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AURAN HAD NEVER EXPECTED HIMSELF TO HAVE A BLOOD BOND.
And, furthermore, he had never expected to be bonded to someone as arrogant, as proud, as Rynaezel.
And if he had to continue, then he'd never expected to bleed black blood each morning after nightmares that turned out to be real. And he'd never expected to actually meet the monsters from his nightmares or, moreover, side with them and travel together through the cursed Nygrunn Mountains.
He'd never expected to actually get out of his village in his entire lifetime.
So as they neared the ceres, a haven forest amidst mountains where he'd met Yala (who was another inconvenient, unexpected event), he was ready for almost everything.
And the one thing he did expect of himself was to react to this 'almost everything' the same way he'd been reacting to everything lately.
By simply going with its hectic flow against his better judgment.
"Auran," someone said from behind him, and the voice reminded him of a hot drink on a cold night. There was warmth in it that was absent in the others he traveled with. "I must ask you something."
He turned to see the witch he knew was called Marie Laveau, who he'd seen visit his mother's shop from time to time, approaching him. He always felt like there was something off about her. Like something wasn't quite right.
Or, rather, like something was right, but simply right in a different way from what it would have been.
She had a very feminine body, so unlike Rynaezel who was all bones and sharp corners. Laveau had soft curves, a full bust, a small waist. Her dark shoulders were bare, covered only by her curly hair. She wore a flowing, strapless dress of deep red, and what looked like a scarf tied around her waist.
But the thing that stuck out to Auran was the subtle, strange manliness of her face. It wasn't so much in her features, but rather in her eyes, in her movements. He couldn't decipher it, but then, he didn't think he needed to.
Somehow, it seemed perfectly natural on the Voodoo Queen.
"Yes?" he asked, his voice soft as it hadn't been in a while. Not since he met Rynaezel, not since she made a deal with the brothers against his advice.
The four of them made his flesh crawl.
But Marie... well, there was something about her that was incredibly soothing. Kind, in a way.
"The forest—"
"It's a ceres."
"Yes, the ceres. Why is it that we are going there?" she asked, eyes fixed on the short line of green trees on the horizon.
