Page 23 of A Soul to Guide

Eerie silence descended upon the area.

Raewyn held her breath, like that was enough to hide her presence. Someone had died, and the mixture of blood and scents made it too hard to distinguish who.

No... it wasn’t actually silence.

There was the tiniest rumble, and she wasn’t sure if it was a quiet growl or not. It was too difficult to hear over her own panic, her heartbeat, and the crackle of magic that radiated just below her skin, vibrating against all her bones. Only she could hear it.

She braved slowly getting to her feet. She wanted freedom to run should she need it.

Her spit clogged in her throat when grass and leaves crunched under footsteps approaching her. Who or whatever it was, it was covered in too many smells, especially tangy and weird blood, and their breaths were deep and booming.

“Stay back,” she warned.

“Calm your fear. You’re not helping.” Merc’s voice was strained, deeper than usual. “You might bring more.”

Tears of relief welled in her eyes.

“Merc!” she cried as she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around the base of his head. “By the holy Gilded Maiden, I thought you were dead.”

While she was clinging to him, Merc stepped back. She could feel he’d put his hands in the air as though he wanted to avoid touching her.

“Let go,” he demanded, his gruff voice right next to her ear. “I don’t like being touched.”

Well, he better get used to it! Because, right now, she was so elated he was okay, she thought she’d never want to let go.

“Thank you,” she whispered, burying her head against his neck, ignoring the texture that brushed against her forehead. She thought it might be his hair. “Thank you so much for protecting me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Raewyn went to kiss his cheek, to physically show just how thankful she was. Instead, she headbutted something long and hard. Likesuperhard. Her hand pressed against his face to push herself away as she nursed her stinging brow bone.

“Ow, what is–” Raewyn paused when she realised what she was holding didn’t feel like flesh, but rather bone.

Her hands patted once, only to discover that it wasn’t flat but felt more like a... bony snout?

That’s not a human face.Actually, it wasn’t even a face at all, more like the skull of an animal. Fangs parting made her realise it was real and not some strange hallucination.

With a high-pitched scream, Raewyn shoved herself away and crashed against the ground. She scooted backwards on her backside to get away from him.

“What...” Her heart was nearly in her throat as she yelled, “What are you?!”

The low, quiet laughter that echoed from him was dark, and almostcruel. “Now, why did you have to go and do that?”

Foreboding terror washed over her from the tip of her forehead to send a chill down her spine. Raewyn’s ears flattened backwards in her choking fear.

“W-where’s Merc? What did you do to him?”

The Demon, or creature... whatever it was. It must have taken his voice somehow.That was it. Ithadto be it. Demons could obtain deceitful magic by consuming those who had the affinity for it – like Elysian Elves.

“The Demon is dead, Raewyn.” Her jaw fell at her name being said, her mouth dry. “You’ve been travelling with me all along.”

One thing became frighteningly obvious when he stepped forward, and she heard the distinct scrape of claws digging into the soil. The reason she’d never been able to hear his footsteps... the reason he’d been hard to track... was because he’d never being wearing shoes.

She’d been travelling with a monster.

Raewyn stood, and with her hands cupped to her chest, she stepped back from him.

“Don’t you dare run,” he warned.

Of course, Raewyn ran.

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