Page 106 of Fated to the Demon Lord

The weight of his words sent a tremor through me. “Vaelor, I⁠—”

“It was you, Denara. It was only after I died that I found I wanted to live.”

“And now?”

“Now, if I lived with you by my side for the remainder of your existence, then I’d be content.”

“We can make that happen. Two more battles and we’ll be together, and all this will be over.”

Vaelor looked as if he were unsure of that.

Despite his fatigue, I was glad he was here. Because as I’d waited for the potions to reach their right temperature to add extra ingredients, I had carefully perused both books on the counter, coming up with a theory. An outlandish one, but the more I thought about it, the more confident I became.

“Remember when we read the history of Spiritu Malignos and it talked about splitting the body and the spirit, temporarily?”

“I recall reading that only the most powerful of those in Spiritu Malignos could accomplish such a feat and that nobody had done so in hundreds of years,” Vaelor said.

“There is a spell in the hedge witch book that allows a witch to briefly divide another’s soul in certain ceremonies… it helps them to focus different aspects of a person’s soul that they may want to isolate. The root they used to trigger it is a common herbal remedy. I found some here in your stores.” I held it out to him. “For you, it may allow you to split your spirit from your bonded body.”

I handed him the dried root. He eyed it. “This sounds advanced.”

“It is pretty simple as long as you follow the steps. You eat the root and then I eat a leaf from the same plant.” I held up the leaf that I’d eat. “And I make a sign.” In the air, I drew the sign of a tree split in half, like I’d seen in the book.

“And just like that, my soul splits?”

I hesitated. “There is one more requirement.”

“What is that?”

“You must be relaxed. You cannot let fear of the future enter your thoughts.”

He gave a low chuckle. “You should probably take this back.”

“Things are rough and things are uncertain, but please, you have to try. If you can split during a fight, it’ll give you the advantage you need to win.”

“Do you think this will work?”

“I do.”

He managed a tired nod. “Then I’ll try for you.”

He ate the root. And I ate my leaf and did the sign.

“Now you must focus,” I said. “Picture your body and your spirit separating.”

Vaelor shut his eyes, focusing. Sweat appeared on his brow. For a moment his image glowed. Eagerness and hope leapt up inside me.

“Yes, that’s it.”

Vaelor’s form trembled, and he groaned. Then the glowing stopped, and he opened his eyes, panting.

“Does it tire you?”

“I felt the energy but was unable to grasp it. I…” He looked away, not meeting my gaze. “I may be too weak.”

“No, it’s not about strength. It’s about trust.” I held out more of the root. “Let’s try again.”

Vaelor opened his mouth as if to protest but wearily nodded. He ate the root, and I ate the leaf. I did the sign.