A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 9

Zylah walked beside a cloak-covered Jabez more closely than usual. With the sun gone after their earlier hunt and adventuring throughout the day, he’d propped back his hood to reveal his face.

He smells really nice.

Zylah kept trying to get closer so she could sniff him while his scent was freshly coming off his skin.

He didn’t talk much except for when he was explaining something to her, but she liked the sound of his deep voice and the way it wrapped around her mind. It lulled her. She often squirmed when she realised she’d stopped listening to his words, too distracted by the way listening made her feel all warm inside.

Her heart would quicken at random and odd times whenever she looked at him.

He is a beautiful male, she thought fondly, as she took in his features.

The silvery tips of his eyelashes framed his red eyes and made them pretty. Zylah wanted to caress the curled strands to discover if they were as soft and delicate as a moth’s wings like they appeared. She had an abject fascination with his pointed ears whenever they twitched with alertness or drooped, and with how the bridge of his straight nose would crinkle when annoyed or disgusted about something.

His gaze was always heavy, and she often found herself shying away from its cold weight. Yet, when she took in his sleeping face at dawn, she found it alluring and handsome.

She needed to suppress the desire to pet his strong brow, cheeks, or jaw when they appeared softer in expression.

She liked when he looked at peace, as if his troubled gaze told stories she couldn’t fathom. She also preferred to glue her sight upon him when he was looking away from her, so she was free to dwell on the way it made something light and fluffy sprout in her chest.

There was a cunning glint to his eyes as he led her through the dark forest beyond the mountain. The moonlight shone upon his brown skin and the inhuman, grey undertone that was always present in it, highlighting the straight line of his nose, his full lips, and white eyebrows. It glinted upon his black segmented horns that tapered back over his long, straight hair, and the golden jewellery hanging from his earlobes, as well as the hard bangles around one biceps and ankle – the limbs that hadn’t been missing when she first met him.

Despite the gentleness he displayed with her, she knew this creature to be ruthless in nature. How he had led her to the humans to devour... How he saw no issue with death... Even how nothing seemed to truly anger him. She knew these things meant there was a dark cavern within him.

There was very little warmth to be found if one only looked at the surface of his expressions, but Zylah was watchful and observant of her companion. She instinctively felt there was more.

She longed to know why he was shielding it.

When his red eyes slipped to her, she subtly brought her snout forward to hide her stare. He was incredibly watchful too, and he was exceptionally wary.

Zylah didn’t know if that wariness was due to her, or if this was just how he was with the world. He was difficult to get close to, like he preferred an arm’s length of distance from any creature.

But he said it is okay if I sleep next to him. Once more, like it did at noon when they woke, her heart squeezed in tenderness.

She’d been so nervous about being discovered that she often slept light. She quickly moved if she sensed he may be waking, especially as his heart rate always seemed to... accelerate from his dreams.

Zylah had taken his approval with giddiness and a boost of confidence. He likes me near him. That was how she took it, and it allowed her to shed some of her anxiety.

Zylah had been struggling to let go of her worries around him. Although his little huffs and growls had been constant in the beginning, they’d diminished in the month they’d relocated. She also knew her anxiety was due to her inability to communicate properly, which had waned with every day, every hour , that she added to her vocabulary.

Her chitters of unease and bashfulness were also becoming less frequent. It helped that Jabez never belittled Zylah for her faults, although he was direct in correcting her for her benefit. At first, she’d hated it, as he obviously knew what she’d been insinuating, but she was now thankful for the direction.

Which meant she now felt ready.

There was much she longed to know about the world and her place in it. She ached to know what lay beneath the frost of his exterior.

Jabez led them to a decently sized river. He drank from it, as she knew he would, before he blatantly stripped to bathe. Zylah, now knowing that he preferred to be clean, did so as well so she could be more... attractive to him. If she cleaned and neatened her fur, she hoped he would allow her even closer.

She found herself wanting to touch in strange ways. She wanted to caress his cheek or pulsating jugular. She longed to know if his big chest was as soft as it appeared, or if his muscled abdomen was firm. What did his skin feel like? Was it as warm and smooth as she vaguely remembered upon healing him?

Zylah wanted to... hold him. She wanted to sniff him directly on his skin.

She desired to worship this beautiful male creature with gentle touches and hoped he might do so in return.

Seeing she had removed her beloved grey dress, he turned his back to her even more. He often avoided looking at her when she was unclothed, whereas she had little desire to avoid looking at his naked body.

And when her gaze slipped down the deeply arched curve of his back right before his round backside, she wanted to follow that cavernous, muscled spine with her fingertips... or even tongue. Her abdomen tightened in response to her thoughts, although she didn’t tear her sight away from him in the darkness.

The scar on his lower back and the claw marks on his thigh were more prominent in the moonlight, as were the strange black symbols across his skin. They looked like letters and shapes, but in a language she didn’t comprehend.

Jabez didn’t wet his hair. Instead, he wrapped the long, thick length of it around his horns to keep the silky strands above the water as he washed his face. Droplets sluicing off his strong body glittered, and suddenly her tongue dried.

He was quick to leave the water, as if the cool temperature was unbearable for a long duration. Zylah was forced to remain behind in order to scrub at her fur – although it was, thankfully, short in most areas except around her neck and tail.

Once done, she exited the slow-moving river on her hands and feet, the pebbled bank crunching beneath her footsteps. She shook the excess water off while a safe distance from him.

Jabez sat on the grass naked except for part of his cloak covering his groin, waiting to dry before dressing again. Zylah didn’t mind the wet, and placed her dress back on simply so he wouldn’t avert his gaze from her.

It hadn’t taken her long to notice he was uncomfortable with her nudity, although she didn’t know why. His eyes constantly flicked away, as if he’d found them drawing back to her without his knowledge and he caught himself.

He’s staring up at the moon again. He did this quite often. His chin would lift and his brows would furrow in deep thought.

She did the same, wondering what he saw in the brightly lit hovering orb. Was he receiving answers, as if he could hear its whispers when she couldn’t? Then again, she found it quite mesmerising. The stars twinkling around it and the blue dust in the sky made it even more hypnotic.

After a little while, he placed his clothing back on and finally released his hair from his horns. Her fingers itched so badly to touch those white strands to know if they were as soft as they appeared.

To quell that itch, Zylah stroked her damp collar of fur.

When he sat back down, Zylah remained where she was. The distance between them was wide, and she looked up at the sky once more as her questions bubbled up her throat and got stuck.

How should she pose her questions? Which ones should she start with? Would he... even answer them?

The teal in her orbs slowly morphed into blue in sadness. He’d never once spoken about himself, and she feared that was entirely intentional. He may not like her prodding for answers.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried anyway.

“Jabez...” she started, before having to quieten her nervous chitters. She refused to look at him, despite knowing he’d lowered his gaze to greet the side of her skull. “Why are you here?”

Silence greeted her. It hollowed out her chest the longer it dragged on. In her peripheral, he raised his hand to cup his chin.

“I don’t understand your question,” he eventually stated, making a soft whine escape her. She’d asked the wrong thing. “Are you asking how I came to be here with you?”

The hope that filled Zylah had her twisting towards him slightly, and she placed her hand on the ground for balance. “Yes. How did you come to be here? Why did I find you... hurt? ”

When her sight landed on his eyes, she found herself incapable of drawing away from them. Perhaps if she matched his confidence, it would force him to speak.

He was the one to break away to look up at the moon.

“I’ve told you that I am part Elf,” he started, while touching the tip of his pointed ear, then running his hand along the horn above it. “And that I’m part Demon. I’m not from this world, Zylah.”

Her orbs shifted to a dark yellow in curiosity, and she gestured to their surroundings. “But this is the only world.”

He huffed, which she took as a short laugh. “There are many worlds. This is Earth, and it belongs to the sentient humans. Where I’m from belongs to the Elysian Elves. They’re a single species of Elves, and all others come from different worlds and look different.”

He stood, approached the riverbank to pick up a jagged stone, and then came to kneel in front of her. With the stone, he drew a circle, and in it drew strange, uneven shapes.

“From what the Elvish learned hundreds of years ago, Earth is large and holds many continents. Each one is surrounded by oceans, which are the vast bodies of water you see when you reach the end of land.” He pointed to one large mass. “We are currently on Austrális. This landmass is roughly the size of my world. There is only one continent, and our only ocean is freshwater and technically a gigantic lake you can’t see across to the other side. It would only take a person an Earth month to walk its entire distance, just like Austrális. A year in Nyl’theria, the Elven realm, equates to fifteen here, although we have quadruple the amount of days in comparison.”

Zylah looked down at the new world he was drawing, which only depicted one landmass. He drew a circle near the edge of its shoreline before lifting his face to hers.

“The Demons came from another world and began taking over a very long time ago. They destroyed every village, every city, every Elvish population until only one remained. This one – Lezekos City. It’s where I was born, and it’s the last stronghold for the Elysians.”

As he spoke, he marked an X in different locations before once more drawing a circle around Lezekos City.

“Then how did you get here?” she asked, perplexed by all this. She barely understood the world she currently lived in, and the idea that there were many more was daunting.

“I was born as an experiment. You asked about family and parents after reading your books. My mother took Demon seed and conceived me to discover if there is a way she could help the Demons evolve into fully formed creatures. Before she could learn of that answer, I was labelled an outcast and imprisoned for five years at a young age.”

Zylah chittered in unease and cupped her hands on her lap. “They trapped you?”

“Hmm. Trapped isn’t the right word. I walked into my cell willingly after I instigated a... fight.” He sighed as he sat back on his ankles. “Regardless, I was young. I escaped when I was seventeen with other Demons the Elves had imprisoned for their ‘safety’ and stole a portal stone as I did. That portal led to here, to Earth, and I have stayed here for over three hundred and fifty years. I built an army, elected myself as a leader and saviour for my own protection, and even built a castle as my home.”

A spike of annoyance flittered into Zylah. Despite that he was sharing, she knew there had to be more to this story. She could count to three hundred and fifty, and she knew what years were.

“What else did you do?” she grumbled, refusing to let him skip over so many years.

His features grew dark and cold, like a glare. “My companions were Demons. I spent my years surviving, and trying to make bonds and friendships where I could with those around me. I grew a village for the Demons, and I hunted humans to help my people grow just as I did for you. I did what I needed to, especially as I was fighting a war against the Elysians for what they cruelly did to me. I was in my prison for over seventy human years and was, justifiably, angry.”

“You had other companions?” she answered, picking from just one aspect to avoid the weight of the rest.

“I had very few, most of whom left my side,” he answered without a shred of emotion, making his deep voice dark and foreboding.

Reddish pink entered her sight as she quietly stated, “I will not leave your side.”

And Zylah meant that with every bit of confidence. After spending so much time with Jabez, she had no intention of letting him go. He was her only companion, and she’d already proven she wouldn’t leave his side no matter where he went – even if it meant abandoning her own home.

She’d been hoping for a rare chuckle, or perhaps a fond smile at her admission. So, when she brought her sight back to him, she hadn’t expected his expression to look so empty.

Unsure as to why his brows had narrowed mistrustingly or why his lips had pressed into a hard line, her chest tightened.

“As charming as your words are, you know very little about me,” he stated without a shred of remorse, his eyes meeting hers with a stern heaviness to them. “There is much I’ve done wrong, all in the name of self-preservation. I am, at heart, an entirely selfish person, Zylah. I have enough self-awareness to know who I am, and that is an inherently Elvish trait. When one lives as long as an Elf, you have the time to reflect quite heavily. My life is not fleeting, although it is as easily ended as a human’s.”

“Then I will protect you,” she answered with the tiniest growl.

His eyes crinkled, finally giving his expression life, as a laugh burst from him. His pointed ears pressed back, and he covered his face to stifle the genial sound.

“Yes. I’m well aware that is how you perceive our dynamic.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she grumbled, her sight once more changing to reddish pink.

“I was a powerful being, Zylah,” he stated around chuckles. “The magic you use to heal – I once had such magic. I intend to have it again. Until then, sure, you may be my protector, but even then, I don’t need your aid. I’m stronger and faster than any Demon or human, and I have far more experience in battle than anyone living.”

Zylah folded her arms with a harrumph. “You’re not stronger than me.”

“I can’t deny that. But once I have my magic back, you’ll see the shift in our dynamic. Much will change.”

But she didn’t want it to change. She liked how they were. She liked that he could rely on her strength, even if he didn’t need it. It made her feel good. She liked feeling as though she was his protector and was needed, while secretly aching for more. She wanted to hold him so she could shelter him.

She wanted to know what it was like to be held in return.

“You were hurt,” she said in irritation to remind him that he wasn’t as strong as he stated. “I healed you. Why?”

“I was attacked in retaliation. As you know, like Demons, I’m susceptible to the sun, although not as instantaneously. An enemy of mine managed to harness some kind of sun power in the form of a bomb. You found me just as I used the last of my magic to protect myself. Alone, I held the weight of my collapsed castle off myself, and healed my body enough to survive. No one else could have achieved such a grand feat by themselves.”

Zylah wasn’t so sure of that. She thought she could do something so grand, as she was stronger than even him. She may not be able to heal herself, but in a full sun cycle, she magically healed on her own.

She wouldn’t have needed days of aid, like he did. He is weaker than me , she thought with a sulk.

Still, she let it go, her tail twitching with the knowledge that they were finally having a proper conversation. It moved faster when his features relaxed, softened, and even looked... warm in her direction, like he felt relieved too.

“Why do you... know me?” she asked, wanting to understand a different topic. She peeked at him as her fingers fidgeted on her lap. “You know me better than I do.”

“I know Mavka. You’re not the first of your kind I’ve befriended.” Jabez cupped his jaw and rubbed it, then tapped the side of it. “Actually, I believe Merikh would be your uncle. I doubt you’d know him, but he has a bear skull and bull horns. I met him when he was a little more advanced than you, but it took me years to bring him to your level of humanity.” His voice filled with mirth, his cheeks crinkling along with it, as he said, “If I’m being honest, you are quite remarkable, Zylah. You may be the most intelligent Mavka to walk this world, and I believe it’s because you’re further away in your relation to your grandfather than the others.”

Throwing a hand in his direction, she grumbled, “My grandfather?” What even was that? Like a father, but further? “See? You know more than I do about me.”

“You’re the grandchild of a demigod, whose full godhood is restrained. His name is Weldir, and he’s...” Jabez stopped mid-sentence as he looked off into the forest. “It doesn’t matter. Weldir is a contradiction. He’s powerful, and yet undeniably weak. He requires others to do his bidding on Earth, as he’s unable to touch it. All Elysians are brought up learning about his history and how it is intertwined with Demons.”

“Is he good?”

“Hmm. That is entirely based on perspective. I don’t know how to answer that for you, as my opinion is unlikely the one your kind shares.”

Ugh! What an entirely cryptic answer!

She hated it when he did that, and it often made her want to smack him – albeit lightly.

A strong breeze pulled her gaze forward when it crested over the water, making it slosh harder against the pebbled shore. Her orbs shifted to a deep blue.

“What... is my purpose?” she muttered quietly.

Could Jabez answer that question for her? She wanted to believe she was here to heal, yet she hadn’t truly saved anyone except for this male. Everything else she’d longed to help had been ruined by her claws and fangs in the end.

My hands are covered in so much blood.

“Your purpose is whatever you wish it to be,” he stated confidently. “Weldir created his children to ferry souls to him, but you have your own free will. You may do what you want.”

I can make my own purpose? Why did that instil so much hope inside Zylah and instantly make her chest swell? She wanted to be a good force within the world. Someone kind and protective. That’s what her heart told her, and she placed her hand over the organ when a strange tenderness caressed it.

Perhaps he misunderstood why she’d dug her claws into her chest, because Jabez stated, “If it helps, I don’t know what my purpose is either. None of what I hoped to achieve has been possible, and for a long time, I’ve wondered if there was even a point to it. I know why I was born, what my purpose was meant to be. Despite knowing the answer to what my mother sought, I refused to accept such a future for myself.”

Zylah brought her skull back to Jabez and tilted it. “What was it your mother sought?”

Again, his eyes narrowed, and his lips flattened along with them, making him appear disgruntled.

“I can’t tell you that,” he stated darkly.

Zylah tilted her head the other way with her sight turning deep yellow. “Why not? If you know the answer...”

“Because that is a secret I’ve never shared with another. It’s something that would put my life at risk should the wrong people hear of it.”

“But I would not share your secret. ” She patted at her chest to show him the truth of that. “You can trust me. I would not do something that could hurt you.”

His ears drooped as he shook his head. “There are certain things you should never share beyond yourself, no matter what. You don’t know who you can trust, and just because someone is your friend now, doesn’t mean they always will be.”

“But I do not have any secrets,” she snapped, her maw chomping at the air in irritation. “There is nothing I would not share with you. I trust you.”

Jabez slapped a hand over his face, and a muffled sigh escaped from behind it. “That’s because I already know all your secrets. I know your kind, your bloodline, your strengths and weaknesses.”

“I do not have any weaknesses.” She wiggled her head confidently as she pushed her shoulders back. “I-I’m strong, and I heal within a day.”

“That’s not true. You just don’t know of your own weakness, and now that Demons know of it, your vulnerability is a glaring one. You may be immortal, but you can still be killed.”

“But I always heal,” she said stubbornly, despite momentarily losing her confidence. Zylah wrung her hands in her lap, then attempted to soothe herself by pushing out the wrinkles in her dress. “Much... much has been done to hurt me. Demons have tried, humans have tried. I always win. I always... return.”

“If someone was to break your skull, you wouldn’t return.” His hand darted up to rub at his nape before he lowered it to his own lap. “That isn’t a wound a Mavka can heal from. It is permanent.”

Zylah chittered in unease as she raked her claws down her bony snout. “My skull? Is that why Demons have tried...?”

Whenever she’d fought against them, they always climbed onto her back and tried to touch her skull. They’d grip her antlers and try to separate them, as if... to split her face in half, but she’d always thought it was stupid of them, as her skull was one of the strongest parts of her body. Her leg could be broken, but her skull... she’d thought it was indestructible.

Was I wrong? If so... She caressed it with a cold pang radiating behind her sternum and her gut tightening.

“That is your weakness, and a secret of your kind that has been shared with Demons.”

“Why?” she cried, her sight turning white, before flicking to blue. “Why would someone reveal something so horrible to them?” Her hands shook as she pointed to the forest. “I have tried to befriend the Demons but they always hiss and growl. I have always known they don’t like me, but I did not know they...”

A curt whine escaped her at the thought. She didn’t know they’d hated her enough to destroy her.

I have never tried to hurt them. They didn’t always attack. Most were wary of her, like they knew she’d win any battle, but if there were many... they weren’t as fearful.

This had stopped only recently. The Demons hadn’t attacked Zylah since she found Jabez. Then again, they hadn’t come across many. It was like the Demons had been hunting, and no longer were.

When Jabez didn’t answer her, and only silence greeted her questions, she whimpered as she met his gaze.

In that moment, there was something about his expression that appeared deeply strained. Two muscles on either side of his jaw had knotted, and his red eyes held a spark in them – an emotion she’d never seen before. Regret? Perhaps pity? She didn’t know what to call it, what it was.

“Why would someone share such a secret? What have Mavka done so wrong that we deserve to be hurt like this?” An awful emotion clung to her chest, and it caused her sight to shift to a deep blue until the bottoms of her orbs broke. Little droplets began to sparkle in her vision like floating rain. “Not even the humans have been kind.”

Jabez parted his lips, only to close them. His eyes flicked to the forest, and he stared into the shadows with a closed expression for a long while. A gust of damp wind wrapped around them, making her shiver under the sadness of what she’d just discovered.

“Weldir is keeping the Demons trapped in this world, and they can’t escape due to his ward. Killing your kind may be the answer to Demons returning to Nyl’theria.”

His ears twitched, before drooping further until he hid the one closest to her with his palm. He’d never hidden them before, but she was too hurt to decipher why he would.

Zylah whimpered. “What does that have to do with–”

“That’s why it was shared, although that person now realises it doesn’t matter. Nothing will bring down that ward, and they shared it stupidly in anger.” He regarded her from the corner of his eyes. “If it helps, I know they have come to genuinely regret that decision, and what it took to learn that secret, as it has hurt a friend he deeply cared for in the past... and perhaps the present as well.”

Zylah wanted his words to make her feel better, but they only hollowed out her chest more. To do such a terrible thing... and regret it later, just proved how wrong they knew it was to begin with.

“Who... was it?” Zylah asked, needing to know.

His answer was slow to come, and quiet, like he didn’t wish to answer her. “The king of Demons.”

She didn’t even know who that was.

Instead of asking for further clarity or for more information, Zylah lost herself to sadness. She just whimpered with her hands limp in her lap, unsure of how to swallow all this. She wished she hadn’t discovered this truth, despite understanding that learning of her own weakness was vital to the longevity of her existence.

“You know... I only discovered recently that your kind can cry ethereal tears. Regardless if it’s a sign of deep sorrow, it’s rather beautiful.”

Zylah chittered in answer, as her tears floated from her faster.

Two knuckles gently stroked her cheekbone, startling her in surprise. Jabez had never touched her skull before, and it was the only reason she pulled her distant gaze away from the grass and pebbles.

Concern laced his expression, and she’d never seen it appear so soft and tender before, as though he... cared for her wellbeing and sadness. For some strange reason, it only made her whimper more.

“How can I help?” he asked gently, his voice lighter than usual.

She shook her head, producing only a subtle rattle from it now. “I do not know. I feel cold, and... lonely.”

Lonely because it was harrowing to know that the only creature who seemed to care for Zylah was the male before her, when she had so much compassion to give to the world. Cold because that loneliness felt harsh and barren, like the winter they were now in.

Her desired purpose was even more hopeless if the world not only despised her, but wanted her taken from it.

Jabez shifted into a crouching position and came closer while unbuttoning his cloak. He flung it around her back and settled it upon her shoulders, and the blanket of it was comforting, but not strong enough to fight the pain stinging in her chest.

The warmth he’d left upon the material tried to bleed into her. But it wasn’t enough. It didn’t seep into her bones, it didn’t warm her heart.

His gentle, pretty scent flittered into her nose hole when he put them barely an inch apart to place it upon her. Despite the small distance, she could almost feel his heat caressing her, and she wanted more of it, more of his scent, a touch that wasn’t a brief caress.

She lifted her hands and slid them around Jabez to draw him close. He stiffened in her arms, but Zylah didn’t care. The moment his heat pressed against her torso, she tightened her hold on him and pressed the side of her skull into the crook of his neck with a high-pitched whimper.

She shuddered against him as she cried, and sheathed her claws when she worried she was digging them too deeply into his tunic-covered back. Her sight deepened in its desolate blue, making the world around her look gloomy and melancholic.

“Fair enough,” Jabez stated, as his body softened and he leaned into her. Then he wrapped his arms around her shoulders to deepen the hold.

The fact that he was returning it bled tenderness into her heart, making it easier to wade through her hurt. He didn’t reject Zylah, especially when she needed someone the most, even when she could tell he was... uncomfortable with it. He even began to rub her back, like he wanted to stroke the pain away.

“Does that feel better?”

Zylah nodded in answer, before nuzzling into the side of his neck affectionately. She almost wanted to start licking him to taste his musky aroma, but instead tongued the drool within her mouth.

Just as she made to thank him, he finally pulled away, and she struggled to weakly hold on.

This may be a pointless endeavour, Jabez contemplated, as he sat cross-legged within their shared cave. Asleep with her back to him, Zylah lay curled up on her side.

He stared at the back of her white skull and dainty antlers, with one elbow resting on his knee and his cheek planted on the knuckles of his fist. The fingers of his other hand drummed against his opposing knee, while he mused on their conversation by the lake.

What a way to make a guy feel like a bastard, he thought, his eyes narrowing in her direction – but not at her.

Jabez wasn’t angered by her words, her tears, or her feelings. He found them rather justifiable. What he’d done... a part of him had come to regret it.

I was angry. Katerina, a companion of his, had just died, and the weight of her death had crushed him. It’d taken Jabez almost a year to shed the worst of his anger, his need for retribution. I took my pain out on the feline-skulled Mavka, and then immediately shared his kind’s weakness with my army.

In those months, his dislike for Orpheus, and especially his blonde-haired female who had delivered Katerina’s death blow, had turned into unbridled hatred. He’d wanted them dead – for her. To finally give Katerina what she’d sought. To make up for... failing her.

For not keeping her safe when she was under his sworn protection.

He wasn’t just a man in a relationship, which was complicated at best. He was a ‘king,’ an all-powerful being. A wicked blend between Elf, Demon, and consumed mana stones. A cold-blooded hunter who heartlessly slaughtered people.

A female in his keeping shouldn’t have come to harm, let alone died.

He hadn’t known how to handle his failures.

But, in the past year of healing, the scorching magma of rage in his chest had cooled into igneous rock. Clarity was produced in the dwindling smoke and steam, and he separated the truth from the lies he’d been telling himself.

He realised his anger hadn’t come from a love that had never existed, but from the crutch of vengeance easing the weight of his wounds. Revenge and fury – these were two things Jabez knew how to navigate.

I shouldn’t have done it. He knew that now, but what did it change? Nothing.

He still wanted Orpheus and Reia eradicated, but at the cost of his friendship with Merikh? Had I not been so foolish, would that bull-headed Mavka have returned to my side? He’d thrown away that friendship so many times when it had been the answer all along.

An answer he’d been hoping would now lie with Zylah, but he pondered if his mistake was just too grand.

Will she grow hateful when she learns it was me? Obviously his army had attacked her in his broad command to attack and destroy the skulls of all Mavka. But I tried to undo that command months ago.

He almost chuckled to himself, but a cold, desolate huff fell from him instead. Her promises are just as empty as everyone else’s. When she learned of the truth, she would abandon him. Her ethereal tears were proof of that.

Since she’d continued to whimper, produce tears, and shiver despite him doubting she was cold, he’d laid his sleeping blanket over her to comfort her throughout the night. She’d wriggled so much that only the top half of her remained covered, the twisted blankets evidence of a difficult sleep.

It would be better if I got up and left now. If he did so sneakily, he could get a far distance between them to escape. Although he couldn’t outrun a Mavka, he was fast and cunning enough to mask his scent with the right herbs and tree bark.

Yet, instead of picking his arse up and leaving, he remained seated. He grumbled to himself as he looked off to the side to inspect the early morning sunlight filtering through the entrance.

He’d been unable to sleep.

He’d been unable to leave, not that he fully comprehended why. I guess in some ways I want to have faith in her. He also wanted to finish her lessons so that she... stood a chance. The more she learned, the better the likelihood that she’d survive even if he were to disappear.

After meeting her, and learning about her despite their lack of conversation, he’d come to find her rather... charming.

Without turning his face forward, his eyes slipped to the periphery of his vision to look at her.

The first thing he saw was her feet tucked up beneath her plump, round backside to cover it, with her heels against the base of her tail. Cute, he thought with mild humour, especially when he noticed her light-grey toe beans.

He didn’t often see the bottoms of her feet. Despite them appearing somewhat humanoid, her toes were curled like paws, and the pad of her foot looked like a bunny’s.

As he regarded them tucked beneath her rump, her tail caught his attention once more, and he found his cheeks heating. Especially when his groin tingled for reasons unknown.

He’d been trying to ignore it for the better part of the month, but it was growing increasingly harder to deny her sensuality.

Her body was remarkably curvaceous. Her waist tucked in, accentuating wide hips. Her physique was lithe, but filled out more each time she ate, making her look softer, more lush, and more feminine . Even her black fur had a pretty shine to it.

The dress he’d made for her barely contained her perky breasts constantly pressing against the low neckline, nor did it hide her rather kneadable-looking backside and thick thighs. Her tail constantly drew his eye, and he didn’t particularly like the way his dick jerked again when he stared at it.

Thankfully, it was only her tail that gave him that reaction. I think... Or was he ignoring it because that made it easier for him? Wait... why am I thinking about this right now?

Worried that his gaze had more of an appreciative leer to it than he truly wanted, his ears were hot when he forced his eyes away from that fluffy appendage. Although he could just see her fully from behind, his gaze drifted up her blanket-covered back and to the way her arms were crossed with her hands cupped at her throat. Curled into a ball, she looked small and delicate, soft and fluffy. She looked at peace.

Peace that he’d been the one to steal from her through his own past deeds.

She isn’t an innocent bystander in all this, though. All of her kind were part of this war, whether they wanted to be or not, whether they knew they were or not. Their heritage to Weldir, their purpose of bringing him souls, meant they had always been opposing Jabez.

They only had their parents, or grandparents in Zylah’s case, to blame.

But that creed has now likely been abolished.

With Jabez, the great king of Demons, now presumed dead, his army had no head. Like a beehive without a queen, they had no task, no organisation. They would once more fall into being uncontrolled beasts plaguing the world with their fangs and claws without rhyme or reason.

Unless they governed themselves. Perhaps the more advanced Demons will find their own leaders. Some kind of government to enact rules and order – which, behind the scenes, had fallen completely upon Jabez’s shoulders.

For now, that was no longer his responsibility, and he found it rather freeing. I’m tired. I’m too old for this shit now. Although he still considered himself in his prime, despite being thirty-seven.

I just want this to be over. He was tired of it all, of fighting for a better life, of the violence and bloodshed. Just tired.

Zylah wasn’t his last chance, but she sure as shit was a good one. However, she would have to know of the truth. Not just a little bit of it, but every piece of it. Every deed he’d done, whether it be cruel, selfish, or even good, he would need to reveal to her. His companion in this war needed to be someone he could not only bare his sins to, but if they accepted them, would be his equal.

He needed someone strong. Someone fast. Someone cunning. And most importantly, someone... loyal. Someone who wouldn’t dust their hands of this battle simply because they learned of something he withheld.

They needed to understand the pressure he was under, why it was so heavy, and then consent to carry it with him knowingly and willingly.

He couldn’t have that if he didn’t reveal everything.

But after earlier... His hope in Zylah was dwindling. She’s soft natured. More so than any other Mavka he’d observed, and the majority of the Demons he’d met. She is caring. She wants to protect and heal.

He wanted the opposite. To destroy so that he could rebuild everything with a better ideology in mind.

They were two opposing bowls on a scale.

He covered his face in annoyance. Then why the fuck am I still here if I know that? Fuck! A growl, solely at himself, slipped up his throat.

It startled the female Mavka, spooking her into waking with a gasp. She quickly sat up, bending her knees and tucking her feet to one side beneath her rump, so she sat on her hip.

“Sorry,” Jabez grumbled, rubbing at the nape of his neck in guilt at waking her when she hadn’t been asleep long.

White orbs settled into teal at his apology, and he grew annoyed at how soothing he found the natural colour of them.

Now that her orbs were bright, he was reminded of how they’d dripped with floating tears when they were that morose colour of blue. Thankfully they’d returned to their normal, alluring brightness.

He hadn’t forgotten how she’d initially tried to cling to him when she first lay down. That clinginess should have rankled him, but he found he just couldn’t muster up the annoyance at her.

Rather, he’d placed his blanket over her in hopes of soothing her hurt further – hurt she had no idea he was the reason for. Only then had sleep dragged her under, and he hadn’t missed the way she’d snuck the tip of her snout beneath the material and breathed in his scent heavily.

“Is something the matter?” Zylah asked with her bony snout pointed in the direction of the cave opening. “I don’t smell anything approaching.”

“Everything is fine.” He rose to his feet while clutching his cloak, which he had used as a blanket instead, so he could place it around his shoulders. Then, wanting a distraction from his constant thoughts, he said, “The day is still early. I’d like to train for the duration of the sun, and then we can head towards the cornfield village for more supplies once night falls.”

Although her lessons were a priority, Jabez ensured he maintained his physique. In doing so, his companion mimicked him when he trained his body; she would do push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges beside him. They’d begun starting their day with a lengthy run side by side, ensuring she didn’t start chasing him in an accidental excited rage.

Jabez didn’t grow stronger, since this did nothing but maintain his strength. But it strengthens her. The more she worked her humanoid form in such strenuous ways, the more in tune she became with it. He doubted she knew that was why he was truly doing it.

Zylah stood, and as she often did, copied him by brushing off her clothing.

“Can… we get more books?” she asked sheepishly, using just the claw of her forefinger to scratch at the side of her snout. “I have already read the ones we have many times.”

“It appears I’ve made a bookworm of you.” His lips almost curled into a smile despite the lingering of his disgruntled musings.

Zylah tilted her head at him. “Book... worm?”

“It’s a term for someone who enjoys reading.”

“I didn’t know worms could read, though. Do they burrow into books like the dirt?”

The hardness of his features cracked, and a warm smile finally lifted into them. Why did he find the silliness of her questions so remarkably adorable?

“No,” he said with a light chuckle. “There are many sayings that don’t make sense. But yes, Zylah, I’ll find more books for you. If there is anything else you can think of before we get to the village, let me know, and I will attempt to obtain it for you.”

He mainly wanted to provide Zylah with her own blanket, and perhaps even a pillow despite him not having one himself. I should also look into getting us proper bedding. Currently, they both slept on the ground, as Jabez had little interest in softening a space he didn’t intend to stay in forever.

But, in the interim of them calling this their home, it would suit them better if he made it more comfortable.

I’m not like humans. He also didn’t often think like one.

But he currently had a female in his care, no matter her animalistic species, and he should do better to provide comforts. She hadn’t needed a blanket, as she didn’t grow cold in this chilly season like he did, but seeing how much it’d soothed her during the dawn, he’d like to obtain one for her.

I’ll get her whatever she needs.

It wasn’t like he was paying for any of it anyway.