Page 21 of A Soul to Touch

Mayumi was forced to rest most of her weight on the back of her ankles.

“Are you insane?”the Duskwalker snarled, his voice such a dark, vibrating, rich sound that it almost sounded as though he’d eaten gravel.

The floating orbs in front of his empty eye sockets were a flaring red colour, warning those who saw them of imminent danger.

“Finally, you show yourself,” Mayumi bit out with a slight sneer.

However, her heart, usually so quiet and calm, was near stammering in her chest. Her cheeks and chest heated from her veins pulsing more rapidly.

He has ram horns. I didn’t know he had ram horns.

They were tan in colour and curled forward down the side of his white skull. His face appeared to be that of a larger feline predator – perhaps a mountain lion or panther rather than a cat’s.

She could just make out in the dark that he had exceptionally long fur covering his torso, back, shoulders, and legs, but she thought she also saw spikes jutting out from his back underneath a long, black cloak he wore.

Before she could take in anymore details, the Duskwalker threw her sideways. She landed on her side and sunk into the snow.

On all fours, his spine arched like that of a feline, he put space between them. The end of his long tail curled in obvious agitation as it poked out from his cloak.

“Why is it you were so desperate to force me out that you would do something so foolish?”he asked, waving one of his clawed, human-like hands in her direction. She noticed his legs were feline in shape with paws for feet to match.“Why is it you wanted to see me?”

While he was speaking and beginning to pace, his steps slow and calculated, Mayumi made her way to her feet.

“If you seek a confrontation, you will not receive it from me. I have no interest in fighting you.”There was some form of black cloth covering the end of his snout, and she wondered if it was from the noticeably missing corner of his cloak.“Especially since you would not win.”

Mayumi pulled a bandage roll from a pocket of her weapons belt and started casually wrapping it over her arm.

“I don’t want to fight you,” she answered truthfully, taking her eyes off him so she could see what she was doing. It was a test, and she was ready to stop her bandaging at any second to grab her sword. “You’ve been watching me, following me. I wanted to know why.”

He stopped pacing and darted his head in her direction.

“Can I not? As long as I am not causing any harm, what does it matter what I do?”

“Of course, it matters. What you’re doing is odd.” Once her arm was covered, she tucked the tail of her bandage beneath the wrapping to secure it. “Duskwalkers kill and eat humans. Why would you go out of your way to protect one?”

He had the damn audacity to lift his head up and point his cloth covered snout higher... almost dismissively!

“Who says I’ve been protecting you? Perhaps I’ve just been waiting for you to lower your guard.”

Mayumi burst out a laugh. “The man holding the sword today didn’t just disappear into thin air, and the other one didn’t piss himself because he saw a fluttering leaf. If you wanted to kill me, you’ve had ample time to do so.”

He let out a snorting double huff.

“Fine. I’m protecting you.”His floating orbs morphed into a neutral yellow, but his stance was utterly aggressive with the way his hands and paws were spread, resting on the ground.“What of it?”

“If I told you to leave, would you?” Mayumi asked, raising a singular brow and folding her arms.

“No,”he answered, his orbs flashing red momentarily before fading back to yellow. The single word had been uttered with a deep and defining tone, ensuring she understood that he wouldn’t be moved on this matter.

The hairs on her arms stood on end at the menace she heard, but not because she was frightened or put off by it, but because she found it oddly... titillating.

“You still haven’t told me why.” His lack of answer informed her she wouldn’t be receiving one. “Is... is it because of what happened when I was a child?”

The Duskwalker’s head lowered, and he took a step back.“You remember?”

Mayumi shrugged, but her heart skipped at the confirmation. She hadn’t been completely sure. To finally have her answer reduced some of the many questions she had about that night.

“Vaguely.” She palmed the side of her forehead to brush back a few stubborn curling cowlicks of hair from her face. “All I remember is that I thought I found my cat Shadow, but that’s not what really happened, is it?”

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