Page 11 of A Soul to Steal

He grew nervous, as he lacked knowledge of what it meant to have a human companion. He didn’t wish to do something wrong.

“I didn’t mean it as a bad thing.” He rubbed the side of his neck before shaking his head, making the front strands of hair fall down over his forehead. “It just keeps surprising me. You can’t hurt me here, though, so I don’t think it matters.”

He shined Aleron a smile, flashing his teeth, and the little dots sunk in his cheeks, his apprehension dissipating. His sight returned to its usual pink colouring.

“I can hurt you, though,”Aleron corrected.

Gideon halted. With his brows drawn and his lips thinning, he turned to him. “What do you mean, you can hurt me? I’m dead.”

“Yes, but I can injure your soul.”

Aleron had eaten a few and knew that it could be devastating to the human. They would obliterate completely, fading from every existence with no chance at all of being returned.

Weldir had been furious when he discovered it. He hadn’t managed to stop Aleron from eating a few, which had seemed to gift him more humanity than when he ate their flesh. Not only had it weakened his father creator, but it’d caused Aleron to have distressing memories that didn’t belong to him.

Weldir had managed to remove those memories from him, as they had been confusing and disorientating. It had also been haunting reliving the painful deaths of those humans.

He often shuddered at the echo of their screams that lingered.

Gideon slapped his face into one of his hands. “Great. So you’re telling me that, although I’m dead, I can die again. What point is there to any of this then?”

Aleron waved his hand at their surroundings.“It is not that you will die again, but you will cease to exist entirely. There is no other afterworld.”

“That feels like the same thing,” he stated, as he lowered his hand to peek at Aleron from the side. “You know what? Never mind. It’s fine. Just don’t go chewing on my leg because you’re hungry.”

He tilted his skull at him.“I do not feel hunger anymore. You do not need to fear this from me.”

“That’s good. Does that mean I’ll ‘cease to exist’ if I fall off a cliff or drown here?”

“No. Only Mavka or Weldir can destroy the souls here.”

“Ah,” he said, nodding like he understood. “So you’re the final grim reapers.” Then he pointed to his green eyes with two fingers before jabbing those fingers at Aleron. “I’m watching you, Duskwalker.”

He tilted his skull the other way.“I am watching you as well, human.”

“Not what I meant,” Gideon said, once more shaking his head. Gideon let out a laugh that sounded rather... empty. “You’re actually pretty funny. I can tell you aren’t very smart, but I guess that makes you charming in your own way.”

Until now, Aleron didn’t know it was possible to be both offended and complimented at the same time.

His orbs turned a reddish pink in embarrassment. Only to morph to yellow because Gideon called him funny and charming.

“I do not have much humanity,”Aleron admitted.“I did not eat enough humans.”

His companion’s features paled, and Aleron lowered his body slightly when he realised he must have said the wrong thing.Should I not speak of my humanity or eating humans?

Gideon looked away from him while rubbing the side of his head. Aleron wondered if he did this because he no longer felt comfortable looking upon him, or if he just wished to inspect the brightly lit forest around them.

“Eating humans is how you gain intelligence, huh? Does that mean you can become human?”

“No. What animals I first ate dictate what form I have. What I am now is what I will always be. Does this bother you?”

Could Aleron’s hopes for a bride be squashed within seconds of playing with the thought?

“Hmm. Not really.” He shrugged his lithe, muscular shoulders. “You look fluffy and soft, like a big puppy with wings. It did take me a bit to adjust to both you and Ingram having skulls and looking so different, but I saw the way he treated Emerie. She also said he was a good guy. I care more about a person’s heart than their face, and you both seemed to be alright.” He shrugged a second time, before sliding his hands into his pockets as though to hide them. Then, he tossed his face in Aleron’s direction, and his green eyes fell on his skull.“Plus, I’m a Ghost now. Can’t really be picky about my friends anymore, and I think... I’d rather not be alone here. You’re willing to come on this journey with me and help me stay awake, and I’m really appreciative of you for that. I’m a stranger; there is no reason for you to show me such kindness.”

“But we are friends now. That no longer makes us strangers, yes?”Aleron asked, hoping for clarification.

The corners of Gideon’s eyes crinkled, making them shine when he gave Aleron a small smile. “I guess that’s true.” Then, with his hands remaining in his pockets, he bent forward slightly to be the same height as Aleron on all fours. “So,friend. Where are you going to take me?”

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