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Nathair ducked beneath the surface when she turned towards the pond with her arms filled with her stolen haul. She walked to her personal bag and started shoving supplies into it. Then sheran over to grab a sword that had been dropped and brought that over too.

“It’s creepy to just watch someone,” she shouted, without ever looking his way.

Nathair wiggled his head under water, opening and closing his jaw mockingly.I will observe you, since you refuse to leave my territory.

Be thankful I have no desire to harm you.

He also had no desire to help her.

Nathair had his own problems. A warped mind, for starters. He also had to defend his home against sea Demons occasionally, who liked to enter from below this mountain’s cliff.

She likely does not understand that I would do more harm than help.

If he were to chase away the bandits from her village, the scent of blood from the wounds he delivered, the pain of the injuries he gained, or the tantalising scent of people’s fear, would send him violently into a rage. He would kill the bandits and then turn on her people.

He was of no help to anyone.

Now that he’d eaten the dozens of human souls within Tenebris, his humanity was higher, his intelligence well rounded, and his body had thickened a large amount. He’d also grown, as if his physical state could be altered this way in the afterlife.

It’d also grown stronger and longer since coming back to life.

He now knew that eating more humans would do nothing to aid his hunger, and would only gift him humanity. After merely those three bandits he’d eaten, he could already tell the unravelled strings of his thoughts were better connected. His mind was able to decipher itself and the world around him, and process information in a much more efficient way.

But he had no longing to better himself. He was fine with his intelligence, thought it sufficient, and he’d rather not deal with hacking up souls because his sanity was broken. He’d rather not be reminded that he was a useless servant for his father creator, especially with how much that cloudy god had helped him in Tenebris.

Without Weldir, he would have been undeniably lost. His creator had welcomed him into his realm with open arms and fed him information about the outside world. Nathair knew what the other Mavka were up to, who had brides, and that two of them had younglings.

When Weldir wasn’t slumbering to recuperate his magical energy, or spending time with his mate, he could often be found by Nathair’s side. That was, until Aleron, the bat-skulled Mavka, had joined them.

Weldir had switched his focus to the child who needed him most, especially since, after many years of not being able to speak, Nathair had... cast his creator away. Nathair had given up trying, and just all around became rather unhappy.

Although he’d lost the yearning for life, Nathair had been hoping his return would mean he could have a purpose again. One which he had been tasked with at birth, and now understood.

He wanted to assist Weldir, wanted to be a useful servant and soul carrier. To be a good...son.

The hue of his orange orbs often darkened in guilt; he felt like he was failing.

He also lacked the will to do anything selflessly, especially not for a human such as the loitering female. His return to the living world thus far had been unpleasant.

Nights were particularly hard. Due to the snowy season, he’d been rather lethargic. It cost him energy to maintain and regulate his low body temperature. And, if the surface thickenedwith ice, he also couldn’t stay within the water, as he faced the same problem.

Before he’d died, he’d always struggled in winter.

Summer, though? He’d almost itch to move. The heat was like a form of nutrition, and he found himself going further and further from his territory to chase after scents, sounds, or even a sparkle in the distance. It made him wish to explore and frolic almost playfully.

Currently, he just sulked in his cave, grumpy about the temperature and waiting for balmier winds.

A high-pitched squeal snagged his attention and dragged him away from his musings.

Nathair unlatched his tail tip from the jutting ledge coming from the vertical channel wall of his pond, the only thing keeping him afloat. Battling how he immediately began to sink, he flapped his tail back and forth to rise through the water. He peeked above the surface.

She fell.He rolled his head in disbelief.She is so noisy. She’ll bring Demons upon her with little more than sound.

It appeared she’d been carrying sticks she collected around the clearing, and dropped one, which caused it to either go under her foot or twist between her ankles. Regardless, she’d hurled a bunch more to the ground as she fell on her face.

Nathair chuckled, causing bubbles to come from his mouth.She’s kind of funny.In a silly sort of way.

“Did you really just laugh at me?” She shot her head in his direction, and he ducked beneath the surface to hide. “What if I’d hurt myself?”