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The idea of consuming souls had left his mind broken, and he feared he’d obtain their memories and deepen his suffering. He was aware it was some kind of fucked-up Mavka eating disorder, but he just couldn’t overcome the paranoia of potentially worsening his sickened mind. It was a mental barrier that gave him a horrifying physical reaction.

When he violently hacked up the second and third souls, he sighed in relief, despite the pointlessness of it all. In the back of his mind, he knew it didn’t matter, but the irrational paranoia meant he couldn’t hold them.

As much as giving him new life meant he now lived, he was no longer useful as a Mavka. His purpose, his reason for existence, was pointless if he did this.

The Witch Owl had been horrified when she’d witnessed the first time it happened, but she’d also comforted him. That only earned her a new claw strike from a confused and panicked Nathair, but she’d been lucky to evade his paralysing venom when he attempted to strike her.

His poor mother creator had been violently attacked many times by him. Yet, she never abandoned him, nor blamed him, only offering comfort and guilt-deepening pats in understanding.

Now that the souls had been violently and painfully expelled, he slunk back within the comfort of his tail. He moaned at theheat that surrounded his torso, shifting the female within it so she could warm another part of him.

He tried not to press her against his wounds.

With dawn slowly ascending, he let her soothe him. He focused on her subtle and constricted breathing, her heartbeat, the way she spread salvation through his flesh.

With a last shudder, he refused to sleep, but rested in the only way he could: orbs bright, but body lax.

With a groggy groan, Linh stirred.

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by suffocating darkness.I feel so heavy.Every breath was tight, her limbs weighed down, her mind hazy.

I can’t even move my arms.She tried to rip them closer, but both had gone numb. The grainy, deadened feeling in them caused her to wince, so she wiggled her fingers to ease it, doing the same with her toes. Somehow, that made it ten times worse.

“Ah!” she gasped, recoiling from the pain.

Where am I?The walls around her were tight, unmoving, and she was so dizzy that she found it hard to feel fearful despite the spike of unease. Thank goodness she wasn’t claustrophobic – otherwise, she may have screamed.

But the constriction was unsettling.

Linh tried to think of what she could last remember.I fell asleep... Then I woke to Bragg’s men...Her eyes flung open wide.Oh my gosh! The Duskwalker!

Turning her head proved futile, but she managed to wiggle enough that smooth scales brushed over her cheeks. Well, atleast feeling them meant she wasn’t nestled within his stomach. That would have been harrowing to discover.

That settled her fear so she could get a bearing on what was going on. She needed to stay calm, to not be afraid if she didn’t wish to be eaten. Although information about the Duskwalkers’ existence was mostly rumour-based, she’d read all she could on them.

She needed to be smart if she wanted to survive.

Did it protect me? Why?On second thought, who cared? She was alive, and still no longer in Bragg’s clutches, thanks to it.

The fact I find being trapped by a Duskwalker better than being with Bragg just proves how much of a piece of shit that man is.He was worse than a monster.Or maybe I’ve just gone insane.

She snorted a mild laugh at that, as she stared at the nothingness.

Linh could fret, or she could just accept this super-weird cuddle. She was choosing to just let it be. It’d let her go eventually, and she could figure out what to do from there.

It’s a serpent... and it does feel rather cool. Does that mean it’s cold-blooded?Or, at least, had a lower body temperature than most other creatures?I saw it shivering. Maybe it’s soaking up my heat?

Weren’t most reptiles heat seekers?

Alright, you freaky big danger-noodle. Soak up as much of it as you like.She closed her eyes.You have a little longer. If you don’t let me go, then it’s your own fault if I pee on you.

Linh didn’t know how long she lay there, unafraid but absolutely wary. However, now that her mind was alert, the more her bladder gave an uncomfortable throb.

Ignoring it as best she could, she pondered on her predicament.It’ll take me roughly a day to get to Duneside.There likely wouldn’t be an opportunity to sneak inside due toBragg’s soldiers, so she’d have to pass it. Then it’d take her a week or so to go around the mountain, and then another to walk down to Slater Town.

Her lips pursed and puckered forward.Slater Town is military, but I don’t know if they’d be willing to send out that many men.

Colt’s Outpost, though, was the largest village in the north, and they trained all the soldiers within the region. Many Demonslayers started their training there before moving to Hawthorne Keep further in the east.