Soul Census - War of Shadows - Book 1

by AJVega

Rated: 13+ · Book · Fantasy · #1877118

Paranormal fantasy set in 1930s. Elements of Reincarnation, Soulmates, Mythology & Nazis

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#755932 added March 11, 2026 at 2:28pm
Restrictions: None

Chapter 3.3 - Lover's Bond

Earth Date: 4th of September 1340 CE
Location: Spirit Realm

Zarad floated in ethereal form with his soul mate, Aloli. The two of them hovered over the Celestial Pool. The pool resembled a small lake filled with glowing blue water. Within it, tiny ripples sparkled with the beauty of endless possibilities.

The water shimmered with an energy fabric that stretched out to the infinity of time and space, connecting all things together in the unity of life. Beneath its surface waited countless bodies they could reincarnate into, each a life planned with joys and tragedies—lives to be chosen out of the catalog of time.

Zarad knew all of this because he, like all the other souls here, could speak with every manifestation in the Spirit Realm. Constructed by ethereal energies, these creations all had a purpose. The Celestial Pool existed to provide spirits a preview of the lives they could reincarnate into next. An important decision for Zarad and Aloli.

“So would you like to trade genders this time around?” Aloli said, excitement in her tone.

Zarad watched Aloli gracefully glide near the edge of the Celestial Pool. Her tendrils draped down from below the apex of her form, dragging behind her as she hovered—each twinkling with flakes of multicolored energy. Gazing at her, he was reminded of the long golden hair she once had in their most recent life together. Zarad wondered why she did not appear to him in her usual human visage—a form that sparked wonderful memories of their Earthly life.

“Gender switch?” Zarad finally said. “No, I’m not ready for that again.”

“Oh, come on,” she said, throwing her tendrils around him.

Her touch infused him with the loving energy that was her signature.

“I promise it will be better this time,” she said. “I will be much nicer to you.”

Zarad grimaced at the recollection of that particular life. It was on Earth in 1252, during the rule of the Golden Horde, and they had been opposite genders then. She was a male lieutenant in the Möngke Khan, and he was a female peasant in one of the villages she invaded in the southern steppes of Russia. Aloli took Zarad to be her personal slave and forced him to succumb to her every whim—a male role she played all too well.

Although they were all essentially actors in their human roles, the scars and memories would be carried forward in the spirit world once the body expired. It took him a while to forgive her back then.

“That was a long time ago,” she said. “I would never do that to you now.”

Zarad knew any promises she would make now in the Spirit Realm could not be honored once they incarnated on Earth. The Fugue—a temporary amnesia imparted by the spirit onto the physical mind—would make certain of that.

“Oh… so what if we can’t remember,” she said, reading his thoughts. “Things are much more civilized in the twentieth century. They would never allow you to be my slave now.”
Aloli pulled him closer with her tendrils—their touch intoxicated him.

“Well, you’re right,” Zarad said with a grin. “That was a long time ago… and besides, who says I wouldn’t want to be your slave again this time, hmm?”

He stretched his tendrils around her, and their energy fabric draped around her translucent form. He then sent his essence through them and into her ethereal body. As his energy passed into her, he could see its green-colored energy flow and pulsate while orbiting around her core.

“So this is why you came to me in spirit form?” he said, interrupting the ethereal foreplay.

“Of course, my love… what did you expect?” she said.

Zarad looked up at her and smiled. He could see her radiate with glee in anticipation of what would come next. He sent his green energy into her. It orbited around her yellow core, not yet touching until the right moment.

“I love you,” they said in unison as his energy shot into her core.

It should have been a moment of complete oneness and ecstasy. Instead he felt a burst of repelling energy. The streams violently snapped away from each other, rattling him and breaking the two apart. They flew back away from each other, their intimate union ended.

Shocked at what happened, they stared on in silence for a moment.

“Are you okay?” he managed.

He knew immediately what had happened, but he did not want to look down at his core to confirm it.

“Look at yourself,” Aloli said, one of her tendrils pointing at him.

As he stared at her beauty, he immediately felt sadness emanate from her.

“Look at your core!” she shouted.

Reluctantly he gazed down at his energy to verify what he already suspected. Within his yellow-and-green core, he could now see a splattering of purple. The green was fine, its hue close enough to her yellow energy to be compatible. But this purple, although a sign of advancement in the Spirit Realm, was a new and unwelcome addition to his ethereal makeup.

For thousands of Earth years the two of them had incarnated on that planet, living hundreds of lives together as soul mates. Now, somehow, he had advanced past her—and they could no longer even touch one another. As he examined her, he felt relieved that he could still read her thoughts—at least the bond was still there!

“It’s okay,” he said. “We can still feel each other’s minds and—”

“No! The bond is not there either.” Her form bloomed a halo of blue energy outward—she was upset. “I can’t read you!”

So that was it. They could not combine anymore, and he was now too advanced for her to be read.

“Wait, please don’t feel that way,” he said. “There is a way… I’ll stop incarnating for a while—let you incarnate without me so that you can catch up.”

Aloli silently withdrew from him, and her usual radiant glow began to sputter from the incoherent state of her energy makeup—her essence was in distress from this.
“You know it doesn’t work that way,” she said. “You can’t slow down. Even if you could, I wouldn’t want you to.”

Zarad did not want to believe it but could not argue the point. She was right. Even if he could slow down, even if he could convince Aloli to let him sacrifice his progression to be with her, the Spirit Council would never allow it.

“Say something,” she said.

Zarad gazed at her a moment. Then it dawned on him.

“I can’t read you!” she shouted.

“I… I know,” he said.

She spun around. Her ethereal robes whipped out, sending marbles of blue energy rolling down to the ground.

“I’m sorry, Aloli,” he said, trying to think of a way to comfort her. “I will talk to Vero. He will help us.”

Aloli floated away. He could feel her confusion and uncertainty—they had never been unable to mutually read each other.

“Go see your Spirit Guide, Zarad,” she said. “I am leaving so I can go meditate on this.”

He reached out to stop her but then hesitated. There was much negative energy in her—she needed her time alone now.

Silently he watched her float toward the nearest transference ring. Then, reaching out with her tendrils, she turned to face him one more time, and their eyes met.

“Aloli,” he telepathized, “can’t you hear me?”

Instead of responding, she dipped her tendrils into the ring. It lit up and sucked her form in, disappearing through the portal. Floating in reverie, he gazed at the vastness of the Spirit Realm around him. Endless lights blinked in the expanse, each representing one of the many souls that existed here.

Zarad’s eyes searched the nebulae of spirits for her, wishing she was there beside him to gaze at the beauty of the parade of souls. Instead he caught pairs of other soul mates passing through, their tendrils interlocked hand to hand as they moved together through the Spirit Realm. Soul mates who could still touch …

It was a mere moment ago that Zarad and Aloli were able to join, but now it felt like a distant memory—one he wished he could erase like the Fugue. Zarad hovered alone and felt displaced. His singular light flickered like a dying candle flame amid the company of souls.

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