It had only taken a day to pass it and some of his distress lessened.
It took two days to leave the next ring that held those who hunted humans but were not as desperate for it. They ate irregularly, only when they were starving, and they would consume the first life they found – whether that was human or animal. They didn’t care as long as their hunger was sated.
They were typically medium-sized Demons with a little more thought. There was also less of them, their numbers growing smaller the further in they went.
Orpheus led them along the stream that eventually turned into a slow moving, but deep river.
The Mavka asked them both various questions, inquisitive about their relationship and what his future could hold if he found his own female. Some had been a little too personal, him not understanding what a boundary was. Orpheus had to snap his jaws at him frequently, especially when Reia squirmed on his back when clearly uncomfortable.
They only stopped for a few hours during the night so that one of the Mavka could sleep. It was a long journey with lots of walking. One of them needed to rest while the other looked out for any signs of trouble or danger, only to switch the following night.
Orpheus cradled Reia in his arm each time to allow her to sleep comfortably whether he was the one watching or the one sleeping. Choosing to trust the Mavka had made him restless. He wouldn’t have slept if he were by himself, but he needed to have his strength so he could protect her.
She also slept while she was clinging to him as he walked. She often had to move around him, going from straddling his back to being carried in his arms since her body cramped due to the strain. She asked to walk for a few minutes here and there, and he allowed it for brief periods.
By the third day, Reia groaned on his back, tilting her head backwards and pulling on his hood which put pressure on where it was caught around his horns.
“This is so boooring,” she whined. “Why did I even ask to come?”
“I would not have left you behind, Reia.”
He would have if the option had been better.
“It’s so far away. Being able to walk sometimes would have made this easier.”
He wished he could turn his head to see her, but if he did, his long snout would smack her in the face, and he still wouldn’t be able to see.
“But you would have tired yourself out. How would that have been easier?”
“Yeah, but at least I’d be doing something.” She moved the hand she had been using to hold onto him from his neck to rub her face. “There isn’t even something to look at. It’s just trees. Lots and lots of trees and mist. This is the most boring thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. I thought living alone in my house had been boring, but this tops that.”
“You lived by yourself? But there were many people in your village.”
“I told you, Orpheus,” she said quietly, wrapping her arm back around his neck so she could be closer. “They thought I was the harbinger of bad omens. They hated me and shunned me. No one spoke to me, and they built me a house on the outskirts of the town right inside the wall to keep me away.”
He had not known this. He hadn’t asked her much about her life with the humans since he wanted her to focus on the here and now, that she was with him and no longer with them. He didn’t want to remind her of where she’d come from in case she tried to go back.
“It was so boring being by myself all the time. I had to find shit to do to keep myself entertained.”
He looked at the ground as he walked while contemplating her words. He couldn’t imagine humans shunning one of their own. They usually fought so fiercely to protect each other.
They abandoned her?
“Were… you lonely?”
Had she been like him, filled with the same pain that had lingered inside him for hundreds of years?
“Eh.” He felt her shrug. “I was at first, when I was young, but I got over it. There was nothing I could do about it and no point on fixating on it.”
He chuckled. That was a very Reia thing for her to say. She is such a strong creature. So resilient, despite what had happened to her.
“Have I ever told you that your fur is really soft?” she asked, rubbing her face against the long, wolfish fur around his neck.
She was changing the subject, and he happily allowed it.
She likes my fur. His eyes glowed a bright yellow, making the Mavka next to him step back in uncertainty at his sudden emotion change.
“We should stop here for now,” he said to them both when they reached a small space between the trees. “We have passed into the border of the village. We will not be able to rest from here on out.”