Soul Meld

By Tadeu Aratel

Not many associate dying with becoming a lab rat, but that's just Luna's luck. Silver lining: she might get another shot a living again, if she survives the trials.
The catch: Her new body is not hers alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tadeu Aratel
• Release date: Apr 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310012341

Tadeu Aratel

Born in 1997, Tadeu Aratel spent most of his pre-writing life as a bored introvert, constantly escaping into great novels, games, animes, and mangas. The writing started almost by accident at age 16, but now it occupies his mind day and night.His passion lays withing the realm of speculative fiction, with Fantasy being the target of his greatest aspirations. As for education, he's currently in between majors, and seeking to study Languages in college.Currently, he's more worried about learning the fundamentals than finding representation. Though recently his work has reached a level where he can finally be a little proud of it.Just a little.

Book preview

Soul Meld

By Tadeu Aratel

Copyright 2016 Tadeu Aratel

Smashwords Edition

License Notes:

This free ebook may be copied, distributed, reposted, and shared for non-commercial purposes, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration. If you enjoyed this story, please return to your favorite ebook retailer to discover other works by this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Epilogue

Afterword

Connect with Tadeu Aratel

About Tadeu Aratel

Chapter 1:

Luna Woodspirit

"Subject: Nº214, combatant.

Destination: MRF 13.

Test Objective: Examine physiological and metaphysical reactions in moments leading to, during, and right after death. Assure 0% survival rate by any means necessary."

–from The Meld Research Project Archive, website accessed on April 29, 2322.

Luna had never been much attached to material objects. Swords and clothes were tools; gold and riches only valuable for the experiences they could buy. But the Vords… oh, the Vords deserved attachment.

Luna stood on the deck of her ship, with a dark scarf covering her mouth. The ship moved steadily forward on the calm waters, sailing under the pale light of the moon and the Eternal Essence. She held her trusted bow on one hand and admired her Blue Vord in the other.

The Vord was shaped like a coin with a square hole in its center. It glowed with a steady blue light, but under the glassy surface the light wasn’t steady. No, the Essence within the Vord swirled around, twisting upon itself in a way that she always found hypnotizing. Thanks to that little coin, she had power over the wind.

Her ship slowed to a halt. Luna’s ship, the Crescent Moon, was rather small. It had black sails and flew no flag. A hundred yards ahead was a ship almost three times the size of the Crescent’s size, flying the blue diamond of the Azurian Trade Company. It was tonight’s target.

A tall man approached her, wearing a hood and a mask.

We’re all set, Captain Eagle, he said.

Eagle was her. The nicknames hadn’t been her idea; she didn’t care about hiding her identity, but played along with the crew.

Luna nodded, then she put the Vord away in her pocket. Time to work. She grabbed a large arrow from the floor. The arrow was twice the size of a regular one, its feathers and tip were pitch black and a thick rope was looped around its shaft. The rope extended to the floor, where it pooled around Luna’s feet.

Luna stringed the arrow and took aim. The crew of the other ship was gathered on their deck and seemed to be arguing about something. They were dragging a hooded figure to the edge of the ship. Would they throw him overboard? It didn’t matter — their distraction worked to Luna’s advantage. She aimed at the ship’s stern, tensed her bow, and then tapped into her Vord.

Essence flowed out of the Vord and into Luna’s body, a cloud of cold smoke seeping into her flesh. Luna willed the Essence out of her, and it fused with the air, giving Luna control over it. At her command, air flowed towards the tip of Luna’s bow, spiraling until it formed a small tornado around her arrow’s tip, one that threatened to yank the arrow out of her hand. Luna let go of the string.

The arrow shot right through the center of the small tornado and spiraled away. Luna gave it an extra push with her wind before the arrow left her range. The projectile zipped through the air, flying almost in a straight line despite its weight, and hit the back of the other ship. The rope now extended between both embarkations, with most