Page 51 of A Soul to Guide

The gate door finished opening, and the Priest ushered them through the black iron gate.

There was a small, flat, grey cobblestone pathway that led to ten steps. Two inhuman-looking statues appeared, like part rabbit and part water deer at the bottom.

There were a handful of trees that spanned all the way around the temple, the grassy field lush, as though it was maintained with the most fertile soil and nutrients.

At the top of the steps was a monumental temple made of grey brick and black iron. Above the black iron double doors, a stained-glass window of a world totally and utterly different to Earth had been cut and shaped. In the sunlight, it glittered, and he was sure it smeared its colours against the floors inside.

The temple’s roof was pointed in the middle, but there were two towers on each side sporting white flags with purple runic symbols painted on them.

The flags matched the heavy white robe the Priest wore. There were purple runes painted along every seam, as though the very cloak itself was a cloth of protection.

When they reached the door, the Priest turned to them and paused for far longer than Merikh found comfortable. It was obvious he was looking between him and Raewyn, but his clay mask gave no insight.

“If you would like,” he stated, turning his clay mask to Raewyn, “he can remain with us, but I would be happy to guide you through the temple.”

As long as Merikh was able to remain by her side so they couldn’t plot against him, he wouldn’t stop her from making her decision. He waited for her to step away from him to take the guidance of another – a stranger, someone more human-like and less... him-like.

Merikh wasn’t foolish enough to not accept the reality that Raewyn was only being familiar with him out of necessity. He’d been her only option for the past week, so when given whatmostwould consider a better choice, why wouldn’t she take the offer?

He expected her to shy and shirk away from him like he and his feelings didn’t matter. In their minds, why should a ‘monster’ care?

She was hesitant, her response slow to come, but she gripped the rope she was holding tighter.

“No, I’m fine as I am.”

Merikh twisted his head at that, his orbs shifting to bright yellow in surprise. She’d chosen him, and a strange kind of pride puffed his chest.

It may have meant little to her, but she’d given him just a small sliver of something he’d never been given before: acceptance that wasn’t through his own deceit.

“Are you sure?” the Priest pressed. “I’m sure you’d be more comfortable w–”

“She said she’s fine with me,” Merikh cut in with a growl, snuffing the urge to curl his arm around Raewyn’s shoulders and possessively keep the pretty Elf glued to his side. “Hurry up and open the door.”

The Priest swiftly turned and shoved open the black iron doors.

Musky incense burned in the back of his throat, but it was pleasant despite its oversaturation as it billowed past him.

Although the outside of the temple was made of bleak stone, the inside appeared warmer and more inviting, due to the wooden carvings etched into timber sheets. On every surface of the back wall were candles of varying colours, as well as a large ring of them in the very centre of the sanctum.

Black cloth tapestries hung from the ceiling, a language he didn’t understand painted on them in purple.

He’d thought everything would be light, with more white and purple, but the inside of the temple appeared darker. Black seemed to be their preference, as though they honoured and revelled in the darkness of it.

It was the polar opposite to how they dressed.

Upon their entry, a small choir in the back right corner abruptly stuttered to a halt, as did the walk of a person who glanced up from the text they were reading to look their way.

None of them wore the masks connected to their sashes by a loop, and Merikh noted the same people he’d seen many times.

Their skin colours were similar to that of humans, their hair similar as well, but their three glowing eyes revealed they were of a completely different species. Two of their eyes sat where a human’s would, but they had an additional one in the middle, right above their brow bone.

All three eyes moved in unison, and they often glowed pink, blue, or gold, with a downward slitted pupil.

Merikh knew from experience that if you removed everything but their masks, they looked human. If you opened one up, their blood was red, their heart and lungs the same.

It was their faces that were different, as were their scents.

Everyone gasped upon seeing Merikh’s towering form. One even ran through a side door to escape the sanctuary. If it weren’t for the incense and his nose covering, he was sure they’d all reek of delectable fear.

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