Page 69 of A Soul to Embrace

Just to make sure it was dead, he knelt on it and twisted its head the other way. Its vertebrae sounded like a wet crunch of bones, and he took that as his opportunity to descend. Lips parted, Jabez sunk his fangs into the crook of its neck and drank from it while it was still warm.

He took enough to partially fill his belly and grimaced in disgust when he just couldn’t bear to swallow the last mouthful. The taste on his tongue was unwelcome. He spat it to the side before rolling up his sleeve and wiping his forearm across his mouth.

Giving the Demon’s blood time to settle in his gut, he walked over to Zylah. He licked at the inside of his mouth as the putrid taste lingered.

“Alright. Let’s keep going,” he told her, and broke into a run without further warning.

Staying in one spot would only lead more Demons to them.

For a short while, silence lingered between them as he listened to their surroundings. All had gone somewhat quiet. Then again, what made the Veil so eerie, even to him, was the lack of animals and insects present.

There was very little life to be found outside of those with sharp fangs, claws, and murderous tendencies.

“Why...”Zylah started, breaking the silence.“Why did you eat that Demon?”

“I didn’t eat it,” he argued, narrowing his gaze at the rushing forest before him. “I just drank some of its blood.”

“But why?”

Their path became steady enough that he could glance at her from the corner of his eye. Her orbs were teal, revealing nothing. He returned to watching his footing.

“I haven’t eaten any meat in a few days. I can only go so long without doing so – it’s a curse of my Elven-Demon nature. I prefer not to eat the flesh of humans, Demons, or even Elves anymore, but settling my stomach with blood takes away the worst of the sickness I feel when I go too long without it. Doesn’t matter what it comes from, nor how much disgust I feel regarding the taste or action.”

Then, as if to prove how much stronger he was from doing so, he increased their pace. Zylah easily kept up with him, and she once more went quiet.

They passed through an invisible threshold and into the middle ring of the Veil’s gloomy forest.

Not much further.Perhaps another day of running, if not a little less.

When Zylah came upon a big hut in the middle of the dark, early morning forest, her apprehension eroded away due to the scents within the air. Herbs, spices, flowers, and other plants made the area smell pleasant and inviting. There was also a small collection of animals nearby, as if the area was safe.

A garden in the middle of a clearing was fenced off, and the urge to go over and inspect all the new things that lay in the dirt was difficult to resist. From what she could tell, since it was out in the open and fewer trees shrouded it, sunlight would shine upon the growing plants throughout the day. Connected to it and situated in the shade, there was a small enclosure that housed a little wooden building. A handful of round bird-like creatures clucked and cooed from it, while others sporting brown, white, and sandy-coloured feathers wandered around the area.

Between the hut and the garden was a decent-sized open space for one to walk around, and the grass was cut short and well maintained. Some tools with long handles sat up against the side of the home, one with bristles and the other with a spade-shaped head.

The short, wide hut itself had some kind of mixture of hay and clay as a roof. The walls were made of large stones with more clay filling in the cracks, giving it an earthy smell and colour. An oval door led inside it, while the window to its left was round and had some kind of blue glass. All around the home, late-blooming flowers danced on hip-high shrubs, giving a splash of yellow and pink colour against its drearier earthy appearance.

This wasn’t what I was expecting at all.Then again, Zylah didn’t know what she thought she’d find once they arrived.

A shadow shifted into the blue-glass window, like a person had popped their face up from their hiding spot.

No one came outside, but the sounds coming from within made it evident it was occupied.

“She’s probably nervous there’s a Mavka in her territory,” Jabez stated, before pulling back his hood. “I’ll make her come out.”

Zylah noted his long, straight hair tied back into a high ponytail. She liked the way it revealed all of his sharp masculine features that could often be shielded, especially his wide jaw and high cheekbones. It also allowed his ears to be fully visible, as the right ear could often be hidden away except for its point.

The ends of his hair swayed between his shoulders as he walked towards the door.

Before he even made it a few steps, a loud bang and clash came from within the hut, someone suddenly shuffling around inside it. The door flung open, and a tanned female exited with harsh stomps, waving some kind of wooden apparatus.

She looked human – if it wasn’t for the set of pointed, fuzzy ears on top of her head. They were red, as was her short hair, but the tips of her ears had black on the ends of them. A long, fluffy fox-like tail similar in colour to her ears swung behind her, and she hissed a set of feline fangs at him.

“You!” the female shouted, her green, floor-length dress bundled in one of her fists as she hiked it up to storm out. “I should kick your stupid butt!”

Jabez halted. “Hello, Fayren.”

“Don’t youhellome, you devil of a man!” Large glowing red eyes narrowed on him as she wrinkled a small nose. “I thought you were dead!”

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