Page 79

A time unknown, but one of mischief

Crossing his legs into a seated position, Weldir opened his right hand and called a tainted soul to float above it. He inspected the damage to it.

It was missing its limbs with its torso split in half, but the sickness within it was much worse than many others. Cracks of red, like burning lava, streaked across its body like it had not only been struck by lightning, but was almost entirely consumed by it.

Weldir tsked, enclosed his hands around it, and concentrated.

Cracks of red lava forked over his hands and made it to his wrists before he was done healing it and putting it back together – while offering part of his own essence.

He felt no pain, but the fatigue of his mana being used in a such a way drained him as it always did.

He opened his hands to reveal a fully intact male, colourless like a normal, untainted soul, except for the spots of depression plaguing its head.

But Weldir could not heal the wounds of life, only what came from death.

Let’s give you a new home. He opened his mouth, slipped it into the cavern of darkness, and swallowed. Perhaps you have memories to share with another.

Otherwise he would live within the canyon of sleeping and lonely souls. Those that did not have a strong enough connection to another within Tenebris to share memories with, instead losing themselves in their own.

Weldir found it easier to keep those within Tenebris in a form of sleeplessness.

To let them dance with the souls they were entangled with in life, or drift in the swarm of those that lived by themselves in a dreary valley.

It kept them quiet, and at peace, and it was the kindest afterlife he could think of giving them.

If he wanted to, he could have just kept all the souls asleep permanently, but then his realm would have been sad and lacklustre. He wanted there to be joyful life, even if it wasn’t something he could partake in.

Well, it wasn’t something he could share in the past. That was no longer true.

Many months had passed since Nathair’s arrival, and their conversations, although strained and mostly unintelligent, were a welcome change.

Fenrir has recently gained their horns too.

Lindiwe tried to keep them by her side regardless of their newfound mindless desire to wander, even when they warded her back. She stayed close and protected them from Demons a little more viciously than usual.

The wounds of Nathair’s loss plagued her, and it was evident in her desire to stay by Fenrir’s side. Even if, at times, it was merely as a raven perched nearby.

Weldir watched over her, Fenrir, and all their offspring like he usually did. Even Orson, who had returned to his cave, was under his caring observation.

He often had the images of them in viewing discs floating around him. Just as he did now.

Right as he reached out for a new soul to deplete his mana, and re-energise it later, the creature that brought him both joy and vexation decided then to inflict a nasty wound. Weldir flinched as he felt his cloud evaporate, like someone had rudely stolen his very essence.

More than usual, the strength of his mana was depleted, and he felt himself waning. Even the ribbons of his oily, physical self thinned.

With an annoyed growl, Weldir dematerialised from where the unconsumed souls were held, and relocated himself to within his stomach – within Tenebris itself.

Nathair, as if sensing the hostility likely misting from Weldir, spun around... with part of a human limp in his arms. Two fang puncture wounds bled from the back of her shoulders, with most of her limbs gone – he’d already gotten to most of her before Weldir had arrived.

Red brightened in Nathair’s usually orange orbs, and he yanked it to the side protectively, stating with his body language, My prey .

The sparks of sputtering little white flames twinkled around his lengthy body, and before his eyes, Nathair’s flesh grew plumper.

He’d already eaten an unfortunate soul before this one, the remnants of it still evident in the air, and had been intending on eating a second one.

Weldir pointed his index finger towards the ground. “Put it down,” he demanded in a strong, stern tone.

Nathair roared in his direction and then tried to slither off with her! He knew better than to go toe to toe with Weldir, who would always win their arguments.

This is the second damn time! Weldir’s mind roared, causing the entirety of Tenebris to shudder from his fury. He needs to stop eating them!

Watching Nathair trying to disappear into the distance, Weldir stepped forward and increased his size at the same time.

In one single step, he’d grown over fifty metres tall and landed just behind his naughty slithering offspring.

He made sure his feet were intangible to the world, passing through the flora, fauna, and people who could have been crushed.

He reached down, causing Nathair to yelp in surprise, discard what was left of his paralysed victim – which was very little – and bolt away. It was then that Weldir felt the crush of more of his mana draining from him, weakening him further than he already was.

Weldir had been practising how to touch another being by petting Nathair’s scales, grabbing his tail, and even patting him on the shoulder or back. His serpent Duskwalker offspring was quick to react, teaching him what was too firm and what was too light when he didn’t notice Weldir reaching out.

It meant, while he was able, he ignored the urge to be pulled under into sleep, and pinched midway down Nathair’s tail without harming him. Then he lifted him off the ground, to his naughty offspring’s horror. Nathair snarled and wriggled before lifting his torso to scratch at the air.

“Down! Put down!” Nathair yelled, baring his big serpent fangs to hiss.

He managed to twist himself and bite into the side of Weldir’s thumb, but no venom could penetrate his essence – or, rather, it wouldn’t have any effect on him.

Lifting until Nathair was at his head height, Weldir shook him. He was barely thicker than his wrist, so he wobbled around as he screamed and clawed at the air, desperate to find purchase.

Weldir pointed a claw at Nathair’s serpent skull and shook it once. “Stop it. Stop eating my precious souls.”

Nathair grasped the sharp tip to get purchase and lifted his head until his skull was visible above Weldir’s admonishing digit. Then he proceeded to stick his forked tongue out at him and blow a raspberry with it.

“Why you insolent little pest!” Weldir exclaimed. He shook the foul creature again, making Nathair squeal. “I cannot wait to find a way to revive you. I’ll send you back to your mother and she can put up with you.”

It was a tender-hearted threat, as he was sure Lindiwe would welcome this pesky creature back with open arms, and... Weldir would actually miss him dearly. Nathair’s antics were rather immature and playful in nature, and he enjoyed being chased throughout Weldir’s realm.

He also liked to chase and hunt, which meant a few of Weldir’s souls had now been consumed.

Last time, Nathair had gotten to three of them before he realised what was happening, and why he could feel life sapping from the very cloud of his form.

This time, he’d managed to stop him at only two, but it had consequences for both of them.

Lethargy had set in, and what he’d gained was robbed from him.

Nathair whimpered and clutched the sides of his skull when his orbs began to shift through colours, blasting red, pink, green, and often white. He shuddered, and the coil of his lengthy tail tightened and zig-zagged in tension.

Weldir sighed and lifted his left hand to place his wounded offspring into his palm.

Nathair squirmed into a knotted ball, his fangs parting as he gave a whimpering roar.

Weldir circled his hand around him and drew out the memories of the two humans he’d eaten, removing them entirely so they didn’t plague him.

Fragments, like glass with moving images inside them, glittered as they were pulled away from his black scales.

Only when Nathair stopped shuddering and gave a relieved expire, did Weldir cease pulling.

“You need to stop doing this,” Weldir stated wearily. “If I’m asleep, I won’t be able to remove their memories from you immediately.”

When Weldir tipped his head to the side to inspect him, and Nathair looked up to him with a thankful huff, he sighed once more.

“I won’t do it again,” Nathair promised, his orange orbs flaring brighter in guilt.

It was a lie; Weldir knew it.

It was in his nature to hunt prey. When he accidentally touched the humans, they often woke from their stupor.

They fled, stirring the excitement and bloodlust of the hunt in him, and Nathair chased until he consumed.

Their movements often caused a wave of havoc as Nathair touched more souls while caught in the thrill of the chase, causing more to run, and more for him to frighten.

More for him to hunt.

At least his humanity is growing with each one.

He looked thicker, longer, and... healthier. The souls were often encased by a deathless body that could be eaten and then regrew so long as the soul itself wasn’t harmed. It was an unlimited food source.

But it was the spirit itself that sat in the centre of their torsos that Nathair needed to eat in order to increase his intelligence. Thus far, he’d eaten five. With each one, he’d grown smarter, his communication skills benefiting from the chaos, and his personality was beginning to shine.

Nathair was mischievous, playful, and lazy. He often felt guilt for eating the souls Weldir protected. He didn’t mean to do this.

Often, when he was snapped out of his bloodlust, he could be rather sweet with Weldir. Just like now, as he wrapped himself around the palm of Weldir’s hand to rub against the physical part of him and lie down.

He didn’t seem to mind what size Weldir was.

“Down you go. I’m still annoyed with you,” Weldir stated, decreasing his size until he was about eight feet tall, which felt the most natural.

Nathair untwisted his body and pressed a loop of his tail to the ground to find purchase to rise to the height he preferred when leaning his torso back.

He was taller than before, coming to Weldir’s sternum when he’d barely come to the bottom of his ribcage before.

At this rate, his offspring was going to stand as tall as him.

Even his torso appeared to be a little longer and bulkier than before.

“I was going to make you that lake and rock you wanted soon, but I don’t have the spare energy now,” Weldir told him.

“Blergh,” Nathair grumbled, tipping his entire body to the side until even his arms swung to the left. “But I want rock now. And sun is not warm.”

The sun would never be warm, as Weldir had no idea what hot and cold felt like and struggled to emulate it.

Weldir raised his hands up with a shrug. “Well, that’s what you get for eating them.”

Weldir was just lucky that when Nathair consumed a soul, although it had a deep impact on his mana, it didn’t destroy him like when Weldir inserted it into his own chest. Nathair didn’t seem to be burned by them, like the flames only ate away at Weldir’s mana and soul.

He figured it was his penance to pay for doing so, whereas his offspring was just doing what was natural to him. Or perhaps the plague of memories that tried to attach themselves to Nathair’s very soul were his punishment.

Hopefully he doesn’t do it again in the future. I don’t want there to be any lasting effects.

For now, though, they had nothing to worry about, as Weldir knew he’d removed the fragments entirely since they were fresh. He patted Nathair on the shoulder and then pulled him forward so they could travel together.

“Let’s see how much humanity those two souls gave you.” Then I must sleep to replenish what he has stolen.

It looked like more lessons were in their future.

In his own way, despite the drain, Weldir was actually pleased about this. The more Nathair understood, the easier their relationship might become.

He threw a disc to the side, letting the moving image appear of Lindiwe flying in her raven form after what looked like Odie, their otter-skulled offspring.

She’s still visiting them all. With Weldir’s aid, she’d been doing that for quite a few years now, greeting her children and seeing what she could teach them in the small amounts of time she allotted to them all.

He couldn’t tell how many years it’d been, but he knew the Earth had rotated quite a number of times.

Each time she greeted their offspring again, they seemed to both be more wary of her, but also more receptive.

She’d learned all the languages of the places they’d been placed so she could teach them what was relevant to their continent.

Eyropea was difficult, as there were many complex languages for her to contend with and teach.

Thankfully, she had all the time in the world to learn them, with a little help from the translation spell she’d acquired from the Anzúli.

Nathair paused to look at the disc, tilting his head at it every time he made one appear – Weldir was always watchful of his mate, even though she never knew it.

“She flies again,” he stated, his voice not as deep or gruff as before, while pointing to his mother, without understanding that was what she was.

The complexity of parenthood was too much for Nathair to understand just yet. In due time, that would likely change.

Pressure spread across Weldir’s face, and he wondered if he’d smiled. “Yes. She’s in her raven form.”

His pretty female, and her feathery form.

My little raven mate.