Eh, she thought with a shrug.
There was only one person who currently wanted to capture her, and he had elongated, scale-covered arms. He was the only one who could have her.
She didn’t really care if humankind was turning their backs on her. She had already turned hers to them, quite happily, if she were honest.
She loved people, so it wasn’t in hate or spite towards humans, but more because she loved someone, or rather, something else so much more. She was willing to give up normality for him.
That didn’t mean when a guard holding a spear pointed his big finger at her, she didn’t gasp and tightly hold the bag of supplies she had... stolen. What? She didn’t have any money! Kind of hard to have a dime when she had returned from the dead with nothing, not even a pair of underwear.
“You there! Halt!” The guard yelled, as his companion turned around in surprise.
The second guard looked at her quizzically for a moment before he registered who she was. He bolted for her, which caused the first to run for her as well.
Emerie let out a high-pitched squeal, hiked up the skirt of her dress, turned, and legged it. No way in hell was she going to be captured.
Holding her bag of supplies to her chest, trying to make sure nothing fell from it, she turned down a path between two houses. Since they jumped into it, she just kept running. Then Emerie turned left, and then right, before going straight.
She knocked into a few people, having to cartwheel her arms so she didn’t trip and fall over with them, but she kept going.
When she was close to the edge of the town, she checked over her shoulder to make sure they couldn’t see. Then she turned incorporeal and drifted through the town’s protective wooden walls.
She became physical once more.
Running in the direction of the gate, so she could go to the hill beyond it, she glanced to a dark figure who stood on all fours at the top of it. He was mostly hidden by the long, swaying stalks of grass, and perhaps, to an unknowing eye, would be invisible.
Someone must have noticed her pass the open gates because two guards started to chase her from a fair distance away. They should have given up, considering she was leagues ahead of them.
“We need to go!” she shouted just as she came upon Ingram.
“Why?” he asked, shaking his head as he turned his raven skull towards the guards. His orbs flared red. “I can just kill them.”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” she countered, as she grabbed the horn that still had the ornament she’d give him in preparation to leap.
He lowered himself just as she jumped to his back. A makeshift saddle, a special one just for him and his spikes, cushioned her.
She liked how it disappeared whenever he shifted into his more humanoid form. It was a neat trick.
“Go, Ingram! Before they see you.”
Hopefully with the distance, they just thought he was a horse or something. It was doubtful the guild would have shared that she hadn’t only deserted them but released a Duskwalker. They wouldn’t want to share their failure.
They were secretive for a reason.
Ingram, with an annoyed huff, galloped at his top speed. Within seconds, the town with a cornfield beside it disappeared from view. In minutes, he’d crossed over a wide and vast meadow, then up a sharp hill.
He veered to the left at the top and bolted along it before going right.
She knew the path he was taking, as they had taken it twice in the past. A little over a month ago, and then recently.
Looking at the back of his white skull and jutting goat horns, the smile that curled her lips was simply because where he was taking them was... sweet, and also adorable.
“Here is perfect,” she stated, patting his neck when he’d begun slowing down on his own.
He turned his head to the side, and bright yellow glowed from his orbs.
Emerie kicked her leg over and slid down the side of him, straight onto the soft, short grass. Butterflies had already lifted off in a small kaleidoscope, even before she laid back with a cheerful giggle.
One that only got louder when he fell to his front, with his skull plopping sideways across her abdomen.
“Well, that was fun,” she laughed.
“That is the second time you have been chased from a town, Emerie,” he grumbled, even though his orbs remained bright yellow.
“Guess it makes life interesting for us,” she answered, turning her face up to the bright sunlight. “It’s not like it matters. Even if they capture me, I’ll just hover my Phantom butt out of there when no one is looking.”
He twisted his head to look at her better, another annoyed huff bursting from him. “Yes, but it means you will be away from me for longer.”
Her lips pursed. “Another hour won’t hurt. I need supplies. Clean clothes, fire starting tools, fresh food.”
“But you do not need to eat.”
“But it feels good,” she argued playfully.
That was enough to win, and he crawled up until he was beside her. He pulled her into his side so she was cuddling him and looked up at the sky along with her.
She took in the clouds, thankful they weren’t shielding the sun. A flock of birds passed overhead, likely migrating for food or to breed since winter was almost upon them.
After a while, she softened her tone, and asked, “You like this hill, don’t you? You keep bringing us back here.”
“I... do,” he admitted.
“Why?” she asked, laying her face in the direction of his bony one.
His orbs flared bright pink, as his hand tightened on her hip. “Because it is where I first started truly loving you.” And just like that, he made her fall even deeper for him. Then, he grabbed her bag to shake it. “Did you obtain another dress I will tear off you?”
Her lips pursed at that. “I did. Two, actually. But try not to rip them. It’s such a waste.”
“But it is fun,” he stated, and his quiet chuckle told her he was just trying to tease her.
Ingram was turning out to be rather... playful. He could turn anything into a game and then that game into something perverted.
Like tag.
If Ingram ran, he’d find a spot to hide and tackle her since there was no way she’d be able to keep up with him. If she ran, using her Phantom form to get away and hide her scent, he’d tackle her when she was physical.
Both times ended in her being tackled in his four-legged form, and being thoroughly taken by his cock while he was more monstrous.
She embraced it all, especially since it seemed to be healing him of Aleron’s loss.
They were both better after seeing their loved ones again in Tenebris. Although she knew she’d never see Gideon unless she truly died again, it was nice to know he was in a place where he wasn’t alone, scared, or confused. He was resting in peace, with his happiest memories.
Ingram was under the belief that, although there was nothing he could do to bring back his kindred, Aleron would find a way to return to him.
Emerie didn’t know if that was true, but she fed his hope. Who knew? Maybe he was right. He’d been able to do the impossible and go to the afterlife and come back.