Page 173 of To Free a Soul
Lindiwe’s wounded hands gripped the bark of the tree. “Take me to the southern portal,” she demanded.
I’m sorry, Ingram.
Sayrn needed her more, even if that came at a cost.
Within seconds, she was swallowed up by Weldir’s darkness, and she turned transparent for him. She refrained from asking why his form was more solid than usual, considering one-third of him was currently visible when she’d expected it to be barely a fraction of that.
Looking upon him was hurtful. More than ever, she wanted to crawl into his arms and be hugged, even if it was truly just tendrils and barriers and not a real body.
Weldir healed her wounds the moment she arrived, and she was thankful for that. They hadn’t hurt as much as what ached within, and part of her preferred them, as they were a distraction from her inner turmoil.
She hadn’t wanted to admit that.
“Can you please take these two?” Lindiwe asked, pulling away the two babies attached to her, thankful they were asleep and didn’t cry at the loss of her. “I don’t want to take them somewhere so dangerous.”
“Yes. I have more than enough power right now to risk taking them,” Weldir said. “Be careful there.”
Lindiwe nodded as their babies were taken from her person by shadowy tendrils and brought to his side.
“Okay. I’m ready,” she stated firmly, waiting to be sent away.
“One moment. There is something pulsating from you.” A tendril dug into one of her cloak pockets and pulled out the mana stone that had been on Merikh’s table. “What is this?” Weldir asked as he held it in his hand.
“We don’t have time for this!” Lindiwe exclaimed, wondering why he wasn’t sending her away so she could go after Sayrn.
Weldir looked up from the stone, and half his revealed face showed nothing. No emotion, as per usual. “This is Elysian magic, Lindiwe. How did you obtain it?”
“I found it in Merikh’s cave. He had an Elven woman there.”
“I’ll have to ask you for details about that later.” He brought the blue stone closer to inspect the way the centre intermittently glowed a dull yellow. “I’ve never seen this kind of spell before.”
His curious nature got the better of him.
Weldir activated it, and agony like she’d never known cut through her. Lindiwe screamed just as her Phantom form tried to push out of her physical human body. A blinding light brightened his realm, swallowing up all the shadows until only white remained.
It seemed to sear her down to her very soul.
“Stop it, stop it!” she screamed, before everything went dark.
Lindiwe knew she’d passed out. She came to with her muscles twitching erratically, and Weldir holding her limp head from behind to steady it.
“Are you okay?” he asked, a frown marring his chalky forehead.
“No,” she croaked, although she felt nothing, as if he’d healed her or the pain no longer existed anymore.
“It appears to be some kind of sun spell.” He continued to hold her, and for a moment, Lindiwe basked in it – even though there was no warmth of true skin or life. She’d wanted to be held so badly by him that she kept her limbs loose just for a little while longer. “This stone is dangerous, but even I can see its potential. This might be the answer we have been seeking.”
“In what way?” she asked softly.
Seeing as she was fine enough to respond, he let go, and she held back the urge to keep him to her.
“Let me experiment with it before I give you a proper answer.” He put space between them while inspecting it inquisitively, his focus solely lost on it. “You’ll have to take our offspring, though, as it had an effect on all three of you. The spirits of Tenebris seemed to be unaffected by it. Go to Sayrn.”
“But what about them?” she asked when he handed the sleeping babies back to her.
“It’s unwise for them to remain, as the stone is harmful to them,” Weldir said. “And if it drains my mana, or I have to use a soul for any means...”
She considered telling him she didn’t care if they were trapped here temporarily – no harm would come to them. Yet... the idea of being without them for an extended period, which could be upwards of many years, frightened her just as much.
