Page 201 of A Soul to Guide

Eight spears were being pointed directly at his face, with three more towards the back protecting two other Elves, the sharpness of them shining in the moonlight. A few of the weapon wielders had smacked the handle bottoms against the ground, and energy flared to life around the blades.

The soldiers stood in an arc around a sparking aqua portal, protecting Raewyn and her captor as they fought. He was dragging her while she squirmed, fighting to get away, fighting to get tohim.

Merikh paced at the end of the blades, assessing each of the white-haired, dark-skinned Demons holding him back. They looked fairly similar to Raewyn, but their red eyes, horns, claws, and fangs only reminded him of Jabez.

They had satin-white metal armour shielding their chests and shoulders, yet it was minimal. The rest of their bodies had green, blue, or red leather garments underneath.

I can’t hurt them.It was the only reason he wasn’t trying to get through them.They’re her people.She wouldn’t forgive him if he were to harm them, and the smell of their fear was already doing funny things to his mind.

He needed to stay calm.

“Let me through,” he demanded with a snarl.

He backed up when a wide-eyed one stabbed at him and he narrowly missed it. It was obvious they’d never come across something like him, something as large as his body or as ominous as his skull. They appeared to be inexperienced soldiers, trembling in their pants and about to wet themselves.

Merikh had seen more courage and resolve in battle-hardened humans, like the Demonslayers.

They spoke to each other, but he couldn’t understand a word they said. All he knew was that they were discussing him, refusing to take their eyes away and growing more uncertain and frightened with each second.

They backed up when one looked over their shoulder to check in with Raewyn, the male holding her, and two other people who appeared to be Elves. One was frozen with his eyes wide, while the other was tugging on his shoulder and signing with his hands.

“Merikh!”

Raewyn called to him, and red filled his vision. If he didn’t do something, they’d take her away from him forever. He’d never gotten the chance to ask her if she’d be his female, had never told her how he felt.

He didn’t want to be stuck here, wishing to go to her, without knowing her answer – or trying to change it if it wasn’t what he wanted.

He couldn’t handle not knowing, knew it would eat him alive for the rest of his life.

With a spike of fear clapping through him like a thunderbolt, Merikh sprung for her.

He managed to smack one of the Demon soldiers to the side, but another cut their sword right over his side. He or she gouged deeper than any human weapon ever had, and he didn’t think an Earth Demon had ever cut so deep.

Pain caused his orbs to whiten before they flared red.

Invisible hands tried to reach through the bone of his skull, massaging his brain to lull him into a rage. His whine was the physical show of just how hard he fought to keep them at bay.

His form shifted into his monstrous one, giving him strength and agility, but it did little to save him as another soldier stabbed their polearm blade straight through his thigh.

The weapons with glowing energy did far more damage and cut through his usually tough skin like butter.

When another stabbed him straight through the stomach, a roar broke from him.

He spun around and pinned the soldier to the ground, accidentally shoving the entire weapon through his midsection until he’d impaled himself all the way to the pole section her hands were clamping.

Some kind of rope or vines threaded around his horns and head, and they all worked together to pull him off the woman as she screamed in terror. It was palpable; he could taste her fear like it was the richest treat he’d ever eaten.

Merikh wound his arms around the green ropes, twisted them around the vines, and tugged. He disarmed all of them as they fell to their stomachs, unprepared for his overbearing strength.

His thought was to kill what was currently in his way, pests keeping him from Raewyn, but he shook his head.

No. Can’t hurt them.

She shouted in a foreign language, and he turned his focus back to his pretty little fairy, his own personal piece of starlight.

She was arguing with another Demon while he was pointing in Merikh’s direction. He was explaining what Merikh was doing, likely how he’d just attacked everyone.

Had they not pulled him off the female soldier, he would have bitten her head off. He’d been about to.

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