6. Nyx
Nyx
“Ah!” The small female scurries backward on all fours like Frostpincer, her eyes wide, showcasing the large ring of white around her colored iris. “Stay away from me!”
Ignoring her fierce words, I take a step deeper into Rhune’s bedroom, the turquoise glow of my eyes flaring bright, casting a faint green hue over the human’s pale skin.
The beat of her heart is swift, and her sweet scent—the reason I ventured into Rhune’s room in the first place—has changed, taking on notes of bitterness.
She is afraid.
I gaze at the cowering human at the opposite end of the room, taking in her frightened eyes and quivering lip, wondering how I could have been so dense.
I must show her I am friendly.
I pull my lips back to showcase all of my fine white teeth. I have read about members of her kind greeting each other this way, and I hope my smile gives a good first impression.
“Hello,” I say, making sure to keep my teeth bared. “You smell delicious.”
In response, she screams in terror, curling her arms over her head in a protective embrace.
Huh… maybe the smile was a bad idea.
I allow my face muscles to relax as I take a small step closer to her quivering form. “I didn’t mean to startle you… My name is Nyx.” My eyes catch on the metal collar around her slender neck, the chain attached to the wall, keeping her caged in this room. “I’m assuming you’ve met Rhune…”
She straightens slightly, taking her plump lip between her teeth as she gives me a nod. “He kidnapped me.”
A smirk tugs at the corner of my mouth. “Rhune stole you? What a naughty boy...”
I move closer to her—drawn by her scent, her aura, the beautiful green tint to her eyes. I want to touch her, to see if her skin is as soft as it looks, see if she tastes the way she smells…
Unable to contain my curiosity, I reach a clawed hand out toward her face, pinching a chunk of her dark hair between my fingers. The strands flow over my skin like fine silk, and a shiver runs the length of my spine as I imagine shoving my face into her heavenly mane.
“What is your name, little human?” I ask, gazing deep into her deep green pools. There’s fear there, and curiosity, plus something darker lying just beneath the surface. An ocean of sadness, pain, and heartache—so vast and deep, it makes my chest hurt to look at it.
“Willow,” she answers in a soft voice. “Willow Wood.”
“Why are your eyes so sad, Willow?”
She lowers her gaze, her bottom lip quivering ever so slightly. “I didn’t know they were…”
She’s lying. And yet, I don’t feel a need to press her. Not yet. Not while she has Rhune’s ugly collar around her neck. As I look at the collar again, a powerful wave of jealousy rises within me, heating my blood and causing my inner beast to let out a snarl.
“Let’s get those chains off you. I bet you’ll feel better.”
I pull from the river of magic lying deep in my soul, pulling just enough to snap the thick link connecting Willow’s collar to the chain. The links clatter to the floor, and Willow lets out a relieved sigh.
“What about this?” she asks, touching the strap around her neck.
“Hmm.” I reach up to cup her jaw, turning her face side to side gently. “I think I like you better with it on.”
She scowls, jerking away from my touch. The absence leaves me cold and empty, and there’s a tugging sensation in my chest I don’t know what to do with.
“If you’re not going to take it off, then you can leave.”
My chest rumbles with a laugh. “You don’t want company?”
She crosses her arms over her chest, all of her earlier meekness replaced with a fiery anger. “Not particularly. I’d rather go home.”
I tsk. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there. Rhune would be awfully upset if he came home to find his treasure missing.”
She swallows hard, some of the fire leaving her eyes as she gazes around the room. “Has he brought other humans here?”
“No. Dravik would have his head. This is a first.” My eyes darken with hunger. “You must be very special…”
“Dravik? Is that another demon that lives here?” she asks, deflecting from the latter half of my statement. That’s okay.
“Yes,” I answer. “Dravik is the leader around here. At least, that’s what he says if you ask him.”
“Any more dangerous nightmares I should know about?”
My lips tip in a sly grin. “Many. But down here, just Cin. You probably want to hold off on meeting him.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say he’s a bit more… unhinged than the rest of us.”
She gulps, her pulse skyrocketing. “Okay… And you all are… brothers?”
“We are not really brothers, but I lack the human term for what we really are.”
“So you’re just really good friends?”
I shake my head. “Not exactly. We are more than friends or family, or any type of mortal unit that exists. We are pieces of the same soul. Separate, but one.”
Her brows rise. “Pardon?”
“It’s called sundering.” I reach out, grabbing a small chunk of shimmering ice-rock that’s broken off from a fissure in the wall.
Clenching it between my claws, I hold it up for her to see as I explain.
“This rock represents the demon we were born from. He was named Slaine—but you don’t need to remember that.
All you need to know is that he was the world’s biggest asshole, and The Far Place is better off now that he’s gone. ”
I clear my throat, shaking myself out of the fractured memories of the past. “In a normal sundering, one is made into many.” To demonstrate, I smash the rock against the ground, shattering it into several small pieces.
“The soul is quite literally split. The demon is rendered into as many pieces as is necessary.”
I then grab a piece of fur hide, ripping it into tiny pieces.
I place one next to each individual rock.
“The hide represents spirits from the mortal realm—your world. Any living creature will do, but animals are preferred. Something to do with purity.” I shrug.
“Anyway, you can use magic to weave the living soul and the fractured demon piece…” I place the cloth over the rock, covering it.
“And boom. You’ve made yourself a demon.
It’s less powerful than the one it came from—divided by however many pieces were made—but it’s a demon nonetheless. Pretty cool, huh?”
“I… guess. That sounds insane.”
“Insane, but true.”
“So you were… sundered?”
“That’s where it gets tricky,” I say, reaching for the rocks once more. “Five years ago, Slaine’s rival—Abaddon—killed him. He was reduced to ash and dust.” He removes the cloth from each of the rocks, and smashes them into little tiny pieces. “This is what happened to him.”
Willow cocks her head. “What about all the pieces and bonding stuff you just told me about? Surely you can’t put ash back together?”
My grin returns. “Correct. In truth, there’s no reason we should exist at all.”
“I don’t understand…”
“Neither do I. Rhune thinks it was fate, Dravik thinks it was punishment, I think it was random, and Cin has this crazy theory that it was the trees and that The Far Place was trying to balance itself. He thinks that in the process of trying to put Slaine back together, the fates messed up, and gave us life instead of the monster it intended to.” I gaze deep into her eyes.
“None of us know for sure, though. This place and the beings that control it are strange, unbound by the rules that dictate your world’s existence.
The only explanation I have for you is that I have none.
It’s magnificent, inexplicable, and terrifying. ”
My smirk widens as I lean in. “Do you have any more questions for me?”
She shivers. “Just one. The demon you came from… If he was so bad, does that mean you all are, too?”
My smile falters. “Slaine was vile. Evil to his core. We, thankfully, did not inherit those parts.” My mind flashes briefly to Cin, and I know I’m lying to her in part, but I’ll explain eventually.
If Rhune has his way, she’ll be here with them all for a very long time, and will come to understand that we are not the monster we were made from.
“Those evil pieces got left behind when we were brought to life, I guess.”
I take in her shaken expression. “I think we’ve gone over enough for now. How about I show you your new home?”
“It’s not my home. I’m not staying. As soon as Rhune comes back, I’m having him take me to my real home on earth. And if he won’t, I’ll find my way back by myself.”
I almost laugh. Rhune has no intention of taking her back, and there’s no way she can escape this place, let alone survive the elements outside. But I don’t tell her this. She’s clever, and will figure it out herself.
“Okay. Would you like a tour of my home? It will pass the time until Rhune gets back.”
She looks around, biting her lip. I can tell she’s curious about this place, that she wants to know more. Whether she will forgive us when she does… that, I do not have the answer to.
“What about the baby?” She gestures to the antethorpe, who lets out a sleepy bleat.
“Let him sleep here, in the warmth. He won’t go far.”
She reaches over, running her tiny palm over the creature’s fur. So soft and loving. My chest clenches with jealousy, and I can’t help but imagine what it would feel like to have her fingers in my mane, running over my horns…
But I shouldn’t think about that. She belongs to Rhune.
“What do you say?” I ask again, wanting any excuse to be close to her. “Let me show you around. I think you will like it.”
Please, please, please…
“Okay,” she says reluctantly. “Lead the way.”