Her face paled, surprised that Orpheus would tell him to do that.
“Why?”
Why would he say to do something so terrible?
“Because he said I’m stupid.” She lifted her hand to her mouth to hide the snort of laughter that wanted to escape. “I do not have enough humanity to understand.”
Although what Orpheus had said was cruel, she couldn’t help finding he might actually be right. This Duskwalker was very different from the one she knew. Orpheus was far more intelligent. Even she could see this Duskwalker would struggle to understand a human enough to erase their fears.
“Where do you live?”
“A cave, like all Mavka – except this one.” He looked over the house. “It is strange. Why does he live in a human hut?”
Reia smiled. “Because it makes humans comfortable. If you really want my advice, be like him and build your own. If you bring a human to a cave, it’ll make them unhappy.”
He turned his head away, tapping at his snout once more with his foreclaw.
“He did say to be more like a human. I was going to ask him to help me get better clothes. The ones I take from the humans do not fit.”
“Like… help you by taking you to the Demon village?”
He tilted his head. “You know of it. Then can you take me?”
“Ah,” she laughed. He really was stupid. “No. You should definitely ask him instead.”
“Hmm. Then I will stay until he comes.”
“No. I think you should leave and come back later when he is here.”
“I will stay,” he said, sitting down on the very ground in front of her like a dog.
“You should leave.”
“I will stay!” he yelled, his eyes going red in a flash.
Something caught his attention. Something from above. He turned his head up before she even heard the whooshing sound.
Reia followed where his gaze had turned up to and nearly fell straight on her arse. A Demon! Not just any kind of Demon, but a flying one. One of the most dangerous kinds. Strong and ruthless.
And it was flying over the salt circle.
How is it above us?
She didn’t get a chance to think about it any longer because it dove and headed straight for Reia with the cry of bird similar to that of an eagle.
Despite the Duskwalker in front of her, she ran. Okay, so instead of Orpheus returning to find out she’d left, he’d come back to discover she was fucking dead because she’d been outside like a damn idiot!
Was it the human in her scent it smelled? The blood of the Demon she’d killed? Perhaps a mixture of both?
She was running in the presence of a Duskwalker, but right now she was more worried about the flying Demon.
She felt the pressure of a clawed, three-toed foot starting to close around the upper portion of her arm right before she made it to the porch. Shit! It was right there, but Reia began to be lifted off the ground. It was grabbing her even though she was wearing the amulet, but the moment it tried to close its foot around her head, it screeched in pain from touching it directly.
Suddenly, they were both knocked to the side.
They separated, the flying Demon being tackled to the ground while Reia was let go and fell about a metre to the dirt. A cry fell from her from the impact, the wind knocked out of her completely while her own hand punched her in the face.
Pain radiated through her shoulder, and she groaned, cringing as she grabbed it. She didn’t think she was bleeding but landing on it had hurt like hell.
Snarling and squawking above her head brought her attention forward to see the Duskwalker she’d been speaking to fighting the Demon.
It was brutal. Watching it was difficult with how fast they were moving as they swiped at each other.
The Demon used its arms to claw while the wings on its back allowed it to hover and jump. It looked more human than any other Demon she’d seen. Other than having wings and bird-like feet, the rest of it was human – even its face. It was even wearing pants! She’d never seen a Demon wear clothing before.
The Duskwalker jumped into the air to latch onto it and clawed down its stomach and back to hold on. He caught one of its wings in the process and broke it.
They both fell with a thump against the ground. The horrible snarling and yelps that came from both of them as they made a writhing heap as they fought, was horrifying. Purple blood flung off them as their claws glistened with the liquid.
It was hard to tell who was who, but she could make out the white of Duskwalker’s skull and the red glow that emitted between them – the Demon’s naturally red eyes and the Duskwalker’s glowing orbs of rage.