The joyful cat Demon from earlier looked skittish as the Duskwalkers towered from behind her.

“She wants these,” Orpheus told him, not knowing that she and this Demon had already spoken to each other.

He reached into his sack of crystals and offered them to him. The Demon took the hard-cover bound books, wrapping each one in brown paper and then putting them in a bag for her, all the while eyeing the feathers sticking out of her hand.

She gave half to him since it seemed like he wanted them.

“But I have already traded,” Orpheus said with a confused twist of his head.

“I don’t need all these, and he looked interested in them.”

He smiled as he took them, gripping them tightly with both hands in glee. He was rather expressive for a Demon.

Then they started to leave.

At the last moment, Reia turned her head over her shoulder and out of Orpheus’ cloak. She lifted her mask enough and closed a singular eye towards him.

“A wink!” he shouted just in time for her to hear it before the door shut. “Amazing!”

She bit her lips together tightly to stifle her giggle. I liked him.

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Reia walked with Orpheus while the Mavka walked on the other side of her as they stepped back onto one of the busier streets.

She yanked on Orpheus’ shirt to get his attention.

“Why are they all staring?” she asked quietly, noticing heads turn to stare more than before.

“He caused a disturbance,” he answered while nodding his snout at the Mavka.

She saw his eyes had changed to a reddish-pink.

“I was distressed when I could not find either of you. I thought something terrible had happened.”

“He was running through the streets, pushing and knocking people over to find us. It caused alarm and many were worried. He also damaged a cart, and I had to trade crystal in compensation for repairs.”

His shoulders slumped heavily under his cloak.

“I thought I had failed in protecting you, when you had helped to bring me here.”

He knew the only reason Orpheus had brought him to Demon village was because of Reia, and he felt indebted to her. He was taking his duty very seriously.

“I’m sorry.” She patted his arm through her cloak. “I shouldn’t have run off like that. It’s my fault.”

“As long as you are safe, I do not mind that they are angry with me.” And, well, they did look rather pissed off with him, their eyes narrowed into glares.

“There are still a few things we need to get, but we should hurry,” Orpheus told them. “He needs an axe and a few other carving tools.”

They went back to where she’d run off from and bartered for the rest of the items.

After that, there wasn’t anything else they needed, so they headed towards the edge of the village to leave.

Orpheus told them their stay had to be short, especially since the washing spell would fade soon, and she needed to be long gone before it did.

Only when they were passing the fabric stalls did they stop, upon her request.

She pointed to a roll of fabric that was pink, another that was black, a pale blue one, as well as one that was brown.

Orpheus traded for multiple metres of each, as well as some proper sewing supplies. There were also jars of clothing dye.

Reia smiled underneath her mask, happy that she could make her own clothing and had proper dyes to change the wedding dresses she had back at the cabin.

The last thing they took was something for her to eat, and she held onto it until they had left the village and crossed the clearing, which was now heavy with shadows as night fell. Only when it was safe for her to remove her deer-skull mask did she begin eating.

“How are you supposed to carry me, now?” she asked Orpheus around a mouthful of food. His back was covered in lots of large and heavy items. “I don’t really want to cling to the front of you.”

“Will you be alright on my side? It’ll be similar to my arm except you’ll be pressed against me.”

She took the last bite of a swirling pastry that tasted like chicken and leek. “I guess that’ll have to do.”

She walked closer and allowed him to curl his arm around her until she was secure, and then he lifted. She almost yelped when she felt his large hand grab her entire arse, his fingers splaying over both cheeks. Bending her legs around him, she held onto his shirt with both hands.

“Well,” she laughed, staring at the side of his bony face before looking forward when they picked up the pace, no longer hindered by her short strides. “I would say that went really well. I expected something to go wrong.”

“Something did go wrong,” Orpheus said with a dark tone.

“You should not have left my side, or, at least, you should have told me that you were following the call of the Witch Owl.”

Reia shrugged.

“How was I supposed to know what she looked like when human? I just saw a woman wearing a cloak of white feathers. I didn’t know it was her.”

“What if you had been taken, Reia?”

“I knew you’d follow me.” She turned to the Mavka to steer away from Orpheus scolding her. “Did you get everything you needed, though?”

“I... don’t know.” He looked to Orpheus. “Did I get everything I needed?”

“This should be enough for you to begin. It will take time for you to build a house, and you will have to make this trip yourself multiple times.”

He brought a hand up to cup the side of his snout, tapping it with a claw. “My cave is in the cliff of the Veil. I cannot build it in the forest there. It’s the serpent Demon’s territory, and he is very violent. He will destroy whatever I make.”

Orpheus was silent for a little while as he thought.

“I recently killed the Arachnid of Sorrows. If her territory is still empty of a strong predator, you can build there. If not, kill them and take it for yourself. They will not have built their nest yet and will have minimal defences.”