Page 34 of To Free a Soul
She relaxed her expression, dull and unimpressed, as a shadowy dome materialised over him and the cave. Orpheus bashed into it, then swiped his claws right where her torso was.
Since he was unable to penetrate it, he paced within the barrier, snarling at her when she moved. Lindiwe placed the burlap sack on the ground and then removed her satchel to rest it next to it.
She threw her right hand to the side and a spike of shadowy magic formed. With very little effort, she knelt and stabbed it into the ground right next to the cliff face. She proceeded to draw a semi-circle around the dome, with pointed looks at Orpheus, who eventually calmed enough to watch her while snorting annoyed huffs.
“You must dig into the ground so that the wind doesn’t blow away the salt line,” she explained. “See? Carve. You must carve.”
She picked up the burlap sack and opened it. Her hand slipped inside the bag of white grains, and she obtained a careful fistful, making sure hardly any fell out of her palm. From just an inch high, she proceeded to sprinkle a small amount into the groove she’d made to form the salt line.
“Do not waste it. Be careful. Be slow,” she explained multiple times, as repetition was the best way to teach him. “Rainremoves protection. You must protect your human and sprinkle more salt when dry.”
Orpheus, who had backed up to the entrance of his cave, snorted a wolfish chuff.“Rain bad?”
“No. Rain is good. Rain is clean, but rain is bad for protecting your human.” Lindiwe walked over to her satchel. “Be good. Don’t hurt your human. Feed her, keep her warm.”
Opening up the flap, Lindiwe retrieved the diadem from it before tossing the satchel through her barrier. Food and the water sack partially slid out from its opening when the bag landed next to Orpheus’ hand, and he leaned down to sniff it with mild interest.
“I told you, I don’t want your cursed food or water,” Katerina said as she peeked out from behind Orpheus.
“In the Veil, you take what you can to survive,” Lindiwe answered, backing away. “You’ll die otherwise.”
The two females held each other’s stares. Then Lindiwe flipped up the hood of her cloak, proceeded to shift into her owl form, and flew off. Katerina’s eyes grew stark, her jaw fell, and a raspy near-scream escaped her.
“She really turned into an owl!”
Weldir could only imagine how horrified she would’ve been had Lindiwe turned into a raven, as it could have easily been mistaken for a Demon.
I’m surprised she didn’t want to return to me straight away, as we discussed.Then again, his mate looked rather... jaded after the interaction.She is likely upset and wishes to clear her mind.
A time unknown, but of subtle truths
When his mate finally landed near the edge of a cliff, she transformed into a human with her back to the Veil’s horizon.
“Do you feel better?” Weldir asked, noting her clenched fists.
Many hours had passed, enough to note the falling sun and long shadows. She stood in the light and regarded the forest with a stiff face.
“No. Not really,” she eventually answered, before looking down over the cliff. “But there is no point in wasting more energy. I’m ready to return.”
Pleased that she would fill his void once more, Weldir lacked any hesitancy and brought Lindiwe to his realm. She materialised in the nothingness, and her ghostly form became solid as she shifted into a tangible Phantom for him.
With one last look at the many viewing discs before him, Orpheus front and centre, he turned to greet her. It was unnecessary, as she’d already begun to swim towards him. Halting at his side to peer into the disc, she went to place her hand on his non-existent shoulder to steady herself. He made hisphysical self coalesce there as a piece of support.
Her expression was closed off, but her eyes glinted with rapt interest. “How are they?”
“Mostly the same. She has told him you are untrustworthy, and he doesn’t understand why. He isn’t adept enough with language to have such a cohesive argument just yet. It is also obvious he can’t remember much of what you have done to help him, either. It’s like he has an impression of you but can’t remember specific memories or details.”
Her lips pushed forward into a purse. “She better not turn him against me. It has taken me decades to get to the point where he trusts me, and even then... it’s fragile.”
“She has taken to calling you the Witch Owl.”
The bridge of her cute nose scrunched. “I guess she isn’t wrong, but I don’t particularly like the term. ‘Witches’ were often just normal women who were taken to silence them. I’d consider any of our magical capabilities to be coincidences or power loaned to us by gods.” Lindiwe narrowed her eyelids into a scowl. “Why are you grinning?”
Am I?Weldir thought, noting how he perceived pressure.I didn’t think my humour was so apparent.Although it did vibrate within his cloud rather violently.
“Because you don’t like it. If you call me spirit of the void, I will retaliate and call you the Witch Owl.”
Her jaw fell, and she placed her hand over her heart as if he’d wounded her. “That’s mean,” she grumbled, before the smallest smile curled her lips.
