The hardened lump of emotions in his throat went down with a stubborn swallow.
Distant voices caught his attention, blending with the sounds of feet crunching through the forest flora.The blaze from his return had drawn their attention.
“Saer!”Ruki’s form reached for his arm.Its cool energy passed through him, and Pride paused, then met the soul with a considering gaze.He brushed his hand along the spirit’s face.
Ruki’s essence shivered at the caress.
“You gave yourself willingly to me so I may touch you,” Saer said.“Not the other way around, Little Ghost.”Saer understood the heaviness of the words as he spoke, though Ruki’s face pinched with confusion.
Voices drew closer, and Saer turned away from the spirit, even as it called to him, “Old friend, release me.Please!”
He blinked hard and gave a single, cursory shake of the head before calling out in the language of Ruki’s tribe, “Here, family!I’ve returned!Find me here!”
The tribesmen hollered in response and followed the sound of Saer’s voice.
Shock and disbelief crossed the villagers’ expressions when they beheld Saer.
Some remembered him and claimed his return a miracle.
Others recalled the night of the storm, the fire which he’d strode into, and kept their distance.
A general attitude of unease met his return, though none could—or would—voice why.One of the hunters threw a skin over him to cover his nakedness and escorted him back to their village to meet with the chief.
Ruki’s soul, its face twisted in agony, could only follow.
No matter how much it screamed, none other than Saer heard the spirit.Face set as neutral as he could muster, he forced himself to ignore the young soul’s cries.
It had been a quarter year since the great storm—or so he’d been told during the trek back to the village.Fall had begun its slide into winter.
How long had he spent in Hell?He’d waited hours for Lucifer to finish crafting Errshek, but without a sun’s light to mark the passage of time from night to day, he couldn’t quantify.
Regardless, Asheda appeared far older than the reported quarter-year should have granted him.
The chief stared at Saer from across the expansive hut with sunken eyes.Saer took in the newness of the shelter, the crafted gifts, paintings, and skins given to Asheda by his people.A muscle in his cheek feathered now and again, for Ruki’s spirit was more desperate than ever to be heard.This time, however, it screamed and tried to clutch at the chief.
Why did that threaten to steal his breath?
Get what our maker needs.Get back to Neyu.
“What trickery is this?”Asheda’s voice cracked through the tense silence.
Saer turned to the leader, feigning confusion.
“I watched you die.”Asheda stared, as if willing the image before him to crumble.“The fire took everything.We scattered your ashes among the trees.How do you stand here?”
Saer didn’t trust himself to speak.He stood beneath the other man’s scrutiny, spine not as straight as it’d been before carrying the weight of Ruki’s spirit through the realms.
Asheda rose—slow and heavy, as though lifting the burden of old grief with him.Though his frame still carried the strength of a hunter, pain lingered at the corners of his mouth and in the deep shadows beneath his eyes.“I let you into our home.”His voice trembled.“My son befriended you.My wife cooked beside you.”
In the wake of Saer’s silence, Asheda’s tone hardened.“You will answer me.”
Saer held his tongue, attention caught between the growing edge in Asheda’s voice and the ghost of Ruki’s cries still echoing in some memory not his own.
Asheda stepped forward, voice thickening.“Will you say nothing?”
Saer licked his lips, willing his resolve to hold.
“We fed you.We clothed you.My familylovedyou.”
