Page 67 of To Trap a Soul

She still felt so human, despite all her new abilities.

Learning Weldir was trying, pointlessly, to help, eased how she felt about him. Did she like him? No. But she couldn’t dislike a stranger when she could see he was attempting to help in his own way.

He wasn’t as evil as she’d thought him to be.

Turning to him, since she’d been staring at him from the side, she pushed her fur hood back and let her hair wave around her. “You mentioned something about Nathair. Is he okay?”

“He will always be okay. He is immortal, just like his sire,” Weldir stated plainly. The spray of his chalky mist spread out, but as he consumed the souls she’d given him, each one whole, the ribbons of his body revealed a little more. “It appears I was wrong. I have use for you, after all, in the terms of our original agreement.”

Lindi’s brows twitched, confused, before they drew together. “But you said that there was no need to... to dothat. That he wouldn’t be useful as a servant.”

“And by all regards, he isn’t. He is ill-tempered and uncontrollable.” He lifted a hand, appeared to look down at it, and then closed it. “However, he recently visited the Veil of his own volition. With it, he brought many souls – enough to stir me from slumber.”

“He collected souls for you?” she asked, pushing a few of her floating strands of hair away from her eyes. “Why? How?”

“It appears my offspring is a soul eater, much like me, after all. Except that he is naturally able to heal the souls of humans that have been consumed by Demons.”

“How do you know they were eaten by Demons? What if he ate them?”

Just thinking about a child she brought into the world consuming humans made a shiver ripple down her spine until the fine hairs on her arms and legs stood on end. Lindi pushed the disgust and fear down, especially as she’d been trying for a long time to just accept it.

He was what he was. A serpent monster, destructive and magnificent at the same time. Something mighty, strong, and... beautiful.

“I have been inspecting the memories of all the humans that I have eaten. I bore witness to their final moments, and they were not at the claws of Nathair – although he brought me a few that were.”

“And you want to create more of him in the hope that they’ll bring you more souls?” Unease churned her stomach, and she placed her hands over it in an attempt to soothe it. “They may just attack humans, like the Demons. We could be adding to the problem.”

Weldir turned, his visible body leaving his mist before it swiftly followed to encase him again. “That is a small price to pay. A few offspring hunting an unwitting human when they have shown they can massacre many Demons, in turn preserving human life, outweighs their cons.”

“I don’t think I can agree to this,” Lindi rejected, chewing at her bottom lip until it swelled and stung. “And as much as I care for Nathair... knowing he’s harmed humans makes me feel sick.”

“And yet it is that very thing that is making him intelligent.”

“What do you mean? Nathair isn’t intelligent. He’s a wild beast.” She hated talking about him that way, but that was whathe was. A mindless, bloodthirsty beast, chasing after anything that moved in his radius.

Not even Lindi could get close to him without being struck at by his venomous fangs.If he bites them, he paralyses.She’d avoided such a fate, but Weldir had kept her informed of the properties of his magical venom. It kept his victim alive but incapable of moving, just so he could eat them at his whim – well... in theory, if he didn’t consume anything that bled within seconds.

It meant he could fend off multiple opponents, rendering each one immobile until he was done. Then he could take his time. Nothing escaping, nothing safe.

“Actually,” Weldir started, his tone uplifted even if his face was stiff as stone as he spoke, “his mannerisms have been changing. It took me a while to notice the difference, but I can see thought behind his actions now. There is... change. I believe each human he consumes aids his mind.”

“Like he is gaining humanity?” she asked with a hopeful tone.

She pushed her hands back through the air, and she propelled herself forward slightly – a new ability she had in his realm that developed a few years ago. It apparently had something to do with some Rökul person.

Reducingsomeof the distance between them, she came close enough to better see his partial features. Which was very little. It just meant she could see minor lip or brow twitches whenever his coalesced self moved to reveal them.

“Does that mean he may one day stop hurting humans?”

Weldir shrugged. She’d never seen him do that before, but Lindi figured he attempted to mimic human actions for her sake.

“That would remain to be seen, but possibly. Either way, if he grows more intelligent, and continues to consume and heal the souls of humans that have been eaten by Demons, by in turn eating them, then our offspring may passively assist me. Theyare too mindless to not have their own free will. I doubt I can acquire loyalty from such beings, but if they pass through my mist, I can take the souls that have clung to them. They will be servants without knowing it.”

Lindi’s mouth open and closed, one moment wanting to refuse, the next wanting to agree.

The fact that they would destroy Demons, aiding their plight, was so beneficial she wanted to say yes. They were immortal, and if the others were like Nathair, they would be formidable and fierce.

But I would have to look after them, carry them... birth them.At least now she knew what to expect, but doing it all again sounded just as frightful. What if something different happened, or there were unknown complications?

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