A Court of Souls and Shadows

6. Raven

"Hold still," Azriel said from behind me, an edge of warning in his tone. I immediately felt my body tense up.

"What is it?" I said, trying to hide the slight tremor in my voice.

"There's a bat on your back," he said with disbelief.

"Don't touch him!" I screamed, whirling around to face Azriel. His lips pulled down in a frown as he stared at me in confusion.

"What?" He said with concern. "It looks diseased! I need to get it off of you!"

"Don't. Touch. Him." I gritted out between my clenched teeth. Azriel raised a dark brow at me quizzically. "You know this bat?" His voice was dripping in sarcasm.

"His name is Fang," I said very matter-of-factly. "And he hasn't got diseases! He's a lil' scruffy and flies funny, that's all." I shrugged and turned back around to continue our journey, Azriel's deep laughter echoing in the mountains behind us.

"Fang," he said, still laughing. "Not a very creative name."

"Shut it, Antwon," I shot back at him. He shoved my shoulder in response and I went flying forward at the unexpected touch, landing flat on my face. Fang fell off my back to the side, not looking too pleased either. I pushed myself to my feet and whirled to face Azriel once more.

"What the fuck what that?"

Azriel's smile dropped and he immediately rushed forward to grip my shoulders. I flinched under his touch and shrugged him off before taking a step further back.

"Shit, Snowflake, I'm so sorry. I was only joking. I didn't think you'd go flying like that," he apologised quickly, reaching for me again. I stepped further back once again, and I saw the confusion cross his face.

"It's fine," I said. "Just don't touch me again, okay?" I looked down at my feet as I kicked a few loose rocks with my boots. "I just have a thing about being touched. I, uh -"

"Fuck, I'm so sorry," Azriel cut me off. "You don't have to explain at all. It won't happen again."

I nodded as I turned back around to continue. Azriel insisted on me leading the way down the mountain, because he wanted to keep an eye on me and our surroundings to make sure we weren't ambushed at any point. I went along with it, not wanting to offend his male ego. He didn't know I'd had my magic pulsing around us the entire time on the lookout for Souls. I would sense an incoming threat long before he could see them.

Silence fell over us as we continued our hike downward, the sun dipping lower as the afternoon quickly progressed towards nightfall. When we reached a small clearing in the trees, Azriel finally broke the silence that had cloaked us for the last hour.

"We should stop here for the night, it's getting dark," he said.

"There's no shelter here," I replied in a flat tone.

"We'll make a temporary one. We can't risk getting caught out in the dark."

I rolled my eyes but complied, helping him snap branches from surrounding trees to make a lean-to against a large tree and constructing a fire in front of us. It wasn't the best, but it would keep the still-falling snow off us as we slept. As Azriel worked on building the fire higher, I couldn't help but notice just how small the space under the lean-to was. I'd laid out my deer pelt on top of the ground underneath it to hopefully stop us from freezing, but I didn't like the idea of sleeping so close to a stranger.

Azriel interrupted my thoughts like he could read my mind. "You sleep first, I'll take first watch," he offered. I almost sighed in relief. We would take it in turns to rest. Of course. I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it. It made sense to take turns, with the dangerous beasts that lingered in the woods at night.

"Thanks," I said, dropping my bag and scrambling underneath the shelter. I pulled Fang from his place on top of my bag and into my lap, rubbing the top of his scruffy head gently. He had been in the cave when I found it and hadn't left my side ever since. I was pretty sure he had some sort of magical properties because it made no sense at all for a bat to live as long as he had. He was at least 470 years old. That was how long I had been living in the cave and known the small creature. He was black and scrawny, never seeming to put on weight no matter how much I fed him. The fur on his head always stuck up at all different angles. I almost named him Scruffy because of it, but then I'd noticed one of his fangs was bigger than the other. It was the cutest thing. And so, I'd named him Fang. Azriel would just about die from laughter if he knew I'd almost gone with Scruffy. I smiled to myself at the thought.

Azriel was still a stranger, but he wasn't all bad. So far he had been kind and patient with me, despite all of my best efforts to push his buttons. It had been a long time since I had put my trust in anyone, but something about him made me feel like I could relax a bit. His brightly pulsing soul calmed my nerves as well. It was a clear-cut sign he wasn't a complete asshole. He would still have to earn my complete trust, and I wouldn't let my guard down for a moment; but at least I knew he wasn't going to try to kill me. That was something at least.

I looked over to where he sat, stoking the fire. He must have felt my eyes on him, because he looked up and met my gaze for a moment, before his eyes fell to my lap. I looked down at Fang. The small creature adjusted in my lap, resting his scruffy head into the side of his wing before closing his eyes to go to sleep. I heard Azriel chuckle and looked back up at him.

"How long has Fang been with you?" He asked, his hazel eyes burning into mine. His lips were tipped up at the corners in amusement.

"400 years, give or take," I shrugged. "I have no idea what the fuck he is, but he can't just be a bat. I think he's magical in some way, but I have no idea how. He's probably older than me." I laughed as Azriel stared at Fang, shock clear as day all over his face.

"It's best not to question it," I laughed. "I don't anymore." Azriel smiled and shook his head. "Unbelievable," he said.

"What?"

"Just when I think I've seen everything, you come with a centuries-old magical bat attached."

I laughed and looked back down at Fang, who was now sound asleep. "I can't just be a plain old Soul Stealer," I quipped. "Got to keep things interesting."

Azriel laughed again, and I found myself thinking that it was quickly becoming one of my favourite sounds. I wondered what he was like with others. I had assumed an Illyrian warrior would be much more serious, rude even. But so far, Azriel was continuing to surprise me. He had been kind, patient. Not the gruff warrior I had assumed he would be when I had first caught sight of him in the distant woods when he had first found me.

"You're not what I expected," I admitted.

"You're not what I expected either," he replied.

"Oh no?" I asked, my eyebrows rising in surprise. "You were expecting a withered old witch of some sort?"

Azriel shook his head with a smile. "Something like that," he admitted. I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed again.

"And why wasn't I what you expected?" He asked me. I wasn't sure I wanted to answer. I avoided his piercing gaze and looked into the flames of the fire instead.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging," he pushed after I was silent for a moment too long. I rolled my eyes and leant back against the tree trunk behind me under the shelter.

"I don't know," I said with a sigh. "I guess I expected you to be more... grumpy."

"Grumpy?" Azriel almost wheezed at my response. "Why would I be grumpy?"

"You're an Illyrian warrior," I shrugged. "And so far you've been kind to me. Not the sort of reception I'm used to."

His lips pulled down into a frown as his eyebrows drew together. "I don't like to get into the habit of pissing off new allies," he said.

"That's not it," I said, shaking my head. "I get the feeling you're always like this, allies or not. I can get a pretty good read on people."

That playful smile met his lips once more as he looked into my eyes. "I guess it helps when you can literally see people's souls."

I laughed and closed my eyes, getting settled for the night. Maybe this new alliance wouldn't be so bad after all.