A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 3

For a long while, all Jabez heard was a creature intensely sniffing at the ground. She walked around, searching while scratching at grass, leaves, or whatever.

When whimpering drifted up to him from below the branch he lay upon, he glanced over it to see the Mavka kneeling in the grass. Damnit, she stayed. And now she was regaining lucidity. Her orbs were bright blue with little droplets floating around her empty eye sockets – ethereal tears.

His brows narrowed at how quick she was to cry.

Figuring that meant it was safe, Jabez rotated until his legs dangled over the edge, and then he slid off. He landed gracefully, although not particularly softly due to the length of the fall, bending his knees to take the worst of the impact.

The Mavka squealed as she leapt to the side, her hand raised to threaten with claws at his sudden landing. She quickly lowered it, and her orbs turned bright yellow as she darted towards him.

She chittered as she cupped the side of his face, his neck, obviously checking for some kind of wound. He rolled his eyes as he pushed her hands away, surprised she had enough humanity to check his wellbeing.

“Yes, yes. I am perfectly fine. You did not eat your new pet,” he stated as he stepped to the side.

The Mavka grabbed his wrist and dragged him in the direction of her burrow. He skilfully twisted his arm out of her hold while evading her claws.

“That way. There is water, and I’m in desperate need of a drink and a bath. We can go to your burrow when day breaks. Until then, we will explore the night as our kinds were intended to.”

He may have been the captured pet, but she was no master of him.

Convincing her would be easy enough, considering she had no capabilities to argue. The more he did things, the more she’d learn that everything he did had a reason – most of which would benefit her.

She would eventually grow angered by his constant refusal to do as she demanded, and she’d no doubt force his hand to obey. Until then, he would do what he wanted.

He made her follow by evading every time she attempted to grab his arm. When she went for an ankle, he rolled forward to break her hold and continued on without missing a step. He ducked from her grasp with practised skill – luckily she attempted to be gentle even as she gave warning snarls.

When they came upon a small lake, Jabez knelt beside it. He kept her in the safety of his periphery as he leaned forward, noting how she stood there awkwardly with her claws clicking together.

He didn’t check if it was safe. It was clear, and his gut biome was used to swallowing strange water. The Demon part of him had rather good health benefits when it came to parasites, diseases, and worms from water or meat; it kept him healthy from such contaminants.

With a scoop of water nestled in both palms, he raised his hands to gesture to it before drinking, so she could see and understand he needed this to survive. Jabez drank until he quenched his thirst, occasionally looking sideways at the Mavka twisting her skull with distinct rattles coming from her.

Yes, Mavka. I need food and water.

Once he was done, he stood and walked around the lake’s edge in search of specific herbs or flowers. Since it was the autumn, he had few options, but he took what he found back towards the lake. Jabez removed his pants and placed the herbs on top of them, stepped over the edge, and plunged into the water.

The shivers that assaulted his skin were abhorrent, but he wiped his body as best as he could so he could be truly clean. He scrubbed harder in areas that had a light dusting of hair such as his legs, chest, and arms, as well as his groin.

He spun when he heard whining at the water’s edge. The Mavka stood dangerously close as she reached out to him with glistening claws. She swiped at the water, breaking the surface and causing ripples, as if she was trying to manipulate it into getting him to float or drift closer.

“Calm down,” Jabez stated with an exasperated sigh. “I can swim. You don’t need to wor–” Before he could finish, a heavy splash sprayed over him as she fell in.

He closed his eyes, and with a dull expression, waited for the spray to end. You’re fucking joking.

The Mavka, unable to float, bounced up and down as she fretted. The water was deep enough that his toes barely scraped the muddy floor, and he watched as she instantly sunk before clawing at the surface. She let out screams, clearly afraid of the water, and was too panicked to get to the edge. Water sprayed in all directions, and she constantly spat it out with orbs bright white as she searched for an escape.

Jabez tilted his head. If I let her drown, it will give me time to escape. She wouldn’t be able to stop him, and he’d have a clear conscience, as she would eventually heal herself to breathe once more and find her way out of the water on her own.

She was already afraid of it, which meant she knew she couldn’t swim – proving she’d be fine if he were to abandon her. She’s done this before.

Yet his lips flattened as he narrowed his eyes at her. His ears darted back with vexation as his mind spat, Oh, fuck it.

Jabez swam closer to the Mavka throwing water in every direction and grabbed one of her small antlers. He dragged her to the edge of the lake while making sure her skull remained above the surface.

He released a bellowing roar when she latched herself to him, and he was forced to bear her weight as she scratched at his flesh. Her hand claws dug into his shoulders and back, while those on her feet gouged at his calves. With his own head beneath the water, he shoved her towards the edge and then forced her over onto land.

Hissing in a breath of pain, he sunk beneath the surface to hide the nasty wounds she’d just scored down his back and legs.

“Fuck. There. Now we’re even,” he bit out, squinting his eyes in a foul glare. “You saved me, and I saved you.”

He looked over his shoulder while pulling on the skin. They were deep wounds, flaring open to reveal muscle, and he bit out a curse.

He drifted his gaze up due to her whimpering. She knelt on the edge and grasped his shoulder, her whining doubling in its volume. Teal magic radiated a glow in the water. His injuries began to heal, stitching shut on their own, and he watched them form on her own body instead.

He gave a sigh of relief. Without my magic, I would’ve needed to let them heal naturally.

Once done, she backed up and sat in a crouch position away from the water. She clamped her hands against her exposed sternum bone with blue orbs and offered him a bunch of fast, incoherent chitters.

She’s sorry. Jabez just shook his head. Had she not tried to retrieve me, she wouldn’t have needed to bear the wounds she gave me.

Tsking, he swam towards his tattered mauve pants. Jabez dragged them into the water with the herbs and weed flowers and set about cleaning them.

He eyed her as he did. She’s trying to communicate. That’s what those chitters meant. Perhaps she’s not as low in humanity as I thought. The fact she was even attempting to meant she could string her thoughts together in some form to know what she wanted to say – just not how .

It was likely all a garbled mess of emotions and not real intelligence.

After a good sniff test once he was done scrubbing, he donned his pants before he exited the lake and then sat down beside it.

Clean, hydrated, and fed, he felt remarkably better.

He no longer felt like a filthy animal, and the headache that had been pounding in his temples subsided. Which left him with the constant sickness that rolled in his gut due to the magic depletion that continued to plague him – and would only be exacerbated if he attempted to use it.

He had nothing to give.

I wish she hadn’t saved me, he thought, as he sat a small distance from her.

Had she not been shuffling the rubble above him, he could have laid there buried and waited for his magical essence to reignite. Sure, he still would have faced the sickness regardless, as he’d used too much of it, but it wouldn’t have been as bad. He could survive hunger and blood loss, but this was far worse than any injury or missing limb.

He would have eventually climbed out of the rubble and found a creature to feast upon before he went hunting for a human to steal their limbs. Then he would have used forbidden magic to regrow his own severed arm and leg. He would have used vines as phantom limbs to obtain movement until he did these things.

It wasn’t the first time he’d regrown an arm; Orpheus had bitten one off in the battle they’d fought almost two years ago.

Had she just let me be...

Jabez sighed in acceptance and defeat, then brushed the long white strands of hair from his face. He paused when he felt a large bald patch on the scalp around his right ear.

Crawling to the lake, he peered into his reflection. An angry glare filled his features as his lips curled back.

A curved line from his temple to the nape of his neck had all been burned away. He vaguely remembered the severe burns that had covered most of his upper body. He could only imagine the state he’d truly been in when this Mavka found him, and the loss of his hair was evidence of how numb he’d been to it.

He touched the point of his long ear before fingering the lack of hair around it. It took me centuries to grow it to this length. He was annoyed he’d need to restart.

Once more, it had been a show of confidence.

The colour of an Elysian’s hair was destroyed in the excess magic they had within their body. It was actually transparent, despite looking white, and showed just how mutated their hair had become after hundreds of generations. Magic was stored in it, and it could be used for many different things.

For Jabez, who had been able to teleport, it had been a weakness. One he flaunted, as he did with the skin on his back.

He searched his body and noticed the ‘Demon’ markings upon his sides, arms, and shoulders had disappeared. In their place, proper markings had taken their true shape in the form of tiny Elvish runes that swirled around his body in patterned lines. They were so small they were barely legible, and appeared mostly like swirls, knots, and circles.

Along with his loss of power, his glamour had completely faded.

He also took note that he’d lost the golden bangles that were once present on the ankle and biceps of his severed limbs. Although he hated the Elysians for what they’d done to him, he’d worn them as a show of his achievements, so when he finally faced them, they would see his strengths. They would realise how formidable and wise he’d become.

The thick chain around his neck had disintegrated, but it had held unfathomable power and had been the only reason he’d been able to create portals. Such a necklace had also been the sign of a leader. Now it was gone, along with his position as king.

Fitting. He would have tossed it into the water regardless.

The fact that the redheaded woman knew to grab my hair to teleport with me... His white brows narrowed when he tried to decipher how she knew. That woman bonded to the antler Mavka likely learned of it during our skirmish.

He remembered that day well, and it wasn’t with fondness.

His musings were cut short when he grunted in sudden realisation. He turned his gaze to the Mavka a few feet to the side of him.

He squinted his eyes as he looked upon her before lifting a hand to block the view of her small antlers.

He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s where I know you from!” He covered his gut when his laughter made the ball of sickness worsen, and he produced a pained groan. “You’re not the Witch Owl’s child. You’re the child of that idiot Mavka.”

Obviously overjoyed he was cheerful, the Mavka snickered along with him. She came a little closer, and only paused when he shook his head.

“Ah, that was quite the day. You were just a baby. You were a nasty thing, biting at my ankle.”

He hadn’t even known she’d existed until then, since he’d been too busy threatening and taunting her parents.

“It’s remarkable how your entire species can grow in such a short period of time. You’re also rather intelligent for a Mavka that I can see hasn’t eaten much.” He hooked his index finger around the length of a pointed ear in thought. “Is it because your mother was human, and your father half human? Perhaps your kind obtain more humanity the further your parentage is from Weldir.”

Although he could tell it meant little in terms of physique and other physical aspects, as she looked fully like an adult Mavka. However, it did answer why she was so good with her magic to heal at her stage of development, as well as knowing to block her nose from scents with mud, make a home, and be able to understand instructions so readily.

It was the only thing that made sense.

“I guess not all hope is lost for your kind then.” He placed his elbow on his thigh and rested his cheek against the knuckles of his fist. “Your mother truly thought I was going to kill you that day.” Jabez tsked as he rolled his eyes. “I may be cruel, but not even I would harm a defenceless child. I knew scaring her would force her hand. Humans are rather predictable like that.”

This time, Jabez looked off to the side as he cupped his jaw. He tapped across his lips.

“Although... the idea of keeping you did cross my mind. I could have just trained you to be as formidable as Merikh and a loyal companion. The ever-night knows I’m all out of companions.”

He didn’t have a single friend of his own. Then again, it was hard to trust anyone in this fucked-up realm. He’d rather have none if it meant he lived another day.

I barely even trusted Katerina. He’d chosen her as his concubine because she was weak, defenceless, and cute when she wanted to be. But her manipulative actions and hatred towards his old friend, Merikh, had shown him she was untrustworthy.

She was toxic, as was he, which meant they worked. Two self-destructing pieces that had a mutual agreement. He promised he wouldn’t abuse her, which he hadn’t, and she wouldn’t drive a knife through his heart.

Perhaps he’d once cared for her deeper than he was willing to admit, but he couldn’t bring her back to life. He’d also grown thankful for her absence, as the removal of her persistence in getting him to kill all Mavka allowed him to see the truth: killing them would do nothing.

It would weaken Weldir if he removed his soul-ferrying children, but he would just make more.

Jabez needed to leave Earth and start over in Nyl’theria. He’d need a companion to do that – someone who was his strength and speed, and he their magic and shield.

Jabez needed someone he could trust.

Perhaps I could try with this female Mavka. Now that was an idea. But she’s a long way from being able to reason with. He needed someone intelligent enough to understand instructions.

Or even... what he was saying without a head tilt.

“Alright, female. I’ve decided,” he stated, while cocking a brow. A rather malicious smile pulled at the right corner of his lips.

He would aid this Mavka’s growth and see what happened.

Maybe I can train her to be a loyal guard.