Page 54 of Maneater

There was a moment when I almost completely lost myself in Raithe, body, mind, and soul blending into his.

I was laid bare, and I would’ve given him anything just to hold onto the comfort he offered me.

In his arms, I stood on the edge, hammer in hand, ready to bring down the walls I’d spent a lifetime building.

All just for him. But he saw that vulnerability.

He saw how exposed I was, and he didn’t take advantage of that.

He told me he’d wait. That he wouldn’t do anything until the moment felt right, until I knew, without question, that it was what I wanted.

Because when he took me, he wouldn’t hold back.

If I gave myself to him, it had to be with certainty.

No second-guessing. No regret. If I wavered, if I changed my mind after, it would break him.

He’d leave.

And in that moment, I couldn’t promise him he wouldn’t have to.

So he just kissed me like he meant it and held me while I cried.

In the chaos of everything I was, he became my anchor.

And it was what I needed. Every day, I uncovered more of who I was, peeling back layers I’d never dared to look at before.

I was strong, yes, but even strength needed rest. I needed somewhere I could lay down my fury and be cared for by someone else. If only for a moment.

Raithe promised he’d always be that for me. And for the first time, I was starting to believe him.

A new morning had come, soft and quiet. We were sitting in a glen, our feet dipped into the warm shallows of a pond as the world hushed around us.

“So, what now?” I murmured to him.

“What do you mean?” Raithe asked. His heart was still bared for me, though he had returned to his usual stoic state.

“Is this it? Is this what forever looks like?” I asked, swaying my feet through the water. “Do we just keep answering the cries of mortals, moving back and forth between their world and ours?”

Raithe let out a chuckle. “Are you bored already?”

I shrugged. “Not yet. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of striking bargains of Wrath, but maybe I will one day. Perhaps it’s the sliver of humanity left in me still talking.”

The pain of Caz had mostly faded, dulled to something distant, but the dreams he once painted for me still lingered.

I wanted to read. I wanted to learn. I wanted to see.

I’d lived my whole life in Brier Len. My time in Hyrall was spent trapped in a tower.

And the single night I spent in Falhurst had only nudged me closer to my godhood.

Now, I craved something that was mine. A story of my own making. And the thought of Raithe walking beside me while I lived it didn’t feel so impossible anymore.

“Tell me,” Raithe prodded gently. He could tell I was holding something back .

I looked at him, then gestured around us.

To the forest, to Torhiel. “Before all this, I knew I wanted more. I just didn’t know what that meant yet.

But now, I’ve realized I was searching for so many things.

Pieces of myself I didn’t know were missing.

And then I learned I was a demigod. That restless part of me that was searching for answers, it’s quiet now. It’s content.”

I paused, my eyes falling to the pond. I skimmed a finger across the surface, watching the ripples scatter. “But not all of my longing disappeared when I came into my divinity. There are still things I want. I want to see the world. To experience more than just gods and pacts.”

I looked back at him. “Is it strange that I still feel that way?”

“No,” Raithe answered. “It’s not strange, maybe uncommon, but not strange.

All of us, us halflings, we’re a blend of divine and mortal.

Some lean more toward one, some toward the other.

There are those who are content with this life, one bargain after the next, living by the rhythm of divine duty. But not everyone feels that way.”

He looked at me. “You’re different. And if that’s what you want, I’d do it with you. I’d follow you anywhere, Odessa.”

I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

He let me lean on him. As I did, I felt the quiet swell of his heart, and with it, the familiar pang of guilt.

The weight of how much unconditional space it held for me was still hard to carry.

Those lingering doubts, the whispers of not being enough, hadn’t left me yet. I wasn’t sure they ever would.

“I want to see Brier Len again,” I confessed. “It’s been years. One day I was there, and then I was just gone. I miss it.”

“Then we’ll go,” Raithe said. “Just say the word.”

“I will.”

We sat there for a while, just letting the stillness hold us. I could’ve stayed like that, watching the sunlight dance across the surface of the water, letting the moment stretch on forever .

But it didn’t last.

I felt the shift in Raithe before I saw it. His body tensed beneath me, his breath caught, and then he was sitting upright, alert, scanning the trees behind us. He rose quickly, his eyes dark. That’s when I felt it too.

A presence. Power, both familiar and unfamiliar, like something half-remembered. It brushed against me like a word on the tip of my tongue I couldn’t quite name, or a scent I’d known once but couldn’t place. It stirred something instinctual, something old.

Raithe reached out, his hand tight with urgency. “We have to go, Odessa. Now.”

I stared up at him, confused, but took his hand anyway. “What’s going on?”

He didn’t answer. Just pulled me to my feet and turned us sharply away, leading us quickly through the trees. His face stayed composed, but I could feel the panic simmering beneath it, ready to snap.

We were walking, then practically running.

My heart was pounding, and nothing made sense. What could shake him like this?

I yanked against his grip, trying to slow us down. “Raithe, what is it? What are we running from?”

Still, Raithe said nothing. He just kept pushing forward, and I could feel his emotions boiling beneath the surface. He was furious. Outraged, even. The anger simmered in his blood, but he kept his face calm.

Something was wrong. The forest around us was changing.

The faster we ran, the stranger everything became.

The forest seemed to stretch out around us, paths looping back on themselves.

It felt endless, as if the woods were resisting us, twisting to keep us trapped.

I could feel Raithe’s fury start to shift, turning into frustration.

He knew what was happening. I could sense it in him.

So why wasn’t he telling me?

Then the air turned thick, almost like smoke. It clung to my skin, hung heavy on my chest. It weighed me down, made it harder to breathe, harder to move. Every step was more difficult than the last. It felt like sinking into the earth. My legs turned to lead and I couldn’t keep up.

Raithe noticed. He turned back, alarm flickering in his eyes. “Odessa, I know it feels heavy, but you have to keep moving. We have to keep going.”

I tried. Gods, I tried. But exhaustion was wrapping around me, pulling me under. My breath came short, and a pressure began to build in my mind, compressing my thoughts like a vice.

“I—I can’t,” I said, wincing. “Something’s wrong, Raithe.”

Raithe cursed and pulled at me again, but I wouldn’t budge. My legs were locked in place, my body heavy as stone. My thoughts felt thick and slow, like I was trapped inside a fog I couldn’t think through. I didn’t know what was happening, only that I’d never felt anything like this.

I stumbled to my knees and collapsed onto the forest floor.

Almost immediately, roots began winding around my ankles, snaking up toward my thighs.

Raithe’s frustration shifted to full-blown panic.

He dropped to the floor, gathering me into his arms, trying desperately to lift me, but the roots held tight. He couldn’t break their grip.

Then he cupped my face in his hands, his golden eyes locked onto mine. “Odessa, you need to listen to me.”

My vision was still hazy, but he gave me a shake, just enough to snap my focus. My eyes widened, settling on his.

“I thought I’d have more time to prepare you,” he added quickly. “But there are many things about Torhiel you have yet to learn. You have to stay focused now. Find whatever strength you have left.”

He hesitated for just a moment. “Remember when I told you there are more of us? More demigods? Well, one is coming. He’s old. He’s powerful. And he’s dangerous. ”

My heart dropped.

“There are more threats to us than just fading ossiraen,” he went on. “Demigods kill each other too. The more of us there are, the fewer bargains there are left to claim. Especially if we share the same god. I will protect you, but I need?—”

A sudden pulse ripped through the forest, cutting him off. It was so strong I felt it in my bones. The ground vibrated beneath us.

Raithe cursed again and rose to his feet, placing himself between me and whatever was coming.

The ground trembled with each approaching step, and fear cut clean through me. I didn’t know who was coming, but something in me whispered it wouldn’t end well.

Raithe had sworn he’d protect me. And I clung to that.

I stared past him, eyes locked on the quivering earth. Each footfall of the demigod shook me more deeply, and the weight in the air thickened until it felt like it was pressing the breath out of my lungs.

I was on both knees now, vines and roots anchoring my lower half to the ground. My breath grew shallow. They slithered up my sides and curled around my arms. Only stopping when they reached my elbows, holding me in place. I was stuck. Pinned. Trapped.

Then, from the clearing, a silhouette emerged from the shadows. The presence it carried was ancient, so primordial that none of the ossiraen I’d felt in the Ossirith could compare. Even Raithe’s power felt small beside it.

The pressure only grew heavier as he approached, the roots around my wrists tightening with each of his steps.

When the demigod finally stepped into the light, I saw his face, and the first thing I felt was fear.

He was tall, and his features were as sharp as they were severe.

He looked immortal, but not with the youth Raithe and I shared.

His face was flawless, untouched by time, yet he carried an age that felt as deeply rooted as the trees surrounding us.

He smiled when he saw us, but there was no kindness in it. He didn’t so much as glance at me kneeling, bound by roots. All of his attention was on Raithe.

I saw Raithe tense, his focus locking onto the demigod like a drawn blade.

“Hadeon,” Raithe said, voice flat, emotionless.

The demigod’s smile widened. “Hello, brother.”