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Then again, Weldir had recently developed an attachment to the sentient and insentient creatures of this world.

Viewing the memories of humans gave him insight into their lives, and he found them remarkable in their own way.

He also consumed the souls of many animals that had been eaten by Demons, and he’d even spent time living in their simplistic memories.

Each being here, although so different, was... beautiful.

As were Lindiwe and Nathair.

All this endangers my mate and offspring.

Although Lindiwe wasn’t very warm towards him, she was still his female.

He allowed her to drain his mana without complaint because it protected and mollified her.

It obviously gave her purpose to continue her hunt for the human men of the occult, who continued to offer sacrifices – although she was doing a superb job at whittling down their numbers so it occurred less frequently.

More Demons meant she had to defend herself, especially at night.

He was rather angered whenever she died and returned to his realm, and she was always irritable in return.

She hated having to restart in his mist, more annoyed that she’d potentially lost a lead than her death.

She’d grown accustomed to dying, although she often had a faraway look afterwards – a little lost and petrified of what she’d just experienced.

Nathair was a formidable creature on his own.

Weldir had been greatly annoyed when Nathair had eaten his first human, but doing so had granted him a gender – thus completing him physically.

There was something still missing from him, something Weldir couldn’t decipher, something entirely spiritual.

His soul had a hollowness to it, and he had no idea on how to fill it.

Despite this, his offspring grew stronger with each meal.

He’d stopped hunting and had become a lie-in-wait kind of predator, often lazing in bodies of water or in the forest. He was opportunistic, eating anything that came within a close enough distance that he could quickly immobilise it with a strike of his paralysing venomous fangs and consume it.

Even with their immortality and strength, he didn’t want Lindiwe or Nathair to suffer in the real world. More Demons meant more suffering for them, as well as every other creature that lived here.

Weldir could not share this information with Rokul.

He hadn’t known if he could obtain a mate, let alone produce offspring. If he didn’t, then he doubted his fellow deities did.

And they feared him already.

They didn’t need to say it; the scars of history were evident in their avoidance of him.

He’d been trapped in a prism crystal for that very reason and freed upon Earth rather than released within their holy realm, Relune.

A place where darkness and light touched, where life and death danced, and cold and heat kissed.

Relune was considered a place of perfection, where any element, no matter how obscure or immeasurable, could be found.

Weldir had never seen it, even though his prism had been housed there.

Yet, even now, Weldir didn’t hold any ill will regarding all this. He’d been lonely, but he also slumbered for much of his time, gaining strength as he learned to hold his chaotic, immaterial self together.

He’d needed that time alone – and had truly been dangerous.

He wasn’t now, which was why Rokul’s disappointed and judgemental expression – a furrowed brow and ticking jaw muscle – weighed on him a little more than it should have. It was fleeting, the man shaking his head at Weldir’s solution to the current problem, but he wisely let the conversation go.

“Salvation or not, this is what we have begun.”

“If it is already decided and already in play, then why do you need me?” Weldir asked.

An easy smile curled his lips, although a little weaker than before. “Since you already barricaded one portal from allowing Daekura that have passed over here from returning, we hoped you would continue to do so, but against many more.”

Weldir felt pressure against his face, mainly his forehead, as if he may have lifted a brow. He did so purposefully, just in case.

“Why can’t you do it?” he asked plainly. “You are the god of force, so why do you need me? I never understood it when I was given this task with Jabeziryth’s portal.”

He’d also never asked, but now that he had the opportunity to do so, he wanted that answer.

“The barricade is only possible on the exit side of the portal, which in this case is the Earth side.” Then he shifted his gaze away as he muttered, “And, although I can create forces like nature and portals, and manipulate gravity, my abilities are not as... proficient with complex artistry. In the same way that Leyfr is best with healing, and giving life to fauna and flora.”

“And my abilities go beyond being a god of death; I’m a controller of my own darkness,” Weldir confirmed, now that someone admitted the truth to him. “I can create realms, can consume souls, and use dust to make whatever I want.”

“Yes. Your sands allow you to reach magical capabilities we just can’t.

Your vines are different to Leyfr’s. They can consume, destroy, strangle, and heal – so long as they are in your realm, as you lack a physical self to make them tangible.

Your weakness is your incompleteness, but you are able to touch essences because of it at the same time. ”

“And since one must take their physical self and spirit self through a portal, I am able to hold one of those from leaving.” Weldir lifted a hand to cease his explanation.

“I understand. But how many portals are there? Maintaining just one costs me a great deal of mana, passively enervating me as much as my mist that borders what the humans have begun calling the Veil.”

Rokul’s brows lifted before he turned his gaze to the canyon beside him, no doubt curious about it.

“There are thirteen in total, not including the one here you already barricaded. Some of the continents are quite large, and we’ve placed down a few to spread the Daekura out and give the humans a chance to survive. ”

Fourteen... Weldir hummed with thought. I think I can manage that, so long as Lindiwe brings me more souls.

His mana had become a deeper well in the past few human years. Even though his own power was finite and nowhere near where he wanted it to be, Weldir couldn’t find a reason to reject Rokul’s request. Instead, he wondered how he could utilise such reach across this large realm.

Each portal I ward will leave my essence behind. Mist he could access – mist he could use.

“I will accept. Just take me to their locations and I will ward them.”

Rokul’s abilities allowed him to make permanent portals at will, with no mana stone required.

The male’s blue eyebrows furrowed in concern, wrinkling his purple forehead, and his lips flattened. “That’s it? You don’t have a request or a demand in exchange?”

His mist spread out from him as tension left him. “No. Why should I? I have no need for anything you can provide me. You cannot give me power, nor true life. What could you possibly gift me?”

Rokul scratched the side of his head right behind his ear and above his left braid.

He let out a small, awkward laugh. “Surely there is something your realm needs. I imagine all you do is float there. I can give it an up and a down, a left and a right – gravity. I can give you a one-time use portal. There are many things I can gift you.” Then he placed his hand over his heart.

“You wound me, Weldir. I am a powerful god, a holy maker of much. You can rely on your dear uncle.”

Gravity? Weldir looked up to the blue sky, noticing that a cloud obscured the sun and blocked out its light temporarily.

“Perhaps there is much you can do.” Then Weldir chuckled as he said, “Let’s hope I don’t consume you as we try.”

Then again, his soul would provide me with much mana. If Weldir were a trickster, he would have lured Rokul to his realm to consume him and the power he held.

Alas, he wasn’t that kind of being. And, surely, Rokul wouldn’t allow such a thing. He wasn’t even afraid of the possibility.

Rokul clapped his hands together and rubbed them as a mischievous smile curled his lips, making his lip piercings glint. “I’ve always wanted to peek inside that little stomach of yours. Tenebris, is it?”

For someone who was about to be swallowed whole, he looked a little too... excited. His smirk was almost creepy, even to Weldir.

Is this how Lindiwe finds me? Perplexing?