Jericho

The morning is spent in awkward silence as we eat before packing up camp and getting ready to begin our journey again.

Eden's quick glances at Damien is only confirmation that she heard at least part of our conversation last night before I noticed she had woken up and ended it before more could be said.

I can't help the daggers my eyes shoot his way any time I feel he's looked at her too long. He's not overstepped in any way, and was even loyal enough to me as his fellow Reaper to tell me about how he's been feeling.

It doesn't make any of this feel any better, and eventually I'll need to sit down and tell Eden why this is such a sensitive topic with Damien. Why I'm not half as mad as I should be about the situation.

About how Damien had found his mate because of me, because I had found and bed her first before I had known who and what she was. It felt like an ultimate betrayal towards him despite my lack of knowledge. He may have forgiven me, but I have not forgiven myself no matter how much time has passed.

I look back in disgust at what had happened.

She was unimportant to me, a good fuck for a night and that was all. I had introduced her to Damien for the same reason. We shared Melinoe at the time, it wasn't uncommon for us to share other women when we left the underworld, as well.

He knew immediately upon seeing her that she was his mate. She felt the bond but outright rejected him when she found out what he was. She was a water nymph, and the daughter of a whore. She was living in a bad situation at the time, but still once she found out Damien was a demon she refused to see him again. I'm the only one who knows about her. Time has gone on, and his mate has long since passed away.

His chance of having a soulmate gone along with her.

Still, there is no time for these discussions until after we achieve our goal, and I feel today is the day we close in on Aries location and finish this little game of chase.

"We've been walking all day, when will we arrive?"

Damien has been quiet until now, surprising me with the lack of complaining he's usually full of on missions. He's a skilled Reaper, but he always has something to complain about along the way it seems.

"We're close to the border of the Ogre's lands. We should teleport to Aries exact location once outside their gates." I inform them.

"Ogre's?"

I turn my gaze to Eden who walks beside me as I nod to confirm her question. Her beautiful face is slightly red from being in the heat for so long, her forehead forming small beads of sweat from how humid the air remains.

But what truly catches my eye is the fear that stirs within her own eyes. Ogre's are ruthless, lawless, crude and unusually nasty beings. They care not for the lives of others.

Brainless fools.

But their strength and desire for violence makes them a creature you'd rather not have to deal with.

"We will rest before going any further. We should eat, and I'd like to practice with you for a bit before nightfall." I smirk, taking in Edens sudden change in demeanor at the mention of practicing her fighting skills. We don't have much time on our hands, if we weren't so close I'd take the time to teach her more.

"I'd love that." She smiles up at me, her beautiful blue eyes dancing with excitement.

"I'll set up the tents while you two have at it, once I'm finished one of you could take over cooking something." Damien announces.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but it's dry foods only tonight. We're too close to risk cooking something or even creating a fire for the night. We have to remain discreet and lay low till it's time to move."

Damien scrunches his nose at my words but doesn't argue, instead he just nods his head and begins unpacking our things for the night ahead. It won't be dark for a few hours, but I'd like to use this time to get Eden familiar with a sword.

I turn my attention to Ajal and begin taking some of the bags off of his back, my hound happily trotting off after I'm done, probably enjoying not having to help carry the weaponry for now. I hate having to request he carry things, but for now everyone is helping carry the load we have. Though tonight I'll send Ajal back to the underworld with everything but our weapons.

I'll not risk my hellhound in the land of the Ogre's. They'd take any chances they could to eat such a rare and unusual creature, and I'll have none of it. They'd sink their teeth into him while still alive.

Why Aries has chosen such disgusting beasts to be in the company of is beyond me.

I unsheath the swords I plan to use in our battle, admiring the runes me and Hades inscribed upon them, enhancing them with dark magic strong enough to defeat a goddess with ease.

I extend the one I had made for Eden, the runes specifically designed to work with her light witch magic. "It's beautiful." She breathes out as she takes the large blade in her hand.

"It's lighter than it looks." I nod, happy she seems pleased with her sword.

"Yes, I wanted you to have a large sword, but knew it shouldn't be too heavy, to make it easier for quick and easy handling." I pull my own sword out, extending it towards my lovely mate.

"Let's begin." I smirk at her, enjoying how fierce she looks sword in hand with her long dark hair braided to the side, and her piercing blue eyes that begin calculating and trying to find an opening to attack.

She lunges at me head on, and I easily dodge her attack, before side sweeping her feet from underneath her before catching her within my arms a second before she hits the ground.

"Well, this hardly seems fair with how fast you are." She huffs out at me before storming away.

"You can't attack head-on my dear mate." I say as I walk over to her, circling her within my arms.

"Let me mark you." I whisper lowly against her neck.

"L-let you what?" She breathes out.

"With a rune." I chuckle, enjoying her reaction. "It will increase your speed and reflexes. You won't be as fast as I am, but you should be as fast as Aries, and will be faster than the Ogre's."

The smile that garces her face could light up even the darkest of nights.

"Please do. I'd feel much more useful if I could keep up. I have spells that increase my speed, but it only lasts so long." She tells me.

"This will last indefinitely."

"Then let's get to it."

"I'll have to warn you though, the rune itself is painful to place, but once I'm finished you won't feel a thing." I know she'll still agree to it, but I want to make sure she knows it will be slightly unpleasant.

I hate to cause my mate pain, even for a moment. But I know this will protect her, and from the look on her face I'd say she could care less about a moment of pain in exchange for a life time of increased abilities.

"Where would you like me to place it?"

"I'm not super big on marking my skin, so somewhere not too noticable.." She says, seeming to trail off in thought. "What about my hip?"

I smirk at her. "A spot only I have the pleasure of viewing?"

She smiles deviously as she nods.

I glace over towards Damien to see he has the tents up and seems to be going through the weapons to make sure it's all accounted for.

"Come then, I'll mark you."

She follows me to our tent, Damien shoots a quick glance our way before he resumes what he was doing.

I close the opening of the tent and make my way towards Eden as she lays sprawled out across a blanket on the floor.

I kneel down beside her as I begin lowering the bottoms she currently has on, exposing her sheer underwear she has on today.

I bite my lip, willing myself not to make this a sexual thing, despite how my cock twitches in my pants at the sight of her.

I trace a small circle right below her hip bone where I plan to place my rune on her skin. I can't help but be excited about the place she's picked, I understand it's out of wanting to keep it out of view, but this will make it more fun to place on her body. I've never marked anyone before, and my excitement grows as I lean my face down towards her body.

"Jericho?" She asks, peering down at me.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Lay down and brace yourself, it's going to burn." I say as I feel my canines extend in my mouth as my eyes turn dark.

She does as I say, closing her eyes tightly as she waits for me to begin.

I bring my mouth to her body, licking the spot gently before I bite down on my tongue, drawing blood from the small wound. Bringing my attention back to her soft skin I hesitate a moment, not wanting to cause her pain.

"Go ahead, it's alright." She reassures me quietly.

I bring my teeth to her, biting down and letting my teeth sink into her skin, drawing blood from her body to mix with mine. Her hips rise out of instact as she gasps loudly at the feeling.

I slowly remove my mouth from her, before pressing my palm into the same spot. "This is where it burns, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I want this."

I look down at my hand as my own runes begin appearing, I can feel myself heat against her skin as a soft glow begins appearing around the area.

"Ligare!" As soon as I begin the act of binding the rune to Eden she screams out in pain, something I never wanted to be the cause of, not out of pain.

Just as soon as the pain began it ends. I remove my hand from her, revealing nothing but a simple rune upon her skin.

I look towards her face to see her looking down at me, smiling. "I wanna try it out."

I smile back at her, happy she didn't dwell too long on the pain I had caused her.

"Let's have at it then, shall we?" I wink at her before helping her to her feet. I wrap her within my arms and kiss her deeply before letting her go as she practically skips out of the tent with excitement.

I follow her to see she's already readied herself with her sword. "Okay, I'm ready." She exclaims with a serious expression. I try my best not to smile as I take her small form in.

"Begin."

She lunges directly at me like last time, but this time her speed is increased to the point she's almost a blur, though my skillful eyes have no problem keeping up with her quick movements.

I brace myself for her attack, before she suddenly moves to the side at the last second, kicking my feet out from beneath me.

It seems I've underestimated my mate and her quick reaction timing.

She smirks down at me before offering a hand to help me up. "You know I'm taking it easy on you." I inform her.

"No he's not, you just landed the mighty leader Reaper boy here on his ass!" Damien exclaims excitedly accompanied by a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Okay, fine. You got me on that one." I admit to her as I let her help me stand back up.

"I've fought before, Jericho, this isn't the first time. But it will be the first time I'll feel fast enough to be of use." I smile at my mate, taking in all of her beauty.

"My sweet mate, you've always been enough." I reassure her, knowing she always feels like a burden during fights. I won't have my woman ever feeling such things about herself.

She smiles at me before running and jumping into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist and kissing me deeply. "I love you, my mate." She whispers against my lips.

"And I love you."

We spend the next few hours training with our blades and magic, Eden fine tuning her already magnificent skills. She even trains a few rounds with Damien when he requested to join in on the fun. I took great enjoyment watching her almost take his arm off when he didn't move fast enough to avoid her.

She profusely apologized to him, but he's reassured her it would have eventually grown back if she had managed to slice it off.

Though her sword skills are impressive, it's her magic that's really caught me off guard with it's increased strength. When I strengthened her abilities I hadn't thought of how much of an effect it would have on her magic abilities.

As the sun dips down beneath the trees I decide it's time to stop and quiet down for the time being.

We sit together as we eat what food we have. "You guys ready for tomorrow?" Damien asks, breaking the silence.

"I've been ready for this to end for a while now. I'm more than prepared for this battle tomorrow." Eden remains quiet as me and Damien talk, Ajal resting at her feet.

I know this is harder for her, Aries once being a close friend to her. I'm about to offer words of comfort to my mate when she speaks.

"I'm ready to finish this." Eden says darkly, her chin raised as she looks up at the inky black sky speckled with bright burning stars.

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