A yelp tore from her aching lungs when he picked her up, lifting her off the ground and into the air by her waist.
“What are you doing?” she asked when he settled her backside into the crook of his elbow with his arm curling around her mid-section to hold onto her.
His hand spanned her side right below her breast, cupping her ribcage firmly to make sure she wouldn’t fall.
“You’re complaining that I am too fast, and you are too cold walking in the snow.” She looked towards him to find that he was already staring up at her, his glowing eyes blue once more. “I do not wish to slow down. I will carry you.”
Reia held onto his forearm with one hand and his bicep with the other, feeling her hands digging into firm flesh, then he started to walk again, this time carrying her. She half-expected him to be cold, like the dead, but he was surprisingly warm. It seeped into her backside and torso where he touched her, and it felt as though it was melting the ice in her veins and muscles.
“Ah... Thank you?” she said with a frown not only on her face, but also present in her voice. “That’s considerate of
you, I guess.”
“Cannot have you dying before you even reach the Veil.
You humans die so easily, even from simple sicknesses.”
She nibbled at the corner of lips. “And what will happen to me when we get to your home?”
“That depends solely on you.”
She rolled her eyes with a mild huff. That was an ominous answer.
However, Reia did truly find him carrying her considerate.
She hadn’t expected any form of kindness from him. She kind of expected to continue tripping after him until she collapsed half-dead in the snow. The Veil was a four day walk from her village.
He may look monstrous, but at least his deep voice is nice. She couldn’t help liking the way his voice sounded.
Gruff, rough, dark, and hinting with warmth. And then there is the way he smells. Even now she could smell that smoky mahogany and pine aroma from him.
When she had been putting on this dress this morning, she had been expecting every minute with him would be a horror story. She didn’t know what awaited her in the Veil with him, but a part of her had worried he wouldn’t wait that long to eat her.
Still, Reia couldn’t forget that he was a monster, no matter if he seemed to be thoughtful or even have some form of kindness within him. He was inhuman, something just as terrifying as the Demons, and she would always remember this.
For now, she was using the confusion and uncertainty of her situation to remain calm. She was angry with the people that forced her to currently be here with him, and she was using that to drive her forward rather than trembling in fear.
Just stay level-headed, you can do this. You can figure something out.
“Are you going to carry me the whole way?”
She dug her fingers harder into his body, curling her fingers around the material of his black jacket, when she felt how much the warmth from him was helping to ease the ache in her frozen fingers. If she could have reached, she would have pressed her feet against him as well.
“If I have to.”
She tilted her head forward, her hair curtaining around one side of her head as she looked over to him.
“Aren’t I heavy like this?”
“You weigh nothing to me. I could render your body into pieces with very little effort.”
Her back stiffed as she ducked away from looking at his face. “Are you trying to scare me?”
“You already smell mildly of fear.” Her back stiffed further.
She hadn’t realised he could smell it and thought she’d been doing well to hide it. She was sure if it wasn’t for his arm around her keeping her steady, she would have fallen backwards. “I am merely telling you the truth.”
“You did not answer me.”
“But I did.” He turned his head to the side so he could see her past the hood. “I was explaining that I am strong enough to carry you the entire way, if you so choose. I am not trying to frighten you.”
Relief settled through her body like a cascading waterfall washing over her shoulders. She crossed her ankles, pondering this strange position she was in.
How many humans can say they’ve had a conversation with a Duskwalker while being carried on their arm? If she wasn’t so disturbed by that fact, she may have laughed.
“I’m going to be honest, I thought you would be more terrifying. I thought you would toy with me or drag me along the ground if I couldn’t keep up with you.”
She peeked behind her at the quiet wolves made up of void-like fur and blue swirling flames. They didn’t sink into the snow since they weren’t actually solid, and it made her
realise she should have known they weren’t real now that she was aware of it.
“I can toy with you freely when I am home. Here is not safe for a human who does not wear protection, nor comfortable.”
Way to go, Reia. Just shatter your own fantasies that this might actually be okay by saying something stupid. She had been hoping torture wasn’t on the table.
She gave a deep sigh while allowing her eyes to span over the forest passing swiftly around them. The only colours she could see was white from the snow, the thick brown trunks of trees, and the green leaves that loomed over them.
A quiet peacefulness flittered between them, monster and human, as they walked. She felt her body bounce every time he took a wide step, his feet only sinking into the melting snow to just below his calves.
