Chapter 24

"I wish we could stay a little longer," Linh stated with a sigh, noting how the shade of the cliff side was about to touch the water.

Apparently sea Demons would shift beneath the sand of the beach, creeping ever closer for when they could emerge in the shade of the afternoon. As the tide rose, they chased the night along with it.

"I'd love to see dusk," she continued, picking up a shell to see if she wanted to add it to her ever-growing collection. "It's one of my favourite times of day."

She turned to Nathair to show him her new piece. He cupped underneath her hand to inspect it, pretending to care when she'd already figured out he didn't like her shells. This big Duskwalker was sweet enough to lie about it.

She pushed one of her loose pigtails over her shoulder – since she'd restyled her hair again this morning. She had a feeling Nathair liked seeing the change whenever she washed it.

"I am feeling well today," he signed, before looking back at the cave entrance some metres away. "Would you like to see what the night sky looks like over the sea? If I do slip into a fragment, you can just hum for me."

After testing it a few times, they had come to learn that if Linh hummed softly while Nathair was in a trance, she could ease him out of it. Singing, apparently, was too abrupt, and he'd slip back into the trance like the voices were angered she'd interfered. Humming brought him out gently, and only quietened them to a point to where he could push them back on his own.

They battled them together.

Her lips curled with fondness, and her eyes flicked side to side between his orange orbs. "I would say ‘What about the Demons?' but I already know that answer."

Nathair chuckled, and with a satisfying purr that had her tingling, signed, "Good, little nightingale." Then he turned to head back to the cave entrance. "Dusk will not be here for quite some time. We can put your shells away and feed you before then, and return when it is closer."

She eyed the fish dangling from his tail tip. Now that she had some herbs, wine, and even ginger root, she thought she may enjoy the taste a little better.

The return to his main cave was uneventful, as it always was, but she'd begun to notice the distinct difference in the quiet darkness. Rather than Linh holding his wrist for guidance, Nathair would place his arm across her back and hold her shoulder.

She thought if he was able to sink lower on his tail without falling due to his heavy torso, he may have held her side. I would have liked that. But she didn't mind this.

It felt like he wanted to hold her intimately without having to cart her up the tunnel like a weak-hearted, frail maiden. She wasn't one, and she appreciated not being treated as thus.

She also took him preparing her food as a gesture to take care of her, rather than that she was incompetent. Nothing he did made her feel less, and sometimes she forgot that she was so much smaller than him. He treated her as his equal in heart and in mind.

Humour crinkled the corners of her eyes as she took in his serpent skull staring upon her while she ate. I kind of enjoy how he treats me like a princess.

He even had a crown in his nest of riches, which he liked to place on her head. I should try to make him dance with me, like in those fairytales and history books. The idea of dancing with Nathair, who bore a tail instead of legs, was rather humorous.

I bet he would try for me, anyway.

Finishing her food, Linh moved to clean up, the patter of her bare feet echoing against the stone. Nathair just tossed the bones in his lake, apparently not caring where they lay. She turned to him, brushing her pants and dress of any potential dirt and herbs, and gave him a smile.

"Alright. Is it time to go back now?" She couldn't contain her excitement.

"Sure," he signed with a nod. "But first, I would like to teach you some words in case we need them. You must also make me a promise."

"Oooh, a promise," she teased, making him huff.

"You must promise that no matter what happens, you will not be afraid."

Oh, that was a lot more serious than she was expecting. "Of course. I'll have you to protect me, so it'll be fine."

"Yes, but..." He paused, only to lift one of his hands and brush it over the top of his skull as he looked away momentarily. He brought it back down with a sigh. "If we are attacked, you must remain calm. I doubt your singing will pull me from a rage. I can battle Demons, but if your scent of fear is overwhelming, I will turn on you. Trust that you are safe with me, no matter how frightening it may be. No matter what I must do to keep you safe."

Linh reached forward and grabbed one of his hands to hold it in both her own. "Don't worry, Nathair. I'm a big girl."

He pulled his hand away to sign, "You must also not interfere. Do not try to help or get in the way. If I hurt you with a stray claw..."

Linh put her hand up, pressed all her fingers together against her thumb, and flapped it open and closed. "Blah, blah, blah."

Nathair dived forward and scooped her into his arms before she could get a single step away to escape. He opened his maw to clomp it against her neck and nibbled while being careful of his sharp lower jaw fangs.

"Oh nooo! I'm being eaten. Whatever shall I do?" Linh placed her hand against one of her temples and went limp as if she'd fainted.

Then she let her tongue fall out. He chuckled deeply and pulled back to grab the tip of her tongue, giving it a light yank.

"See. I told you it's not believable when you stick your tongue out," she stated with a laugh.

Like he wished to punish her, he shoved her over his shoulder so she was forced to lie over it. He slithered over to her belongings, and her black slippers were waved in her face.

"I don't need them if you're just going to be a brute and carry me the whole way, like I'm a sack of potatoes."

She squealed when he accidentally tickled her foot as he was shoving her shoe onto it. Once they were both on, he bent forward to tuck her fire-starting kit into her lantern and picked it up.

"Why are you bringing that with us?"

He didn't answer her, just headed into the dark opening of his tunnel. She shrugged.

"I have a question for you," she started, digging an elbow into his shoulder so she could put her chin on top of her fist. "If you were to wear pants, would you just wear one leg and let the other flap about? That would look silly then, wouldn't it? What about a skirt? I think you'd look cute in a mini-skirt. Should we get one made for you? With ruffles like your fins?"

When he paused in their descent just to laugh, Linh giggled along with him.

Linh proceeded to have a one-sided conversation, all of which was designed to humour them both on their travels.

When they were closer to the exit, he slipped her forward so she could fall into a cradle. He didn't put her down as he ducked into the opening where the damaged ship lay. She looked out beyond the alcove.

"Oh wow. Look how close the water has gotten now."

Usually it was a rather large distance to walk to the shoreline, but it'd crept halfway up the sand. The sky was dim, and she could tell it wouldn't be long until dusk coloured its expanse. The shade of the cliff side reached way past where the shore would normally be.

As Nathair climbed down the rocky ledges, Linh remained unafraid. Even when he exited the alcove and she spotted a legless Demon flailing in the shallow waves, she wasn't scared. Nervous, sure. Her heart did pick up at seeing it, but she felt safe in his arms even when he took them further onto the sand.

The legless Demon looked like some kind of furry sea animal and completely lacked any humanoid qualities. Two large fangs shot down from its mouth, and it roared as it bounced towards them on its flabby gut. Its red eyes never left her face.

Surprisingly, Nathair placed her feet upon the sand.

Moving so fast she only saw him as a blur, he spiralled around her until she was protected on all sides with two rows deep of tail walls. Then he placed his clawed hands on the ledge of himself, bent towards the Demon, and let out a horrible, high-pitched hiss with his venomous fangs on full show.

The Demon cowered a little.

Nathair got in her line of sight, just to shield her from it, and let out a loud, beastly growl. The sound of it had the little hairs on her body sticking up as a titillating shiver rushed down her spine to sucker punch her in the pussy.

With her thumbs pressing into her cheeks and her fingers wiggling up near her ears, she leaned to the side and stuck her tongue out at its retreating form.

Honestly, the Demon had been so small she was bigger than it. No wonder it wisely chose to back off.

The walls collapsed, and he scooped Linh until she was seated on top of him. Nathair placed her back against his front, but in a way that was obvious he could quickly sink her into the middle and make her stand like before. His tail tip would usually find a way to curl around her ankle, but she noted a few feet of it were straight and outside of their cuddle.

Before long, the west began to turn purple. She couldn't see the sun, as this beach faced due north and the cliff walls blocked its descent from view.

Still, it was beautiful. She looked up and soaked in the white clouds beginning to turn purple and orange, as if fire had broken out in the sky. A few stars twinkled, and even the waxing moon already shone through the last of the day.

She stared up at the moon for longer than she should have. It's almost been three weeks since I met him. Had it only been that long?

It felt like forever since she'd met Nathair.

She lowered her gaze to his skull and took in the way thin gold cracks glittered in the muted light of the sunset. Even with his orbs red as his skull followed what she suspected to be another Demon, he looked magnificent. His black scales had taken on a more red-orange gleam in the dusking light, and she petted a few in appreciation.

His head darted to her, his orbs shifting to dark yellow before he looked down at her hand placement.

"Oops, sorry," she said, taking her hand away from the side of his pelvis where a human's thigh would have started. She hadn't meant to touch so precariously to his groin, and she flushed when his seam clenched before she looked away.

Nathair returned to warding off Demons with hisses and warning rumbles.

Linh ignored all the scuttling she heard, and the way sand shifted around them. She did flinch just as dusk was settling and the chill of night began to truly creep in.

A euk sounded to their left, followed by lots of flapping as sand shifted and sprayed. Linh braved looking over his tail to see the tip of it caught around a Demon's neck while the rest of it had coiled around its arms and legs to keep it from clawing him. It flailed but made no noises as he strangled it.

Blood sprayed from its mouth when Nathair tightened his tail and crushed its body. He tossed it towards the approaching sea, and water writhed and splashed as Demons fed upon it.

"I have an idea," Nathair signed in the bright light of the moon shining down upon them.

She trusted him when he placed her hands over her ears, then covered the backs of them within his palms as an additional sound shield. Nathair let out a roar, the majority of it muffled through their combined press over her ears. He did it towards the sky, as if he wanted the full use of his lungs and throat.

His entire body rippled, to the point his frills danced from the strength of it.

Even she could tell it was a frightening warning to all those within earshot. It was so loud it vibrated her, and her body instinctually curled in aversion to the monstrous way it tingled her. It also, somehow, had her pussy spasming along with it.

She had no reason to be afraid. Instead, she bit her bottom lip, wondering if he were to produce such a beastly roar while they were being intimate, if her inner walls would ripple again and it'd make her come.

When he pulled away, the area became quiet.

A Demon sat nearby, watching them as if waiting for Nathair to lower his defences or place her upon the ground. All the rest had fled, and even the water had gone still except for a small crashing or gurgling wave here and there.

Nathair cupped the side of her head and placed his snout against her neck. He took in a deep draw through his nose hole, obviously sniffing her, and let out a quiver.

"Did you like that?" he signed, a chuckle nearly over-shadowing the small purr he let out.

"Nope!" She squealed the lie while shoving her legs together.

"I smell your arousal, Linh." He tilted his snout down her body and flicked his forked tongue towards her pelvis – tasting it in the air. "L-i-a-r."

She squirmed and shoved his head upwards with her cheeks so hot she thought she'd melt. "Aren't you supposed to be watching out for Demons?"

"I can do it again for you." When his purr mixed in with his damn chuckles, it came across as devious. "It's loud, so you would still need to cover your ears, but I only covered them as well because I thought you would find it frightening. Had I known your pussy would–"

Linh grabbed his hands and gave him the foulest glare she could muster. "S-stop it."

She wanted to watch the sky with him, not be a fidgeting, horny mess. I shouldn't have let him teach me all his sexual signs. Now he was able to use them against her!

Nathair rolled his head and fell back against his tail as he slipped his humanoid torso down. With his arms over the ledge of a wall made up entirely of himself, he patted at his chest.

She considered denying him, but easily gave in. With her back nestled between his torso and left arm, she placed her head against his rounded shoulder joint and leaned into him.

Daring to look over her shoulder, she connected with red eyes gleaming in the moonlight. The Demon was fairly big, and seemed to be one of the rare few who could withstand the moonlight for long periods of time. It relaxed whenever a large cloud passed over it.

Humans knew the moon reflected sunlight, but it was muted enough that it didn't give them a sunburn, and apparently not strong enough to harm many Demons. She shuddered before turning back to Nathair.

"It's just sitting there... like a creep," she stated with a bleurgh.

"I watch you all the time," he argued, making her eyes roll.

"Yeah, but I like it when you do." She hiked her thumb at it. "You don't do it with red eyes and an ugly face."

Thankfully all the brine in the air stopped any unpleasant smells coming from it. The wind also came from every direction, seeming to disperse it further.

"I know you like it when I watch you," he signed slowly, purposefully, and in a way that made her stare at the points of his claws. He licked at his maw purposefully.

How have I never noticed how... nimble his fingers are? Although his hands were large, she'd never noticed how precise he was with his signing before. How he could make her focus on just the minutest things about his claws, how a finger twitched, how grey some of his pads were. She took in the plumpness of his palms, and the natural lines in them. Even his protruding hand knucklebones seemed more pronounced.

He signs delicately, but with strong and direct movements.They were always assured.

She never realised that they were almost a perfect reflection of who he was.

It took her a moment to understand what he was insinuating before her face heated until she felt faint and wanted to expire. Oh god! He's talking about when I touch myself in front of him! Her mouth opened and closed, as her body tensed in embarrassed outrage.

He chuckled and shuffled her close.

"You are safe. That is all that matters," he signed to distract her, then placed his hand underneath her thigh to lock her to him.

She grumbled, even as a small smile curled her lips. That's true.

She lifted her gaze to the sky and took in the stars as she attempted to calm her bashful heart rate. Galaxy dust sprinkled like a rip in the faraway horizon. Linh had seen it many times, like most humans, but somehow it looked even more mesmerising over the beach. The ocean reflected it, causing stars to glitter in the water like an endless, vast world had fallen upon it.

The waves occasionally crashing upon the shore played a melody of water meeting earth, and it was lulling. It felt cleansing, like if she were to let them smash into her, they could score her clean against the gritty sand and wash away all her worries.

I'm so glad he offered to do this for me.No human would ever dream of sitting out in the open world at night like this. In the time they'd been here, three Demons had come sniffing for her.

Yet, here she remained, protected.

Like she couldn't stray away from looking upon Nathair, she turned a smile to him. Only for it to fall when all she saw was the dark underside of his jaw. With a worried gasp, she leaned up.

His head shot down to her, his orbs orange before he tilted it in question.

"Sorry, I thought you fell into a trance," she muttered.

Nathair patted the top of her head before dragging her back against his chest. Then he lifted his arms around her, and she was forced to translate his signs while seeing them from his perspective.

"Don't worry. Like I said, I feel well today."

She wondered why. We haven't been intimate since yesterday. She hoped it was because the sleep she'd been giving him aided the weight of his mind. He hasn't even fallen into a deep trance like usual.

She'd even woken up to Nathair already aware and ready to be a playful jerk. He's a bully. He took every chance he could to tease her.

The arm she was leaning on moved, and a soft hand came up to hold her nape. She used to hate such a possessive and controlling hold, but she only arched for Nathair when he tickled his claws up her jugular on the opposite side of where his palm lay. Had he brushed just his fingertips up the central column of her throat, she may have thought he wanted her to sing.

I want to tell him.On her mother's side, Linh's family did have a secret they weren't supposed to share. One they all had to vow not to speak to another person when they turned eighteen, and they'd done so in blood and in magic.

But the vow we spoke said human being. Their lips were locked, regardless, and any attempt to write it was broken and blurry.

She'd said it aloud while she was by herself and faced no issue. Nathair is a Duskwalker, so maybe it'll be fine?

He caressed her lips, since she'd been chewing at them in thought, and it caused her to lower her gaze from the stars to his serpent skull. His orbs flared dark yellow, his way of silently asking what was on her mind.

"I've been wanting to tell you something," she muttered, holding his stare. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone. I'm not sure why, but I think it may explain why my voice makes you sleep."

Nathair tilted his head, and the white light of the moon glistened off his dark horns.

"Do you know about the humans who can use magic? We call them Priests and Priestesses, since they don't share anything about their identities, not even their faces."

"Yes." His following dark chuckle said he found humour in this for some reason. Once more, he refused to take his arms from around her and forced her to read his signs backwards. "They are all over this world. Many of my fragments have seen them and their m-a-s-k-s – masks. Why?"

"Well," she grumbled, fidgeting by playing with the seam of her dress. Come on, please be a loophole. She clenched her eyes with hope, and stated, "We are descendants of them, on my mother's side."

Oh wow! That was so easy.She really thought her lips would lock and she'd appear like she was throwing a silent tantrum.

Realising how easy this was going to be, the words spilled from her lips with excited enthusiasm. "Apparently my great-grandmother used to be a mask-wearing Priestess because she could wield magic, but my grandmother didn't have any power, so she wasn't allowed to stay with them. My people made her their leader because we have an excellent relationship with the masked occult."

"Are you saying that you think you carry magic in your voice?" Nathair asked, his hands slow, and somehow they looked... weighted. They sagged after each word.

"Maybe? I do think my mother has magic, since she's able to tend to plants better than others. I think it's why she became a doctor and a herbologist to begin with," she stated, squinting one eye as she lifted an arm to shrug. "Maybe as descendants, we have powers that aren't strong and come out in subtle ways that are unnoticeable. I just... I don't think it makes sense any other way."

Her brows furrowed deeply when he seemed to wince. His orbs shifted to dark blue, and he turned his skull away. As he stared off to the side, there was a forlorn way his shoulders drooped, and his body tensed subtly around her.

Even his hand resting upon his tail wall fisted.

"Nathair... what's wrong?" She thought stating all this would be helpful, like giving him an answer he may have sought.

"Nothing," he signed without even looking at her.

Linh lifted up and cupped the sides of his skull. She turned his bony face to her, and she moved her palms to hold the undersides of his segmented jaw. "Please tell me?"

He stared for a long while, gauging her. He sighed, and the strength of it billowed stray hairs back towards her high pigtails and the thin set of braids she'd wrapped around their bases for extra design.

"Those people are not human. They are not even from this world. They are called..." He paused, his fingers twitching. It was the first time she'd truly observed them appearing unsure. "I don't know how to properly spell it, as it has a special symbol in it."

He twisted until he laid his stomach over the wall of his tail. Then he wrote the word ‘Anzúli' in the sand, with the pronunciation ‘An-zoo-lee' along with it.

"Anzúli? If they're not human, then..." Her frown returned, deeper than ever. "Then who are they? What are they?"

He twisted back to her before snapping his head to the side with a hiss. Linh froze when she looked in the same direction to see the Demon had dared to come closer while he was distracted. It backed up and up until Nathair's following growl ceased. She noticed a few sets of eyes coming from the dragging waves in the water, and she gulped.

She gave him her attention so he could explain.

"They come from another realm." He pointed an index finger upwards on either side of his skull, showing her a new gesture. "E-l-v-e-s are the reason for Demons being here, and they acquired the help of Anzúli" – she guessed the sign via context – "to aid humans as a form of sorry. All their people wield magic, and by the souls I saw of them in Tenebris, they only look partially human. It's why they wear masks."

"So, they wear masks to hide their inhuman features?" she asked, gaining her a sharp nod. "What do they look like then?"

"They have glowing eyes, and a third one upon their forehead." He tapped a claw against his brow.

Her lips parted and then drew back into a cringe. She cupped her forehead with horror. "Are you telling me I could have been born with three eyes?"

"They are mating with humans to keep their numbers. Unless you were to breed with another of their kind, I doubt those features will return."

"Okay," she rasped with widened eyes, brushing her stray hairs back. "That's kind of freaky."

Linh eyed him cautiously and considered pointing a finger at his bony face and telling him to stop spinning wild stories to bully her. He liked to play pranks, so that wasn't out of character for him.

He isn't joking.What he said made sense, and now that she thought on it a little deeper, their secrecy became more telling. They didn't share their names, their faces, nor allow anyone bar themselves into their small temple within her village.

But all this, none of it answered her original question, and she realised he'd only told her to... distract her.

"Why were you sad, Nathair?"

His rolling growl, curt and ending on a huff, gave away that he was annoyed he'd been caught. He snapped his skull away, only to lower it and direct it upon her again. Then he hooked his pinkies, but in the opposite way a person would fingerspell the letter ‘s'.

"Promise," she answered, knowing it meant he didn't want her thinking he was trying to manipulate her.

"If your singing puts me to sleep through magic, then..." He paused, his hands sagging, before his orbs flickered back to blue. "Then no other human will be able to help me, unless they have Anzúli blood."

Oh. If I left... then he couldn't just find someone else.He would have to wade through many other people to find someone rare like her and then hope they would want to be with him. But... I want to be with him.

She also wanted to go home.

Being his songbird for his sake wasn't enough to make her stay, but... Nathair himself? His kindness, the way he made her heart swell with tenderness at his desire to be affectionate and care for her, his humour... all these things constantly made her want to throw her old life away. He was naughty. She could tell he adored being intimate, and his thoughts slipping from him when he had clarity gave away he was rather perverse.

Then there was his exterior. His monstrous, lip-biting exterior that she just wanted to laze around on top of and touch like he was a sensual virility god. The idea of slipping and sliding over him like how he did around her very body often left her tingling with desire.

Linh nodded to make sure he knew she understood and curled back into him to show it was okay. He played with the long, loose strands of one pigtail, and Linh picked at one of his scales while making sure it didn't hurt him. He never seemed to mind that she did this.

Do I really have to choose between him and my home?Why couldn't she have both? Why couldn't he just come with her and meet her village to see that he was wrong?

I know they would accept him, just like I do.

Just like she wanted to.

Linh knew he very much wanted her to mount him. The more she saw his cocks, and even gained the courage to touch them, the deeper her desire to connect with him became. She wanted them closer until they meshed into one being and she forgot about everything: the past, the present, and their uncertain future. What was right and what was wrong.

But it was more than that... If she finally gave herself to him like that, and he didn't change, or only became sweeter, more charming, it'd be proof that Nathair wanted more than just her body.

Despite already knowing the truth, her paranoia refused to ebb. How was she supposed to know the true depth of why Duskwalkers wanted to consume a soul? She'd had someone lie to her to get their way before. Pretty words that meant nothing in comparison to their actions.

The last two times, I felt fine after being intimate with him.She didn't feel unwell, or like her heart was about to vomit out of her mouth in anxiety.

Instead, she kept wondering how she could make things work, hoping they could resolve the obvious problem between them: where they would live – which couldn't be here in this cave.

I want him.Not just his body, but him. More and more, she wanted to be with him. She wanted nothing else to matter, even if there were things and people she couldn't let go of.

Then Nathair did something that made her heart weep. He slipped his hand over her stomach, grasped one of her nervous, fidgeting hands, and held it. It was a silent gesture, telling her she wasn't alone, even if she never voiced her trepidation.

He listened to her silence, as much as she did to his.

She gazed up at the stars once more, feeling a lightness in her heart. I think... I'm ready.