“You’ll be joining us?” Mayumi asked.
“Yes, I will go with you. This is too important to do by yourselves, and I can wield Weldir’s magic and protect you all for as long as I can.” Then she looked off to the side, out the window above the kitchen. “It would not be fair of me to ask you all to do this by yourselves.”
“So, you’ll need all of us,” Emerie stated. “If Reia is still willing to give me the diadem, that will stop the weaker Demons from touching me, and I’m wicked good with a whip. Plus, if we managed to coil a rope around the Demon King’s hair and attach it to something, maybe we can stop him from teleporting away from the blast?”
“I knew I liked you,” Reia said with a wide grin on her face. “It’ll be like an anchor, keeping the bastard from running away like a coward.”
“No need to start calling me a genius, but you’re welcome to if you really want to,” Emerie teased, bashfully flapping her hand up and down.
Ingram didn’t know what her hand flapping meant, but he was tempted to mirror her. He was learning all sorts of new ways to be playful.
“You’re all just lucky I stole a bunch of weapons,” Mayumi basically cackled.
“And that I figured out Jabez’s weakness,” Delora said with a smile. “I can’t wait to look that jerk in the eyes. I’m hoping I can get a good punch in.”
“Delora,” Magnar gasped, and the female grew flustered at herself. “You are to stay away from him.”
With her eyes firmly on Emerie’s, the Witch Owl said, “You are all important in this, and each of you has unwittingly brought in key elements to this. Reia’s diadem, Delora’s information, Mayumi’s weapons, and this, Raewyn’s stone.”
“I guess I brought Ingram,” Emerie joked while poking her thumb at him.
This did not humour the Witch Owl. Instead, her gaze bored into Emerie, and there was something… haunted about it.
Ingram’s skull jerked, and he tightened his arms protectively around his pretty little butterfly. Something cold and dark wrapped around his chest like a flowing, constrictive cloth.
Why is she looking at Emerie like that?
As gingerly as she could, Emerie removed the heavy Duskwalker’s arm from on top of her, and it fell limply between them. Then she carefully wiggled the rest of her from his embrace.
Once she was on her knees, she hovered her hands out, willing with all her might for him to stay asleep.
He still wasn’t well, which was working to her advantage right now. He was out like a blown-out lamp, and she almost fist bumped the air.
Yes! She got to her feet and tiptoed out of the tent. Now I can pee without him trying to freaking follow!
She didn’t even bother to poke her head out of the entry flap. Emerie got her butt out of there and put as much space between her and it as fast as she could.
To her left, she noticed there was light coming from Faunus and Mayumi’s home. It was past the middle of the night, the waxing moon bright above.
She figured Mayumi just couldn’t shake the backwards sleep cycle Demonslayers lived by. They were almost nocturnal. Emerie, however, had always been an early-morning riser.
Emerie found a spot, did her business in the forest, and made her way back to the tent. Just before she could reach it, a thump sounded behind her.
As a gasp of surprise escaped her, a human hand slapped across her mouth. She fought while turning in their arms, only to find herself staring into a dark-brown pair of eyes framed by long, delicate lashes.
“Lindi–” Before she could finish, the woman slapped her hand over Emerie’s mouth again.
She placed her index finger to her own lips, indicating for Emerie to be quiet as she slipped her gaze to the tent. She doesn’t want to wake Ingram.
Perhaps the wise thing would have been to shout and wake him, but she was too curious about why Lindiwe wanted her alone. Emerie flicked her gaze up to Mayumi’s brightly lit home but couldn’t see movement at the window like she had before.
“Follow,” Lindiwe whispered so quietly she was barely heard.
She hesitated. Yet, against her better judgement, Emerie did.
Lindiwe’s white cloak was easy to spot in the darkness, picking up just enough moonlight to reflect it. The quills of feathers glinted. Her bare feet were much quieter than Emerie’s, and she walked almost silently as she took them both into the forest and far from view.
At the border of Faunus’ glittering yellow dome, she gestured to a large tree stump big enough to seat both of them. In doing so, she showed that their conversation would not only be long, but probably deep.
Emerie didn’t take it.
“I can’t be long,” she explained. “Ingram will eventually wake up and come looking for me.”
“Which is why it is best if you do as you’re told, so we can end this quicker.”
Rolling her eyes and folding her arms in annoyance, she plopped her backside on the stump. She shifted over when Lindiwe took a seat next to her, which was surprising, but she appreciated she was not going to be stood over like a mother giving a lecture.
Then, for a short while, with their sides in the direction of Mayumi’s home and Emerie’s temporary tent, they said nothing.
It was quiet, and being so close to the rest of the Veil was creepy. Mist surrounded them like a light, wet blanket. No crickets chirped; no bugs buzzed in the background. It sounded empty of life, which made it all the more… eerie.
The tiny hairs on her arms lifted in aversion and apprehension. She rubbed at her biceps as if that would help soothe them.
There were no Demons lurking just outside the ward, but Emerie was sure her scent would bring them eventually. At least, she assumed so, even though she could smell an odd, but really sweet smell coming from Lindiwe.
“My children don’t trust me,” the woman started, her tone solemn and holding a note of… pain. “It has been difficult all these years to watch them grow without me, to watch as I give them their skulls and horns, only for them to forget who I am and all I have done for them.”
Lindiwe lowered her face, staring down at where she picked at the edges of her long nails. Her dejected voice continued, her posture weakening by the second.
“Merikh has been the hardest. I have made many mistakes as a mother, but there is only so much I can do. It does not excuse it, I know, but much is out of my control, and I am learning along the way with them. I wish to protect them, but I’m unsure of how to do that when they do not trust me. How can I protect them when they will not even allow me to get near?”
Why is she telling me this?
“Ingram seems to trust you,” Emerie offered, nibbling at the corner of her lips.
“Ingram and Aleron were different. They were the most playful of my children, and it was easier to insert myself into their existence as they bounced off each other’s joy.” She lifted her face enough to glance at Emerie next to her. “It is one of the reasons why Aleron’s death has weighed heavily on me. I tried to save him, but it was impossible. I had to retreat before I was killed.”
“But can’t you come back to life?” Emerie asked. “If you cared about them so much, why run away when they needed you the most?”