Page 12 of Where the Shadows Land (Garden of Hope #1)

‘Something must have happened to the human. She would never allow her creature to make such a noise,’ First said .

Fifth bristled. ‘Do we care? If the human dies, she is food.’

‘If the human dies, we are alone again,’ Third argued.

A rush of heavy, uncomfortable feelings overwhelmed all the Twelve who Made Mairuk. They snarled as they pushed the door open with their shoulder, then stumbled into the small home.

Mess piled high in all directions, but Mairuk didn’t have time to observe how humans lived.

They rushed into the bedroom and stepped over piles of fabric, almost tripping in the process.

Bastian screamed at Astoria from beside her on the bed and pawed at her chest. The creature did everything he knew to wake her, but Astoria didn’t stir.

Her breaths were shallow and her heart beat too slowly, even for slumber.

Astoria still had not bathed. Her skin burned with fever. Sweat poured down her brows, and she trembled under the thick blankets and furs. The stench of rot was so strong Mairuk salivated. Their human was dying. She refused to address the infection, and it now rotted her body from within.

“Gods damn you, Astoria,” Mairuk growled. They hoped she heard them in her unconscious state.

‘Is death really so preferable to being with us?’ asked Third, the voice small and weak.

‘We have done nothing but offer her life, and yet she chose death again and again! We should consume her before her blood turns too sour to be of use,’ Fifth argued. Burning rage stemmed from the system’s stomach and pulsed through the entire being.

‘We like the company. She cannot die!’ Third said, and Mairuk’s heart ached. ‘We must help the human.’

‘She craves death. She said so herself that she was too cowardly to die. Perhaps this is the only way out she could stomach. She will always reach for death above us, and she will be more useful as food than as a companion. We don’t need to tend to another who will only leave at the first chance given,’ Fifth said .

‘Did we not also crave death after our garden burned? She is lost. She is ours in pact and blood. We must protect. We must help!’ Third pushed a wave of sympathy through the system.

‘If we do nothing, we will be alone again. She cannot outrun us. We cannot allow her to leave us like this. We cannot go back to being alone with ourselves.’

The Twelve who Made Mairuk clung to Third’s insistence and jumped into action.

The first thing they needed to do was bathe her.

Clean her skin and drain the rot from her wounds.

As gentle as they could manage, Mairuk lifted Astoria’s burning body from the bed and rushed her down the road to their current abode.

In the washroom, a bath large enough for two Rholctai waited for them.

With a wave of their fingers, the tub filled with steaming water.

The rags the human still wore from her arrival were so tattered it took almost no effort to remove them.

The human was bare in a few tears of the dirty fabric and revealed the culprit of the infection.

A wound on her thigh. Five inches long and an inch wide, it mostly scabbed over, but it leaked yellow puss and trails of rancid blood.

How she moved with such a wound, how she hunted on silent feet with this festering injury, was beyond Mairuk.

They set her in the tub and left her under Bastian’s watchful eye.

Mairuk gathered salves, soaps, and a jug of the sacred Erlumi water of the bay. Erlumi held many magical properties, and healing was one of the bay’s great gifts. They’d need it to flush the infection out. They returned with the supplies in record time and immediately set to work.

They dumped a small amount of the sacred water into the bath.

The turquoise magic of Erlumi seeped into their human’s skin with a soft hum of energy.

Mairuk sank to their knees at the side of the tub and lathered the soap in their hands.

They scrubbed her, starting at the tips of her dirty fingers and working up her arm.

The soap and water quickly turned into a nasty gray.

Her fist still carried minor scrapes and the bruise their fist left around her neck faded, but it was still there. Mairuk took gentle care washing the wounds and the bruise. Something sour bubbled up into their throat, but they did not dare analyze what it was.

Her skin was so soft under their hands, far smoother than any other being Mairuk touched.

They expected humans to feel like a sack of wet meat and bone, yet Astoria’s skin had the faintest texture against their palms. Humans were not furry like the other beasts they shared Mieotsy with, but there was a layer of fine, soft hair over her arms. The hair grew denser where her arms met her torso, over her eyes, and between her legs. All the same red as her hair.

Mairuk ached to touch, to squeeze and assess the way her body felt, to get a better understanding of it.

They’d never been so close to any human, much less a female with curves and softness.

The heavy globes at her chest, the soft curve of her stomach, the way her thighs always touched each other.

Her body was so unique to them, they wanted to explore it.

Mairuk would not do such a thing while their human was ill and unconscious.

They would rather ask their questions to Astoria once she woke.

They would not indulge their curiosity without her consent.

As fascinating as it was to consider all the ways her body was different to theirs, they focused only on tending to her.

They dismissed and conjured water twice more, each time adding another small pour of Erlumi into the bath.

Finally, the water didn’t gray and Mairuk moved on to taming the tangled nest of her hair.

It took time, and they had to extend their claws to comb through the tightest knots, but eventually her hair was clean and free of tangles.

In the low candlelight of the washroom, her hair gleamed like fire.

They dismissed the water, and with a towel, they lifted her from the bath and returned her to her cabin.

They set her down on the bed and found a simple dress laying at the bottom.

Clean and made from the linen Mairuk provided her it seemed suitable.

They dressed her in it, then Mairuk drained and put salve on her wound.

The healing waters of the bay would root out the worst of the infection from her blood, but it would not prevent it from returning.

Mairuk finished tending to her as the first light of dawn painted the sky.

Cleaning their hands on the still-damp towel, they watched Astoria’s face and waited for her to wake.

She lingered in sleep for three more hours.

Though she no longer stunk of rot and she didn’t sweat, Mairuk’s lungs still buzzed as if they were full of bees. Does she need more healing?

Mairuk had a small amount of healing magic.

All Ardeloks did. It kept them healthier than humans, and it eased pain and closing wounds.

They could assist her healing, but it would require them to get…

close to her. Mairuk did not know if the magic worked on humans, or if she would appreciate the way they would have to administer it.

They would need to breathe the magic into her lungs.

Doing so was a common practice among healers, but Mairuk was not a healer.

Uncertain but unwilling to risk their human withering away, Mairuk leaned over her sleeping form and placed their mouth on hers.

They called the Orse a up from their center and commanded it to breathe life back into her.

Mairuk breathed the magic into her lungs.

Her lips were soft, the small groves in them the perfect companion for the delicate fibers of their skin.

Mairuk pulled back too slowly and Astoria’s eyes opened before they got far.

Astoria’s pupils were blown wide in her green eyes that glimmered with new light.

She smiled up at them, her expression warmer than summer sunlight.

Mairuk had not seen such an expression grace her face, but it suited her and stole their breath.

“Thank you. Whatever you did I feel…airy? Buzzy.” Astoria giggled.

“Buzzy?” Mairuk tilted their cap. “Like bees?”

“Like magic awakening in my blood.” Astoria hummed, presumably matching the sensation she described .

Mairuk watched her hum and their gills bristled as they tried to make out what happened. Astoria did not smile. She did not giggle. Was her sour mood truly an illness? Who was this human, and what did it do with theirs?

“It is good that you are well,” Mairuk said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “You were not in a good state when we arrived.”

They tried to keep their voice firm as they sent the words to her mind, but her smile blinded them. What was meant to chastise her sounded far too sympathetic for their preferences.

“I don’t remember the last time I was in a good state, or the last time I felt like this.” Astoria sighed as she settled into the pillows, her arms stretching out to her sides as she settled into the bed. “Whatever you did to me, do it more often. Gods, I feel good .”

“All we did was breathe our magic into you.” Mairuk tilted their cap at their human, all Twelve of them utterly lost. Did their magic influence her like this?

She acted as if she had drunk far too much, her eyes glossed over and her strange pupils wide.

Mairuk never healed anyone before, much less a human. Was this normal?

“You can breathe your magic into me any time you like,” Astoria said, a wide smile on her soft lips.

“What happened? Why did you not care for yourself?”

“The grief got to me and poisoned my mind as much as the infection poisoned by blood. But, I feel much lighter now. More awake than I have in more than a year.” Astoria reached up and traced her soft, small hands up and down Mairuk’s arms, then their chest. “ Gods , you are so beautiful.”

Every one of the Twelve who Made Mairuk froze.

From First to the mostly silent Twelfth, all of Mairuk focused on the human rubbing their chest. For the first time in all of their existence, Mairuk went silent inside.

They blinked, but Astoria continued to smile as her fingers played with the ridges of their skin.

They stuttered as they caught up. “You find us beautiful? ”

“Yes. Like the sunrise. Your body feels so nice in my hands. I haven’t known anything pleasant in so long.

I forgot such a thing existed,” Astoria cooed.

She hooked an arm around their neck and brought them closer together.

Mairuk cupped her side, and she hummed, a pleased sound.

She was so small in their arms. Their grip on her spanned from her hip to just under her breast.

Astoria looked up at Mairuk through her pale lashes and chewed her lower lip.

The smell coming off her, which was the mint in the soap, turned to something more feminine and richer.

Mairuk inhaled, the scent of her so pleasant it ruffled their gills.

Her thighs spread and the skirt of the sleep gown they dressed her in raised to her hips.

Her hands trailed further down Mairuk’s chest, to the waistband of their pants.

Mairuk’s frozen awareness came crashing back to reality.

This was not like their human, and they were not acting like themselves, either.

The fever must have harmed her mind. Seventh, Third, and Fourth rejoiced in Astoria’s exploration of their body and hoped she would allow the same, but the wise First of Mairuk understood that this was not the time.

Gently, with slow movements, Mairuk gripped Astoria’s wandering hand and set it to the side. Bastian appeared at the right moment and distracted her enough for Mairuk to remove her other arm from around their neck. “You were very unwell. Rest. We will find you something to eat.”

Astoria pouted, but made no move to get up. “Fine. I am only listening to you because I am tired.”

Mairuk could not help the small smile that bloomed over their face as they left Astoria’s bedroom. Despite the warmth she ignited in them, the energy in their body built and buzzed. What in the hells did we do?