While still being low, he pushed himself forward and bit into Jabez’s ankle.

He pulled back, tripping him over as Orpheus stood up.

Shaking his head, he clamped his jaw down to dig his fangs deeper. Jabez roared in pain, moving slightly side-to-side on his back from Orpheus’ ferocious head shake.

Their fight was evenly matched despite Orpheus being faster and stronger than the Demon King. His ability to teleport at will, even when captured, put him at an advantage.

They both could have their heads ripped off, but Orpheus could continue to fight if his heart or body was pierced,

whereas Jabez would require retreating. If Jabez’s head was torn from him, he would die, but Orpheus’ could grow back.

However, now that he knew the Demon King had learned how to kill Mavka, he was sure he would break his skull if he removed it from his body this time – since Orpheus had his head removed by him in the past only to reform his body a day later where his skull rested.

Neither could land a debilitating blow. Jabez’s claws gouged into Orpheus’ chest in a deep and long strike, but Orpheus did the same to his back. Jabez dug his claws into his neck, but Orpheus turned his head and bit into his arm before he could rip his throat out.

The sounds of swords clung rang in the background, and he’d seen peeks of Reia and Katerina fighting with each other. Their movements were slow in comparison to Orpheus and Jabez fighting, who were swift and short with their attacks, dodging and disappearing in flashes.

Orpheus couldn’t focus on them, he needed to face his own opponent, but he’d seen Katerina was constantly on the back foot. The Witch Owl’s training book had given Reia the skills to fight against her with ease.

“I’m going rip your head off, Mavka,” the Demon King sneered, baring his fangs with a growing grin. “Then I’m going to let Katerina stab it with her dagger, and I’m going to fuck her with your dead skull mounted on the wall above my bed so your hollow eyes can watch us.”

He laughed as Orpheus launched, jumping in the air so he could come down on top of him with his claws already in motion to strike when he landed. He disappeared before Orpheus could reach him and appeared to the left.

Orpheus ran that way, chasing after his constantly escaping prey.

“But first, I’m going to tie your little human down so I can start from her toes as I eat her.” He didn’t reach Jabez in time before his body faded. His voice rang from behind, and he spun to it when he started to speak once more. “She’ll

scream as she feels every bite. I wonder where I’ll get to on her body before she bleeds out and dies.”

“You will not touch her!” Orpheus bellowed, then had to back up when he was suddenly in front of him. He ducked his head back before Jabez could grab it, shooting forward to bite – only to chomp around air.

Ducking forward when his scent came from behind Orpheus, he missed his horn being grabbed, but claws came down across the back of his shoulder. He stifled his yelp, turning around to find he was gone.

Jabez couldn’t get a hold of him because he could constantly smell him, and Orpheus couldn’t get close enough to him without him disappearing. It was a game of chase for both of them, neither really getting the upper hand.

They had played this battle before, many times in fact, and it never ended in defeat or success.

He needed to get Reia and run before something happened to her. She couldn’t survive a fatal injury like he could. Her life is precious. Her skin was beautiful, and he didn’t want to see a mark on it that wasn’t already there.

“Katerina!” Jabez roared, appearing near Orpheus, but not facing him.

His sight turned to where he was looking, only to find Reia had shoved her sword through Katerina’s chest. The blade was sticking out her back, going all the way through her as red blood dripped down it.

She was under her, and she only stood when Katerina began to sag to her knees with blood dripping from her mouth. She yanked the sword to pull it from her slowly.

Orpheus didn’t wait, not when the Demon King’s sight was on her.

He sprinted and tackled Reia, shielding her with his body before Jabez could do anything. Her sword cut into his side, but he didn’t care, not when she was in danger. Nothing else mattered. He was thankful the scent cloaking spell was in

place so he didn’t fall upon Katerina’s dying corpse instead of protecting Reia.

Letting her go so he could be on his hands and paws above her, he stared at Jabez whose face was slowly turning to rage.

“We are leaving,” Orpheus told his quaking form. “We can fight, but neither will win. It has always been this way.”

He curled his arms around her torso, lifting her slowly so he could start backing away towards the exit while dragging her with him.

Dropping her when he disappeared, Orpheus lifted his hands, knowing exactly where and what he was going to do.

He tried to grab Reia and instead he grabbed him by the hands when he materialised. Their fingers interlaced and they both pushed against each other’s strength.

“I will protect her, and I will not let you kill me so you can hurt her.”

He shot his head forward, bashing Jabez in the nose with the forehead of his skull. A crack sounded, and Jabez recoiled. He was gone, materialising off to the side to put space between them.

Once more, Orpheus lifted Reia to his chest with one arm, who clung to the fur there, and dragged her on her front as he slowly walked backwards.

“Thank you for coming for me,” she whispered, making his heart squeeze with a tender emotion.

She wanted me to come. That meant more to him than she would ever know.

“Your human killed mine,” Jabez said, reaching down to pick something off the ground. His back was to them, making it difficult to see what he’d retrieved. “Even if I cannot get to you, you will know how that feels.”

His muscles tensed, expecting Jabez to teleport in front of them. Releasing Reia, he readied himself.

Jabez turned swiftly and threw something across the distance.

She gave a horrible gasp just as a wet shalunk sounded.

Her fingers clutched his fur so tightly it hurt as the fibres pulled on his thick flesh, and he turned his head down to see she was facing up. Her expression was one of pain.

“Reia?” he asked, his hand coming up so he could cup the back of her head.

Something jutting from her back stopped him from finishing his movement and he leaned backwards so he could see.

It felt like the many times he’d jumped headfirst into a cold stream, chilling his body before he was even submerged, when he saw the handle of the dagger Katerina had planned to stab him with sticking out of her.

It was coming from between her shoulder blades, and his heart constricted painfully in his chest. No...

Before he even had the time to register this, Jabez was in front of them, using Orpheus’ distraction to attack.

He threw his hand up uselessly, knowing it would do nothing to stop whatever he was about to do as he clung to Reia with his other arm. He was unwilling to let her trembling form go. Orpheus didn’t want to deal with him, not when he could feel her blood pooling into his hand.

Jabez was knocked back as though he’d tried to hit a wall, stumbling in shock.

Orpheus could see a magic symbol in the air, one similar, but not the same, to the one he conjured in the human village in order to protect it. It was massive, spanning their entire bodies to shield them in a clear dome.

What is this? He’d never conjured a protective shield before. But, like all his magic, he discovered something new by accident when he needed it the most.