He was so close he could hear her gasp at his roar, knowing he must be coming upon her. He was her death, her doom.

Then he saw her. Reia stopped and turned to him just in time for him to lunge at her.

She knocked against the ground, but her halt had stopped his claws from ripping into her, instead they found air around her back. His jaw clanked and clicked as he widened it swiftly, his head backing up to make room as he hovered above her.

Just as he dived his head forward to sink his fangs around her head for a quick strike, she ducked it forward at the same time, causing him to miss her. A crackling, wet snarl was loud even to his own hears.

“Orpheus!” she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck to bury her face against his monstrous, fur-covered chest.

He froze. His name and her tight hug burst through the fog that clouded his mind from the chase.

“I’m sorry!” She began to sob, the salt of her tears filling his sense of smell as she heaved her chest against him. Her nails dug through the long fur around his shoulders as they embedded into his flesh. “T-thank you so much for saving me.”

He didn’t know what to do. His emotions were still too chaotic, his thoughts still uncontrolled. He could still attack her. He could still hurt her.

I almost ate her. A part of him still wanted to.

“Reia,” he warned as he placed his hand around her shoulder to pull her away from him. He needed space to calm down. He was still in a highly agitated state.

She shook her head while squeezing him tighter.

“I’m so sorry. I was so stupid. I sh-shouldn’t have left.”

His head shot to the side when he heard the snap of a thin branch on the ground.

We need to leave. Demons would fall upon this area soon at the smell of the arachnid Demon’s blood – and he currently had a human in its vicinity.

“We have to leave,” he told her, trying to get to his hands and paws to get her to let go. Then he stood, able to stand on his pawed feet alone even though that bent his body so that his arms hung forward.

She continued to cling to him until she was dangling in the air, before slipping her legs around his waist to stay attached.

He heard more rustling and knew they were running out of time. Orpheus wrapped one arm around her securely and began to run, occasionally dipping forward to balance himself with his free hand.

His eyes were a diluted red, fear for her safety making it appear whiter than normal. She isn’t wearing the amulet.

He raced for their home, needing to get her within the protective salt circle there. He needed her safe.

OceanofPDF.com

Reia sobbed as Orpheus carried her through the forest.

She knew they were going fast by the cold chill of the air cutting through her skin, but the warmth he emitted kept the shivers at bay. She could hear the rustling of movement beside them, as if something, or multiple somethings, were following them.

Orpheus snarled before he jumped sideways with the sharp, clipping sound of his jaws snapping around air. A warning. He knew they were being followed as much as she did.

“Give us the human, Mavka.” She heard from her left.

“Feed us!” This time it came from the right, a different voice telling her it was a second.

He ran faster than they could keep up, and they quickly fell behind.

She couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t stop clinging to him, not daring to let him go or peek her head up to see the Demons despite not being afraid. She trusted him. Trusted he would protect her.

She didn’t know how long he’d been running for, but the only reason they separated was because his legs crumbled, and they fell sideways to the ground. A gasp tore through

her, and her arms loosened from shock when she thudded against the dirt.

He’d tried to shield her by wrapping his massive hand around her head when they hit the ground, but she bounced away from him after they fell.

“Orpheus?” she asked through her tears, getting to her hands and knees when she saw he was trying to do the same.

He seemed weak as his arms shook before they collapsed.

What’s wrong with him?

“Get... inside the circle.” He pointed forward to show her they were almost inside it.

She could feel the wet tracks of her tears drying against her skin as they stung slightly from the salt of them. She wanted nothing more than to be inside the circle, to feel sheltered by it, but Reia ran over to him when it seemed he couldn’t get to his feet as he tried with all his might to slowly crawl forward.

“What’s wrong with you?” She grabbed his wrist and tugged on him so he could get closer.

“Venom,” he grated.

Her heart clenched in her chest as more tears began to pool and fall in heavy drops. It’s all my fault. He was hurt because of her. I shouldn’t have run.

“Are you going to die?” she cried, yanking on him with all her strength only to make him slip a few inches forward.

Am I going to be the reason he is killed? Just like with her family? Reia felt pain tug on her heartstrings, not wanting Orpheus die more than anything. He’d been nice to her; he didn’t deserve this. She couldn’t lose anyone else. She couldn’t lose someone else she... she cared for.

She didn’t even think about the fact she’d die without him and his protection. Only the worry for his life mattered to her at that moment. She tugged him again to bring him closer towards the house.

She knew the Demons would try to eat him if he stayed outside the circle, knew they ate each other just as much as humans and animals.

“No,” he rasped, helping her to drag him forward one last time, right in front of the salt circle, before he collapsed.

“Sleeeeep.”

His orbs slowly faded black to signify they were ‘closed’.

The fact he said he’d only be asleep reassured her, but he was so damn heavy as a limp form. Her feet slipped on the ground as she pulled him across it until his arm was over the salt circle, then a few seconds later his head, then his torso as she continued to drag him little-by-little.

Fear shot through her when a black figure dropped to the dirt behind them. There was no time for her to be sad, not when it started stalking closer on its three-toed feet. It had the body of a bird with small, flightless wings flapping as it dipped itself. Its head was near human-shaped with a wide maw of fangs.

Oh shit, oh fuck! Reia yanked harder and faster, inch-by-inch bringing Orpheus past the salt circle. Almost there, almost there!

It went to bare its three-toed foot on his leg just as she got the rest of him through. She fell back, her chest rising and falling in rapid breaths as she looked up at the Demon on the other side.