A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 4

After a few days of rest and scouting the area around her burrow, leading the Mavka towards Jabez’s intended destination had taken a lot of patience on his part. He’d needed to convince his captor, who couldn’t understand, that he wasn’t fleeing but trying to lead her somewhere. He’d waved his hands beckoningly, offering her smiles while trying to minimise how much of his fangs he revealed.

She kept trying to drag him back towards her burrow at first, but he’d managed to get it into her thick, silly skull that they were to travel together.

Once she realised he wanted her to come with, her little bunny tail wiggled as she followed.

Jabez avoided the sunlight as best he could. He made sure they travelled around it, walking through shade or minimal dappled streaks. He could bear the direct sunlight for a few minutes – unlike Demons that began to disintegrate instantly, no matter how far into their evolution they were.

His bare feet crushed damp, decaying autumn leaves, and the inability to feel the earth on a spiritual level was hollowing. An Elf’s intrinsic need to touch the ground with the soles of their feet was vital to their life.

Whatever. There was little he could do to change it right now.

Despite knowing where he was in the world, as the Veil’s canyon wasn’t too far and he’d discovered they were southwest of it, that feeling of loss came from his extinguished magic. It was like another limb had been severed. The emptiness in his stomach had nothing to do with hunger, and everything to do with the lack of natural magic buzzing beneath his flesh.

He missed it and hoped its disappearance wasn’t permanent.

For now, he’d abandoned all plans for revenge or returning to the life he once knew. He had a different scheme; one that would take months before he could even begin to enact it.

Jabez was about to cut out a chunk of his life for this Mavka.

Even if it was all worthless in the end, he wasn’t the kind of being to give up an opportunity when it presented itself. Either this Mavka would allow him to willingly use her to empower and free himself, or he would aid her by increasing her humanity, then dust his hands of her, forget about their time together, and move on to try something else.

Jabez never placed hope in others, he only saw them as potentials that could be replaced. Such was the life of a lone king on an insecure throne, and the vow of a pubescent teenager.

He let her hold his forearm as though he was a pet on a leash, knowing it made her more at ease.

They journeyed west, seeking a town he knew of well. A town that, every couple of decades, would obtain a protective blue dome belonging to Orpheus – this female Mavka’s uncle.

A half day’s travel brought them to it just as dusk was settling in. The town was well fortified due to its capabilities to expand itself with Orpheus’ ward in place. It was large, and able to hold the capacity of humans living within it with ease. It wasn’t as dirty and over-populated as most other towns.

His features brightened in malice at its wooden stake walls, and the lack of a blue dome in place. The one just north of here, perhaps a few hours’ walk away, was the one currently being protected – and would be for another seven or so years.

This one was penetrable.

He was about to doom it.

He didn’t give a shit.

To Jabez, humans were nothing but cattle for his whims. He’d led teams of Demons to human fortifications, only to destroy them and let his army feed. He protected his army, ensuring minimal casualties, and watched with abject boredom while protecting the truly innocent behind a ward.

He glanced at the female beside him. This town will survive.

She was one creature, and he didn’t see her needing to consume every being within this pitiful town.

He could feed her any creature to grow her strength and plump up her lean form, but the only way to increase her humanity was to consume higher intelligence beings. Which is why he brought her here.

However, when the light of dusk was gone, and it was safe for Jabez to cross the clearing, she refused to go with him. No amount of tugging on his part could make her heavy body budge from her spot.

The Mavka chittered, pointed at the town, and shook her head with her orbs turning white before backing up. She covered her muddy snout, which he’d attempted to have her clean out before they even made it here. She’d refused.

“Come on,” Jabez stated, grasping her forearm and tugging until his bare heels gouged into the grass. She held his forearm in return, but did nothing. “If you want to grow strong and smart, you need to eat.”

He offered another false smile, growing annoyed at having to present them so readily when he could be a rather sour individual. Jabez had very little reason to smile, and only did so condescendingly, maliciously, or threateningly.

When she didn’t budge, he sighed.

Screw this. I have other ways to make her do what I want.

He twisted his arm from her hold, as she wasn’t expecting him to do so, and headed towards the town on his own. She chased him with a soft warning growl. When she attempted to grab him, Jabez put all his combat training into use to dodge her numerous times.

She didn’t like that.

Her growl worsened, but at this point, he didn’t quite care if he enraged her. He’d just lead her to the slaughter she was about to create, in which a blood-lust would rack her mind like a violent plea. She wouldn’t even be able to stop herself at that point.

Just as she managed to grab ahold of his wrist, an alarm bell rang from the town. Shouts wailed through the coming night as a wave of collective fear flittered into the air.

“It’s a Duskwalker!” one shouted.

“It’s not Orpheus,” another yelled from above the wall.

“Everyone, ready yourselves for a potential fight! Hurry!”

The sounds of boots hitting the ground and metal-plated armour grinding against itself caused a clamour through the area. More shouts echoed over the distance, and the chilling wind did little to hide the growing scent of their fear.

She released him to cover her nose hole and once more backed up a step, then shook her rabbit skull, emitting the sound of rattling bones – like her head was brainless. She whimpered as her glowing orbs turned bright red.

Jabez tsked at the nuisance she was being. I’d much rather not do this, but so be it. To get things started, he sliced his palm with the opposing thumb claw, grabbed one of her hands to shove it down, and smeared his blood across her snout.

The reaction was instant, and her roar was so loud it blasted his eardrums and left them ringing.

With a deep chuckle in the face of danger, Jabez lowered himself into a crouch as she bared her claws at him. She leapt forward, and he jumped, only to land straight on top of her. She crumbled chest first into the ground, then he flipped backwards and sprinted towards the town.

Wind whistled past his ears and chilled his nose, while his long hair streamed behind him. Pumping his arms as he moved at high speed, his heart barely accelerated, his body formidable and well-trained.

The Mavka was quick to chase him, and almost managed to get her claws into him, but he skilfully sidestepped to avoid her lunges. Just as she was turning to greet him with a snarl, he leapt halfway up the outside of the town’s protective wall. Hooking himself to it with the use of his finger and toe claws, he yanked himself higher until he was at the top of the barrier.

He noticed movement and grabbed the head of an arrow to stop it from shooting him in the face, surprising the man who’d nocked it.

He tackled the armoured soldier off the top of the wall and used him as a pillow for his landing on the other side.

The poor fellow was still alive when Jabez heard multiple bones crack before he belted out a scream. He gave the male a quick, merciful death – one that selfishly aided him. He sliced the male’s throat open, making his own mouth water at the delicious scent, while ensuring he would become the new target for the now enraged Mavka who landed next to them with a thud.

He leapt away, and within seconds, she descended upon the dying soldier.

Her attention was quickly diverted when an arrow lanced the back of her shoulder. Jabez fled, since being anywhere near the fray would likely see him injured.

Without his magic, he was of little help to her, as he couldn’t aid her strength or protect her. He would only be a liability, and all this bloodshed would be for naught if he bit the dust.

He slowed to a nonchalant walk once he was far enough away from the clattering of weapons, armour, and dying yells, then checked his palm to see the small cut was already clotting.

His presence was ignored as soldiers ran past him, all of them racing for the biggest threat. He doubted the humans could see his Demon features – such as his claws and horns – all that well in the dark. He had brown human-like skin, since the grey Elvish undertone was far subtler than most, and he didn’t have the void-black, inhuman glistening exterior of other Demons. It wasn’t truly flesh, but a magical barrier that held in their insides until they could become complete and grow skin.

At most, they might question the colour of his white, waist-length hair. Unless they glimpsed his backwards-pointing, segmented horns in random torchlight.

At a loud whine coming from behind, he paused briefly, then shrugged and continued on.

As much as Jabez felt for the pain she was in due to the multiple soldiers that charged the ‘monster,’ he wouldn’t waste his guilt on something that couldn’t be changed. Even though he’d caused her suffering by bringing her here, this was an inevitable part of her speedy growth. She needed humanity, he required she did so fast, and it would only benefit her in the long run.

She will be fine, he thought, reminding himself that she’d heal within a day. No humans know how to kill her kind.

She would thank him later. Merikh had when Jabez had done a similar thing to aid his growth when he realised eating humans benefited Mavka. This wasn’t the first time he’d done this.

Stopping a discreet distance from the chaos and danger, Jabez turned, folded his arms, and leaned against the side of a building. No one approached him as he watched the Mavka tear into soldiers like their metal armour was nothing but paper.

She scratched off a man’s helmet while biting into his shoulder, then tossed her skull side to side until his neck snapped. Once dead, she bit his head off and began to eat from the bleeding hole she’d made. The shape of her maw made her rather grotesquely violent when it came to eating, and she smeared blood all over her skull as she buried it into the gaping wound.

Only a few seconds later, barely halfway down his torso, she threw his body to the side so she could slash across the gut of a soldier who rammed a short sword into her thigh. Her claws caught in the metal breastplate of his armour, and she sent his body flying. He crashed into the side of a house with such force it cracked. The Mavka then proceeded to charge on all fours until her small antlers lanced his gut, and she shoved them both into the centre of the house.

Along with the creaks and groans of timber and the shatter of furniture, multiple high-pitched wails rang out. They momentarily hid the snarls of the Mavka inside.

A woman with three children sprinted from the house. She carried a little boy, likely no older than two, in her arms, while a pair of slightly older girls in pale nightgowns sprinted behind her. They headed towards the bell ringing deep within the village, likely a place where people congregated for safety.

The mother looked back, checking to make sure her young children followed before shifting the screaming boy in her arms. The moment she looked away, the youngest of her daughters tripped and was separated from her fleeing parent.

The little girl was slow to rise to her feet, and her crying was overshadowed by the Mavka causing unseen mayhem in their home. A fire blasted to life, setting the house ablaze within seconds.

With a quiet, nose crinkling snarl, Jabez pushed off the wall and leapt into a sprint. The closer he got, the more he scented the child’s blood from scrapes on her knees and hands, and the power of her fear. Both tingled in his nose, enough to make his mouth salivate, but Jabez’s hunger wasn’t an uncontrollable beast.

Just as he was about to make it to her, the Mavka burst through the wall of the house with a roar, throwing clay and stone rubble all around. Jabez slid across the dirt and shielded the child from the falling house debris with his body.

Just as he’d predicted, the Mavka turned towards the little girl creating a delicious scent. Shit, we have to move. Jabez somersaulted to the side when the Mavka’s large hand came down to squash them, and then he hooked his right arm around the little girl’s midsection. He lifted her by her side until her legs and arms dangled.

The Mavka dived for them both, but Jabez jumped into the air and grabbed ahold of the straw roofing of the house next to them. The child screamed as her dangling limbs swayed towards the ground, while he held her waist firm. He grunted when the straw began to break, and he looked down to find the Mavka moments from jumping for them.

Just as she did, Jabez booted her skull between her antlers, forcing her back down, and she hit the dirt with a thump . He hissed in a breath against the pain that shot up his leg from the power of their collective impact.

More soldiers came to take her attention by shoving their weapons at her, and it gave Jabez the opportunity to let go of the roof. Broken straw cascaded on top of him when he landed, forcing him to close his eyes momentarily against the debris, but he didn’t bother to shake it off as he sprinted away with the small child.

Using his increased agility due to his mixed heritage, Jabez headed straight for where the bell was coming from. When too many stupid humans were on the street and heading in the same direction, causing a dangerous and foolish stampede, he jumped to a balcony. He climbed higher still so he could run across rooftops.

When he had a moment, he checked on the wellbeing of the girl. She reeked of fear, and her face was snotty from crying. She was a little shaken up, but he noted there were no other injuries besides her scraped hands and knees.

What mattered was that neither he nor the Mavka had damaged her.

Jabez knew himself to be an evil presence in this world, but he’d never harmed a child in it – at least not by his own hand. He’d also never stood back and allowed his minions to do so either. His reasoning to them had always been that a grown human gave more humanity and bred more for them to eat, but the truth was... he just couldn’t stomach the idea.

He’d instigated raids on human towns to feed his minions, but he’d always chosen places containing few young ones. He scouted and then protected where the young were hidden away with their mothers by casting a protective dome over that location. Then his Demons slaughtered the rest, mostly soldiers, and he moved them on before daybreak.

From then on, it was up to the humans to relocate while the sun was shining. Most fleeing their towns survived as they escaped the burning ruins and ventured to other settlements nearby.

He gave the truly innocent a chance, and he thought that may be because he’d never been given one. His innocence had been stolen from him as a young boy, and he’d been at the mercy of dangerous beings for much of his life. He despised humans just as much as he did the Elves, but he knew what it felt like to be small, weak, and defenceless.

He knew what it felt like when no one had given him mercy.

Alright, this should be close enough.

When he reached the tallest building in the town that had the bell chiming, he skilfully landed between the narrow gap of two houses with a quiet thud. He propped the child on her feet, refusing to get too close to the exit in case he was spotted. Passing by the alleyway they were in, women and men fled to the towering building. He pushed the girl towards the entrance of the alleyway, onto what appeared to be a main street, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.

He didn’t care about nor want a thanks, and the soldiers guarding the assembly point would only attempt to fight him if he lingered.

Allowing himself a brief glance back, he saw the girl had turned as well, and she waved at him with one hand as the other wiped snot from her nose.

Gross. Don’t wave at me, you vile little thing. He gave a disgusted, disgruntled lip curl before facing away.

When he peeked out of the opposite exit of the alleyway, there were barely any humans on this narrow street. He followed the shadows to keep out of sight as he headed back towards the chaos he could hear at the entry point of the village.

With the child instantly forgotten, his walk was leisurely.

They’d been in this village for less than an hour, and he planned for the Mavka to eat many humans while they were here. They had hours until sunrise would come, and she wouldn’t tire. Her wounds would be meaningless to her capabilities, no matter how debilitating they’d be for someone mortal like himself. The humans wouldn’t be able to trap her, as he doubted they had Anzúli-enchanted rope or chains, like those Demonslayers wielded.

Jabez peeked up at the glowing moon, and momentarily basked in its rays as it chased away the chill. He opened his red eyes once more to inspect the buildings he passed.

At a shop window that had the word ‘seamstress’ painted across it, he paused. Something silver resting on the storekeeper’s counter grasped his attention, and a grin lifted the corners of his lips.

Jabez shoved the point of his elbow through one of the large glass windowpanes, then shattered his way inside. Being careful to avoid stabbing the bottoms of his bare feet with glass, he ducked his six-foot-nine height within the low-ceiling room, and had to crouch even further when he passed under a door frame to the back.

He found a decently sized satchel bag and shoved sewing supplies into it, including scissors, needles, and thread spools of random colours. He even cut off a few metres of black silky material.

From there, he left to hunt for anything else that could be of use. He found a leatherworker’s shop and stole an empty water sack, a pair of black leather breeches, and an expensive-looking hooded cloak that had wolf or bear fur on the shoulders as padding. At a clothing store, he took the largest tunic he could find, disapproving of its cream colouring.

Everything he found, he stuffed into his satchel or threw over his shoulder if it was too large. He even obtained fruit and vegetables from a store for easy eating, rather than having to constantly hunt with a bloodthirsty predator at his back.

Just as he was about to reach where the fighting was still in action – the skirmish loud, and the smell of smoke from multiple homes burning strong – he passed a library. He almost disregarded going inside until an idea flittered through his thoughts.

If she’s to learn, it’s better if I have materials to teach.

With that in mind, he broke in and spent a decent amount of time flicking through the different reading materials available. He grabbed a child’s storybook, then singled out two other reading materials he wouldn’t find too boring to read repeatedly. He refused to take anything containing romance, as he didn’t wish to put silly thoughts into the female Mavka’s mind.

Pleased with his spoils, he left when he knew he’d been gone too long.

Finally, the Mavka came into view. She was deeper within the village now, and at an intersection that gave her just enough room to move and attack.

Her physique had changed in the hour or so they’d been parted. Although all her bones were still exposed, she was no longer thin enough for him to wrap his hands around her waist with ease. It was hard to see in detail just how much she’d changed, but she would evolve even more as the night went on.

Once more, he leaned against a wall to watch, only to grunt when something sharp was pressed between his shoulder blades. He’d been expecting everyone to pass him, since he was shrouded in the shadow of an awning.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Jabez warned, as he peeked over his shoulder.

An armoured soldier wielding a spear had stark, frightened eyes as he looked up at Jabez’s daunting height.

“S-shut up, you filthy Demon,” he snapped out, before shoving harder and forcing Jabez to step forward so he wasn’t lanced. “I watched you lead that monster in here, and-and steal that little girl.”

“Well, I had no intention of intervening,” Jabez stated with a small smirk. “But I guess I am a little hungry.”

He stepped forward and swiftly ducked to the side as the soldier thrust his spear, stumbling straight into Jabez’s reach. He grabbed the male’s helmet so he could pull him closer, then with one hand on his head, the other on his shoulder, Jabez shoved his jagged fangs into the side of the human’s neck.

He drank from the man, and the soldier’s blood rejuvenated his senses against the exhaustion that had been weighing on him since the defeat at his castle.

Jabez had long despised eating the flesh of sentient beings like a disgusting cannibal, but draining them dry like a vampire had its uses – more so when he had his magic. He didn’t need humanity, as he was fully intelligent and fully formed, but he drank from this human as he would have a mindless animal.

He considered draining him dry, but decided not to. The Mavka may come across him, and he left the remains for her – if not, the male was lucky he’d live another day.

Now in a rather grand mood, Jabez leapt to a rooftop to be a spectator, completely out of the way. He pulled a stolen orange from his new satchel and threw its peels on the heads of the soldiers below him. With one leg swinging off the ledge of the house, he watched over the Mavka with the intention of intervening should she truly need aid.

She never did.

Formidable thing, isn’t she? he thought with a rather prideful sneer. Even with those teeth of hers. Actually, he thought that made her bite just as dangerous as any predator-skulled Mavka.

“Hurry up!” someone whisper-shouted below him. “We must kill the Duskwalker before it kills any more men. Go that way. We may be able to get behind it.”

Hmm, I forgot that’s what the humans call Mavka. He thought it to be a rather simplistic name, but merely shrugged.

Those who just spoke were slaughtered within minutes.

After many hours had passed, Jabez noted the amount of corpses in the wake of her destruction. He figured this should be enough food.

Long before the sunrise even began to crest over the horizon, he slipped from the roof and headed straight for the commander of this feeble army. The commander shouted orders until those around her backed up at Jabez’s approach from behind.

She turned to face him. She lacked a helmet, and he took in the surprisingly gentle and soft features of her sun-damaged, tanned face. Her hair was a shining blonde, her nose small, and her lips thin.

Just as she went to draw her sword, he cocked his head.

“If you wish to cease this bloodshed, I suggest you call back your men,” Jabez explained, looking past the now armed woman to the Mavka eating a corpse.

“Why should we do anything you say, Demon?” she jeered, before pointing her sword up at his straight, pointed nose.

Those around them followed suit, and many sword or spear tips were pointed at his bored face. They glinted in the dim moonlight, and a grin curled his lips back to flash his fangs.

“Because I’ve purposefully not joined this fray.” A malicious glint lifted into his features as he eyed their useless weapons. “I’m not here to feast, only the Duskwalker is. Either lower your weapons and back away, or I’ll make sure this entire village burns to the ground.”

Such a threat would have been more powerful had he been able to use his magic, but his strong, muscular appearance should have been alarming enough. Especially as he towered over even the tallest man by over half a foot, and this woman by an entire one.

When the commander looked as though she planned to argue, Jabez sighed exaggeratedly and shook his head.

“I lured the Duskwalker here, and I can lure it away. Without me, that creature won’t leave until it’s decimated this entire village and consumed every moving thing it sees. Unless someone else is willing to be bait, and fast enough to get away, you have no other option.” Then, he raised his right arm to shrug with it, while also purposefully making his claw-like nails glint in the torchlight a soldier was carrying. “Choose, human, or let your death come. I need to evade the sunlight, but the Duskwalker does not.”

“Commander,” a man from the side said while lowering his sword. He eyed Jabez warily. “We’ve lost over thirty men.”

“It doesn’t attack while it’s eating, so long as we give it space and don’t move,” another stated, stepping back without lowering his spear.

“Are you all so stupid to believe a monster is willing to aid us?” she bit at them.

Jabez didn’t bat an eye at being called a monster. He found it to be rather endearing, considering he’d been called far worse in his long life.

“Stupid or not, you have no other option.” Jabez lifted his hand and gently pushed away a spear tip near his left ear with disdain. “I approached you with the offer to spare more of your people. I’m just as formidable as the Duskwalker. Either do as I say or I’ll no longer offer you salvation, and I will aid in your demise.” He gave the woman another grin, this time allowing humour to light in his eyes. “Choose.”

With a rather adorable little growl, she stepped back with a nod. “Fine. Call back everyone.”

“I suggest you all do so slowly and quietly,” Jabez stated. “Any sudden noises or movement will gain her attention.”

She nodded upwards once more as a silent command, and a few of her soldiers moved away. She refused to take her eyes off his, so he tilted his head eerily, and his ears flicked as he listened carefully to the movement around him.

“Once we’re gone, do you promise to lead the Duskwalker away?” the commander asked.

“No,” he answered warmly, making her eyes narrow into a steely glare. “Once she finishes feeding from your fallen soldiers, I’ll lead her away before day breaks.”

“Bastard,” she bit out, but otherwise left with the rest of her soldiers.

The area grew quiet, and all that remained was Jabez and the Mavka as she ate, evolved, and grew. He found it rather serene and peaceful, especially with the hot flames of a nearby building flickering light over her body. He eyed the multiple arrows lining most of her body, her wounds, and the blood that dripped from her.

A dark sense of pride engulfed his chest as he watched her grow stronger with each bite. She’d been swift, agile, and deadly tonight. He needed a companion such as this.

And just imagine how dangerous she’ll be once she’s smart.

He could already conceptualise the possibilities.

I just hope she isn’t as ill-tempered as that red-orbed bear.