Page 44 of The Demon God's Desire
My lips quirk up, not being able to help smiling at that. I’m glad to know he doesn’t blame me. I blame myself, but it’s nice to hear he isn’t holding a secret grudge like I feared. I know that we shouldn’t be placing blame on anyone, but the guilt still wracks me.
I hope that once we get to Jurtil, we’ll have a little bit of a reprieve from this mess.
“So, your powers.” I go back to our original conversation. “They’re obviously very unique. I’ve never heard of a dark elf having that kind of manifestation before.”
“Yes, it is quite rare. My type of power hasn’t been seen in hundreds of years. Apparently, it used to be widely coveted but suddenly disappeared until I turned eight.”
“Do you think the Hearthkeeper gifted it to you for a purpose?”
“If she did, she’s never revealed it to me. I always thought that serving her as a miou was what she’d been after. But, clearly I’m more than a simple grunt soldier.”
“True…”
“In any case, my power has given me a certain privilege throughout my life. As you saw from my fight with my three battalion soldiers, it makes people quite envious.”
I’ll say…
“But why you? Why did she pick you to be the holder of such power?”
He shrugs. “I’m not sure. I’d asked myself that for years with no clear answer. I always figured she had a plan for me, but whatever it is, I’ve never been told if I’m heading in the right direction or not. All I know is that she’s wanted me to remain vigilant in my miou traditions of being a warrior and slaying other races in her name. That’s it.”
“Sounds dark.”
He smiles slightly. “As I said, she’s rather prejudiced.”
Leaning over, I peck him on the lips, running my hand across his chest. “I’m glad we found each other. Even though… now a god is trying to kill us.”
“Yes, that is rather unfortunate. But if I could go back in time and change anything, it wouldn’t be meeting you, Bridget. I’d do that a hundred times over if I could.”
My eyes sting suddenly. Damn, he knows the right words to make my heart melt.
I wish I knew what the Hearthkeeper was really up to. With the hundreds of worshipers devoted to her, I couldn’t understand why she’d pick an eight year old child to wield such power at a young age. Did the power need to grow with him? Is that how it worked?
All of it is so confusing that it makes my brain run forever with questions. Though, I doubt Guilri would even know the answers to any of them. He knew probably just as much as I do at this point.
The Hearthkeeper is a complete mystery, and her motives for giving such a powerful gift to a young dark elf would probably never be revealed. I suppose it’s a truth that Guilri’s already swallowed by now, but for me, I can’t seem to accept the answer.
Not just yet.
Hopefully once we arrive at the Hedonist’s temple, we can get some clearer answers.
I can only hope it won’t cost us everything to get them.
23
GUILRI
Iawake in a foggy tomb.
Holding my hands out in front of me, I feel around for the walls of the cave, thinking that I must’ve rolled off of our sleeping mats and ended up somewhere away from Bridget.
Except, I don’t feel anything. Not the ground beneath me, not the walls surrounding me. Not even the sound of Bridget’s sight breathing echoing inside of the cave.
Where am I?
“Guilri.” A familiar voice growls.
My body tenses.