CHAPTER 20: Mental barrier.

Both the cambion and the human looked startled at the mutilated corpses, at this point, the second dog had died as well.

Sirin grinned as he looked at the few pale flames hovering above the corpses. He wasn't sure if the surviving dog could see them, but the animal knew for sure what was going to happen.

The dog hid behind the demon as he swallowed the souls. No one knew if there was a real afterlife, or what would happen to a person's soul if that person left the world of the living. But one thing was certain, if there was such a thing as an afterlife, you could never get there if your soul was eaten. If that happened, you might as well never have existed in the first place.

< Coyote soul consumed 2/1505 >

"Oh, so you're a coyote?" Sirin spoke after seeing the notification. Up to this point he thought they were just dogs.

The animal barely reacted and only crawled back slowly.

"Oh come on. I want you alive. Don't try to convince me to make a jacket out of you!"

Mirana reaches out to the dog to gently stroke the animal's head. "Of course he's scared after what you did to his parents."

Sirin raised his eyebrow. "First, they attacked me before. Second, why does it still care about its parents? I've never seen mine and I have no problem with that."

"Oh sorry about that."

Sirin shrugged. "No that is not necessary. By the way, Jan. Do you know a name for this animal? I'm afraid I'll just keep calling him dog or animal otherwise."

Jan looked up in horror from the maintenance of his weapon. "You ask me that?"

"Yes, who else is called Jan here?"

John hesitated. "Call him spot, because of the spots on his fur."

Sirin gave a wide smile. "Okay, then it's spot."

Jan let out a sigh of relief. When the sun came up they would start walking again, then it was only a few days until the next bunker. They would make sure that he was freed from the demon.

At least that's what he hoped. In his training he had learned in which direction he had to walk compared to the sun to arrive at the next bunker. But he had never been outside his bunker before. How was he sure that other bunker was still there? Even if it existed, it was not certain whether he would still be allowed in there. He had made a deal with one of the demons, he was the reason this ungodly creature still roamed this world.

He couldn't shoot it either. He wasn't sure how a deal with a demon should work, even though Sirin hadn't asked for his soul, he was sure he would lose it if he attacked the demon now.

Sirin, who had a vague understanding of what was going on in Jan's head, only grinned.

No one dared to sleep anymore. After the attack of the coyotes, this place suddenly seemed a lot less safe.

Because of this, Sirin spent his time trying to form an actual bond with Spot. The coyote was still terrified of him, and Sirin was growing sick of it.

While Sirin was talking to the animal to calm it down a bit, he suddenly noticed something strange. It felt like a kind of mental wall. It gave him the idea that this was what kept his consciousness at bay.

He stopped for a moment. Was this what he needed to really use magic? Or was this simply something he imagined?

He wanted to try to get past this barrier to see what would happen, but deep down he feared that he would not be able to turn back and that his consciousness would be lost.

He looked in the direction of Mirana and Jan. Jan was silently looking into space or something while Mirana was happily talking to him. These two probably couldn't help him. Jan was only human and Mirana would have used magic long ago if she could.

Sirin took a deep breath. The forest around him was quiet now and his company was awake. Now was the best chance to try it.

He pushed the fear away and closed his eyes.

Breaking out of the mental barrier was easier said than done. In Sirin's opinion, breaking out of his egg was easier.

Finally it worked. Everything around him was freezing cold now. Even with his eyes closed, he now had a vague idea of ​​the world around him. He couldn't see the ground, but he could see the creatures that walked on it and even a faint outline of some plants, but they were rare. You could easily compare this cenery to a night filled with stars

At this point it was clear that he was looking directly at the souls of everything around him. The only difference from what he normally saw was that the creatures were still alive. The way the colors changed with every thought the creatures had was actually quite beautiful.

He reached for the coyote sitting in front of him. The moment he tried to touch the animal, he noticed that it had the same barrier, only more fragile than his own.

It didn't take long for him to break through. The moment he did that, he could hear the animal's thoughts, although it could be better described as the animal's feelings.

He could even see through Spot's eyes up to a point!

Only, the connection with the animal slowly weakened. In Sirin's last attempt to maintain it, he tried to hold the soul one more time. But it wasn't good enough and Sirin was still pulled away. All that remained of the connection was a scar it left on the animal's soul.