Page 141 of To Free a Soul
I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh before.A small smile curled her lips as she looked at him with motherly affection.
“You won’t be able to hurt me, my little human. You will not be quick enough, nor strong enough.” With his arms folded, he stepped in front of her so they were facing each other. “I will carve you a wooden sword if it looks as though you might, but until I do, you will train with this. I will make sure we are careful.”
It’s been so long since I saw his orbs be anything other than blue or red. It’s nice to see them joyful for once.
The woman, short and of average physique, blew a few strands of her long, straight blonde hair from her eyes.
“You’re awfully arrogant for someone who has never seen me fight.” She stepped back and pointed her sword up at his bony snout brazenly. “I was pretty effective at killing those Demons to protect your sorry butt while you were unconscious.”
His chuckle deepened, and Lindiwe found herself laughing along with him. “I’m sure you were, but let’s make you better.”
Okay. So maybe she isn’t too bad.
Orpheus seemed genuinely content with her, and she didn’t appear to harbour any ill-will or resentment.
Reia swung carelessly as she chased Orpheus in a circle.
She tried with all her might to cut downwards, and the point hit the dirt and became lodged. Her green eyes widened, and she failed to remove it no matter how much she wiggled it up and down.
Orpheus wrapped one of his palms around the hilt of the sword, which so happened to encompass her small, nimble hands, and helped her to dislodge it. She didn’t gasp and shy away from his touch, nor did she swat it away with disgust.
They resumed the poor lesson.
She said something that did make Lindiwe feel a little better. “Wouldn’t it be better if you had your own sword so that I could attack it? It might help me learn.”
She doesn’t want to go out of her way to harm him, even if it’s an accident.That was a welcome change. Although her movements seemed careless, it looked like she was holding back from hurting him.
Orpheus turned his skull upwards, and Reia followed his gaze.
“That is a good idea, but something we will have to try tomorrow.” Grey clouds, which had already started thundering above Lindiwe, finally shaded the clearing out the front of his home. “It is going to rain.”
That’s true.She listened to the rumble of thunder. Her wooden shutters were closed and rattling against the wind, buther talisman kept her warm even without a fire.She’s been there a long while. Her food resources will be low.
It was lucky that Lindiwe was nearby. She always had this anxiety whenever she knew ten years had passed and it was time for Orpheus to find a new offering.
After a hundred and eighty years, Lindiwe tired of this. She tired of his sadness that would inevitably come once Reia was gone. She worried that this momentary contentment would only bring on a deeper sorrow than usual.
Lindiwe often regretted having put Orpheus on this path, but she also knew this hope was what kept him going. Like a puppy chasing his tail, he didn’t care if he got hurt, so long as he eventually obtained his prize.
Crawling off her bed, she mentally prepared herself for the journey, feeling remarkably empty inside. She threw her cloak around her shoulders, tossed her hood over her head, and stepped into the encroaching storm. She shifted into an owl before lifting off to battle the winds.
It didn’t take her long to arrive at Orpheus’ home situated in the middle of a large clearing. The rain had already come, wetting her feathers, but she was warmed by her talisman radiating a mild heat throughout her body.
She landed on the outskirts of his salt circle.
Demons loitered around Orpheus’ home whenever he had a human there, lured by the promise of meat from his past failures. When one rushed for Lindiwe in her owl form, she curled a tentacle around its neck, snapped it, and tossed it into the forest.
She waited for her opportune moment: when Orpheus was at the back of the house.
Then she started the annoying dance required to summon her growth magic. She bounced side to side, hopping from one taloned foot to the other, while lifting her wings up and downslightly. Reia was seated in a chair on the porch, showered in a glowing light that came from within as she ate from a bowl.
Lindiwe had no qualms about making her presence known.
It wasn’t the first time she’d shown herself to an offering, and she doubted it would be the last. She just hadn’t spoken to any of them since Lydia, the first.
She also hadn’t spoken to Orpheus since then, either.
What’s the point of getting to know them?She refused to intervene anymore, unless it was to be a silent waking hell whenotherstouched things that didn’t belong to them.So long as I’ve done my part, helped in this small way, that’s all that matters.
