The sweet aroma she could smell completely diluted the usual scent of rotting decay. She barely smelt it. They were getting closer to the centre of the village from what she could tell by looking up, and she could smell the undertone of pastries wafting in the air that helped to pierce anything unpleasant.
She couldn’t smell meat, but she could smell every other kind of food a human would cook.
In the distance, she thought she could see the twirling of fire like someone was doing a dance with fire poi or fire sticks.
I wasn’t expecting this. Orpheus was right. There were shops, food stalls, and even entertainment. The Demons were chatting with each other, laughing their animalistic noises while shouting with bustle and excitement.
Curt growling next to her drew her frazzled attention.
It grew louder before an outright snarl broke out, and she saw that the Mavka’s eyes were growing red. He stepped towards the last Demon that shouldered him out of the way with his jaws separated to bare his fangs, while his hands were curled rigid to threaten with his claws.
Orpheus shot his hand out and grabbed him by the snout to draw him closer. “You will be walked into here. They are not being hostile. They are not looking for a fight. Calm yourself, or I will have to abandon you to protect Reia.”
“Orpheus,” she warned, wishing he could see her lips thinned in disapproval.
He released his snout and looked down to her.
“If he transforms and attacks someone, there will be chaos. He is a Mavka, they already perceive us as a threat.”
She noticed the odd lurking red eye here and there, and realised the Demons already looking at them warily. She swallowed a thick lump that formed in her throat.
“It’s okay.”
She reached out while holding the side of the cloak to hide her hands and patted the Mavka’s arm since he looked overwhelmed with all the noise and touches from others.
His head spun to her suddenly, before he looked down to her patting his arm. His tense shoulders loosened, and he let out a long breath. Then he looked around, his head darting quickly one way and then the other, before his eyes slowly faded back to their usual green.
“I am sorry,” he apologised. “This is much for me. I am unfamiliar with so many and worry of being harmed.”
She had to bite back her laugh.
“Don’t worry, I understand,” she said quietly. “I feel the same way. It’s a lot.”
“I am not alone in this feeling?” He touched his hand over his chest.
She shook her head, and his eyes flashed yellow for a moment.
“Thank you. I will try to focus on remaining calm so I do not bring harm to you.”
Orpheus walked them down a narrow street that was less cluttered to bring them to a particular shop. It was as if he knew the layout of the village by memory. A large bell chimed as they walked inside, both Duskwalkers needed to duck under the doorframe as not to knock their horns and antlers.
“Orpheus!” A gruff masculine voice exclaimed before a tall Demon with patches of brown skin within his black void flesh ran from behind a counter. “You have returned.”
Orpheus and Reia were the first to enter, and she saw the tall Demon’s red eyes widen when the other Duskwalker walked in behind them.
“And you have brought another Mavka?” His eyes turned to her. “And a smaller one?”
Reia clutched at Orpheus’ shirt. A Demon is talking...
talking like a human, like a proper shopkeeper.
“Greetings, Snush,” he answered calmly, his arm tightening around Reia at the Demon’s observational gaze.
“I have come to procure clothing for the Mavka.”
Snush, with little curling horns that sprouted from just above his temples and went sideways, let out a mousy laugh. He was wearing a perfectly tailored white suit shirt, black vest, pants, and dress boots. His black and white pinstriped jacket was even a coat tail.
“Well, he does look rather underdressed. Look at him!
He’s only wearing pants.”
The
Mavka’s
eyes
flashed
a
reddish-pink
in
embarrassment as he reached up to touch at his bare chest.
Snush rushed around the counter to go into the back of the shop. There were clothes hanging on racks, but even she could tell they were too small to fit onto the height of a seven-foot Duskwalker.
