His spirit or soul sense sharpened and called him near the end of life, though he found he could blink into it at any time to see wisps of that life energy hovering around any creature.
A third, unnamed awareness of an odd metaphysical warmth continued to evade him.It flared and waned from human to human, situation to situation.He’d felt it emanate from Asheda most often, the first time when the chief told him his name.Next-to-never did Ruki display it.Occasionally from Donanni.He couldn’t put a finger on the connection, yet an instinctual familiarity nagged at him with it, just like all else.
Heat sense.Soul sense.And…something else.
Saer dared not return before completing his mission, nor did Lucifer contact him.Would his maker perish before he brought It the cure?Did Lucifer persist in creating Its army, despite growing weaker with each passing day?What had he missed?The thoughts turned Saer’s stomach, anxiety squirming inside, but he couldn’t linger on them.He had a duty.He needed to focus on it.One way or the other, he would appease Lucifer.He’d return to Neyu.
No matter how long it took.
6
Faraway,astormrumbled.The metallic aroma of ozone hovered in the brewing atmosphere as brilliant flashes of lightning struck in the distance, warning Chief Asheda’s tribespeople to prepare for the anticipated gale.
Three human years had passed since Saer’s return to Earth.The pinnacle of summer hung in the sticky air, just a few weeks before Asheda’s wife, Donanni, expected to deliver their second child after a multitude of failed pregnancies and heartache.At last, so long after Ruki was born, their second miracle would enter the world.It startled Saer to realize he absorbed some of their excited, but anxious anticipation.
Or did he just learn to mimic humanity so well that hethoughthe felt what they felt?
Asheda never warmed to Saer beyond tolerance, but Ruki and Donanni treated him as family.
Ruki’s sixteenth birthday allowed him to lead his own hunting excursions with his family’s blessing.The young man took advantage of this opportunity, despite the dark clouds in the sky.
He brought Saer along.
In the village, preparations for the impending weather continued while Saer and Ruki readied their hunting supplies.Odds and ends were tied down, women and children sheltered away, and the animals huddled together, tended by the shepherds.Chief Asheda tucked his wife and unborn child into the largest and most sturdy building of the compound, the meeting hut.Ruki pecked his mother on the cheek before leaving, too excited and rushed for anything more.
Asheda didn’t allow his wife to help with any preparation despite her protest.The risk proved too great for her and their baby to be harmed, Ruki explained to Saer.They’d worked for and fretted far too much over the tiny life to lose it.
A mile from camp, Saer planted his feet and switched his focus toDaemoenicheat sense.
Ruki knelt to examine bent and broken foliage, searching for tracks with passive interest.
When the young man glanced his way, Saer gazed back, stone-faced.The boy straightened his legs.“Why do you stare?”
“I don’t.I wait for you to finish pretending to track.”The corner of the Saer’s mouth lifted in a wry smile.
Ruki huffed in annoyance.“You think I rely on you so much?”
Saer inclined his head, the wry smile growing, but didn’t speak.
Again, Ruki made that same sound.“I don’t need you to hunt game, Saer.”
Of course, not.
“A storm is coming.”He answered in a matter-of-fact tone.“There will be no trail, and you’ll then have to rely on blind luck.”
“And what would you rely on besides luck?”
Saer shook his head, moving to push past the boy.“We’re wasting time.”
“No.”Ruki grabbed at Saer’s arm, and though he didn’t carry half of his strength, he tugged hard enough to make him face him again.The boy attempted—and failed—to find Saer’s gaze.“Everyone else may be willing to let it go, but I won’t anymore.What are you?”
The muscles in Saer’s arm tensed.Ruki had brought up the discussion on and off in the past, but always dropped it with Saer’s avoidance.This time, he attacked with renewed bravado.
What was more, the impulse to confide in Ruki tickled dangerously at the back of Saer’s mind.
Why?
Focus.Return to Neyu.
