A Soul to Keep

Orpheus refuses to lose Reia, so he plans to take her and the other Duskwalker to the demon town. He alters one of his cloaks to fit her and fashions a mask out of the skull of the deer he hunted to disguise her as a Duskwalker or Mavka. When he took his former companion to the village, she was recognized as human; he does not want the same for Reia. He carries Reia on his back beneath his cloak for the journey, as her smaller steps would slow them down. The other Duskwalker asks them questions as they walk through the different rings that various types of demons live in, some of them overly personal. By day three, Reia gets bored. When they stop to rest, Orpheus bathes her in the stream, facing her instead of taking his usual position behind her. Orpheus facing her reminds Reia of her erotic dream, and despite the potential danger of being out in the forest and the other Duskwalker hearing them, Orpheus touches her intimately.

The trio reaches the demon town. Orpheus tells Reia to act like a Mavka and not to laugh, as demons would recognize the laugh as human.