He grimaced.“What makes you laugh when there’s joy, cry when there’s sorrow, scream when there’s fear.I learned to do these things.At first, to blend.Now...”He sighed and the sound infiltrated his whole body.“There was a man in one of the villages I harvested.The townspeople spoke of him with disdain.They hunted him down because he forced himself upon several women, beat all and killed one, killed a child.They found him.They hung him.”
Ruki’s soul folded its arms.
“They cheered when he died.They rejoiced in it.‘Justice,’ they said.It was ‘justice.’And that made itright.”Saer uncurled his other arm and shook his hand in front of his body, like he struggled to touch the concept.“And yet, when he killed that woman, killed that child, it waswrong.How in frenzied Hellsfire does that make any sense?”
Ruki’s essence inhaled to answer, but Saer had only paused long enough to gather breath.
“It’s this thing, from inside, which determines it.And near as I can tell, when there are tears, when there’s sorrow, that makes a thing wrong.When there’s joy, that makes a thing right.Yet even that doesn’t always hold true.But I…” Saer flattened his palm against his chest.“I don’t have these.Joy or sorrow.Fear or comfort in anything beyond my duties as aDaemoenic.I...”He took in a shaking breath, rephrasing his statement.“I...didnot have these.”
Ruki’s soul froze, its voice careful when it addressed Saer’s words.“You’ve been learning to feel as humans do.”
Saer looked away and nodded.He didn’t voice the next part out loud, that the sensations slipped through the cracks with Ruki, but the walls came crashing down with Neyu.
Was she well?
Ruki’s essence hesitated before speaking again.“Surely there are worse fates.”
Saer’s lips thinned.“I have a duty.I fulfill it.I serve one, and I must remember that.”His gaze lifted.“Will you hide again?”
The soul half-smiled, neither happy nor sad.“What would the proper response be to my murderer and warden?”
Again, an uneasy feeling swelled in Saer’s chest, and he found himself unable to meet the spirit’s gaze.Furthermore, unable to understand why.
He nodded, coming to a decision, and stood from leaning.
The spirit of Ruki dissipated and reformed when Saer walked straight through it.
Black clouds rose into the sky behind Saer while he waited upon a tall sand dune, away from the settlement.
The sun set and rose again.Once.Twice.A third and fourth day.He didn’t move.
Time passed slower in the Hells.This, he knew.Still, the waiting gnawed at his belly, the thoughts of what Neyu said, did, presented.
What if—?
A sphere of fire erupted a few paces off amidst the blazing heat of the midday sun, and he jerked his head in its direction.
The blaze faded then disappeared.In its absence, the SecondDaemoenicknelt.
Saer released a harsh breath and stood, eyes fixed on his love.
Neyu’s black flesh glowed, a striking contrast to the white desert sands.She shook herself, stretching her great wings.
When Neyu’s cerulean eyes opened, a bleariness cleared from them between one blink to the next.She stood to her full height and moved towards him, her pace quickening with each step.Her body shrank, flesh lightened, horns turned to hair and wings melted into a smooth, flawless back.By the time she’d returned to her human form, she was running, and she leapt into his embrace, naked arms and legs tangling around him.
He caught Neyu and crushed her against his body, burying his face in her neck while his eyes squeezed shut.He breathed in her scent.
Lavender and roses.
Something tight in his chest fractured, and he allowed a single sob to escape before stifling it and squeezing her tighter.
“I’m here, Dearest,” she whispered against his shoulder.
The swell of emotions crashed over and through Saer, and he forced himself to inhale and exhale through them.What in the Hells was wrong with him?
“Saer,” she murmured with a quiet laugh laced through the word.“Let me breathe.”
His arms loosened to her plea, but he didn’t release her, letting her body slide down his until she stood on her own two feet.Raising his hands, he cupped the sides of Neyu’s face, inspecting, searching for any sign of harm…
