Page 184 of To Free a Soul
Her eyes widened as her lips parted. She said nothing, utterly speechless.
Which was fine with him.
“I make no promises, but I have mended Nathair’s skull. I may be able to attach it back to his soul, and he should reform his body like all Mavka do when they are beheaded.” Then he looked down at it in his lap. “Firstly, I ask that you obtain a skull and horn type similar to Aleron’s before I do so, so that I can see if it’s possible to do the same for him.”
“Yes. Absolutely. I can do that now if you send me back to Austrális.” There was a giddy spring in her movements, and she jumped up and down on the spot, so overjoyed she needed an outlet for it. Her smile was bright and larger than he’d ever seen. “I know exactly where I can find those pieces. I could probably get it done in just a few hours.”
“Excellent. I’ll bring you back there now.”
Before he did, he brought the crown fragment closer, noting how little he’d needed to mend Nathair’s skull.I wonder what else I can do with this.
If it could help him restore his offsprings’ lives, could it... possibly... give him one?
He looked at his beautiful mate, who smiled as she fought the wind, her brown eyes sparkling with cheer and life.
Or do I gift her a different life?One away and completely detached from him.
Something to consider and weigh later,he figured, as he brought Lindiwe to his weightless darkness.
First, let’s see if it’s at all possible.
A time unknown, but of troubled offspring
When Weldir placed Nathair’s serpent skull over the face of his soul, and it bound together with a little help from his own spiritual essence – a different kind of mana – a sense of triumph overcame him.
It was strong enough to overshadow the regretful sorrow and longing as Nathair’s body grew in a flurry of black, glittering sand.
Saying goodbye was easy – Weldir avoided it entirely. He pulled Nathair out of Tenebris by his fate tether without a word.
Lindiwe was waiting for Nathair in the dark nothingness of his void, and her smile was bright and teary. He waved at her and then signed his greeting, which Weldir translated for him. He would try to assist in this regard in the future until she learned ‘Nathair speak’ so she could communicate with him.
He would’ve let them speak sooner, if being outside of Tenebris in the limbo realm didn’t instantly put spirits to sleep. The same had happened to Aleron and his human companion, and they’d woken up again in Nyl’theria as a pair of Ghostswandering the Elven realm.
The reintroduction between his mate and the serpent Mavka was short – he needed to send them back to Earth. Considering he had little mana, he’d taken a grain of his mother’s crown to empower him enough to make a portal. He could bring Lindiwe back and forth, but not Nathair, who now had a physical form.
Before he moved through the portal, Nathair turned to Weldir and signed, “Thank you for all you have done. It is...” His fingers twitched as he tried to figure out the right words to say. His hands weren’t often hesitant or unsteady. “...difficult to leave your side, but I do appreciate this opportunity.”
He hadn’t been able to avoid a goodbye, after all.
“You’re welcome, Nathair. I’ve enjoyed your company within Tenebris. I’m still sorry that I have not been able to remove all the fragments from you, but hopefully returning to life will do what I could not.”
Then, without another word from either – although Lindiwe shared with him a strange, tender smile – they left together. He placed them north of the Veil, just at the fringes of his mist on the surface, and watched to see how they fared.
Chaos immediately ensued.
Whether it be the sounds of life, the smell of it, perhaps even the way the wind felt brushing along his scales, Nathair went from calm to panicked. The fiery vortex of his orbs swirled with an array of colours, and he clutched the sides of his skull with a bellowing roar.
He started bashing his skull on the ground, then against the closest tree trunk, as if to break it once more. He clawed at his own neck to decapitate himself just to stop the fragments that came at him with a vengeance.
He’d done this many times in the beginning when he’d first awoken with the fragments.
“Weldir! Help!” she yelled.
Nathair lashed out at her voice and bit into her shoulder so swiftly not even Weldir saw it coming. She hadn’t expected the strike, hadn’t expected him to lash out when it was obvious he wasn’t enraged. Although his squirming, self-mutilating hands were a clear warning, she’d allowed herself to be struck.
Lindiwe didn’t seem to care about her wounds.
She backed up as her form flickered between physical and Phantom. She winced each time she was human, but her eyes never strayed from a distressed Nathair.
