Page 10 of A Soul to Touch

Apparently, it never saw a now shocked Mayumi on top of it, who began slouching onto her legs as she knelt there. Herbow and arrow fell to either side of her to rest against the roof as realisation blew through her, clearing away the fog of her memories.

A cat skull... It had a cat skull.

She let her wide, disbelieving eyes fall onto the snow-covered roof. She’d never hesitated before, never shied away from a foe once she’d made up her mind on killing it – even if it was a risk. She’d even had a perfect shot of it when it had stared at the porch as still as stone.

Instead, she’d completely lost all her will.

I saw a Duskwalker that night.That’s what she’d seen when she was little. That’s what had brought her home.

It was hard to mistake that skull when she’d briefly seen it in the past. She’d been trying foryearsto clear away the blurry haze of her memory, to piece it together, but she’d never had anything real to place it next to. Until now.

It saved me.

Why?

Mayumi sat cross-legged on her bed and rested the points of her elbows on her thighs. Hunched forward with her thick hair curtaining around both sides of her head and the blanket wrapped around her hips, she blinked lazily.

She shut one eye before the other and then opened both to find her vision momentarily murky.I’m so tired.

After the feline-skulled Duskwalker vanished into the trees, Mayumi waited until the sun rose and not a single Demon came to the clearing. Once that bright light finished chasing everything away, she crawled towards the attic to go inside.

Although she’d rolled out her futon, she couldn’t remember how long she’d sat with the covers over her legs as she stared into the fireplace.

What were once murky visions of her past, were now clearer.

Her little mind had mistaken the Duskwalker’s cattish skull for Shadow’s white mask. She’d been too dizzy and childish to realise the gigantic thing in front of her wasn’t normal.

But upon seeing him again, she knew that was the truth.

Mayumi had so many questions, and those questions she’d had all her life now resurfaced ten-fold, making falling asleepnearly impossible. Instead, she’d remained hypnotised by the flames.

As usual, she woke mid-morning – no matter that she’d barely had two or three hours ofrestlesssleep. It was a deeply ingrained habit from being a Demonslayer. Most were on duty during the night when Demons usually roamed.

Being a Demonslayer often made them feel nocturnal.

Of course, her first waking thought was of the Duskwalker.

A small smile began to curl her lips.I kind of wished he’d come to say hello.Mayumi tossed her head back and let out a deep laugh.Foolish! He’d probably eat me within a heartbeat.

But she couldn’t help feeling this way. He’d saved her life, and she’d never,ever, forgotten that.

Perhaps I wasn’t enough of an enticing snack as a kid.

Though if he tried to kill her now, she wouldn’t show him a shred of mercy and would return the sentiment.

Knowing she was out of both tea and coffee, Mayumi collected her metal wash bucket and carted it outside under her arm. Naked in the frigid air, her skin instantly broke out in goosebumps.

She salmon-dived into the snow so she could freeze-shock the tiredness out of herself. Then she collected the snow in the bucket like the day before, melted it over the fire, and wiped down her body before getting dressed.

Since she’d gotten home later than she wanted to the previous day, she hadn’t completely cut up the tree branch into logs. She’d only made herself enough for the night.

She headed to the back of the house next to the spring bath where she’d left her branch. It took Mayumi longer than it should have to realise her neck was prickling with awareness. Before she even started chopping, she stopped and darted her gaze at the forest around her.

She had the remarkable inkling that she was being... watched.

She heard and saw nothing.

Despite that, the feeling of being watched never dissipated as she continued her task. Perhaps the person that could be watching her was wary of coming close to her while she had weapons. She was wearing her sword belt after all and swinging a sharp axe around like it was nothing.

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