Page 38 of A Soul to Steal

The glee of that often sent thrills down his limbs, flexing his fingers with the urge to touch again.

“I’ll point them out to you if we see them,” Gideon offered, once more showing that unconditional acceptance. “I’m sure you’ve seen them before. Wolves are still pretty common, since they kill Demons.” Then he shrugged and stood, causing the antelope to startle and shy away. “To be honest with you, the only reason I know what these guys are called is because I copied a book on them. I had to trace the sketch of one, which is why it’s probably stuck with me.”

Aleron stood as well, following Gideon’s lead. He offered his hand to the human, and a tickling warmth sprouted in his chest when he willingly took it.

Aleron always felt that way, adoring how his small hand felt within the crease of his own. His anxieties about Gideon’s potential fading memory became instantly non-existent in the process.

“Come on,” Gideon commanded, pulling just enough to stir him into moving.

The gentle tug was unnecessary; he’d already begun to realise he might just follow him anywhere. So long as Gideon remained by his side, he wouldn’t mind where they were taken.

“I’m glad we finally passed that creepy canyon, but we still have to go meet your friend, yeah? Well… brother, really.”

When Gideon peeked at him, and his green eyes connected with his pale-pink orbs, looking at him without any fear ortimidness in those piercing depths, something startling dawned on him with absolute certainty.

He wouldn’t just follow him anywhere; he’d happily let Gideon escort him to his own demise.

As they arrived at a cliff wall with a lake next to it, Aleron always thought it looked very similar to the home of the bull-horned, bear-skulled Mavka, Merikh.

However, it didn’t have a large, cascading waterfall – the lake water seeming to come from nowhere – and there was a giant slab of flat rock right next to a sandy bank. There were no trees, no cave entrance, and cliff walls encompassed the area much more tightly and in a vee shape.

The water within Tenebris didn’t linger on one’s body once they left it, nor did it have a scent. It lacked any form of nutrition, and its temperature was the same as the air surrounding them.

Gideon never walked over to its sandy shore, seeking to desperately drink from it like he’d seen many humans do. He never needed to drink, eat, or sleep.

“We are here,” Aleron explained, gesturing to the Mavka curled up on the slab of flat rock.

The rock itself was a dark grey, but the coiled up Mavka was as black as the night sky. His scales didn’t have a blue glint to them like Ingram’s, but rather a glistening rainbow sheen instead.

Gideon placed his hands on his slim waist, causing his grey tunic to bunch around his fingers, and drifted his gaze across the area with a deep frown. A small flurry of wind caused the short lengths of his light-brown hair to flick to the right, dancing against the edge of his brow.

“Am I missing something?” Gideon stated, eventually letting his gaze fall on him. “I don–”

He gasped and shuffled back, his lips parting as the Mavka moved.

Since they were behind the Mavka, he pulled himself backwards while lifting his tail, so he could uncoil his own waist from on top of himself. As though he was entirely flexible, he twisted in order to face them, walking with his hands to steady his upper body weight.

Inspecting those who had disturbed him with white orbs, they shone bright against the bone of his snake skull. With his horns black, the only true colour on him was the tiny glints of rainbows dancing where the sunlight hit him. His horns were round in shape but curved backwards like a hook that pointed down.

Aleron didn’t know what animal they were from, only that his skull – and most of his body – was serpent in nature.

A strong, humanoid torso flexed with muscle similar to his own body, much wider than his, but still lean. His collarbones, hips, and rib bones were visible, although most of his sternum was sunken beneath his flesh. However, most of his spine was exposed except for the last few feet of his exceptionally long tail.

Fish fins ruffled along his tail, starting from the middle of his back and continuing all the way down. He also had them going down the entire length of his arms, but they looked different here – like spined fins instead of ruffles. They were grey, similar to the softer underbelly of his human-like torso.

As far as Aleron knew, he was the only Mavka without legs. He may also be the only one who had gills down his neck.

After assessing who had come to disturb his constant slumber, the Mavka’s orbs eventually settled from white to orange – his natural colouring. He didn’t come closer, remaining on the slab of rock and leaning upon his hands, but did tilt his snake skull towards Gideon.

His orbs then shifted to a dark yellow in curiosity, likely confused as to why the human didn’t flee. Then his skull darted towards Aleron.

“Holy shit,” Gideon grated. “You could have warned me he was huge.”

Due to his astonishment, Aleron first thought he’d upset the human. Only when he looked upon Gideon and noticed his features had cooled, and he was examining the Mavka like how he did the world, did it reveal he was just speaking his mind. He did this a lot, spoke his thoughts aloud, sharing them with Aleron in order to fill the silence often between them.

Aleron appreciated this, as he didn’t always know how to start up a conversation.

“He is not that big,” Aleron said before sighing and stepping closer to demonstrate it was safe. Although the Mavka had never shown even a hint of aggression, he wouldn’t let him hurt his little human either way. “He just has a long tail.”

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