Page 70 of A Soul to Embrace

Jabez chuckled warmly. “And yet, here I stand.”

She stomped her boot-clad feet and showed little fear despite the hostility she obviously wore in her humanoid face.She doesn’t look like a Demon.At least, not compared to the mean, monstrous versions Zylah had only ever seen – those that had glistening, void-like flesh.

She barely even smelt like one.

Is this what Jabez meant by the differences between lesser Demons and more developed ones?She couldn’t help being curious about their variations, noting that the completion process reminded her of herself and the vast changes she’d gone through.

Jabez didn’t move a muscle, even when she was right before him with her fists on her hips. Barely coming to his chest, the Demon gave a seething glare up at his face. Then she raised her wooden utensil and began whacking him with it.

“Do you understand how upset I was?!” she screeched, jumping up to smack him in the head, and athunksounded as it connected with his skull. “My whole family mourned. We even held a funeral for you in the village!”

Jabez, surprisingly allowing the abuse, laughed as he attempted to cover his body. With one knee coming up, he curled one way, then the other, before he grunted when she thwacked him in the back.

“By the cursed light, woman, stop it.” His demand held no animosity. “Remember who I am.”

“Oh, and what is that? Because currently your castle is nothing but a pile of rubbish!”

He skilfully grasped the wooden item and stole it from her. Then he smacked her in the forehead with it.

Aghast, she darted her hand up to cover the spot he struck. “How dare you hit a little old lady!”

“Well, at least you’re still honest.”

She snatched the wooden item back and pointed it up at his nose with her lips pursed.

“Watch it, grandpa.” Then she poked the tip of the utensil towards Zylah. “And you show up, back from the dead, with a Mavka! I thought I was about to be eaten! Couldn’t you have removed your damn hoodbeforeyou entered my lands?”

Zylah chittered at the female’s slitted glare, her sight shifting to a reddish pink. She backed up a step, uncertain of how to react or how to proceed. For such a little female, she was spritely and vicious!

Jabez stepped behind the female and shoved her in the back to force her to approach.

“Fayren, this is Zylah,” he stated, waving his hand towards Zylah standing there awkwardly. “I’m sure you’re making her uncomfortable, so I’ll ask you to refrain from your usual pestering.” Then, when they were right before Zylah, he stepped to the side so they formed a small triangle. “Zylah, this is Fayren, an acquaintance of mine.”

Zylah lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers in hello.

“Friendly?” the female asked, casting Jabez a wary glance from the corner of her eye.

“The biggest threat here is me,” he answered.

The female’s foxy ears perked up, just as her flattened lips smoothed. Her features softened as she offered Zylah a toothy smile.

Now that she was closer, Zylah inspected the wrinkles on her face. Deep, forking lines branched out from the outer edges of her eyes and the corners of her lips. There were lines running from the creases of her small nose to her chin, and her skin appeared to be loose around her cheeks, jaw, and neck.

Zylah had never seen an aged person before. One of her books had detailed such features, and she liked being able to see how the beauty of life had been wonderfully etched into her very face. Her smile was so warm that it managed to calm Zylah’s unsteady heart almost immediately.

“I’ve never met a Mavka in person,” Fayren stated, her voice gentling into a sweet coo. Her eyes drifted down to Zylah’s feet before coming back up to inspect her small antlers. “Not as big and scary as I was told.”

“That’s because she’s not running at you on all fours with red orbs,” Jabez stated, humour lightening his tone.

“You poor thing,” Fayren said, her eyes bowed with obvious sympathy. She hiked her thumb at Jabez. “How long have you been stuck with this jerk?”

He folded his arms with a huff. “I find that rude and offensive.”

“What?” Fayren’s lips parted in disbelief. “You know it’s true.” Then she covered the side of her mouth, shielding it from him as she whispered, “He has horribly childish tantrums. For a man who is twice my age, you’d think he’d grow up a bit.”

Dark yellow lifted into Zylah’s sight, and she tilted her head at the little Demon. “You’re confusing.”

The female threw her head back and cackled. “They’ve always said I’m a little eccentric.” She dusted off the skirt of her dress with her eyes purposefully elsewhere. “I actually think it’s one of my best qualities.”

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