Page 162 of A Soul to Embrace

She’d like to think that was possible, rather than it be burdensome like Earth had been for him.

Zylah sniffed at the pretty aroma coming off the petals of a bright-red flower that had a glowing fuzzy yellow stem sticking out from it. The colours reminded her of a sunrise or a sunset as it cast its muted light across the horizon. Black dew clung to its five petals, and she tentatively reached out to grasp something so big she’d need to hold it in both her hands.

This smells really nice.She tried to figure out its scents from those of Earth, like that would make it easier to wrap her mind around its strangeness.

Just before she made contact with it, Jabez grabbed both her hands with his own and roughly shoved them down.

“You shouldn’t touch that,” he stated, before pulling her back by her hands to put some distance between her and it.

Reddish pink lifted into her sight, reflecting her embarrassment at attempting to touch something unknown in a foreign and unusual world.

“Is it poisonous?” she asked, wondering how something that smelt so nice it had her practically drooling could be harmful.

“No, it’s not poisonous.” She turned her gaze to him when she noticed the mirth in his tone, to find his eyes were crinkled with humour and the corners of his lips had curled. “It’s called a draflium flower.”

“Why can’t I touch it then?” White flashed in her sight at another possibility. “Wait... would it have tried to eat me?”

She’d heard about carnivorous plants in one of her herbology books. She tilted her head at it; it didn’t look very nasty though, since she probably could have ripped it to shreds had it tried to capture her.

A chuckle rumbled from him as he shook his head. “More like you’d probably try to eatme.”

That’s even worse!

At the nervous chitter she gave, his laughter only grew deeper.

“The black dew on it is a strong aphrodisiac. It’s so potent that just brushing up against it will cause intense arousal, and ingesting it will affect you twice as much.”

“Oh,”she rasped, the embarrassed hue in her sight brightening. Yes, that would have been bad, although the thought did have her insides warming against her will.

“It completely lowers one’s inhibitions, and in a place like this forest, that’s a terrible idea. A Demon could come, and I doubt you would care if you were under the effects of its dew.”

She was surprised no Demons had come already.

“Sorry,” she grumbled, pulling her hands away from his hold of them. “I probably shouldn’t be touching anything.”

“It’s fine, Zylah. You’re welcome to be curious – just ask first.” He leaned closer to sniff it before drawing away. “Luckily itsscent is harmless, although inviting. It smells like orange and cinnamon.”

“It does smell good,” she stated, her tail wiggling at his reassurance.Not as nice as him, though.

“Here, come.” He grabbed her hand and began to pull her along. “I know there’s a meadow not too far from here, and it’s closer to the village. Everything there is relatively harmless, so you’re welcome to investigate to your heart’s content.”

She looked down at their entwined hands as she was dragged through the forest, not used to him doing this. It made her heart squeeze in joy. The fact that he was the one to instigate it, even if it was something as innocent as pulling her along so she couldn’t touch anything else, had her clasping his hand tightly in return.

His ears twitched in reaction, but he didn’t comment on her grip. She was thankful he didn’t try to make it awkward by teasing her.

“Shouldn’t we be heading to the village, though?” Zylah asked, unsure as to why he was deviating from their path.

“I have waited three hundred Earth years to get what I want, so taking a few minutes longer to show you something nice won’t do me any harm.” Then he finally glanced at her as he said, “This is the first time you are seeing Nyl’theria. It is prettiest at night, and your awe of it may wane the longer we are here.”

When he turned back around to see where he was going, bright yellow lifted into her sight as she looked at the back of his long hair and black tapered horns.Really? He would do that for me?Her tail tuft wiggled a little at the realisation he wanted to do something special for her, despite how much his goal meant to him.

It didn’t take them long to reach the spot Jabez wanted to show her, especially as this was all part of his design.

In reality, they weren’t actually as close to the village as he’d let on. He’d originally planned to take them within proximity of it straight away, but when he observed her curious gaze at Otholla and the trees, his urgency had waned.

He’d almost forgotten what it was like to first see the Nyl’theria wilds. It’d been many years before he’d gained the courage to come back after abandoning it, and he’d never seen the realm outside Lezekos City’s impressive walls.

As pretty as the Elven city was, it held barely a fraction of the beauty of this world. As a young adult, he’d been mesmerised upon seeing it, learning it, and investigating every new thing he came upon after returning for the first time.

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