Page 89 of To Free a Soul
Lindiwe wouldn’t be here to watch human after human die, and for her son to be hurt over it time and time again. He wanted a companion, and hopefully she’d done her best to facilitate thatfor him one day, but this was where she had to stop. Where she had to protect her own heart, shield herself from guilt, and step back.
Orpheus had to make his own choices, his own mistakes, and learn on his own.
The most she would do was grow the garden.
November 5th, 1848
Lindiwe hesitated at the boundary of a protection ward. She desperately wanted to go inside it, yet was utterly resolute about not doing so. The person inside didn’t want to see her, speak with her, or be anywhere near her.
With the side of her right hand placed between her breasts, as if she could still her heart, she considered... leaving. Why force this bond when it was obvious he didn’t want it? Why try, when it always seemed to do more harm than good?
But this is the first time he’s been alone in almost ninety years.It was the first time she could truly speak with him privately, without the influence of another, without having someone cruel to feed off.I may never get another opportunity like this again.
His solitude might be fleeting.
This could be her only chance.
She’d flown straight here from across the oceans, from the other side of the world, all by herself, just for him.
To stand here and then turn back would make all that effortpointless. The week she’d taken to get here, resting for fleeting hours before taking off again, would have all been for naught. She’d even flown through a storm and injured her left arm, but prevailed through strength and will.
The entire time, she’d prayed Weldir would awaken and save her the strain. Would aid her and bring her here within the blink of an eye.
His prolonged silence continued, even eleven years later.
Thankfully little had happened in that time.
Her children had grown and evolved. Their humanity and intelligence had deepened, and their battles with Demons remained unending against the horde. Lydia had died before she and Orpheus could even make it to the Veil. Demons had come, attracted by her human scent, and his enraged mind eventually turned on her as she’d fled the carnage.
Lindiwe really wished she hadn’t watched from afar.
She’d already protected one of his companions from death, and that hadn’t gone very well. The human that forever stayed by his side needed to survive on their own terms, and Orpheus needed to learn how to control this side of himself. How to push back the bloodlust, keep it in check, if he wanted one to survive in his world.
Not all would be as heartless and fearless as Katerina.
Leonidas was doing well, but wandered often. It was hard to follow someone who constantly journeyed and didn’t particularly listen.
Fennec... well,hewas still just starting out. Lindiwe had gifted him his skull and horns years ago, and had also made sure to do so near a group of travelling humans. He gained his gender quickly in comparison to her other children.
I haven’t been back to Austrális since I helped Orpheus.
For the better part of five years, she’d watched her children in Austrális through a viewing disc. She could only conjure one ata time, as she just hadn’t mastered the ability like Weldir, but at least she could see them whenever she wanted.
She hadn’t expected that when she’d finally given in to the pointlessness of trying to check on Merikh by scrying for him, she’d... see him. She had thought it would just be indistinguishable murkiness.
When his bear skull and bull horns came into view, she’d stared at him with shaking hands. It’d taken her less than five minutes to make her decision to cross the harsh oceans to come here, when she’d realised he was alone.
In his old home.
Her gaze flicked up to the red dome he’d placed over what used to be Nathair’s waterfall and lake, and the entrance to Merikh’s cave. Dawn brightened the world in a golden glow, allowing her to notice the dark silhouette of a large person moving within the shadows of his cave.
He was right there, and a lead ball of worry had rolled around in her stomach for the past half an hour until nausea twisted it.
But that wasn’t enough to keep her at bay indefinitely, and she eventually shoved her way through the red dome and entered his territory. Grass crunched under her feet as she approached the entrance to his cave, where the thud of heavy pawsteps echoed.
All sounds ceased before a short growl was followed by a deep huff. Then he resumed whatever he was doing inside, and rock against heavy rock scraped together.
She placed her hand on the Veil’s cliff wall and intended to slowly, and coyly, poke her head inside.
