"His name is Animus. He's a spirit, too. I met him in the tunnel, and my family's run into him a couple times before."
Bear frowned. "Is he safe?"
I didn't quite know the answer to that. I balanced what I knew about him and shrugged. "I... guess? Mostly?"
I hoped I wasn't lying to Bear by accident. If Animus turned on us now, it'd make me look like an idiot. I still didn't know if we could trust him, but he was decidedly nicer in our interactions than Terranus. That's why I was so shocked by how the earth spirit behaved.
"You know, Ashe, I can hear you back here," Animus said, his tone lightly teasing rather than accusatory. "But first, let's address the dragon in the room, shall we? Terranus, would you like to explain why you're harassing these mortals?"
"Animus!" Terranus roared. "Release me this instant."
Animus sighed and snapped his fingers. The shadow orb disappeared. Terranus shook it off, looking furious.
"You have some nerve showing your face in front of me," Terranus growled.
Animus rolled his eyes. "And you have some nerve threatening mortals. Where's the fun in that? Well, actually, I know it can be a little fun sometimes, so forget I said that. But extorting them for their power... that is unnecessary, don't you think?"
"Begone, you foul wretch. I will not speak to you. Now get out of my way."
As Terranus took a step closer, Animus didn't move. Was he... defending us?
I caught Bear's eye. He looked confused, too. Why were two spirits were arguing over us?
Then again, Animus had picked fights with other spirits before. He was the one who drained Nautilus's energy and threw the coast into chaos. Maybe the relationships of spirits were more complicated than I thought.
In any case, I was glad Animus was vaguely on our side. Even though he was annoying, I liked him better than Terranus. At least Animus wasn't trying to hurt us.
"I would back off, if I were you," Animus told the other spirit. There was a cold edge to his voice now.
Terranus didn't move. "Do not make me hurt you, weakling."
Was it just me, or did Animus flinch?
Animus let out a bitter laugh. "I'm the weakling? You're the one trying to steal this pair's magic. Don't you have enough of it, dear Terranus?"
Fed up, Terranus took a heavy swipe at Animus. The dark spirit dodged the blow but just barely. He stifled a small cough.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Oh, for the love of... What does it look like I'm doing?" Animus snapped. "You might be pregnant, Ashe. Am I correct?"
That statement caught me by surprise. My hands instinctively went to my belly. "Well... Yeah."
"Let me spell it out, since the heat apparently melted your brain cells. I'm giving you and your fated mate time to escape."
Bear and I both gawked at Animus.
"Why?" Bear signed quickly.
Animus gave me a long, hard look. There was something somber about it. Almost hopeless.
"I don't care what mortals do," Animus muttered. "But when there's a baby involved, I cannot stand by and let them be hurt."
His face twisted into a snarl. The flash of his long fangs reminded me that he wasn't human, or a shifter. He was something else entirely. Something ancient and powerful.
"Now go!" he commanded.
Bear and I exchanged a glance, then nodded. We both knew what the other was thinking. We weren't about to abandon Animus now, not when he was risking himself for us.
