Page 130 of To Trap a Soul

Both had worn sandals to protect their feet from the impacted dirt and sand.

She’d liked the vibrancy of their attire, the draped clothing perfect to shade against the dry sun, but loose enough to allow a draft.

At night, the city men had patrolled the outside of the city with spears and fended off Demons with practised swiftness, minimising casualties to the occasional death.

They were strong, hearty people – survivors – just like the rest of the world she’d seen thus far. Only the bravest, the intuitive, and the quickest thinkers as a unified group had managed to survive the first unexpected waves of Demons.

Lindiwe liked to see that in humankind. Liked seeing they were capable of survival even amidst the carnage. She adored that this was a trait she’d seen everywhere she’d gone.

They were thoughts for a later time, but it allowed hope to swell in her chest as she completed hervery importanttask.

Lindi was doing what she liked to call ‘nesting.’

Her stomach was rounded, swollen, and already the aches and pains that came before birthing were riddling her back, ankles, and sometimes came in the form of headaches. She was lethargic, but despite that, she’d been collecting and cleaning cloth to make herself soft bedding, among other things, like for cleaning any messes. Flying while this heavily pregnant came with its battles, and she could only do small jaunts. She often went to a nearby watering hole, returned to boil the water, and then was almost tapped out of energy for a few hours.

Thankfully, she’d been wise enough to find this collection of clay huts that had been abandoned and mostly lay in ruin due to the Demons. She’d evicted all those that huddled in the other buildings through the day and then erected a magical barrier around the small village.

Weldir had been silent, likely slumbering. Or maybe he was just avoiding her as much as she was him.

I hope he just remains asleep forever except for when he wants more kids,she thought with a grumble as she pushed her bedding around into a comfortable bundle, refusing to speak out loud in case he somehow heard her.I’m still so embarrassed. Maybe even a little traumatised.

Lindi hadn’t gotten over their terrible sex experiment. She’d been so excited to try it and was now completely disinterested in the idea.

Not with him, and not with anyone, for that matter.

In some ways, there was a relief in that.

It was something she no longer wanted, so she no longer thought about it. She found solace that she didn’t feel so alone because she was no longer attracted to the idea of a physical connection.

And then there was the whole Jabez issue that she was still furious over – although her hormones might be making her angrier than necessary. She was a little angry at Weldir, too, and at herself for not listening to him, but she was tired of feeling so utterly out of place and alone in the world she was born into.

So she was trying to let go. To get over all the things that constantly nagged and bothered her.

She’d just focus more on herself and their children, doing what she could for them all. She’d already been considering what kind of horn variations she’d like for the one currently in her belly, and what other characteristics she could give them, like Nathair’s fins or Orson’s spikes.

I don’t think it’s wise to make them aquatic on this continent.There was plenty of water, but there were also a lot of Demons that filled it. They found shade in the thick reeds or buried themselves in the sediment during the day.There are a lot of big cats.

She smiled at the idea of a spotty Duskwalker, and hoped such fur patterns like a cheetah were possible. The options seemed endless.

Once she was happy with her bedding on her recently swept flooring, she sat down and leaned against the intricately threaded stick wall. The outside was coated in clay, leaving it watertight – it also helped to keep out the worst of the day’s heat and the cooler night. Then she pulled out her journal, one where she detailed the lives of humans and all the different animals she’d seen.

As she was staring at a drawing she’d made of a large and imposing tusked creature, one with big, flapping ears and thick, wrinkled skin, she thought,I really do need to make a proper home.

Austrális would always be the place she returned to, like her heart belonged there. She needed to find or build a place where she could store her precious items.

She turned a page, seeing she was close to the end of the thickly bound leather book. She’d stopped using a quill and ink a long time ago, preferring to use the ink stick she’d found in her travels. Her fingertips were often stained, but she didn’t mind – except for when it went under her fingernails.

She brushed the pads of her fingers over the description and drawing she’d done of a crocodile, wondering if such a skull would be too heavy for one of her children.

It’s so strange to think that there are so many varying animals in the world.Some of them she’d learned the names of by the encyclopedia she’d stolen from the great library in Turkane and used a translation spell to read, but there were many others she didn’t know in English. She just adopted the name they said from where they belonged.

She cupped her chin and incidentally smudged ink down her jaw.I like the horns of the impala.They were knobby and thin,with a subtle spiral, and she thought they would look like a wonderful crown on top of a predatory skull.

Lindi gave a small wince before rubbing where her unborn child kicked.It was like she was trying to soothe herself as well as them.

“I’m trying to figure it out. You’re not here yet and already you’re so demanding.” And even if they were, she had all the time in the world to figure out how she wanted them to form. “Just give me a while.”

With night beginning to creep in, Lindi watched the mesmerising play of colours splash across the dusking sky. Out of all the buildings on this crest, shielded underneath a large umbrella thorn acacia, she liked this one best. It overlooked the edge of a ridge and gave her a wonderful view of the grassy plains below.

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