Infernal SoulBond

11, Blood Mountains

⟡ Ember ⟡
⟡

The next couple days consisted of the same thing. Waking up to no Warren, laying with Pebbles on the couch, eating toast and cheese, talking to Cain and Waylon whenever I got too bored and taking naps. Periodically i'd hear Warren talking to me in my head, when I asked him one night how he did that he told me it was like a thought that he threw down a tunnel for me to hear. I've tried it a few times, to imagine a tunnel connected my brain to his, and i've tried sending thoughts down it - but he never sent a reply. I never knew if I was doing it wrong or if he just never answered. I always forgot to ask him too. What I never forgot to ask was where he was. I'd question him every night, why he was gone all day, what he was doing. But he'd ignore the questions all together and distract me by caressing my face or calling me beautiful. It worked every time.

I felt like a pile of mush whenever he'd stare at me. When he said after the Bonding ceremony, we'd be more connected - he wasn't lying. I can feel him in the air, his touch and his scent, before he even walks in the house. I feel like I know where he is at all times - except when he's gone. When he's gone all day, I know the general direction he goes in - I can still smell the faint vanilla in the air, but then it disappears.

Out of spite, I found myself walking north with Waylon and Cain on my heels. They were instructed not to touch me, so when I stormed past them this morning with every intent to visit the caves - all they did was call out for me before silently trailing behind. "Notify Warren." Waylon had said several minutes ago, angrily. I almost felt bad but then I remembered i've been isolated and left alone for three days, I didn't care if I pissed someone off. I think I deserved to explore my territory.

Warren never spoke to me about freeing my family again, and I so badly wanted to figure out a plan and set it in motion. Maybe I could take MoMo? Surely Warren wouldn't stop me from bringing my family here, right? We'd find the space and the food..we just needed to get them here first. The village was large enough.. if people were kind enough to share homes, but the question is, would they? I don't know too much about Demons, the books that were given to us had very little information on them, but Warren seemed sweet and he's the King..so it's possible. Right?

I squinted at the nearing landscape, frowning in confusion. "The mountains look red."

Cain hums in response. "They are, they're the Blood Mountains." He says matter-of-factly, as if I should have known this. Wait, did he say blood? No other words were shared for the rest of the venture.

After what felt like a thousand miles of walking, I stood before the opening of the cave. It was surprisingly not as dark as i'd imagined it to be, I could see a great distance inside but unfortunately saw no dragons. I glanced over my shoulder at the two guards, both of them seeming to be in their own thoughts, eyebrows creased. Were they communicating with each other or with Warren? As if to answer my question, Waylon's eyes refocus and he hums in content. Warren was coming, I felt it through his gaze and through the way the air around me shifted. I half debated on staying put, eagerly wanting to look Warren in the eyes before stepping into the cave but I decided against it. If he shows up before I venture off, I have a feeling he'll grab me and wisp me back home without another thought.

The caves were gray and dark, nothing compared to the red dirt that encased around them. Blood mountains, why?

I step toward the cave, the eerie silence doing little to my nerves. "Ember, perhaps you should-"

"Stick it in your ass." I cut Waylon off, disappearing into the shadows of the cave. A hear a stifled chuckle come from Cain, before all sound cuts out. Something trembles through me, a sticky substance attaching to my exposed skin before it releases me.