Page 53 of To Trap a Soul

She knew there was a fifty-fifty chance that she’d die this eve.

The question was... what would happen to her child in the meantime?

Her eyes bowed with anguish, and she held them tighter.Damnit... I should have been more careful.

Please answer me,her mind begged, as she opened her mouth to call out to Weldir.

Shivering, Lindi curled her body around a small heat source, and its pulsing radiated against her abdomen. It was the tiniest, most fragile heartbeat, and she found solace in it. A hard bed cushioned them as she wound her arms tighter against her child and drew her knees up to the bottom of their new serpent tail.

Flames crackled in the background, but the fading light barely illuminated the room, and the heat didn’t reach her. It did little to take the chill out of the air that clutched at her bones untilaches radiated in her joints and up her spine. No matter what she tried, her skin crawled, and she rubbed her sweat-slicked forehead against her saturated pillow.

Her tired eyes rolled as she searched her bedroom for no one, only to turn so she could attempt to warm the other side of her body. She took her child with her, needing their warmth despite the flush in her cheeks, her lips chapped with thirst.

“W-Weldir,” she called out, a little weaker than she had before.

She received no answer to her plea and hadn’t in the many hours that had passed. Then again, the demi-god had been quiet since the night she’d given birth all those months ago. He was asleep – she knew that. He’d even warned her that he would be falling into a slumber, but she hated that when she needed him, there was no answer.

Cracking her eyes open to look at the fireplace situated in her parents’ – now her – bedroom, she noticed its comforting glow. She wanted that billowing heat to engulf her if it meant it would eradicate the illness that had befallen her. Instead, she lay in her bed shivering, incapable of braving the cool air beyond her blanket in case it froze her solid.

She felt awful that she placed her trembling, cold hands against her child, but they didn’t seem to notice as they snuggled deeper into her stomach.

It felt like she was dying. Her bones had been replaced with rods of ice, her skin chilled even though her face burned with delirium. Although she’d never asked for it before, she wanted him to bring her to his realm and heal her of this awful illness resulting from the death adder venom.

This made her feeltoohuman, too mortal – despite her unearthly station in life now.

Lindi had the power of a god on her side, and she felt like she was passing away. The irony of that wasn’t lost on her. Then again, she already, technically, had died multiple times.

Oh, screw it. He’s not going to help me,she thought, climbing out of the bed to drag her blanket to the flames. She lay down on the clay ground with her back to the fireplace and hugged her child.

Only then did sleep grasp her.

A time unknown, but awaited

Underneath his toes, grass bent as he set his foot down. He watched each step carefully to make sure it appeared as realistic as possible.

With a soul in his right hand, Weldir peered into it until the human’s memories flooded his mind. He observed the way the sunshine cascaded over her face and cast its glaring light upon the world, and how the rain bounced off her tanned skin and caused her eyes to flicker faster to battle the droplets. Wind pushed all around her, which made her clothing billow and rustle around her limbs.

He took in the bark of trees through her gaze, and how the sky’s blue hues changed depending on the time of day – or how it splashed the world with fire in the evenings and mornings. There was something notable about the flowers when the woman constantly picked one to press it to her nose, as if they had a pleasant smell he was missing.

Although he couldn’t feel, smell, or taste anything, being able to interact with the world through her memories was...heartwarming. It was tender.

He pushed the soul away and called for another.

A man wielding some kind of bow knelt in the gritty sand of Earth to inspect a set of animal tracks. The man brushed the grains in his hand before sniffing them, bit into a reed of some kind, and then looked up to the desert surroundings. Tall, thick bundles of dry grass swayed alongside bushes of white wildflowers – strong plants that could survive what was obviously a much harsher environment. Spindly trees lacking leaves offered little shade, but the man took a moment to rest under a branch’s shadow while searching the horizon.

Large insects buzzed near his face, and he swatted them away, only for them to become a nuisance once more.

Weldir moved on, grasping at a new soul. Another male, this time situated around a dinner table, spoke to other humans.

With each new soul Weldir accessed the memories of, the more he learned of the world beyond his own realm. And, with it, his understanding of the environment grew.

Taking another step through Tenebris, the realm within his stomach, Weldir grew grass over the black, inky ground. Wildflowers sprouted as a phantasmagoria of meshing colours, not all of which belonged together. But that was fine. One day he’d learn what matched with the environment he grew; it would make sense once he delved into more memories.

He was thankful that he’d long learned he could actually do more with these souls other than ignore them.

Eating them only gave them a place to roam or, rather, scream in terror. Peering into their very essence was like looking into the reflection of water, but rather than seeing his face, he saw their life. Ripping them apart with his claws split them in two and gave him a large burst of power.

Power came with consequences.

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