Page 62 of To Free a Soul
“Then what do you plan to do?”
Flipping the hood of her cloak over her head, she answered, “Well,obviouslyI’m going to go make sure he’s okay. That’s all I can do.”
She’d get her answers regardless.
Not long after Lindiwe began her flight, Weldir informed her of something that had her heart racing and her stomach twisting into horrible knots.
Orpheus had not only approached Jabez’s castle, he’denteredit.
Why?she asked herself repeatedly.
If he knew about the Demon Village, he obviously knew of Jabez’s existence, and what the tall, looming castle in the distance meant.Does this mean he’s met Jabez and Merikh?
It’s unlikely he’s in danger.That was the only reason she didn’t ask Weldir to take her straight there.Jabez is friends with Merikh. He doesn’t consider Duskwalkers to be enemies.
Still, another of her children in proximity to him set her anxiety on edge.
Does it have something to do with Merikh?
She couldn’t get her wings to fly fast enough, even if she could cover the great distance in an hour.
But would that hour be too late?
No. Neither Merikh nor Jabez knows how to kill a Duskwalker.Even if Orpheus was hurt, somehow or for some reason, things would be fine.
Unless Merikh...
Lindiwe shook her head.
He may not remember it, but Lindiwe knew, deep down inside, that Merikh had retained something about the death of Nathair. Duskwalkers subconsciously learned.
The grey castle finally came into view.
Despite the ache in her wings, and how the muscles along her arm bones strained in protest, she flapped faster.
Right before she could land in the trees to obscure her approach – her white owl form a dead giveaway to her presence – a beastly roar sliced through the air.
Between the castle doors, Orpheus was being shoved out of the entryway by a throng of Demons... with Merikh at the forefront. Merikh used his dangerous echidna spines to drive him back, causing Orpheus to yelp in pain and dart away. Merikh gained a foot of space each time, forcibly shoving him back little by little until he was at the bottom of the castle stoop and in the courtyard.
Orpheus feinted to the left, making Merikh and the Demons lurch that way, before he tried to dart past them on the right.Merikh caught him around the waist and used his shoulder to tackle him to the ground.
Both their orbs were red, but Orpheus’ occasionally flickered with white.
Merikh was just too large and strong for Orpheus to fight against; their levels of humanity weren’t comparable. Her wolf-skulled child was half the size in muscle mass to his brother and lacked the intelligence to go toe to toe with someone who was skilled in physical altercations.
When they split apart and Orpheus tried to run around him again, with the wounded Demons shuffling inside, Merikh brought his right leg up. With ungodly strength, he kicked Orpheus so hard in the stomach he was sent skidding backwards across the dirt.
“Leave, Mavka,” Merikh demanded, backing up towards the castle entryway. “There is nothing left for you here.”
Orpheus roared, spun to his hands and back paws in his monstrous form, and lunged. The towering double doors closed before he made contact, and a purple ward shimmered into place. He bashed at the entrance, shouldered it, clawed at it, and bellowed repeatedly, but nothing he did allowed him to get through.
He finally relented, only to pace at the bottom of the stairs with quiet, shuddering whines. Lindiwe landed, and he turned to her with a feral snarl. The bottoms of his deep-blue orbs shattered like glass, and ethereal liquid bubbled away to float around his skull.
Before Lindiwe could turn into a human, she froze, utterly stunned.
Is he... crying?Her mouth gaped as her gaze flicked between each floating drop.I didn’t know they could cry.
Then her heart broke for him. She was overwhelmed by the discovery that they could feel on such a deeply ingrained level that they could produce tears and weep, just like a human.
