Page 138 of To Free a Soul
Lindiwe didn’t care about whatever messed-up dynamic their relationship had. Or that it was obvious Katerina was impatient for the demise of Lindiwe’s children and was punishing Jabez for it.
She quickly followed after Woik and the woman who’d suggested his presence. Woik was a tall Demon, perhaps close to encroaching on Jabez’s height, with muscles nearly twice as big. Yet he walked with a dignified grace and silence unexpected for his size.
He was taken through a doorway that opened to a spiralling stone staircase. A guard behind them grabbed a torch from the wall just outside to brighten the dark descending tunnel.
Growls, snarls, and pitiful whines echoed from the belly of the castle, and each step down brought them closer to it. It frayed Lindiwe’s nerves, and she desperately wanted to pass them and go to her precious son.
But she needed to remain undiscovered, especially as she had no idea where she was going.
The moment their approach was scented, Leonidas bashed against the wall.
“My barrier is still doing well to keep it contained,” Woik stated, baritone voice soft and gentle.
He knelt in front of the wooden door that didn’t shudder, even with Leonidas trying, with all his might, to hit it. The barrier protecting it trembled instead. Woik drew a symbol on the ground, a mix of triangles she couldn’t decipher, and placed his hand over it.
He grunted as orange wafted from between his fingers like smoke. Sounds of the distressed Duskwalker dampened before fading completely.
He then stood and rubbed his wrist.
“I understand his majesty doesn’t wish to maintain this kind of magic, but I’m unsure how long I’ll be able to keep both present at the same time. I’ll remain in the castle so I can warn him if it fails, and he can apply them himself.”
“Do you know why he won’t?” the woman asked. “It doesn’t seem that hard, and his abilities are much stronger than yours.”
He turned to the woman and narrowed his white brows at her. Pointed Elvish ears flicked. “Do you really have that little understanding of the significance of what he does? The deepest well has an end if you drink from it constantly.”
The woman averted her gaze. “This just seems so minor.”
Woik reached up to scratch at his short white hair. His skin was a light tan, likely from eating many humans, but he’d retained many Elvish features.
“Think about all he does. The sun barrier on the castle throughout the day, the scent cloak in the village at all times, the constant need to teleport, the wards he requires to sleep safely, and he must battle constantly to maintain his position on the throne. He must save his reserves, or he will have nothing to expend when he needs it most.” Woik then waved towards the silent door. “Demanding minor assistance is not a sign of weakness, but of someone who understands that not doing so and failing means death. It’s not laziness; it’s intelligence. He’s tired, he’s spending too much, and it’sirritatinghim. Only a fool would fail to see that all this expenditure is taking its toll on a mortal being.”
He then turned to leave up the staircase. At the bottom of the dark, winding, ascending corridor, he gave her an unfeeling stare from the corner of his eye.
“I suggest you relay that to the other guards within this castle before your insolent words cause him to think your loyalty is shallow, and he removes you...violently.”
After he left, the woman shuddered as she peeked at the other guard. “Scary.”
Their footsteps padded after him quickly.
Now that she was alone, Lindiwe turned to Leonidas’ dungeon cell. She cupped her hands nervously, unsure if she wanted to see the horrible state of her child. She quickly squashed that down and passed through the door, and magical barrier, freely.
Now that the smells of people were gone, he no longer attacked the door, but he bashed against every surface for freedom. He looked fine. There wasn’t a single wound on him, but Lindiwe knew better.
The overheard conversation from earlier was enough proof that they had tried all manner of things to kill him. His trembling limbs and white orbs, constantly spiralling with red before being engulfed in fear, proved he wasn’t okay.
On all fours in his monstrous form, he paced as he whimpered, only to snarl and run headfirst into a wall, bashing it with his curling ram horns for freedom.
“Leonidas,” Lindiwe whispered, turning physical so he could smell her familiarity even if it often unnerved her children.
Leonidas backed up into a corner, the vortex fire of his orbs rotating into crimson, but he didn’t attack. He defended himself like a skittish creature that had been tortured, swiping his claws whenever she neared. When she came too close, he slammed his hand down, parted his feline fangs, and hissed.
“Please calm down,” she cooed, lifting her hands up so he could see they were empty. “I’m not going to hurt you, little one.”
Darting forward in a blur of chomping fangs, he locked his jaw around her arm faster than she could turn incorporeal. Lindiwe screamed as she turned Phantom and floated away from him while holding her elbow to support her injured forearm.
That’s not like him.He wasn’t enraged; she wouldn’t have approached otherwise. He’d chosen to bite her consciously, and Leonidas wasn’t inherently violent like many of her other children.
The taste of her blood sent him over the edge, and he sprinted from one side of the cell to the other in search of more. He attacked her ghostly body, not understanding it wasn’t touchable in that moment.
