A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 5

Not long before daybreak, Jabez easily gained the attention of the Mavka by simply throwing a large rock at the side of her body. Since he stood on top of the protective wooden spikes, she was quick to snarl up at him and the severed arm he waved to taunt her with. She chased after him the moment he jumped off and landed on the other side.

When she got too close, he threw the bloodied limb to gain more distance while she gobbled it up.

We should be fine once we’re a safe distance from the village.

When the smell of blood no longer perfumed the air, he climbed a tree to hide from her. Staying above the lowest branches, the heavy gusts of wind aided him, and she lost his scent. He silently watched her sprint throughout the forest, backtracking to where his smell last lingered before running off in a new direction.

The deep navy of the sky began to lighten as the new day encroached, and Jabez watched it with a sense of detachment.

Only when the huffing, snarling Mavka didn’t return did Jabez drop down and wander after her. He brushed his hands of this night.

So long as I follow her freshest scent, she’ll lead me back to her burrow.

During his travel, he avoided the growing sunlight as best as he could. He checked on his new supplies, rather proud of himself that he’d thought to collect them. The bag was overfull and impossible to close, and the cloak he’d taken swayed back and forth over his shoulder.

Since he lacked the speed of a Mavka, nor did he care to hurry, the daylight hours passed until the gloaming wasn’t far from darkening the skies as he reached her territory. Her lingering scent made it difficult to track which way to go, so he searched for other means.

When he found traces of her purple Mavka blood, which was lighter in its colouring than the inkiness of Demon blood, he crouched down next to the droplets. He examined her tracks around them, noting which way she was heading, before following both.

Long before he heard whines and whimpers reverberating through the forest, his pointed ears twitched in alertness. He softened his steps so as to not startle her and approached slowly.

He found her limping as she headed to what he figured was her filthy home. One back leg was lifted, while each press on her left forelimb caused her to let out a higher cry of pain.

He could see just how much she’d changed.

Her torso was thicker to the point he thought hugging her midsection would feel normal. In her monstrous form, the flesh between her ribs didn’t appear so sunken or like her skin was about to rot off. Instead, it was full and bulging, nearly consuming most of her skeletal torso. He even thought two, albeit small, mounds had formed over some of her rib bones, but they only hid a few of them from view completely and still left a portion of her sternum exposed.

Her hipbones and collarbones had sunken in and disappeared, as had the bones of her arms and legs. Only those across her knuckles remained.

She no longer appeared ghastly, nor starved. Actually, her figure looked rather curved – almost hourglass – despite the Mavka being hunched forward in her four-legged monstrous form.

She’d eaten many humans, and now she’d only need to eat meat of any kind to thicken her body. Wolves, bears, fish, or birds – it wouldn’t matter the creature.

Removing the satchel so it wouldn’t clunk around and spook her, he placed it on the ground as he lowered himself. He held up his hands submissively and crawled towards the wounded female with caution.

Hearing his approach, her white orbs flared bright red as she snapped her skull to the side and snarled in warning. She stumbled as she backed up while turning, then lowered herself into a defensive stance.

Jabez lowered himself further to appear smaller and non-threatening.

“Hey there,” he gently cooed. “I mean you no harm.”

He scraped at the ground to catch her attention and distract her, further showing he meant no danger. She was littered with injuries and had many arrows sticking from her. Although bloodied and matted, her fluffy fur was lifted in a highly agitated state.

He’d offer to remove those shafts, but he’d only do her more harm. She’d heal them soon enough, and once the night fell, her injuries would mend one by one. His lack of intervention would ensure he didn’t needlessly heighten her pain.

“I know it hurts,” he offered, shifting his weight to his hands in a crouched position to inch closer. “But you’ll feel better soon. You will be smarter, more understanding, and I can teach you.”

He could teach her how to speak, how to think, how to survive. Jabez could mentor her and hopefully make her compassionate to his goals. She would come to thank him.

He paused his approach when she parted her maw to threaten him more loudly, and he raised one of his brows.

The inside of her mouth has formed flesh around where her cheeks would be. There was no longer a gap between her jaws; jagged teeth made of flesh lined either side and filled in the hollow spaces, particularly behind her cheekbones. The appearance was similar to the teeth and mouth of a baby Mavka, and was a sign that she’d fully matured to fill in the crevices and gaps of her skull properly. Her maw now appeared more seamless and fully enclosed, so the inside of it would no longer drool or dry out.

He also noticed her antlers appeared... smaller, and had lost their fuzziness . He’d never seen a Mavka’s horns change before.

Most female creatures don’t have horns or antlers.

He’d been wondering why she had them, considering she was female, but he figured all Mavka needed some version of them. However, as she was the first female he’d seen, he hypothesised that the females of her kind went through an additional head evolution to compensate for the change.

Instead of being large and imposing, with four forks on each branch, her antlers had reshaped to only have one main stem and a fork just over the sides of her skull. They appeared daintier, blunter, and their shade of brown had even lightened.

Once she realised who he was, her head tilted and her orbs flashed dark yellow in curiosity. Then they turned a deep blue as she pulled out of her defensive stance. She sat on the ground and chittered at him while patting her body. She visibly tensed and hissed out pained breaths.

His ears flicked when he registered that her chitters weren’t as high-pitched as they were before, like her voice had evolved into a more human tone.

She pointed at him as she released more.

“Yes, yes,” he stated with a nod, placing his hand on his chest. “I know it’s my fault.”

She bashed at the ground as her orbs went bright red before pointing at him more sternly – from what he could tell. She was blaming him, justifiably, but Jabez had zero regrets. A few hours of pain against what she had surely gained was minor in the overall scheme of her life.

He’d also suffered very similar wounds, and in the same quantity, and they, too, had made him stronger. Life was cruel, merciless even, but each fight, each adversity he’d faced had strengthened him, as it would her. Nothing was gifted without sacrifice, and he’d saved her days of pain over the course of what would be decades, if not centuries, by shoving it all into one night.

He was the embodiment of her reflection, just with healed wounds, both inside and out.

And if his theory about her already increased humanity due to her parentage was correct, then he doubted she’d need to do something like this ever again. He’d like to witness the difference between her and Merikh’s development.

Jabez cocked his brow again when she pointed back the way she came and her orbs turned blue once more. Then she patted at herself, rubbing her muzzle and stomach, before pointing that way.

“Are you... upset you hurt those humans?” he wondered out loud.

“Hhhurt? Up-set?” she asked, her head tilting. “Hhhumans?”

He nodded. “Hurt,” he answered, gesturing to her wounds before showing the one he’d given himself on his palm. “Human.” He pointed towards the human village miles away.

“No hurt humans!” she shouted while wobbling forward on all fours with loud, agitated chitters.

A growl slipped from him at her sudden aggressive approach, and he backed up. He narrowed his eyes into a glare, and curled his lips back to flash his fangs in warning.

“There was no other way,” he told her sternly. “You needed to hurt humans to grow.”

“No hurt!” She reared back onto her hind legs like a rabbit, and Jabez stood as well, so he could quickly defend himself. “No hurt!”

Before he could put distance between them, her quick approach had him on the back foot – especially as he tripped backwards, refusing to take his eyes off her in case she darted for him. Then, for a single moment, life blacked out when she backhanded him hard across the face. Sent twirling through the air, he jolted back to reality when he crashed into a nearby tree trunk.

White dots and black lightning streaked across his swimming vision. “Fuck,” he spat.

He attempted to get to his hands and knees as dizziness threatened to overcome him, but his legs refused to move. With his jaw dislocated from the power of her smack, he tried to reset it as he struggled to rise.

The crack that had sounded midway through his back when he’d slammed against the tree, coupled with the pain and immobility, meant she’d broken his fucking spine. He had the use of his arms, but his legs were unresponsive.

Wretched Mavka and their fucking strength. No creature should be this strong, and he’d always hated that they were more formidable than him.

A groan rolled out of him when she grabbed one of his horns, and as she lifted him off the ground by it, his body dragged across the rough dirt. She held him far enough away that he could do little more than hang there, his numb legs uselessly swaying.

She roared at him, and he answered her with his own enraged one, causing the veins and muscles in his neck to bulge.

Then she patted her chest while uselessly chittering at him like he had any idea about what she was saying! With his jaw still out of its socket, he could do little more than belt out his anger and clench his fists with quaking arms.

That was until glittering teal magic swirled around them and his wounds mended. She whimpered as she took on his injuries, as if she was trying to prove something to him.

She pointed back towards the human village, then him, then her wounds. Her knees shook, but her spine appeared to be mostly intact, unlike his had been.

“You want to be a healer of the world? Of humans?” A deadened laugh broke out of him. “You’re a fucking Mavka! You’re a monster, just like me!”

He kicked his now working legs to separate from her. His attempt only angered her, and she swung her arm to slam his body against the ground.

Some things snapped, perhaps a rib and his collar bone, but Jabez merely chuckled despite the pain. He twisted until his legs wound up her arm, and he turned her onto her back. She squealed when he bit into her forearm to make her release his horn.

The moment he freed himself, he lowered to a crouched stance, ready to sprint as he backed up from her. He wheezed against the agony in his torso, yet spat her blood to the side with a feral grin.

She slammed her clawed hands against the ground as she rose into a four-legged position and parted her maw menacingly. Jabez curled his lips back to reveal his fangs and gave her a monstrous, hissing roar. He bellowed it from deep in his chest, engaging his diaphragm and putting all his might into it until it sounded beastly and utterly inhuman.

Her head reared back in surprise, before she sunk lower with another growl coming from her. He stood with a stomp forward and roared again, and she backed up even more.

She was being surprisingly submissive.

“Not everyone is worth saving,” he snarled out. “Not humans, nor I. We are not worth your fucking pity.” He bashed his arm against the trunk next to him before raking his claws over it to show her he had his own to defend himself with. “So fight me, or fuck off if you don’t want my damn help.”

If she wanted to be a benevolent spirit upon the world, then she wasn’t the companion for him. He’d long ago lost the innocence and ignorance to be kind. Nothing deserved saving. Everything and everyone could burn for all he cared! Not in retribution for the wrongdoings done against him, but as penance for their vileness, for the hate and malice in their hearts.

For their greed and selfishness.

When the Mavka did nothing but step to the side to circle him, forcing him to mirror her actions, he dared to step closer with a menacing growl bubbling up his throat. She might be bigger than him, stronger than him, faster than him, but he had centuries of intelligence on her.

Jabez was cunning, and the only way he’d survive this was if she made the first move. He would flee, as he’d already proven he was slippery to keep ahold of.

At his wordless threat, she snapped her jaws at him, making a sharp clipping sound, before thumping one of her hind legs. She was backing down, so he towered his height above her lowered stance while keeping a safe distance.

He warded her back like he might a bear.

She thumped a back leg while snapping her jaws again, but otherwise continued to retreat.

Apparently she didn’t wish to fight, and she appeared to have better control over her anger than most Mavka. He refused to let his eyes off her reddened orbs and continued to release his own rumbling growl. Even when she faded from sight, he refused to stop his warning, but he did retreat slowly from the area so as to not stir the desire to hunt in her.

Only when everything grew silent did he quieten.

Letting out an annoyed, rolling huff, he looked up at the moonlight glittering through the canopy of leaves. A small chuckle fell from him as his accelerated heart slowed its adrenaline-filled sprint.

Well, that could have ended badly.

After going back to find his belongings he’d placed down, he rubbed at his injured chest. Jabez noticed the bruises already blotting around his right collarbone and side. Hissing in a breath of pain, he wheezed and grunted, as he swiped up his satchel and headed towards the lake.

As annoyed as he was about his plan to manipulate this Mavka failing so soon, and how he’d wasted an entire night essentially assisting her, he let it go. There was little he could do to change it, as she likely hated him now, and he wouldn’t waste energy on being angered over such a loss. He’d merely come up with a new plan.

He also considered it payment for saving his life.

Perhaps I can head to the village of Demons. He cupped his jaw as he thought about what he could do there. I left a mana stone beneath the village. I can probably use it to my advantage. It was better than wandering the forest with no direction until he figured out what he truly wanted to do.

Without my magic, I can’t face the Demons. Not on Earth and definitely not in Nyl’theria – the Elven realm. If they knew he was weak, they wouldn’t waste any time before tearing him apart to gain from eating his corpse. It was part of the reason he’d stolen the cloak to hide his identity, although warmth was the main purpose. I’ll have to ensure I remain unnoticed until I reach the outskirts of the village.

At the lake, Jabez drank from the water before removing his pants and slipping in to bathe. Then, soaking wet and sitting on the grass, he pulled out all his stolen supplies and assessed what he’d gathered as he let himself air dry.

Once he was no longer dripping water, he donned the large tunic designed for an overweight man, finding it loose around his narrow waist. It fit across his wide, muscled shoulders, and the extra room meant it covered his entire torso past his waistline. It was a little short for his arms, so he rolled up the sleeves to just before where his forearm muscles started to bulge.

Already he felt warmer, and sitting in the heat of the moonlight felt sublime. Unlike most Demons, Jabez could not only withstand the light, but it gave him warmth. Basking in it as it shone upon his back, he pulled his ruined mauve pants closer and used the scissors he’d taken to cut the fabric off both legs just below the knees, so they were even.

He also grabbed the breeches he’d stolen and stood so he could see where he’d need to cut them. The waist of the breeches barely came halfway up his muscular thighs. Jabez cut the sections that he needed, which were just below the knee joints to below his calves, and removed the tops and bottoms from them.

Then, he got to work sewing those leather sections to the bottoms of his loose pants so the calves were snug but would keep him warm during the cold winter months that were approaching.

He took no shoes; no human would have feet his size. Plus, as an Elf, despite lacking the ability to utilise his magic right now, anything that covered the soles of his feet was abhorrent to him. It would only make him clumsy, incapable of climbing trees, and he liked to feel the earth beneath him.

Fully dressed, he tested the cloak he’d stolen. It largely fit, as most cloaks were made to cover the human body like a blanket whilst travelling. The length only came to the top of his calves, whereas it likely would have been close to skimming the ground for a human.

The hood was plain, but it was large enough to cover his head even with his horns being in the way.

He fixed the black material he’d stolen to the bottom of the cloak so it would fall to his ankles and shield his feet from the sun during his travels. Once he was done, he fitted the cloak around his body and glanced at the panel of fur now covering his shoulders, noting that it made him remarkably warmer.

Lastly, he donned a leather holster he’d stolen and shoved the dagger he’d taken from a deceased soldier into it. As much as he preferred to use his hands and claws, a dagger would be useful for activities outside of combat.

Crouching, he selected an apple he’d taken from a produce store and bit into it. He wiggled his nose at the sweet taste, but it was otherwise suitable to curb the worst of his hunger. As he ate, he checked on the remaining items: a water sack he’d already filled, a razor and hairbrush to groom himself, and the three books he’d taken.

He considered tossing the books into the water, as he no longer needed learning material for the Mavka, but decided against it. Should I be bored in my travels, something to read may be entertaining.

Tsking at himself, he shoved everything back into his satchel and strapped it across his torso for safekeeping. Then he manoeuvred to lie in the concave of a tree trunk and wrapped himself in the cloak until not a bit of his skin was revealed.

Intending to sleep before he walked to the Demons’ village, he didn’t wish to awake prematurely due to the sunlight burning him. The cloak and shade of this very tree would protect him.

The moment he closed his eyes against the lightening night sky, a branch snapping in the distance had him flinging them open. He glared at nothingness as he listened.

The female Mavka, now mostly healed, stamped her way into the area on all fours. Jabez pulled back his hood to properly inspect her approach, noting her orbs were a soft red – annoyed, but not enraged. Which meant safe- ish.

She came right to his huddled form, and he cocked a brow.

“Come to apologise, have you?” he sneered mockingly. He shooed her by waving a single hand dismissively. “I have no interest in pointlessness. I’m no longer willing to be your little pet.”

With a gentle growl, she reached out quicker than he could dodge her. Gripping one of his horns, she yanked him across the ground on his back as she walked away from the clearing.

Rolling his eyes as he was dragged away, Jabez sighed. Guess I don’t have a say in the matter.

A malicious grin lifted into his features seconds later.

A pet I’ll be, then.

With a glow of teal flaming at the edges of her clear vision, NoName blocked the entrance to her home with her back.

The area was small, but she didn’t mind. She only ever came in here to hide and sleep. Although her antlers occasionally became tangled with the roots in the ceiling, she’d carved herself out enough room to be comfortable some time ago.

It was her home, and a place where she felt safest.

She often travelled among the forest of her territory, unsure and not ready to further explore. Beyond her territory were humans , as she’d learned what the furless creatures were called, and she preferred to avoid them.

Despite already learning that some humans were unkind, most had smelt of fear and ran from her presence. Even though her intelligence had been low, she’d already summarised she was a frightening and horrible being who made all creatures wary, even those with sharp fangs.

She was unwelcome.

NoName lacked the words to articulate what she wanted. Her mind was empty except for flashes of images, the echoes of scents, and the emotional changes she experienced – like her chest aching, or her stomach twisting.

And, up until the night before, her mind had felt spacious and grainy. Now, it swirled with an overload of information she couldn’t fathom, and yet was strengthened by it. It felt right, like she’d merely been sleeping all this time and had fully awoken from a distant haze.

NoName chittered grumbles to herself, upset that the sleeping male before her showed her this. The edges of her sight flickered with orange due to this gross, yucky emotion in her chest, one that radiated with a burning sensation. She didn’t like the way her actions had caused so much death, and she wished she could take it back. She also hated how she was thankful for these changes, as she felt more in tune with herself physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually.

NoName didn’t want to be a malicious being. From the moment she found an injured animal and healed it because she had this desire to save it, her anger and hunger gave way to compassion. She’d heard its cries, understood its pain, and wanted to take that away – not knowing she would be forced to bear the creature’s wounds.

Since she had this power, she thought this might have been her purpose: to heal.

She had no idea who she was, what she was, where she was, or what she was meant to be doing. She grasped onto the first thing that gave her meaning other than being a destroyer and clung to it fervently.

She wanted to protect. She also didn’t want to be... alone.

Confused, she constantly sought guidance. Yet, she’d been rejected by the humans, other furry creatures, by prey and predator alike. No one wanted her.

Having met someone she thought may be of her own kind over a moon cycle ago, it deepened her desire to learn and understand. How did that male come to be in her territory or how did he even come to exist? Why was his human companion willing to go to him, but refused to remain with NoName? Why was she not better and safer when she had healing hands?

So many questions, and no answers to be found in the dirt she often scratched at.

She wondered if this strange male creature may be of help.

Despite her anger towards him, and how she wished to bash his head in with a single slam for inciting violence within her, he had been calm.

He hadn’t run away from her at the first chance he’d gotten, nor had he smelt of fear. Already he guided her into understanding a few needs, such as producing a foul-scented liquid from some kind of strange, dangling thing between his legs. He also showed her that he needed to consume liquid, whereas she did not, and that he required sustenance, which meant at times he hunted and killed creatures, even if she didn’t like that.

She’d try to change that about him.

If she did not need to eat, and could, mostly, withstand her hunger, then he could do so as well.

As much as NoName wanted to chase him off her territory for making her harm others, his cruel actions in that large human dwelling place had showed her one thing: he knew her kind.

He knew eating humans increased her weight and intelligence when she hadn’t. At least once she’d calmed down, she assumed he did. Why else would he have led her there to cause destruction? From what she could tell, he hadn’t partaken in bloodshed.

Then again, it was hard to truly remember what had happened.

Her gaze swept over him as he lay before her. Even though he faced her, the large brown cloth he was wrapped in covered him from head to ankle. The hood of it rested over his face to hide it, and she could barely peek at the corner of his mouth and his chin.

He smelt and looked different from the humans.

His eyes were a deep red, similar to the bright red of the void-like creatures who were mean and violent to her. He’d shown he had fangs and claws like them, and horns on his head like a few of them. Yet his skin was a deep brown, and he appeared to be tall and fully formed. His ears were pointed, which was another difference to every humanoid creature she’d seen, but it did make her wonder if perhaps he was like the graceful creatures she’d seen in the forest, since they, too, had horns and pointy ears.

He did have fur on his body like an animal, although it was minimal. She often noted the oddly long amount of it on top of his head. It was short everywhere else, and mostly focused between his legs and under his arms.

Then again, the humans had these fur patterns as well.

These were confusing questions she didn’t know the answer to. Would he give them to her? She hoped he would. She would force him to.

NoName thought back to a week ago, although those memories were murky now.

She’d seen a bright, shiny light in the distance, and had instantly been drawn to it. The mean creatures in the misty forest of a canyon had seemingly run from the light, whereas NoName felt the desire to hunt it, keep it, and treasure it. She wanted to put that light in her home, hoping it would be soothing and warm.

Once she started her path, she kept running towards it, upset when it disappeared, but excited to find it. She never would have guessed she’d meet this male in her search for it.

When she scented the trickles of blood, she’d blocked her nose and tried to find the source. Her healing hands could aid the creature, and since it didn’t smell the same as the void-like ones, she wanted to show it kindness in a place it may not have experienced any.

When she saw the male’s condition, she knew she would be unable to save him within the centre of the misty forest. He’d been missing limbs, barely conscious, and had burns on him like she once had from humans shoving flames against her flesh. Her healing hands would render her incapable of protecting him while she aided him, so she brought him home, hoping he’d stay.

From the very beginning, she’d been able to see a strange coldness in his eyes. He had a stare that came across as unfeeling, uncaring, and nonchalant.

What mattered was that he hadn’t looked at her with fear or disdain, even when he’d been naughty.

She lifted her wrist to check on the bite wound he’d given her. Yes, naughty creature. She would make sure he didn’t do that again, otherwise she could incidentally bite back.

Her sight slipped back to him.

She never would’ve known he could be so vicious had he not hurt her. Nor would she have known he was a rather strong being. He was obviously very fast, as he’d evaded her many times thus far.

No hurt, she thought, with the very limited words she now knew. No hurt human. No hurt... she didn’t know what to call him.

She understood that their genders were different, as the scent and pheromones he gave off were somewhat similar to the humans with dangly things between their legs. She knew she was female, although she didn’t have the names or words for any of this.

She was also smart enough to understand they were different creatures. He didn’t smell like her kind, a void-like creature, a human, or an animal. He was a weird thing, who was rather large in height and mass – he constantly towered over her four-legged form.

Perhaps he was one of the few beings who could survive with her. Smart enough to remain indifferent to her moods and be obedient, fast enough to evade her, and strong enough to defend himself when she was angry or enraged.

NoName cupped her bony forehead as blue entered her sight.

She worried she would fail and hurt this male like everything she’d met in the past and accidentally killed.

She was selfish enough to not let him go.

Was that wrong? She didn’t want it to be, but trapping him didn’t feel good. The human female with bright-orange hair, who had longed to be with the other of NoName’s kind, had wanted freedom.

Why did everything want to leave her?

If he tried to escape, she already mourned the loss, knowing his disappearance would hurt her chest with a burning ache. Killing him would make her feel horrible inside. She didn’t want to be alone, and she wished she knew how to make the pangs of sadness evaporate.

Her blue sight transformed to its usual teal but darker – possessiveness and sadness all rolled into one. She wanted to keep him, but it felt wrong to do so. She was lonely and scared in a world she didn’t know how to navigate or even communicate with.

The male shifted, which made her lower her palm from her bony snout to watch him.

He raised the arm he wasn’t lying on, used two clawed fingers to lift the flap of his hood, and red eyes greeted her teal orbs. His gaze was lax and came across as unfeeling, like usual.

NoName shifted under the callous weight of it.

“Thought I might wake to you staring at me,” he grumbled, despite her not understanding a word of what he said.

She tilted her head at him for his incomprehensible words, taking in that his tone was at least calm and quiet. His voice was deeper than normal and had a groggy hint to it.

And although she didn’t know his words for any of the body parts in his language, she keenly observed the male creature as he moved around inside her burrow.

He sat up and crossed his legs, positioned his back straight, and stretched by lifting his shoulders up and back, which arched his torso forward. His face twitched as though he found it uncomfortable before leaning his head one way and then the next until cracks sounded.

Then he pushed back the material covering his head, revealing the long flowing fur upon it. On the left side, a bald patch formed a semi-circle around his pointed ear. It started from the ridge above his temple and followed it to the nape of his neck.

From memory, it hadn’t been so rounded or smooth before, as if he’d somehow reshaped it in their time apart. She also noticed earlier that he’d clothed his torso, and changed his leg coverings so they no longer looked like dirty, torn rags.

NoName chittered at him, wanting to compliment these changes since he obviously preferred them.

Was he a pretty male? She’d like to think so, not that she truly had anything to compare him to. She also thought little creatures were cute.

The male pulled his bag from where he’d been laying his head upon it and obtained some kind of sack. He drank from it, and the familiar smell of the same wet substance she fell into tingled in her nose hole.

Easily impressed by the existence of such an item, she chittered again at the ingeniousness of ferrying one’s own liquid.

Once he was done, he laid the sack down and placed his hands on his legs. He raised the strip of face fur above his eye, and she tightened her back against his only possible way out, with her orbs reddening in annoyance. She wouldn’t let him leave, and she had no intention of being tricked again due to him being naughty.

“Alright, Mavka. Let us start your lessons,” he stated calmly. Then he pointed to his chest. “Me.” He pointed to her. “You.”

He only needed to repeat it once before she got the idea, and her small tail tuft swayed in joy. He was teaching her more words! Did that mean he didn’t intend to leave? She sincerely hoped so.

She pointed at him. “Me,” she repeated, before pointing at herself. “You.”

Her tail swayed faster when he let out a small chuffing noise, as the sound was so light and warm that she wanted it to mean something good.

“No,” he answered with a shake of his head, instantly making her shoulders drop.

She knew what no meant: a denial.

He leaned closer to grab her wrist. NoName instantly let out a growl, her orbs reddening, and evaded his touch. She refused to be tricked again.

Yet, despite her warning, he grabbed her! He curled her fingers, no matter how loudly she warned him back, and tugged her arm, forcing her to point at her own chest.

“Me,” he stated, before turning her hand to point at him. “You.”

Her growls softened, and she tilted her head, puzzled.

He made her point at herself, while he did so to his own chest. He repeated the word ‘me’ before making them point at each other with the word ‘you’ echoing from his lips.

Understanding dawned. When he released her, she repeated what he’d shown her, and this time he nodded.

“Yes. That’s correct.” He pointed to his chest once more. “Me, Jabez.” He pointed to her, then both white fur strips over his eyes drew inwards in obvious displeasure. “Well, shit. I forgot I don’t know your name. I doubt you know it either.”

He folded his arms and tapped against his thick biceps with his mouth flattened in thought. He mumbled to himself, “I named Merikh, but I had a pretty deep understanding of who he was before I did. He was an angry fucker, always looking to destroy something.”

He continued to tap his arm as his two lines of face fur drew together further and his hard eyes narrowed.

“How about... Zylah? Although on Earth it means shadow or shade, there’s an Elvish flower in Nyl’theria spelt similarly that glows black in the sun and white at night, but its pollen stem changes colour depending on the season.” Then he cupped his jaw and tapped the side of his mouth. “It’s quite toxic and exotic. You’re a female Mavka, so I think that is rather fitting.”

All of his useless chattering was completely misunderstood as nothing but him flapping his mouth open and shut while letting out noisy air. NoName twisted her head constantly, but she couldn’t make out his tone amongst all his grumbles and displeased expressions.

“Fuck it.” The male then pointed to himself once more. “Me, Jabez – or Jabeziryth, if we wish to get technical and use my full Elvish name.” Then he pointed to her. “You, Zylah. Zai-luh .”

Then, thinking better of it, he gingerly grabbed her wrist and made her point to herself. He repeated four words constantly – me, you, Jabez, and Zylah – until they were solidified within her mind.

She pointed to herself, and repeated in a grainy, hissy voice, “Zylah.”

“Yes. Name. Your name is now Zylah.” The corners of his lips quirked, before he let out a soft chuckle. “See? I knew giving you all that humanity would benefit you. If you don’t end up liking the name, we can always change it later.”

Staring down at her finger, she kept it pointed at the long white bone in the middle of her chest as she repeated the name he’d given her. Her orbs turned bright yellow in joy, and her tail swayed along with them. She didn’t even know something like this existed and was utterly thrilled.

“Alright, Zylah,” Jabez stated, instantly making her gaze lift to him in recognition, finding that his red eyes appeared softer than they did moments ago.

Bouncing forward in excitement, understanding that he was calling to her, she exclaimed, “Me Zylah!”

Her anger in him subsided completely, and she was pleased that she not only saved him but also went back to get him after their argument. She was given a true sense of self-identity, one which she could use to interact with the world.

She released chitters of thanks, her tummy feeling all fluffy and warm, and they only grew stronger when he made that pleasant chuffing sound at her for it.

“Yes. You, Zylah. Now, let’s learn what body parts are. Should we start with toes or face?”

She tried to decipher what his gaze meant. How it crinkled the corners of his eyes and tops of his cheeks, as the sides of his mouth curled upwards. Even though the motion bared his fangs at her a little through a small gap, she didn’t find it threatening when it was accompanied by the softness in the rest of his expression.

Her heart even sped up a little, and she found herself wanting to get closer to him. It looked positive, like a good thing, and the fact he was shining it at her felt nice.

Yes. Zylah no hurt Jabez.