Page 159 of A Soul to Embrace

They teleported instantly, and Zylah was thrown into brightness. Still early in the afternoon, the sun shone over the big open area he’d taken them to in the Veil.

More adjusted to his teleporting now, Zylah easily steadied her queasy stomach and wobbling legs to look around. His hand fell away as he stepped to the side, but she didn’t immediately follow.

I remember this place.Although those memories were now blurry in her mind, the rubble they were next to was unmistakable.This is where I found him.

Had it already been nearly two and a half months since then? It felt like longer.

Her orbs shifted to blue at the memory of how she’d found him. It’d mattered little to her then, but looking back on it made her heart squeeze.

Parts of his face and torso had been marred with the evidence of healing burns, which is why there was now a baldness around his right ear like a curve. One arm had been missing, as well as a leg from the knee down.

There had been no blood, but that was likely because he’d managed to rid himself of it. He’d healed himself just enough to stop her from turning on him in a hunger-filled rage and the fact that she could have eaten him... her stomach knotted.

She’d never have known about his existence. He would have just been another thing she’d eaten, and all these warm and tender emotions wouldn’t exist. She also wouldn’t be intelligent, nor have learned the things she’d come to discover. She never would have met Fayren, Goldie, or Rook, and learned that Demons weren’t all terrible.

How vastly different things could have been was startling and harrowing to realise.

“Zylah,” Jabez called.

She lifted her skull in his direction to find him standing next to a wall of shrubbery. She quickly shoved her despondent thoughts to the side and ran over to him.

Before she was even upon him and could apologise, he stated, “Don’t linger on it. Many things could have happened.”

She chittered at that, her shoulders turning inwards at how he somehow read her mind. Then again, the colour of her orbs likely gave her away, and she nipped at herself for it.I wonder if there is a way for me to suppress my orb colours.

She would like to not be so easily read.

He took her into an opening in the wall of shrubs that stood taller than even her. She believed they were hedges, and she noted those closest to where his castle once stood were bowed, bent, and missing their leaves.

The further in they went, the more shade crawled over them, as the rest of the hedges were healthier – just a little worn from some kind of wind explosion. Many of the shrubs appeared to be forming new leaves.

Within minutes, a glow up ahead stole her attention.

Yellow and cloudy, a ring of magic stood in the middle of some kind of large iron-caged dome. A giant hole had been ripped open from the inside, as if someone or something had forced their way out.

Her fur lifted the closer they got to what she assumed was the portal, and the middle of it looked like murky water. It wasn’t completely opaque, though, and she could see a blurry image of the iron cage and hedges on the other side.

“There’s no door,” Zylah commented, trying unsuccessfully to find some kind of way in or out of the dome.

“No.” He dipped his head to the side to look at her. “I purposefully made it without one.”

“How is anyone supposed to get in or out?” she asked, leaping into action when he strolled to the side where the gaping hole was.

“That’s the point; they couldn’t without my intervention.” He indicated to where they were going. “The cage was strengthened by my magic. The Demons who passed through found no issue getting out on their own once the magical reinforcement was gone. That’s why there’s a hole now.”

The dark yellow of curiosity lifted into her sight. “Why would you make it that way?”

“I assessed every Demon who crossed the portal,” he stated while carefully stepping over and around bent metal. “If theywere a lesser Demon, I teleported them to the outer ring so they couldn’t instigate violence against those who live peacefully in the inner ring. To those who were near completion and intelligent, I offered guidance, explaining the way of life here, and told them about Spiral Haven. It meant everyone could be placed where they needed to be.”

Her tail wiggled lightly at that.He took on this task just to ensure the safety of those nearby.

He’d tried to make her think him evil and callous, but this was evidence that he did have goodness in him. Perhaps only for his fellow Demons, but he cared enough to take up a duty that likely would have been bothersome and annoying.

He ensured he didn’t allow total chaos under his protective watch and then even took the time tohelpthose who needed it.

When he must have noticed her reaction, his eyes flicking in the direction of her tail, a small chuckle rumbled from him.

“I think you’re misinterpreting my actions, Zylah. I did it to keep those who would seek to eat me far away from myself.”

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