Page 125 of A Soul to Guide

Sitting on her hip against the ground between Merikh’s crouching knees, a cold chill crept down her spine. Dread took hold, and her eyes widened as she patted his chest.

“What do you mean, you don’t have that hand right now?”

Just as she touched his left shoulder joint, her hands retracted when he hissed out a breath.

“Holy maiden, Merikh, your arm is gone!”

His answering chuckle was surprisingly filled with humour before he let out a groan. “Yeah. Noticed that myself.”

This was what he found funny? Raewyn burst into tears, wishing to wipe this day from her memory completely.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologised as she covered her face, too worn out to care if he found her tears awkward. “I should have been more careful.”

“The fuck you apologising for? Do you know how close you were to dying?”

She had a feeling she was close to death with the three Duskwalkers around. “Yeah, but–”

“I brought you to my home with the intention of protecting you, and I almost failed on that promise today. I didn’t realise the twins would come here. If I need to leave the area, I’ll take you with me, so you aren’t attacked again.”

“N-no, it’s fine. I kind of liked them.”

“Youlikedthem?” His tone was aghast.

“Sure. They asked me to name them and then got into a fight about who would be named first. It was silly, but was also kind of funny, like two kids fighting over a toy.” Then she rubbed her arm as she said, “I just didn’t like being the toy.”

His silence was uncomfortable. She could almost feel him peering at her in a certain way.

“Merikh... Did you... Are they...” Gosh, she couldn’t even bring herself to ask the question.

Would she judge him for it? She wished that wasn’t one of the reasons she was so hesitant about asking.

“No, I didn’t kill them. Even if that is my intention, I can never bring myself to do it – whether I’m in that enraged state or not.” Her shoulders sagged in relief. “They’ll grow their bodies back in a day, like I will with my arm.”

“Their bodies?” she asked as she wiped at her face to remove the stain of her tears.

“I beheaded them,” he answered without a shred of remorse.

The idea only made her dizzy. “Can we go inside? I really want to go inside.”

“You can. I, on the other hand, am covered in blood and will make a mess.”

She nibbled at her bottom lip, wishing there was something she could do for him. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any healing magic.

Then, her chest ached as she said, “I lost my cane. I think it’s in the lake.”

It must be lost forever, but she really wanted it back.

“I’ll find it for you. If not, I’ll make you a new one.”

She wished she could offer him a thankful smile, but she couldn’t muster one right then. “Thank you.”

He helped her to her feet and guided her back towards his home. Her ears twitched the entire time, hating that he was suppressing his whines like he was ashamed of them. She could tell he was limping, and she thought he might be more wounded than he let on.

“I think I broke the flowerpot when I dropped it,” he grumbled quietly when they made it to the entrance.

“That’s fine. If it’s mostly intact, we can strap it back together.”

Standing near the entrance of his cave, Merikh watched the Elf and the two Mavkas spending time together. Raewyn was sitting on the ground with the raven-skulled Mavka acting as her back support, while the other had his bat skull resting in her crossed legs.

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