Page 80 of Solivagant

Khorli.

My eyes burned. My lungs burned.

“Khorli!”

The darkness around my vision stole it completely.

40

KHORLI

Jo was taking too long. He had brought me many souls. He hadn’t even hesitated.

I’d never revealed to Jem the nature of the flowers. I’d never told him they were souls. I didn’t want to frighten him, because he was so good. So pure. Incapable of harm.

Jo was different. He was more… like me.

He had even killed one of his own kind for me. My heart was full of warmth and hope.

He was strong. He could hunt. He could protect.

I didn’t need him to protect me, but he had. And he was able to protect himself, and that was very important, even though I would also be here to protect him.

The more time I spent with Jo, the more I returned to myself. I could think clearer, because for the first time in centuries, thinking didn’t hurt so badly. I could let myself live inside my mind.

It still hurt, and I still grieved, but he soothed the ache for what had been lost. Jo was here with me, and inside him was Jem. I still wasn’t sure how or why, but I had him back. Them. They were both mine now.

Jo had even let me touch him. He’d been so beautiful when I did. Made such pretty noises. It was a lot for him to process, I understood that, and I wished I could speak to him and help him understand it and what had brought him here. But I couldn’t.

Even though he was bringing me souls to heal my wounds, they wouldn’t be enough to turn me back to what I’d once been. It would take far more souls for that.

I had enough hidden away. All the souls from the village, and every trespasser to this place since. I’d taken their souls and stored them along with any that Aerith had brought me from home the times she had visited trying to get me to return. But consuming them wasn’t an option, because they were keeping Jem safe.

The daylight was fading. Jo still wasn’t back.

Was he having trouble finding more things to hunt?

I liked hunting for him. I liked feeding him. His belly was soft and I wanted to keep him like that. Well-fed and strong. But I also liked having him take care of me, just as Jem had when we first met. Kindness with no ulterior motive.

It would have been so easy for him to run away when I was injured. I couldn’t leave this place, no matter how many times I tried. If he were to cross the wall there’d be nothing I could do about it except hope he brought himself back in his sleep or otherwise.

But he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t leave me. Not anymore. He saw me now. He understood. Wherever he was, I knew that it was still within the walls.

My ear twitched, something in the breeze making its way to me, fainter than a whisper.

Jo?

A tendril of fear wound itself around my heart. Where was he?

I stood, scenting the air. He’d told me to stay here and leave the hunting to him. He’d told me to rest. But what if he needed me?

The wound was closed. Apart from the tight skin, missing fur, and a soft ache beneath the surface, it was pretty much healed.

I shouldn’t have let him leave on his own. I should have followed him.

The piglet had been keeping me company. I placed her down gently in the grass.

Jo might be mad that I didn’t listen and stay put, but it was suddenly very urgent that I make sure he was safe.