A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 4

“I think it might be best if I hang back for this one,” Jabez stated, as he lifted a low-hanging branch to duck underneath its bushy leaves.

With Merikh to his left and walking directly next to the steaming pools of natural hot springs, Jabez was forced to evade the foliage and low branches to their right. There was a slightly sulphuric smell in the air, but it was light, as if there wasn’t a lot of the mineral in the earth and water.

Not too far away, the large pink dome belonging to the bat-skulled Mavka glittered.

They had to walk to it, as he hadn’t known exactly where to take them, just the general area itself since he’d been all over Austrális. Jabez’s ability to teleport and the fact that he had a deep understanding of the geography was the reason Merikh was utilising him. Merikh hadn’t even known these hot springs existed.

Then again, they were within the borders of the southlands and the wide, protective wall that cut off this part of the continent from the rest of it. It was an additional layer of defence which protected the many villages and towns inside it, and they had also erected individual fortifications. Traversing on this side of the wall was arduous and long, with many human towns to contend with.

Funnily enough, he’d been able to see the top of this very mountain from the much smaller one he and Zylah had set up as their cave. Their temporary home had been outside the southland’s wall, though.

“Why should you hang back?” Merikh asked with a scoff. “Are you scared or something?”

Jabez rolled his eyes so hard his vision blurred momentarily afterwards. “Well, considering one of these Mavka did die because of me, and the other one’s bride blew me up, I don’t think it’ll go over well that I’m with you.”

He snorted a mild, condescending laugh. “Coward.”

While brushing a leaf from the silky navy material covering his chest, wishing they’d all leave him be in this disgusting world, he stated, “I’m just saying it would be easier if you talk to them first. I actually like my outfit.”

If he was going to be glared at all day, he could at least look pretty while enduring it. If he got into any brawls, they’d likely ruin his clothing and put him in a shitty mood.

“I’m actually curious to see what will happen.” Merikh leaned to the side until their heads were aligned. “I wonder if they’re still a pair of idiots sharing one brain. When I last saw Aleron, he was a Ghost and still rather low in humanity. I think his bride is the human who was accompanying him. Gideon, I believe his name to be.”

“A gay Mavka?” Jabez asked, while cupping his jaw. He pulled his hand away to shrug with it, completely unbothered by this new information.

He was more concerned by how this bride would behave meeting the person who, inadvertently, killed his lover.

When they almost reached the dome, Merikh patted him on the back. “You’re probably right. It would be best if you stay behind, but you’re not going to do that. I want to see you get your arse kicked.”

“You may be better at defence, but I’m better at evading,” Jabez rebutted. “And attacking.”

“Want to make a bet then?”

Jabez’s ears twitched at the idea of a gamble. “I’m listening.”

“If they leave even a scratch on you, you have to meet your parents.”

Jabez let out a low whistle. “That’s a harsh bet.”

He could hear the sly humour in Merikh’s tone. “I guess you’re not confident about it then.”

I bet Raewyn’s been in his bony ear hole about it. Merikh probably didn’t care what Jabez did, and likely agreed with his sentiment of not wanting to meet them; he knew it would be a great loss for a bet.

Jabez cupped his jaw in thought as he tried to come up with an equal loss for Merikh. An idea lit in his mind, and he almost wanted to laugh at the ingeniousness of it. Especially as it was like killing two birds with one stone.

“If I win, you have to speak to Weldir about lowering his ward temporarily. The synedrus council are considering building a second city in Nyl’theria, and I want the Demons in Spiral Haven to inhabit the village.”

A rolling growl bubbled from Merikh’s maw, and his orbs flared bright red.

“Come now, Merikh. He brought your dear brother back to life. Time to let it all go.”

Merikh spun and pointed a sharp claw at his face, showing his already limited patience was running out. He retracted his hand before snapping out, “Fine.”

“Any restrictions?” Jabez asked, clasping his hands behind his back to appear aloof when they began walking again.

The chuckle Merikh produced was mean. “You’re not allowed to teleport. It gives you too much of an upper hand.”

A devious smile curled his lips. “Is that all?”

“That should be enough.”

Idiot, Jabez thought with mirth, lifting his eyes to the brightening sky. “The sun is rising, so we better make this quick then. The bet is off if they don’t attack, though, as I’m not going to provoke them into doing so just for a gamble.”

Jabez didn’t need these people to like him, but he did want them to tolerate him for Zylah’s sake. Therefore, he had no intention of starting a needless fight.

“Sounds fair.”

Just as they were about to enter the pink protective dome, a woman with bright-red hair stepped out of a cave with her arms lifted like she was stretching. Hiking up the skirt of her simple grey peasant dress, she stepped to the side with the intention of heading towards the forest, but froze when she noticed movement.

Her gasp was so loud it was almost a quiet scream, and she ran back inside the cave.

“It’s the Demon King! Wake up!”

A kerfuffle could be heard as multiple bodies immediately went into motion, just as a handful of feathers fluttered out of the cave mouth.

“Oh wow. They didn’t even notice you,” Jabez commented as he folded his arms and waited for the inevitable.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Merikh slyly sliding to the side to get out of harm’s way. Then he just blatantly hightailed it out of there with his actual bull tail curling in delight. He stayed in sight, though, especially since he actually headed towards the cave entrance.

Just as he was taking a seat on the edge of a large rock like it was a chair, a roar sounded as a winged Mavka ran from the cave opening. He dived straight for Jabez, with his lizard twin brother scuttling with speed below him.

Although he had a very simple way to win this bet, something Merikh had overlooked, he merely ducked beneath the bat-skulled Mavka’s claws. Then he jumped over the raven-skulled one, his legs going wide as he shoved against the top of his skull to go over him.

They both almost crashed against each other as they landed on the ground. Jabez turned just in time to watch the bat-skulled Mavka – he believed his name to be Aleron from his earlier conversation with Merikh – skid across the ground and narrowly stop himself from bashing into a tree.

He didn’t know the raven-skulled one’s name, but he was quick to dig his claws into the ground to get purchase and turn to him. He ran at Jabez with lightning speed, so he let magic cascade through his feet. Grass shot out from the ground and twisted around the raven’s feet, causing him to trip as he easily ripped from weak trappings.

Aleron leapt into the air and circled above, readying himself for an opening. He isn’t attacking uncontrollably in a rage. That at least proved he wasn’t as unintelligent as Merikh had supposed.

Both their orbs were red, but they were still present, which made them much more calculating and harder to fight against.

Just as Jabez was backing up from the raven skull snapping his beak at him, the wind blew from behind in his direction. A familiar, feminine scent fluttered over him, far too close for comfort.

He peeked over his shoulder just in time to see the redheaded woman about to ram her sword into his back. He dodged to the side, rolling before sliding his leg out to retain his balance. He had to flip backwards when a small axe came down towards his head as the male human leapt off a rockpool’s ledge towards him.

A snarl rumbled above him, just as another sounded on his left. The humans wisely stayed back as each of their Mavka dived for him simultaneously.

Jabez looked Merikh straight in his yellow orbs of joy and let humour crinkle his eyes. He turned incorporeal. Both Mavka bashed right into each other when they went through him, Aleron punting his own twin brother in the back with his skull and backward-spiralling goat horns.

“That’s cheating!” Merikh roared as he got to his feet.

Jabez tilted his head back and laughed with his hands on his hips. “You only said no teleporting, you idiot. You forgot I’m a Phantom now.”

“Merikh?” Aleron called in surprise, his voice distorted and grainy from being in his monstrous form, as he turned towards him.

The raven-skulled brother paused as well, as both humans turned to him stomping across the clearing.

“Yes, yes, hello you pair of boneheads,” Merikh greeted, before getting in Jabez’s face. “You win, but you’re a sly fucking bastard.”

“You,” the male human sneered as he raised the blade of his axe towards Merikh. “I remember you from the Elven realm. You’ve teamed up with this asshole now, huh? Turned on your own family?”

Surprised the human man was speaking of him, Jabez looked around Merikh’s wide body to be greeted by baleful green eyes. His long, flowing white hair curtained down one side of his tilted head. “I don’t even know you.”

“Yeah, well Emerie told me all about you,” he said, as he stepped towards the redheaded woman. “You’re the reason Aleron died.”

With both Mavka on the other side of them, he and Merikh were surrounded. Merikh turned his skull around while keeping his torso facing Jabez.

“You should thank him then, considering that’s the only reason you two met,” Merikh stated, before he twisted his neck to look at the woman.

Her face was exactly how Jabez remembered it. With freckles on the right side of her light skin, and a mixture of white-and-pink burn scars covering the left side of it. He could see more freckles and scars going down the side of her neck and into her dress, as well as smudges of it on her biceps due to her sleeveless garment.

She narrowed blue eyes at him, and her glare was the same as the day she’d thrown that sun stone against the ground. Resentful but determined.

“You almost killed me, you know,” Jabez stated, letting his features dull – he was still rather displeased about it. “Do you know how much pain I had to endure because of you?”

She lifted the tip of her sword to his face, and the polished iron glinted in the oncoming sunlight. “It’s less than what you deserve.”

“What is going on, Merikh?” Aleron asked in his monstrous form, as he flared his large, feathered wings. “Why are you here with the Demon King?”

Merikh placed an arm over Jabez’s shoulders and leaned almost the entirety of his heavy weight on him until he felt his knees trying to buckle. Then his bull-horned companion waved his hand in the air as if he was about to tell some grand story.

“Jabez, here, went and got himself bonded to a Mavka. He is now family.”

“You’re joking,” the female human stated in utter disbelief. “What Duskwalker would bond with him ?”

“I know if I try to describe her, I’d only piss you off,” Merikh muttered to Jabez, since he’d probably spout something rude.

“Although her name is Zylah now, you probably know her as Fyodor,” Jabez answered coldly. “The rabbit-skulled, antlered Mavka.”

“Fyodor?” she rasped, before her eyes bowed in anguish. “Delora’s daughter? That’s just cruel. ”

Merikh finally removed his weight from Jabez, just so he could fold his arms. “Regardless, I’m demanding that everyone put their problems in the past.”

“And who are you to tell us what to do?” the male human stated, twisting his axe at Merikh. “You were a prick in the Elven realm, and I’m not particularly inclined to trust you.”

“Well, if you don’t, I’ll take it out on these two.” Merikh hiked his thumb towards the twins beside them as he and Jabez both turned back-to-back to see everyone in their peripheries. “Currently we are collecting everyone and taking them to Magnar’s ward. I have a bride who wishes to meet you all, and unfortunately, I needed Jabez’s help to do that.”

“What if we don’t want to go with you?” the raven-skulled Mavka asked.

“Ingram is right. Although we trust you, Merikh, the Demon King is not our friend.”

“I told you I should have stayed back,” Jabez muttered, cocking a brow at the foolish Mavka. “You could have convinced them and then introduced me.”

“I really do hate it when you do that,” Merikh bit as he unfolded his arms and scratched at the side of his neck. He turned around to face his brothers. “Look, you two, I understand better than anyone that he deserves to have his entrails shredded to pieces, but what has happened cannot be undone. He is now a bride, and this day isn’t complete if four of our family members are missing. Raewyn wishes to meet you both again.”

“Raewyn?” Ingram asked with his head rearing back in surprise. “The Elf with stars in her eyes?”

“Yes,” Aleron confirmed for him as he sat back on his haunches to cup his bony bat chin. “That’s right. I met her again in the Elven realm. How is your little youngling, Lehnenia?”

“He has a youngling?” Ingram asked, darting his beak in his twin’s direction.

“She is here as well,” Merikh stated.

“For what it’s worth,” Jabez started as he turned to face the twins fully, “I am sorry for what happened. I was angry when I made that order, and I rescinded it long before your skull was crushed, Aleron.”

“Are you seriously seeking forgiveness after everything?” the female sneered.

“Actually no,” Jabez stated as he glanced at her over his shoulder. “I don’t give a shit if none of you forgive me, but it’s an apology all the same. Isn’t it better than me continuing my war with their kind until I managed to crush every single one of their skulls? You sought peace and to be left alone, and now you have it. Be grateful I had a change of heart before it came to further bloodshed. Had I not called off that order when I did, other Mavka may have perished.”

Her lips flattened disapprovingly and her gaze narrowed further. She said nothing.

The male human lowered his axe and slammed the handle into a loop around his waist before brushing his black pants of non-existent dust. His brown boots gave a single squeak when he pressed off the ground to go to Aleron’s side. Since the sleeves of his light-grey tunic were rolled up to his elbows, his strong forearms visibly flexed when he momentarily clenched his fists before releasing them.

“Look, I’ll do whatever Aleron wants,” he offered, brushing back the two-inch-long, caramel-coloured hair on top of his head before scratching at his stubble. His green eyes flicked to Jabez, then Merikh, then back to Aleron. “But what they’re doing does sound harmless. They wouldn’t take us to more Mavka if they intended anything bad, and I would like to meet the others again.”

The female produced a scream behind her teeth and walked over to Ingram, just as the Mavka with short goat horns was rising to his feet. As if they’d shared the same thought, both Ingram and Aleron shifted into their more humanoid forms.

Both were naked, and Jabez almost wanted to throw his hands forward to gesture at their nudity. See? he thought, arguing with his past self. These two are naked and I don’t want to stick my dick in them. So why had Zylah’s nakedness eaten away at him so fiercely?

It was an answer he always knew he’d lack.

“What do you want to do?” she asked Ingram softly as she leaned into his side.

Aleron and Ingram turned their skulls towards each other and tilted their heads in opposite directions.

“I’m not giving you a choice,” Merikh bit out firmly. “The only difference is how difficult you make this. Your brides might be harmed in the process by me .”

Both twins growled and whipped their skulls towards Merikh.

“Fine.”

“We will go.”

Finally, Jabez thought, as Merikh explained what was about to happen. He cracked his neck one way and then the other before rounding his shoulders, preparing himself for how much this was about to exert his body.

The teleportation of three heavy Mavka coming right up.