“I... do not remember, Emerie,” he answered honestly, rotating his head to look upon her with his usual purple orbs. She’d figured out over the course of the last three days that they were his normal colouring, since no emotion seemed to be attached to them from what she could tell. “The first thing I remember is my kindred.”
Since his bony face was eerily staring at her, she was forced to watch his orbs be swallowed up by deep blue. Her lips flattened, knowing that meant something akin to sadness, and the darker the colour, the deeper his sorrow.
Her heart ached for him, even though she didn’t know why he was sad.
Before she could question him on it, his head snapped forward, and he said, “The Witch– Lindiwe... said she is my mother. She said I came from her, that all Mavka came from her.” He halted his steps to scratch at the side of his neck in obvious irritation. “What does this mean? Did she grow us like a tree? Or did she bleed us from her veins?”
Emerie’s jaw dropped, then threatened to unhinge and fall off.
“Excuse me... what?!” she shouted in shock, causing him to flinch. “What do you mean you came from her and that she’s your mother? She’s a...” Emerie was about to call her a human, but then remembered what she’d done.
She’d turned into an owl and a Ghost.
Oh my god, she’s not human! What is she then? Emerie was willing to bend the rules of reality to accept this, only because she’d seen what the woman was capable of.
Lindiwe had also gone out of her way to save Ingram. Now that she was thinking back, she’d also bravely grabbed his beak affectionately in the forest. It’d been with care, like a motherly, concerned touch.
“Okay, so she’s your mother.” She rubbed down her right cheek, then jaw, to stroke her chin. “That would mean she gave birth to you.”
Ingram’s silence was telling, and she sighed as she craned her neck back. I’m about to have the birds and the bees chat with a Duskwalker. She pursed her lips. And I have to do it without explaining what sex is.
Snapping her head forward, she glared with determination at the back of his white raven skull and little sandy goat horns.
“When a mummy and a daddy love each other very much, they–” She knew she’d immediately lost him by his skull twisting one way and then the other.
“What is a mummy and a daddy?” He spun his head around to look at her with yellow orbs. “I also do not know what love is.”
Fuuuuuuuck, she internally groaned. I’m out here doing a saint’s work. The gods better smile upon me. Maybe not human gods, but Duskwalker ones – if they had them.
“When two people care about each other very deeply, they come together and make a baby.” When his damn head tilted again, she quickly spoke before he could interrupt her with another freaking question. “A baby is a small human. They are made within a woman’s... belly. But they didn’t eat them! Just to clarify. There’s a special place inside us that can grow life, and that’s what she did. She grew you inside her and then gave birth to you. She gave you blood and breath, and she is the reason you are here.”
His beak opened, and then clipped shut. He faced forward so he could watch where he was going.
Emerie cringed. “Does any of that make sense?”
“I think so... She is a creator of life. I did not know other creatures could do that.”
Okay, so that’s a good start.
“Yes, and it requires both a male and female – most of the time. They come together, and once they make a baby, that child will call them mother and father, or mum and dad.” She shrugged with one arm. “Really depends on the kid. So, if she is the mother of all Duskwalkers, that means she grew all of you, and you all share her blood. You are related and have a special bond unique to all of you. Brothers are usually your male siblings, and sisters are females.”
“I don’t think there are any females of my kind.” He paused momentarily, his beak lifting up. “Brothers... then why is my kindred so special to me?”
Absolutely stumped, her brows furrowed. “Kindred?”
He was quiet for a long while, unusually so. Why was that worrying?
“Aleron,” he uttered quietly. “It is what we called each other. He is all I have ever known. He is the first thing I remember. His scent, his warmth, his presence. I cannot think of a time he was not by my side... until now.”
Until now... she was afraid of what that meant.
“He sounds like he is your brother. Do you know if he was born before or after you?”
“Lindiwe said before, but... another Mavka, Kitty, said we were created at the same time. Is that possible?”
“Oh, Ingram,” Emerie rasped, her voice laden with sympathy as understanding dawned. Her eyes crinkled in sadness for him. “If you were born into this world at the same time, that means he was your twin. That’s probably why your bond with him was so special. Many twins are inseparable and often feel like halves of each other.”
Emerie bit her lips together, clamping them shut when his torso shuddered. He kept walking, but his steps seemed heavier, like he was weighed down.
Just as bubbles of glowing blue floated around his skull, right where his empty eye sockets were, a tiny, agonised whine escaped him.
“I do not like this conversation. I do not like learning we were... more.”
Leaning forward, she rubbed the side of his thick neck, hoping it felt soothing. He tilted his head to watch her hand, and it revealed that she’d been right. The floating bubbles around his face had been ethereal tears.
I didn’t think Duskwalkers could... cry. How heartbreaking.
“You must have loved him very deeply.” She clenched her jaw, swallowing the thick lump of emotion in her throat. “And you must miss him terribly.”
Because, if he was not by Ingram’s side when they’d been inseparable, then... he was likely dead.
His whimper hollowed out her heart and replaced it with a big chunk of himself.
She gave him a small, sad smile as she continued to pet him. “If it makes you feel any better, I know how it feels. I lost someone really dear to me as well. It hurts when I think about them, and I think about them every single day.”
“It does not,” he rudely answered. “Aleron was special. We were... are the same being. There is no me without him.”
And yet here Ingram was, bravely facing the world on his own. Well, not completely, since she was here, but she also knew she probably meant little to him.
She was just a human who had decided to tag along.
I guess I don’t know how it feels to lose a twin, she thought, lifting her face to the dusk-stained sky throwing orange and purple across the horizon.
But I did lose my adopted brother, and that hurts too. She bit her lip at the clouds, remembering his face as clear as she saw those puffs of white. And he’s the reason I started all this... He’s the reason I’m here now, with you.
Emerie opened her mouth to explain this to him. She’d suffered loss, not just with her adopted brother, but also her parents. She’d lived in pain – physically, mentally, and emotionally – for weeks, perhaps even months, afterwards.
The world had chewed her right up and then spit out a woman who was lost.