Page 126 of To Trap a Soul

A time unknown, but one of unhappy departures

With his toes pointing downwards and his realm keeping him afloat and weightless – not that it mattered – Weldir folded his arms as he watched the viewing disc. Night had long descended upon the world, and the crescent moon above offered minimal light for Lindiwe to see. Light gusts of wind rustled the trees and shrubs nearby, and their sounds were something he committed to memory for later – to insert into his own realm.

The Veil’s forest lay just behind her, while the waterfall Lindiwe had spent many days at was just before her.

Between her and that cascade of frothing water was an impertinent half-Demon, who was grinning amicably at Weldir’s mate.

Jabez, as he preferred to be called, had his hands behind his back with his shoulders loose and lacking tension, but his pointed ears were perked upright to listen carefully. His short white hair stuck up around his head haphazardly, messy from traversing through the forest but lacking any tangles, as if it was cleaned recently.

His clothing was the same, a cream tunic and well-fitted black breeches, and he wore his cloak.

Jabez’s red eyes drifted over Lindiwe’s form, darting side to side, before slowly coming back. His right eyebrow twitched slightly as it raised, and his grin fell as the long wait revealed the absence of Weldir.

“I thought he was going to speak with me himself,” Jabez commented, his head tipping to the side. “This wasn’t what I expected. Why are you here alone?”

Lindiwe folded her arms and grumbled, “He said he doesn’t want to talk to you directly, unless I’m not here.”

“Then wouldn’t it have been better that way?” Jabez asked, and Weldir immediately noted the way her brows pinched in puzzlement. Jabez then raised a hand and shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, I like you, Lindiwe, but this is more of a business conversation. Much hangs in the balance, and that goes beyond you and I.”

Such a cold answer, one that Weldir somewhat expected.

“What is it you seek from me?” Weldir asked, mediating the possibility of them having an in-depth conversation around this.

Lindiwe was likely to argue with Jabez just as much as Weldir, and he wanted to get this over with. He already lacked the desire to be here or even have this conversation.

Her arms tightened. “He asks what you want from him.”

“I would prefer that you state it in the way I did,” Weldir commanded, firmer than he intended.

Lindiwe flinched and lowered her head. “My apologies. He said, ‘What is it you seek from me?’”

Jabez’s red eyes trailed down her, likely noting the change in her body language, before darting them back to her face. Jabez probably thought she was being soft and submissive, but Weldir knew better.

She was biting back her anger in order to not bite at Weldir.

“I would like to relieve you of your torment,” Jabez answered, so confidently, so brazenly, that Weldir thought him foolish.

“One must be tormented in order to be relieved of it,” he stated, which she repeated word for word.

White brows furrowing, the halfling was obviously perplexed. “Are you not trapped in your realm?”

Weldir saw no point in lying, nor hiding the truth.

“Trapped is one way to put it. Yes, I am forced to remain within my realm; however, it’s not only for everyone else’s safety, but my own. My soul should not leave it, as it has no true body to house it. If it were to escape, I would be unable to control how far it spread, and the flames would consume every living thing in their path. I am a danger to all.”

“Is that how you killed the other deities?”

Weldir snapped his fangs with a quiet growl, which only she heard. Once more, she flinched, but in surprise.

I should not react. It affects only her.

“How the others died is not my fault, but the product of Demons and their vileness of spirit. When your kind have not fully evolved, there is nothing but darkness containing you. A sickness that eats away at everything it touches if it has nothing to house.Thatis what destroyed the others. My birthing was merely a catalyst that could have been prevented.”

Jabez rolled his eyes and lifted his right hand, waving it side to side. “Whatever. What if we managed to obtain you a physical form? Then you could do as you want, go wherever you please.”

Weldir couldn’t help scoffing at that. “You have no such abilities.”

He lifted a finger. “True, but that’s from a lack of trying. There must be some way we can give you that, and I’d be willing to dedicate myself to it. There are many hidden libraries within Nyl’theria ready to be unearthed and rediscovered. An answer may be there.”

---