Page 20 of To Free a Soul
The name she’d chosen was the native word in the area for snow owl, which she found fitting with the skull she’d chosen for them. They were rather... pretty, with a neck and back of long black feathers that glistened with a blue sheen in the light. The rest of them was shaggy fur like a caribou, and the combination of their animalistic features made them rather striking.
When her Duskwalker child gave a whimper, Lindiwe sighed as she let her body relax on top of them. She likely weighed absolutely nothing to them, but she conceded and let herself roll off. Then, with autumn leaves crunching below her, she jumped to her feet.
She crept behind them, ready to turn incorporeal, and released the magic keeping them bound. They were freed.
As if she were a terrible being and something to be frightened of, instead of spinning around with razor-sharp claws bared on their humanoid hands, Ookpik let out a yelp. They scrabbled in place as they struggled to gain purchase on the muddied ground, then finally bolted into the forest. She threw her arms up against the dirt, rocks, and debris they kicked up as they fled from her.
The moment was bittersweet.
Although a smile teased her lips, her eyes crinkled with the same anguish as when one of her children finished forming from a juvenile into an adult. Ookpik’s scent stained her arms, and she rubbed her nose against one to try to commit it to memory.
Then she brushed her caribou-skin dress of dirt and closed her eyes while lifting her face to the rich light, letting it cascade over her to combat the chill that came from Ookpik’s disappearance.
“Well?” She cocked a brow playfully. “Are you going to take me or not?”
“I didn’t know if you were ready.”The world came out from under her.
There’s no point in me staying, she thought as her arms lifted above her head due to the inertia of falling before she slipped into the comfort of weightless darkness.I’ll return when they’ve achieved more humanity to teach them what I can.
She’d stayed long enough that they understood the worst of the dangers.
“Hello, Lindiwe,” Weldir greeted, floating upright – or it could have been sideways, who knew with his realm – a few metres from her.
Due to his orientation, she felt as though she was lying on her back on top of the ocean’s surface. She waved her hands to change the way she floated, mimicking his upright position until their gazes could meet each other’s properly.
“Hello, spirit of the void,” she sang.
The right side of his face cringed and flaked off, joining his pointed ear to make that more visible. She laughed at his instantaneous dislike of the term, which was exactly why she adored using it.
“I should punish you for that,” he stated with a growl.
A cruel smile pulled at her lips. “Only if you want to upset me.”
He came closer, his mist lagging behind the spiralling streaks of his visible physical form. Then he circled her, much like one would when assessing someone from head to toe and front to back.
“You’re lucky I find your teasing preferable to your everlasting ire.” He came to her front and grinned, and it was too large to be natural as he flashed his chalky black teeth and demonic canines. If she didn’t know better, it would have come across as menacing. “Any new artefacts to unload from your person?”
The crook of his elbow moved, revealing he likely had his hand out, even if she couldn’t see it. She opened her satchel and offloaded a few drawstring bags and a new journal.
His hand formed when she reached out with the bags, and he wiggled his claw tip at one of their necks to peek inside. Once his curiosity was sated, tendrils attached themselves to the four small bags and disappeared with them, and he took the book from her awaiting hand. He flicked through it, and although the pages turned quicker than she could blink, she wondered if he’d committed every line she’d written to memory.
“Do you want me to change your cloak now?” he asked before he’d finished with the journal, momentarily peeking up at her with only the bottom of his left eye down to his chin visible.
She pulled at the ties at her throat and handed her black raven-feathered cloak to him. “If you could.”
He took it and brushed a thumb through the weathered and damaged feathers. The way he peered down at them came across as odd, and perhaps sentimental, but her heart had already said goodbye to the garment.
She was ready for change and had been for a while.
“I’ll inform you once it’s ready,” he said, letting it go, and a tendril attached to it kept it tangible to him while dragging it away.
Placing her hands behind her back and holding her right wrist, Lindiwe swayed back and forth on the heels of her feet – hoping it didn’t look odd in the ether she floated in. “Actually, I was wondering if I could stay this time?”
His face disintegrated entirely when he reared back, his head becoming just a cloud of mist. “You want to remain here?” he asked, a frown evident in his puzzled tone.
“I was hoping I could read through my journals and check what items I’ve left here.” She tried to muster an understanding smile. It was the first time she’d offered to remain in his presence, so it had to be strange to him that she wasn’t trying to flee. “I thought I could do this while I wait.”
“It might take me some time, though.”
