Orpheus and Magnar would be with him, likely everyone else also, but Ingram wouldn’t care about their presence. He’d just pick up the little female, embrace her in his arms, and ask her to be his bride.
Whether or not he was just being foolishly disillusioned, all he imagined was her smiling face kissing the side of his bony face as she said yes.
Just the mere thought had his sight glowing bright pink again. Even his tail tip curled in delight.
His feet itched with urgency, and he nodded to them both.
Okay, let them hunt and return as quickly as possible.
Magnar and Orpheus stepped to the side, creating a small gap, and faced the direction they’d been originally heading. Both froze, just as a little Ghost had her back turned and looked as though she was tiptoeing in an attempt to sneak away.
Orpheus cocked his head. “Reia...?”
The Ghost halted and straightened as though someone had shoved a board up her dress. It was hard to tell who it truly was, being see-through and cloudy white from head to feet.
She turned solid, and blonde hair fluttered as she spun around with her arms out in greeting.
“Orpheus,” she exclaimed, with an awkward cringe. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Reia!” he yelled, closing the small space between them so swiftly she let out an oomph of surprise when he impacted against her. He crouched as he wrapped his arm around her midsection and pushed her hair back like he was checking for some kind of non-existent wound. “What are you doing here, Reia? Why did you die?”
“A-about that,” she stuttered as she looked in every direction except them. Her green eyes were filled with a deeply troubling emotion.
The growl that rumbled from Orpheus was low and thunderous as his orbs turned red. “What did you do?” It was as if he knew she’d gotten herself killed. “You were supposed to stay within Faunus’ ward. Why did you leave it?”
“What if I didn’t leave it?” she grumbled defensively with a pout. “You’re jumping straight to conclusions. We totally could have been attacked.”
“You were attacked?!” All three Mavka roared.
Magnar and Ingram darted their heads towards the Veil, white bursting into their orbs. Emerie! His heart had only ever constricted this tightly once in his life – when he’d seen part of Aleron’s skull in a Demon’s clawed hand.
“Eep!” Reia put her hands out with a cringe marring her features. “No, no, no! I left the ward. Shit, fuck. What a way to put my foot in my mouth.”
Before anything more could be said, another Ghost wavered and warped as she materialised by Magnar’s side. She lay asleep, curled up on her side with her knees tucked up.
Ingram was the first to notice her, but the moment she stirred even a little, Magnar darted his head in her direction.
“Delora!” He knelt down around her and desperately tried to pick up her intangible form.
Delora suddenly sat up when his yelling shoved her into alertness. “Magnar,” she cried as she turned physical and flung herself at him.
She sobbed into Magnar’s neck after she hooked her arms around it, and Ingram was forced to cover his nose holes when the scent of fear rolled off her in violent waves.
Iciness trickled through his veins and into his chest as his sight shifted between the two Mavka and their females, then to the Veil. His hands clenched and unclenched.
Two brides had been returned to their partners...
Before he could think or ask anything, a bright-yellow ball of exploding light erupted in the distance. The boom that followed was distant but distinct enough to draw all their gazes to it.
It came from the far horizon, and the trees of the Veil danced in a singular, powerful wave that rippled outwards in all directions. Ingram was forced to throw his arm up when that wave hit them, and an intense gust of wind and dust blasted over them. He’d almost been shoved off his feet and stumbled to right himself.
But it was the sound of it that made him whimper.
His bones vibrated, his entire body shook, and for a moment, he thought he saw a spectral, ghostly arm trying to leave his own – as if his physical self and spiritual self were trying to separate. Weirdly enough, it was purple and matched the colour of his normal sight.
It was only for a second, just long enough for that wind to cut through him, but it was as bizarre as it was... worrying.
Then it was quiet and peaceful once more – except for the screech of birds rushing away.
The sun was warm, the air fresh despite their proximity to the Veil. Even the mists, one black and one white, had dissipated momentarily, making the Veil less oppressing.
All Ingram could think was... something was wrong.
This had never happened before. Other than the sun, nothing had ever been a bright-yellow light – especially not in a dark place like the Veil.
He stepped back as he returned his sight to the females who had... died to come here. Worse still, they were looking in the direction the blast had come from.
Delora had her mouth covered to stifle her sob, and her eyes crinkled tightly, as though she was in utter agony. Reia, on the other hand, was biting her lips so hard they’d disappeared within her mouth, as tears easily bubbled and then fell.
“Where is Emerie?” Ingram asked, taking another step back so he could head towards the declining path they’d take to get to the surface world.
Both females turned their gazes to him.
Their sorrowful expressions deepened. And, in doing so, his orbs whitened impossibly further.
“I’m so sorry, Ingram,” Reia sobbed through trembling lips.
His scales and spikes lifted as dread puffed him. No.
He refused to accept her apology, refused to require one.
Before anyone could stop him, he turned and shifted into his monstrous form. On all fours, he sprinted down the decline.
“Ingram!” Magnar roared.
He knew why he was being called. He knew why they held fear for his sake.
He didn’t care.
He didn’t care if it was too dangerous for him to venture into the Veil by himself. He had to return to Faunus’ ward, to Emerie.
He needed to make sure his little butterfly was safely where he left her.
Have to go back. Have to go to her.
His chest was tight with anxiety, and every quadruple stomp of his limbs only made it twinge and sting further. It forked agonising pain all throughout his torso.
The speed with which he ran was harder and faster than he’d ever achieved. Any Demon that did attempt to intersect him was lost the moment he spotted their scents within the dense forest. He easily evaded them.
By the halfway point, his beak had parted so he could frantically huff around agonising breaths. His muscles burned from the exertion as he sprinted, yet the returning foreboding white mist cooled his skull.
Having to dodge tree after tree only slowed him down. He wished he could borrow his kindred’s wings for just a moment so he could fly over the Veil.
He worried any second that delayed him would mean he was too late. He couldn’t be too late. He refused.
She will be there. She had to be there.
Ingram could not lose another person he cared for.