Page 81 of To Free a Soul
The more children we have in Austrális, who may end up protecting each other against Jabez, or maybe even Katerina, the better.
Jabez wanted an army?
Then Lindiwe would make her own.
A time unknown, but another life begins
Weldir could perceive his strength waning rapidly. His mana was being eaten by the very soul he’d sworn to protect, as penance for consuming it beyond his normal duty.
Its white flames flickered and flashed within the rapidly moving, agitated layers of his physical self, and reflected off the sweat coating Lindiwe’s ashen skin. The luminous soul brightened the dimly lit hotel room she’d hired for the evening, a place that was warmed by the fire that pushed back the early winter chill and was safe from Demons.
Perspiration dotted her face and soaked through the tunic she was using to cover herself while keeping her legs free. Everything was quiet after hours of screaming and grunting, except for how she let out pants of relief through chapped lips. She was exhausted, and by the trembling of her legs and arms, Weldir knew she was weak.
But the worst part was over.
She sat on her knees upon the wooden floor with her cheek resting on the grey sheets of a lumpy bed.
She’d chosen the human establishment, as she trusted in the strength of Weldir’s magic to keep them safe. He could sense the mana of a scent-cloaking spell she’d activated, which ensured their offspring wouldn’t attack her immediately upon being brought into her world. She’d also learned from the Anzúli how to create a sound dampener within a hollow space, and the symbol scribbled with coal upon the ground still glowed a faint yellow.
He’d long ago hovered in a kneeling position next to her, as standing over her often distressed her when she gave birth. He couldn’t touch her – his hand would merely go through her body – but he hovered his arm over the bed as a reminder that he was there.
She’d reached for his dark clawed hand many times, only to grip the sheets.
He tried to do this often, to be by her side when she felt the most vulnerable. If they were out in the forest, he’d kneel in front of her so she had something to focus on. He knew his ability to praise wasn’t great, but he’d practised over the many years to soothe her with his voice.
At first, she’d seemed nervous about doing this in front of him, but even from the beginning, he’d seen that she preferred it. She hadn’t wanted to be alone, and needed someone to fill the space to distract her from the pain and fear.
After so many times – sixteen from his count of offspring, although two had come at the same time – she was at ease with his presence.
She knew his time here could only be limited, as the soul he’d consumed, which consumed him in return, would fester and weaken him the longer he held onto it.
“You have done well, as always, owlet,” Weldir offered.
She brought her weary eyes to him and offered him a tired half smile. When movement made her flinch, she pulled back from resting against the side of the bed and lifted her hands.
A Mavka no bigger than her cupped palms stirred.
Their featureless oval face pried apart, revealing their jagged mouth, and they hacked a mixture of blood and darkness. Their slitted nose holes flared, but with all blood scents muted, and Lindiwe unafraid, they merely relaxed into her palms.
“Are you ready to depart?” he asked, pushing out a puff of mist to leave behind so he could return her to this location.
She winced as if a contraction cramped her stomach and nodded. “Yes.”
Weldir’s form retreated as he released the hold on the chaotic dead soul currently feasting on his mana, and he was pulled back to his realm. He brought Lindiwe with him.
Before she could turn incorporeal, and therefore tangible to him, he already shoved a tendril into the Mavka within her hands. He couldn’t touch their physical body, but he was able to caress their soul and force the shift so they, too, would turn ghostly and within his reach.
He couldn’t do this with Lindiwe, and he often wondered if this was due to her soul being outside of her body.
As Lindiwe shifted, he cleansed her of the afterbirth she had yet to expel and then healed her wounds. He also cleaned her and their offspring, and she sighed with relief.
Weldir petted their newborn offspring. They were tiny in his large hand, able to fit entirely in the palm of it, and looked fragile. He hated the limpness, and that he could only greet their offspring while they slept, but being onthisside of life and death forced them into a slumber.
It was useful for her, but an annoyance for him.
Just once, I’d like to have one of our young offspring teeming with energy and life as they crawl over me, like they do withher.He’d like them to pester him as they swam through his realm, forcing him to chase them.
He’d once made the mistake of letting them go, and they turned physical. Their shrieks as they frantically searched for her, alone in the scentless, floating darkness, ensured he never released them again.
