Page 10 of To Free a Soul (Duskwalker Beginnings #2)
The sounds of severing a limb were drowned out by Merikh’s roar as crimson blood squirted from the wound. Jabez’s brown complexion grew ashen from the pain, the blood loss, and his companion turning on him.
With a furious snarl in her direction, Jabez bolted through the forest as Merikh gave chase, needing to evade the biggest threat. It gave Lindiwe the opportunity to encase the still-burning limb in a shadowy dome to protect the surrounding grass, shrubs, and forest.
“I hope my son eats you,” she whispered spitefully as she knelt in front of the dome.
She placed her hands on either side of it and filled it with sand. It took a while for her to snuff out the flames that quickly spread and licked at the inside of the dome.
“I thought you said you would never do that.” Weldir tried his hardest not to let humour trickle into his tone.
“It was only his hand,” she murmured defensively, rolling her eyes. “You told me he’s been able to heal worse wounds, especially those given to him by Ors...” She closed her eyes and took in a calming breath. “Merikh.”
“What if it had spread?”
“I don’t care what would have happened to him.
He’s creating an army, killing humans, has me hunted, and is corrupting our child.
Merikh isn’t evil, and I don’t want Jabez making him so.
” Then she lowered her voice as she muttered to herself, rather than him, “But he’ll never listen to me. I see that now.”
“What of the forest, then? What if Merikh had tried to touch him?”
“I would have stopped him. And we’ve all brought you enough untainted souls to have enough magic right now that I could have encased any burning areas in a massive ward.”
He gave a hum of thought. “I don’t, actually. I’ve used most of it.”
That made her head rear back, her eyes widening. “What? Already? It’s only been a few days!”
“And I have spread my mist further since then.”
She winced just as the black flames sputtered out, and she released the protective dome she’d cast over them. “Oops. I shouldn’t have done that then.”
The memory faded when the current Jabez said something, and a word caught Weldir’s attention.
He paused, and his mist collected tighter to him. He threw his arm out to bring the disc of Lindiwe closer, finding she was awake as she ate at a table with many other humans. She sat in some kind of tavern and gulped down a lumpy, broth-based meal.
“Did you know the Demons have begun calling our offspring Mavka all over the world, and not just in Austrális like we thought?” he asked her.
She had no contact with Demons, so she continued to use the term Duskwalker rather than Mavka.
He’d almost forgotten he’d wanted to have the conversation surrounding it with her, but she’d either been asleep, preoccupied, or he hadn’t thought about it during the times she was receptive to speaking with him.
Jabez saying it to Merikh only reminded him just now.
Her eyes squinted as she looked left and right before bringing her wooden bowl closer to herself. In the loud tavern, she whispered down into her food so as not to be overheard. “Really? How could they all come to the same word?”
Like she couldn’t help herself, she placed her hand over her very round stomach in thought and for comfort. It wasn’t long until she would give birth.
“It is a word for forest creature in Nyl’kira. I have heard other terms being used, like Daesrin, but Mavka is the most common.”
“There’s a mythological creature called that in one of our languages, although I still can’t pick which one,” she whispered, scooping up some of the broth with her spoon, and a pea floated in the steaming liquid. “But I do know they have no correlation.”
“Languages incidentally cross all the time,” he answered. “You of all people should know this.”
Lindiwe pouted at her spoon before she finally opened her mouth and sucked the contents inside. She quickly swallowed and said, “I still don’t like the term. I like Duskwalker. They’re more than just a beast roaming a forest.”
He tilted his head at that. “I actually think it’s better.”
Her brows twitched into a frown as she eyed the person who sat a little close to her on her bench seat. She slid down it to make room, causing the male human to grunt and pull the other way, as if he hadn’t realised he’d encroached on her space.
“Why do you think it’s better?”
“Because Demons are who our offspring will come into contact with the most. It’s also a Nyl’therian word.” Maybe he was biased, due to his Elven nature, but he liked that a piece of his original home was given homage through his offspring.
It was better.
“I still won’t use it,” she bit out.
“Then we are at an impasse. I will use it,” he stated firmly, leaving no room for her to attempt to change his mind.
He hummed a chuckle when she poked her tongue out, then she resumed her meal without another word.
Seeing Merikh was well, and now that Weldir had updated his sculpture, he moved onto his next offspring.
Fenrir had changed much over the years, as he often wandered aimlessly throughout Austrális before returning to the cave he’d found within the Veil’s cliff wall.
Every year aided his strength and form, turning him from gaunt to just healthy enough that his muscles pushed against his protruding bones without engulfing them like Merikh. He’d had very little contact with humans, but Lindiwe had attempted many times to teach him English whenever she visited.
The lessons were slow, as he was deeply untrusting, but he wasn’t needlessly violent.
Fenrir was cautious, although he desired a bond with her.
He could be rather obedient when he understood her words.
He didn’t mind her near his territory, so long as she didn’t go anywhere near the opening of his cave.
Leonidas, on the other hand, had made a nest southward in the Veil’s forest. Hidden well by trees and shrubbery, an opening beneath a pile of boulders was just big enough to allow him inside, but he had to squeeze his shoulders through.
His form was similar to Fenrir – strong, but thin around the waist. And he still displayed many visible bones.
Leonidas was calm, aloof, and... cheerful? It was the only word Weldir could use to label his mountain-lion-skulled offspring, as very little seemed to bother him. Moving through the world curiously, he tried far too often to play with his meals.
The Demons nearby weren’t fond of him and mostly left him be.