Page 12 of A Soul to Embrace

When she didn’t budge, he sighed.

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

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

She didn’t like that.

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

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

“It’s a Duskwalker!” one shouted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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