Come on. Take the bait, Emerie thought as she staggered to her feet.
Her prayers were answered. Jabez grabbed their link and yanked her off the ground again when he pulled her closer with his inhuman strength. Her throat landed directly in his clawed hand, and he tightened it on her.
He snarled down at her with red eyes full of hate and spite.
“So, they know, do they?” He reached back and swiped his long strands in front of him to inspect the rope knotted in his hair. He bounced it in his hand. “Elves… such a stupid weakness.”
Now that she was close, and the barrier was small and hopefully still enough, she raised her fist. The winged Demon was forced to shuffle forward when it was pushed by Lindiwe’s dome.
She should be far enough away, right?
Jabez’s gaze lifted to her closed fist in curiosity, his twisted expression falling.
Her heart clenched in fear, in sadness, in hopelessness. The anguish of it was unbearable as she trembled in the Demon King’s grip.
“Bye, Ingram,” Emerie whispered, as tears welled even though a smile curled her shaking lips.
She threw the stone against the ground between them, and the shatter of it was lost to the blinding white light that exploded and pierced… everything.
The last thing she felt was Jabez shove her between him and that light. The last thing she heard was a boom and a high-pitched ringing that felt like it vibrated and disintegrated her bones. Heat blasted her from within as well as all around.
The millisecond of her remaining consciousness beyond the impact didn’t even have a chance to think anything other than, for the first time in her life, she was terrified of the light.
With an annoyed huff, Ingram turned to Orpheus and Magnar instead of going down the decline leading to the Veil’s forest.
He couldn’t fault them on their desire to hunt. He, too, wanted to care for Emerie in this way.
But now that he knew he could love both Emerie and Aleron indiscriminately and in different ways, he wanted to link them. He’d spent the last two days burying his cock in her any way he could, secretly hoping their essences would just… combine.
That, somehow, the universe would tether them together without his knowledge. On a physical level, they had been one, so why could it not seep beneath their skin?
Obviously, that’d been unsuccessful.
But he’d been craving it, while unwittingly suppressing his affection for the pretty female in worry he’d be betraying Aleron somehow.
When I return… I will ask. As soon as he did, in fact.
He was impatient, as always.
He could almost picture it.
Orpheus and Magnar would be with him, likely everyone else also, but Ingram wouldn’t care about their presence. He’d just pick up the little female, embrace her in his arms, and ask her to be his bride.
Whether or not he was just being foolishly disillusioned, all he imagined was her smiling face kissing the side of his bony face as she said yes.
Just the mere thought had his sight glowing bright pink again. Even his tail tip curled in delight.
His feet itched with urgency, and he nodded to them both.
Okay, let them hunt and return as quickly as possible.
Magnar and Orpheus stepped to the side, creating a small gap, and faced the direction they’d been originally heading. Both froze, just as a little Ghost had her back turned and looked as though she was tiptoeing in an attempt to sneak away.
Orpheus cocked his head. “Reia…？”
The Ghost halted and straightened as though someone had shoved a board up her dress. It was hard to tell who it truly was, being see-through and cloudy white from head to feet.
She turned solid, and blonde hair fluttered as she spun around with her arms out in greeting.
“Orpheus,” she exclaimed, with an awkward cringe. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Reia!” he yelled, closing the small space between them so swiftly she let out an oomph of surprise when he impacted against her. He crouched as he wrapped his arm around her midsection and pushed her hair back like he was checking for some kind of non-existent wound. “What are you doing here, Reia? Why did you die?”
“A-about that,” she stuttered as she looked in every direction except them. Her green eyes were filled with a deeply troubling emotion.
The growl that rumbled from Orpheus was low and thunderous as his orbs turned red. “What did you do?” It was as if he knew she’d gotten herself killed. “You were supposed to stay within Faunus’ ward. Why did you leave it?”
“What if I didn’t leave it?” she grumbled defensively with a pout. “You’re jumping straight to conclusions. We totally could have been attacked.”
“You were attacked?!” All three Mavka roared.
Magnar and Ingram darted their heads towards the Veil, white bursting into their orbs. Emerie! His heart had only ever constricted this tightly once in his life – when he’d seen part of Aleron’s skull in a Demon’s clawed hand.
“Eep!” Reia put her hands out with a cringe marring her features. “No, no, no! I left the ward. Shit, fuck. What a way to put my foot in my mouth.”
Before anything more could be said, another Ghost wavered and warped as she materialised by Magnar’s side. She lay asleep, curled up on her side with her knees tucked up.
Ingram was the first to notice her, but the moment she stirred even a little, Magnar darted his head in her direction.
“Delora!” He knelt down around her and desperately tried to pick up her intangible form.
Delora suddenly sat up when his yelling shoved her into alertness. “Magnar,” she cried as she turned physical and flung herself at him.
She sobbed into Magnar’s neck after she hooked her arms around it, and Ingram was forced to cover his nose holes when the scent of fear rolled off her in violent waves.
Iciness trickled through his veins and into his chest as his sight shifted between the two Mavka and their females, then to the Veil. His hands clenched and unclenched.
Two brides had been returned to their partners…
Before he could think or ask anything, a bright-yellow ball of exploding light erupted in the distance. The boom that followed was distant but distinct enough to draw all their gazes to it.
It came from the far horizon, and the trees of the Veil danced in a singular, powerful wave that rippled outwards in all directions. Ingram was forced to throw his arm up when that wave hit them, and an intense gust of wind and dust blasted over them. He’d almost been shoved off his feet and stumbled to right himself.
But it was the sound of it that made him whimper.
His bones vibrated, his entire body shook, and for a moment, he thought he saw a spectral, ghostly arm trying to leave his own – as if his physical self and spiritual self were trying to separate. Weirdly enough, it was purple and matched the colour of his normal sight.
It was only for a second, just long enough for that wind to cut through him, but it was as bizarre as it was… worrying.
Then it was quiet and peaceful once more – except for the screech of birds rushing away.
The sun was warm, the air fresh despite their proximity to the Veil. Even the mists, one black and one white, had dissipated momentarily, making the Veil less oppressing.
All Ingram could think was… something was wrong.