they knew it was me. Most of their stories are wrong, but they have described my looks in many of them. The horns, the glowing eyes that resemble burning coals. I am not the devil in their fairy tales, but I certainly look like him. For a while, I styled my beard into a goatee to match their descriptions, but that got boring after some time since nobody could see it anyway.

Today, the Song leads me to a village I've not been to before. That