The Paths of Sin and Redemption

Chapter 4

Mephiles searched that entire week, having not rested or ate once. He was hungry and exhausted. But he couldn't seem to find Silver as his nose was filled with ash from whenever he had attempted eating. He couldn't even sniff him out. It was a hopeless cause.

On the last day of his visit to Emerald City, he received news from his household. The demoness had given birth. But the child did not move nor cry when it came out of the womb. It was a stillborn, just like Silver had promised. That evening he prepared to go home, so sick of his own existence at this point.

Meanwhile, with Silver......

The young male shivered terribly from where he sat deep within a cave, trying his best to keep warm from the small fire he'd managed to make for himself. There was a winter storm brewing outside and would hit within the next few days. That window of opportunity would be all he'd have to get everything else he would need for his birth. But, he was just so tired...

He now knew that he shouldn't have placed that curse on Mephiles that night, but he just couldn't let that bastard get away with any of this. It had drained him rather quickly of a huge amount of his energy that could've gone towards the pups, and he had no one but himself to blame for that.

He did, however, manage to gather some berries and nuts while out the other day gathering firewood. He'd seen a river nearby and he would go get some water and probably a few fish to at least give him that bit of energy before the pups arrived.

The uke sighed heavily, his eyes saddened as he rubbed his distended belly.

He wished Manic were here....

A week from then Mephiles was already home, still tired and hungry. It was a good thing he was a full blooded demon, or else he'd probably die from no food, water, and sleep. But he couldn't help but doze off every once in a while, however, only after a moment or two he was shocked back awake. Even while he was awake he saw fragments of his nightmares from the corner of his vision. It made him paranoid and had him uncertain of what was real and what wasn't as the hallucinations went on.

One day, he saw blood seeping from underneath a door, and hardly able to stop himself from looking, he glanced in the room. He immediately tensed at the sight. It was what he imagined his child to be as a toddler. A young boy that took very much after him, staring at him with big, wide innocent eyes. But covered head to toe in blood. That was it, he couldn't take these images anymore. He packed a few things and soon left, determined that if he went far enough, the memories would get left behind.

........................

Something was wrong at this point, it had been nearly three weeks since he had left that curse on Mephiles and he should've gone into labor by now. Fortunately, the pups weren't dead, they still kicked and gave signs of life...

And though he worried something was wrong, Silver was a bit thankful that they hadn't come yet; it gave him a little more time to make the small cave he resided in a bit more inhabitable. He'd managed to catch few rabbits last week using snares and keeping the meat for himself, he used the furs to make blankets for his babies to keep them warm.

And as he looked around the small area, he saw that he had everything. Now all was he needed was foliage to cover the entrance and some herbs that would mask the smell of blood once the birth was upon him.

And so, with a groan, the now thin male managed to get to his feet to hopefully make one final trip out before the pups came.

They were, now taking a serious toll on his body, the little ones draining him of energy now more than ever and something as simple as a small walk from the cave entrance to the nest of blankets he'd made would leave him out of breath. He didn't look anywhere near as healthy as he was while with Manic. Now, he looked as malnourished as before--everything on him was thin and showing his bones other than his stomach.