Page 23 of To Trap a Soul

“Okay...” She chewed her cheek faster. “What else?”

“For now, that is all. I have no other use for you.”

Her head reared back, her feminine features sharpening. “I don’t have to entertain you? H-have sex with you outside of making servants? How often will we have to do that, by the way?”

“Sex? No. That won’t be necessary beyond the scope of what I require for servants, and even then, I am unsure how we will do such a thing.”

Her dark brows drew together. “What do you mean?”

“I have never done this before. I don’t know how I am to reproduce, or if it is even possible between us.” He knew he had a special essence, a life-giving essence, but he was unsure how to implant it. Her jaw dropped at his statement, so he added, “We will experiment and learn together. We will create a servant and see what becomes of them before we make more.”

Her lips shut, tightened once more, while her eyes squinted into a glare. “Are you telling me you have no idea what you’re doing? I thought gods were all-powerful, all-knowing beings! I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I knew you weren’t as formidable as I thought.”

“It’s not my fault you made that assumption,” he stated plainly, highlighting his disinterest in her words with his tone. “I already told you my power was limited.”

“Yes! But I thought you would at leastknowwhat you’re doing. I-I’m a virgin! I don’t really want my bits used as an experiment for a god. I thought you’d at least know what you’d produce. What if they’re...weird?” Then, under her breath, she muttered, “What if they’re evil?”

“Evil is dictated by the moral boundaries of the individual,” he stated emotionlessly. “It differs between each person and each being’s culture. I am unsure what would be deemed as wrong to you.”

She picked at the groove of her nail harder, and her expression flittered with all manner of emotions – most he couldn’t decipher. All he knew was that he could perceive her heartbeat racing by the way her form pulsated in his darkness, and how her shoulders heaved.

It appears I have upset her further.

“I am not an evil being, so I doubt my offspring will be.”

She eyed him but said nothing. She appeared unconvinced.

Weldir wondered what he could say to assuage her worries, but he had little idea. He wanted to be honest, as he had no reason to lie, but he truly had no idea what would happen.

I didn’t even know if I would be able to bond with her.That, too, had been an experiment.

Eating her living soul could have killed her. Since she’d been dying already, he hadn’t felt the need to explain that detail, but it had been a worry for him. Weldir had been uncertain, but he was thankful that his assumption had been correct.

He could bond with a living being.

I assume my offspring will take on the form of a deity.They could then have any humanoid form, but he was unsure what kind. His mother appeared Elvish other than the gold of her hair, her magical markings, and her constant tears.

His fathers – plural, as it could have been any god – were all humanoid in some form. However, one had the lower half of abear, his top half was an Elf, and he had antlers. Another looked like a being made up entirely of flora. Another had been made of water, another of lava.

Each male was an attentive partner to the Gilded Maiden, and all of them were her lovers during his conception. Any one of them could have been his paternal father.

And Weldir was nothing like any of them, including his mother.

He only assumed he would make something humanoid in some way due to the evidence of his ancestry. Perhaps they would even look human considering their potential mother was a mortal being given the abilities of...

What is she now?

Weldir’s gaze drifted down her spectral form. She wasn’t a Ghost, but she wasn’t truly alive anymore, either.

His form wavered with unease.What if she is intangible on Earth?Then again, he didn’t care if she didn’t have a physical body, so long as she was able to collect souls and give birth. And considering part of her soul was still intact, he saw no reason why it shouldn’t be possible.

“If we are unable to produce offspring, your task will only be to collect souls.”

She tilted her head at that. “You don’t plan to get rid of me if I can’t?”

“No. I still need a servant, and someone who can freely roam Earth.”

He didn’t care what form they took for that role. He just couldn’t leave his mists without fully consuming a soul until it was entirely destroyed, borrowing its immense power for a few fleeting moments. He’d rather not do that, as each time swept him into a slumber afterwards that he struggled to push back.

---