The path was clear.

He gave me a bath last night so my scent wouldn’t be smelt from a distance. This was why she’d originally asked him to start doing it daily, using his hands directly rather than his gloves. It gave her more time, more freedom.

The path was paved, she had a sword she kind of knew how to use, and she was protected and hidden. This was Reia’s chance. This was her moment.

There’s plenty of food and water for me to take. She could pack a bag to last her days, and hide that she was human by taking one of his black cloaks and cutting it to fit her size.

He said he won’t be back for a day or two. This was the first time he’d left for so long, and she knew he would try to

make it quick. She knew he wouldn’t want to be away from her in anxiety that she’d leave.

And she was thinking about it.

She could do it. Everything was ready, she was ready.

Demonslayers wander the world, even at night. Night above the surface of the Veil was dangerous, perhaps just as dangerous as her walk through it in the daytime.

The sun didn’t touch the ground between the trees. Only Orpheus’ home was open enough to allow it, and only at the back of the house where the garden was.

I’d be long gone before he returned to try to find me. She could hide her scent with snow and bark by rubbing it on her feet and skin.

So, why am I hesitating? Why wasn’t she rushing inside to collect what she could for her survival?

She turned her head down to look at the sword in her hand.

I’ve killed a few Demons but... but I’m not that good at it yet. If she came face-to-face with a strong one, she may not be able to fight it and survive. She couldn’t even take Orpheus by surprise or match his strength and speed. A strong Demon would be no different.

I-I only don’t want to go because I’m not excellent with my sword yet. Yes, that’s why Reia turned to walk into the centre of the yard, to swing her sword around so she could adjust to it and increase her agility with it. I’ll um... I’ll go next time he leaves to hunt. I’ll be better then.

She totally wasn’t staying because of the Duskwalker. She couldn’t be. Orpheus would get over it. He’d gotten over the other humans that had left him – one way or another.

Guilt froze around her heart.

No, he hadn’t, and she knew it.

She knew that within the depths of his humanity that bore his pain and sorrow, that he must have cared for each of his offerings. He had treated them preciously, like her, and them being gone saddened him.

I’m not staying because of him. She swung her sword sideways to the right. It’s not because I feel bad for him.

She swung the other way. Or because I don’t want him to be sad and miss me. She twirled the sword in a circle at her side before striking downwards through the air.

He’s a Duskwalker and I’m a human. We don’t belong together. She couldn’t be his friend, his companion. She didn’t want to be his bride. He’s a monster. I can’t have feelings for a monster.

A creature who had claws, fangs, fur, and had tried to eat her multiple times.

A strange creature with pretty, glowing blue eyes that seemed so bright in the sunshine he could walk through.

He’s a monster. With a pure-white bony animal skull that had horns jutting out from it, with those same bones coming out of his firm and rigid body that had felt good to dig into when she’d touched him. He’s a monster. With a warm body and lovely forestry smell, and a deep voice that made Reia’s ears tingle.

Someone who was sweet, and gentle, and kind, with a caring touch that made her body sing with pleasure.

She threw her sword on the ground.

He’s not a monster.

She crouched to sit on her ankles, wrapping her arms around her legs as she buried her head against her knees.

I like him. I don’t want to make him sad.

She didn’t care what he was, that he was different and a little scary. She wanted to be his friend. But that means being stuck here.

This is my freaking chance to leave, and I’m making excuses to stay. She hugged her legs tighter to squeeze her body in an attempt to release some of her tension. He’s out there hunting for me. He didn’t have to leave, didn’t have to trust me. He could have made me keep eating boring soups and fruit.

I want to stay for him. I want to leave for me. Reia was torn. I don’t want to be his bride. But she wanted to touch him, to watch him work around the house, to talk to him.

She still had so many questions, and she’d never be able to get the answers for them if she left. Like, who was this mystery woman, and what did the village of Demons look like?

She rose to grab her sword to keep practising with it.

I-I’ll get better. When I’m strong enough, then I’ll make my decision. Both would be painful. To choose to either leave or stay, and both would upset her. To be trapped here, but be with Orpheus, or to be free and worry for him, miss him.

I have plenty of time. She’d only been here for a month. A month. Longer than anyone else. She’d survived running away and being attacked by a creepy spider Demon. Him being unconscious, and fighting to protect him and herself while she dragged him inside. She’d survived a thunderstorm. She’d survived just being a woman who bled once a month.

But she knew she wasn’t the first. The mystery woman survived all this. She had apparently spent years with him, so she knew she could be safe here.

She had plenty of time to get stronger, wiser. It had only been a month. She could survive another if she needed to.

What will I learn in that time?

She might be able to get all her answers.

Like where Duskwalkers came from, and why there was one that visited him. How many there were that he knew of?

She could discover more about his past, about other strange things that could also be lurking in the Veil unknown to humans.

Is his cock purple like his tongue? She blushed at her own thoughts, despite really wanting to know the answer to that question. She knew what it felt like in her hands, that it was strange and oddly exotic. But what did it feel like inside her?

No! I don’t want to have sex with Orpheus. She felt like she’d be signing away her soul to the devil. Touching was different. It was sharing pleasure, but not their bodies. If they did, she feared that she’d become his bride. But I really want to have sex with him. She was so curious about his cock, what it would feel like, what any cock would feel like inside her. To have something that thick, and hard, and long, thrusting inside her like his big fingers did.

I’m a damn pervert! She swung her sword downwards with a small scream. A good for nothing pervert that wants to fuck a big, hot, sexy bonehead!

Those purple glowing eyes now had a power over her with the way they reflected over his white skull in the dim light or darkness.

And that damn tongue. She hadn’t had it against her again, but Reia remembered what it felt like, and she wanted it.

Screw this, she thought after a final swing. If I’m not going to leave, then I should go make him his stupid gift.

With a huff and wiping the sweat from her brow, she went inside so she could get a drink of water and begin to figure out what she wanted to make.