Page 113 of To Free a Soul
Using his thumb claws, Weldir tore it in two and called a portal to form out of the chaotic energy that burst to life. He then quickly ushered Merikh through.
The moment he joined the bear-skulled Mavka in his darkness, he decided to close it. Keeping a portal open drained his mana fast, and he’d prefer to safely calculate the loss of two souls, rather than the potential unknown of Merikh’s time here with just one.
“This is your realm?” he asked, waving his arms and kicking his legs in the unfamiliar weightlessness. “It’s empty.”
“It is.”
Merikh stopped moving and looked directly at him now that he could be seen. The dark yellow in his orbs deepened, and he drifted his snout down and then back up.
“You really are a being of shadows.”
Weldir opened his arms and shrugged.
“I am what I am.” He shrank Merikh, whose head reared back at Weldir growing. “I cannot touch your physical body, but I can touch your soul. Like I said, I will have to swallow you.”
Merikh belted out a yell when Weldir picked his soul up by the nape of his neck and lifted him.
“Wait, fuck.” He pushed at the air in panic. “Won’t that hurt? I’m covered in fucking quills!”
“I don’t feel pain.”
Opening his maw, although doubtful that Merikh could tell with how little there was to truly see of him, he placed his most aggravating and arrogant offspring upon his tongue. He swallowed him whole, and the Mavka roared the whole way down.
Once Merikh was past the point of no return and had fallen into the vast space of his stomach, Weldir yanked on their soul tethers. He came to Merikh’s side as he fell, legs kicking as the ground rushed closer. Weldir observed his body to make sure his life force wasn’t being eaten at the same time.
He’d made sure he had a good hold of Merikh’s soul tether in preparation, but there was no need.
“Shit!” Merikh shouted, before he stopped mid-fall barely a few centimetres from the ground. Weldir softly let him down, and Merikh bounced to his feet and spun around until he found him. With claws at the ready, he swiped to grab Weldir’s throat while shouting, “You gave me no warning!”
He grabbed air, then looked down at his palm. Then he swiped the claws of both hands through Weldir and his mist, and his growls grew infuriated.
Weldir watched with abject boredom, waiting for him to get whatever fury out of his system.
Something became apparent when Merikh tried to strike at his face. Weldir threw up his arm so Merikh would stop. Heshifted closer to his hand and noticed tiny pinpricks of red had formed at the ends of his claws.
“You’re dying,” he stated. “It’s slow, but I’m consuming your soul. You’re transcending over to my afterworld.”
Merikh looked at his claw tips. “It’s red?”
“Yes. Your orb colour reflects your soul, and it encompasses your entire body.”
This brought on a list of questions.Is it him or the size of his soul that is slowing the process? Does that mean I can bring Lindiwe here?He’d like her to see Tenebris.
No. I don’t want to risk completely killing her, as she’s human.
“How long will it take?” Merikh huffed out.
“I’m unsure.”
“This is your realm?” Merikh lowered his hands to look around. “It still looks so dark and haunted.”
“Haunted?” Weldir surveyed their surroundings, and the bright sunshine that cascaded over everything. “What is it you see?”
“White mist and low light, like we’re in a spooky, cold forest.”
“Hmm. Interesting. It appears you can’t see Tenebris at its full capability, as you aren’t dead. It’s actually a world that would reflect Earth, if it were perpetually day all the time and remained untouched by Demons.”
Merikh grunted. “You tried to create a haven? Ofdeath?” He dropped his head to the side with a sigh. “That is all I wanted to know, and I’d rather leave before I’m permanently stuck here.”
