Page 80 of To Trap a Soul

Well... I did say I wanted to give them a predator skull.A bear was pretty formidable.And it is about time I start letting them grow.

Since her children didn’t seem to feel hunger, even after many months of not eating, she didn’t need to feed them. She could pick and choose when it suited her, or when opportunities arose.

With a nod and her arms tightening, Lindi decided.

She backed away from Nathair and his large meal until she figured it would be safe. Then she turned physical.

The child in her arms immediately went berserk. They squirmed, twisted, and tried everything in their might to get tothe source of blood permeating the air. Heat surrounded her from the scorching air, causing sweat to trickle down the back of her neck and hairline. She struggled with them until she had a strong grip on their barking, snarling body.

With his side facing them, Nathair paused and gave a wet growl as his snout remained buried in bloodied meat. She gulped when his orbs seemed to flare an even brighter red. Lindi stepped out of his line of sight and took a few more steps back until he stopped making a noise of aggression and resumed his meal.

Then she sent out a tentacle of black sand and wrapped it around the bear’s furry snout. Inch by inch, she slowly shifted it away from Nathair, trying not to alert him to what she was doing, until it was at her feet.

She placed her baby on the ground, and they scampered to it with quick little feet and hands. Their fangs were surprisingly sharp and strong as they destroyed the bone bit by bit. They happily smacked their maw after each bite, regardless of it being mainly bone.

Wanting to give them something meatier, she also stole a back leg from Nathair when he pushed his meal around and exposed its rump to her. He never noticed. Then again, he seemed more interested in its middle than its limbs. She gave the leg to the baby at her feet, whose white skull was already starting to form through the crown of their head.

They both managed to finish their meals at relatively the same time, preventing any need for her to intervene if one wanted what the other had.

Nathair’s length had grown exponentially, but he didn’t seem much thicker than before. The child at her feet, on the other hand, now looked like a small toddler – perhaps no larger than a one-year-old.

Along with their bear skull, little pawed feet had developed, with cute claws to match them.

She chuckled when they struggled to pick up their heavy skull after it drooped to the left, then they overcompensated and it fell to the other side, only for it to thump backwards on the ground. With their legs and arms flailing in the air, they rolled back, and she crouched down to help.

Supporting the base of their new skull, she picked them up, and they squealed in delight, their hands waving through the air to grab onto something.

“I think I already have a name for you,” she said, when they managed to grab a handful of glossy curls in their right fist. “How about Orson, my little bear cub?”

Her eyes softened as a small, loving smile curled her lips.It’s the name my father would have given his son, if he’d been presented with the opportunity.

A strong, sturdy name for someone treasured.

She thought it was fitting, and a wonderful way to honour someone she missed dearly.

January 1st, 1706

“How long do you intend to remain there?”Weldir asked, his quiet voice distant through their bond.

Throwing Orson into the air in the shelter of a shallow cave, only to catch his happily squealing torso a second later, Lindi shrugged. “However long is necessary to teach Nathair all he can learn.”

Light rain pattered beyond the mouth of the cave, into Nathair’s territory within the Veil, and splattered against his lake. The waterfall was stronger than usual, but it was difficult to hear its roar over theshaaof rain.

Where Lindi sought shelter was still within his territory. Although he rarely huddled in here, preferring to sleep in the lake where he was safest, he defended it ruthlessly. She eyed the noticeable claw marks on the walls. Nathair had been digging out this cave, perhaps to make a home outside of the water as much as within it.

It wasn’t very large, or deep.

With her back against the wall, the dying rain sprinkled onher toes and seeped towards the threshold as a growing puddle. Water continued to trickle down the cliff wall and threatened to put out the fire she had next to her. Its heat was unwelcome this deep into summer, but it’s light much needed with the moon obstructed by the dispersing clouds.

“Is that an issue?” Lindi pressed, masking her attitude with a nondescript tone.

“Not at all,”Weldir answered, catching her off-guard. She was surprised he didn’t seem to be in a rush for her to shoot out babies, like her womb was a living catapult.“I have no concept of your earthly time. I don’t know if it has been a few weeks or many years. I’m just curious as to your intentions.”

Or just trying to strum up a conversation.

“I always forget that you don’t feel the impact of time like I do,” Lindi admitted, lifting Orson up, then lowering him back to her face so they could rub noses. “Does that not bother you?”

“I cannot be bothered by something I have never experienced any other way.”

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