Beastly (20 page)

She held her breath as she watched the Beast stumble to a motionless halt at the crater’s bottom. He too, was scanning the pit, searching for the source of the agonizing shrieking. He circled right, trying to keep his back to the rocky wall. The ground ahead was broken by dozens of razor sharp stalagmites. Like a dragon’s fangs, the stone teeth pointed skyward hoping
for prey. Rays of sun light filtered through the bony forest, encouraging unnerving shadows to dance.

Lia saw the Beast’s slow crawl to the crater’s far side. She knew he meant to escape the pit and flee to the safety of the jungle. The coils of anchor chain binding his arms rendered him defenseless.
He’s going to need my help
. She focused her thoughts, reached deep down and plucked the little ember from her spirit.

***

The Beast stalked his way around the nest of stalagmites, building a much needed buffer against the mercenary spears. A league away, the incline leveled into a gentler grade.
Escapable
. A strange sensation tingled at his elbows. His mane prickled and fluffed for a moment, charged by the magical static. Then a warming aura settled over his chest and arms. A child’s voice carried by a humid breeze spoke to him. “You are free.”

The Beast flinched at the unexpected whisper, but was quickly relieved to hear the sweet voice. He strained at the chain’s embrace, wrestling his arms against his sides. The warming sensation continued to grow, nudging him to greater effort.

“Be free,” Lia’s tiny voice commanded.

The Beast flexed at the knees. He drew strength from the earth itself, channeling power into his core. And then...

He threw his arms apart, shattering the chains and shucking them away
with a heavy grunt. The Beast smiled broadly, hoping Lia sensed his gratitude. He stared up at the mercenaries above, letting his grin fade into a snarl.

“Why not come down and join me?”

A caterwaul sent the mercenaries scurrying back. The Beast dropped instinctively into a crouch. Movement ahead twisted a shadow. He squinted against the glare. Another shadow darted behind a stalagmite. This time the Beast locked in on the motion. He shifted his center even lower. Unlike the feeling of being overwhelmed in Meridian, the Beast was quite familiar with this type of tension.

He was being hunted...

A stalagmite crumbled, confirming his suspicion. A snake-like head bobbed back and forth at the end of whip-like neck emerged from the dusty cloud of rubble. The hideous creature’s body followed soon after. The Beast froze stone solid and studied his new threat. The monster looked like a man-sized, wingless dragon. Leathery skin stretched over an emaciated body the color of mottled flesh. The Beast made to move, but a shiver in his spine screamed ‘ambush’.

The shrieker reared back and peered over the tallest stalagmites. Gill-like slits behind its jaw flared out, blasted free by a splitting shrill. Four more shriekers appeared from stalagmite burrows. The new arrivals were smaller than the first, with shorter necks and stout tusks protruding along their lower jaws.

The Beast tensed, ready for battle. Lia’s voice pleaded for caution.

“They’re dangerous. Malachai put them there for you.”

Lia’s voice stayed the Beast’s instinct and he relaxed his shoulders. So far the shriekers had failed to detect him. Maybe escape was preferable to fighting. He sidestepped around the crater, gaze shifting from foe to foe. The shriekers scouted the stalagmites, lowering their leathery heads to sniff at the crumbled stalagmites. He was nearly to crater’s gentler slope when a loose stone tumbled into the crater. It crackled down the side and rolled to the Beast’s paw. Five shrieker heads whipped around to track the intrusion.

And then the Beast understood. He knew of other predators that relied on senses beyond sight to stay fed. These foul things hadn’t found him, because they couldn’t
see
him.

The foursome of smaller shriekers reared and deafened the island with a shrill chorus. A dozen stalagmites trembled under the blast and then crumbled away revealing their denizens. The nest of shriekers scrambled closer to the ‘queen’. The long-necked shrieker screeched a short burst of calls. The nest retorted with a staccato of piercing whistles. Heads low, they surged past the remains of their burrows.

The Beast launched from his crouch into a mad sprint, then flung himself at the nearest shrieker. The vicious tackle carried a blur of fur and leather careening through a stalagmite. He rolled through the rocky rubble and jumped to his feet, ready for the next attack. Beneath him lay the
stunned shrieker, twitching from the impact. Twenty feet away, a dull hum combined with a rapid-fire clicking emanated from the shrieker pack. Arcs of purplish-blue current sparked between their mandibles.

He glanced to the crater’s looming face, tall and imposing. Despite being a gentle route than the one he had followed down, there was no way he could make the climb, not while being hunted.

He would have to fight.

The Beast scooped up the shrieker at his feet and hurled it. The living projectile crashed home, momentarily scattering the tight group. The flung shrieker slammed into the rock wall and twitched a final time.

He had to remain on the offensive.

The Beast tore a stalagmite free. Club in hand, he rushed the shriekers, swinging in wild, sweeping arcs. The makeshift weapon crashed into leathery bodies and snake-like skulls. Shriekers fell by the side, broken and stunned. One of the more daring creatures hopped over a battered body, electricity crackling along its mandible. It reared up and darted forward, jaws wide. The Beast’s club whooshed downward, cracking its skull with a satisfying thud. The arc of current flickered and then disappeared.

A pair of shriekers suddenly appeared from his left. The first snapped at his leg, just missing a mouthful of flesh and fur. It hopped away after the miss, narrowly avoiding a club to its spine. The swing carried the Beast off balance, dragging him into an awkward stumble. He braced for the inevitable.

A fiery sting punctured his shoulder. For an agonizing eternity, the Beast’s muscles
spasmed. From the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of his assailant. The shrieker’s mouth was spattered with clumps of bloody fur. It circled left, trying to remain at the Beast’s back.

The Beast willed the spasms away and spun. Both shriekers lunged, jaws snapping. He thrust the stalagmite club outward, bashing the creatures away. The queen
caterwauled her frustration and clawed into the fray, smashing the remaining stalagmites in her path. She stopped ten feet shy of the Beast’s sky high club.

The gill-like slits vibrated on the queen’s neck. It sucked in a massive breath and then blasted it through the slits, stretching them to their limits, emitting a shriek pitched to shatter glass. The ground shook. An excruciating pressure built in the Beast’s skull. He dropped his club and crushed his ears into his head. The sonic blast reverberated against the crater, shoving him back. White stars flashed over his eyes. The pain worsened, blackening his vision. Finally, it stopped. The entire cluster of stalagmites had crumbled to sand. All that remained were previously dormant inhabitants.

Hundreds of them...

The Beast’s heart pounded like a war-hammer pummeling a gong. He scrambled for his club. But it was too late. The horde crashed into him like a ravenous tide. A wall of snapping jaws knocked him over, battering away his breath. His every limb flailed, battering away the shrieker’s
relentless surge. For a fleeting second, a speck of hope flickered. The Beast’s haymaker blows flew like a storm of hurricanes. His fists smashed the onslaught to the nauseating symphony of cracking bones and the bloody reek of iron.

The odds finally caught up to the battling Beast of Briarburn. A shrieker clamped down on his muscled forearm, fangs penetrating deep. The burn of current jolted his arm from his body, painfully
spasming. A second shrieker seized the advantage and sunk its teeth through the tough sinew of the Beast’s leg.

Fire spread through his nerves. The world was fast melting away into smears of black and grey as he fell to the ground. The Beast writhed in agony. A horde of surrounding shadows worked themselves into
a frenzy. The shriekers clawed over each other like crabs in a bail, snapping and rending, angling for a chance at their fallen prey. The burning pain in his limbs gave in to an icy numbness. The toll of the bites had enacted the highest of prices, robbing him not only of his strength, but of his will to fight. His head lolled. He soon was only vaguely aware of pressure and tugging...

Blackness pushed the scant remaining light from his eyes. He thought of Lia and a deep sadness settled over his heart. A massive shadow of darkness descended upon the crater, blocking out the morning sun.

So this is how it finally ends?

A mighty wind gusted from the shadow’s tail and the horde was blown
back from their tortured prey. Through glossy eyes, the Beast watched a blurry shape fall from the sky. The crunch of fast approaching footsteps hurried towards him. The Beast was rolled to his side as something cinched tightly around his waist. A tug came next and the Beast was lifted high from the pit of rock and sand. Soon he was drifting over the crater, gently swaying in the island breeze.

Below, flashes of steel glinted in the sun. The dazzling display swept through the horde of shriekers, pirouetting and slashing through the foul creatures. The queen answered the dancing blades with a screech that rattled the Beast’s failing senses. A staccato of
bangs
cut the cry short. A twirl of dual glints sliced clean through the shrieker’s lengthy neck. The queen’s head rolled sloppily from her twitching body, coming to a rest against a pile of cleaved shrieker corpses.

Scores of shriekers lay dead, filling the crater’s gullet with a thick layer of mottled flesh. The Beast grinned at the sight before slipping away.

Maybe the dancing light would save Lia.

Chapter 23

So this is the World After? How bizarre...

The Beast was stretched out, flat on his back, looking up at a velvety purple sky. A splash of unblinking stars returned his stare. He first tested his legs and then his arms, and finally his neck. Something rustled during the flexion of aching muscles. He tore his gaze away from the lifeless canopy. A spate of ridiculous laughter fit for a fool erupted from deep within his belly. His blanket gently rippled and then thrashed as his amusement shook the bed.

The room was richly appointed; more luxurious than any the Beast had ever seen. Plush carpets like stormy seas stretched corner to corner. A pair of walls was covered floor to ceiling by leather-bound books, stacked neatly on gilded shelves. An oaken desk dominated the corner of bookshelves.

Golden light poured into the room through a wide window of pristine glass. The light called out to the Beast, compelling him to rise. Thick carpet squished between his clawed toes. Jasmine perfumed the air, growing stronger as the Beast crossed the grand room. He ducked to avoid a swaying chandelier laden with candles. The floor seemed to share the gentle roll. The window was within arm’s
reach when, abruptly, he stopped.

Maybe I don’t want to see...

A million thoughts invaded. His woodland home… The medallion… Lia... A well of sorrow filled the pit of his stomach. His thoughts swirled and settled upon his daughter.

Malachai must pay.

The Beast stepped to the window, closing his eyes. He pressed his palms against the cool glass and inhaled deeply before taking his first glimpse. Masses of fluffy white rushed at the window, vanishing on impact. It took a moment, but the Beast soon realized they were clouds.
Which meant...?

He was flying!

The Beast pressed his snout to the glass, eyes darting in all directions, fighting to understand. Far, far below, an endless expanse of glistening water stretched into the horizon. He couldn’t believe it. The world rushed by below in a blur as he was carried above it like a song on the wind.

The loud click of a door closing spun the Beast around like a top.
Poogs. The pirate’s face was a blank slate. Unarmed, he stood his ground, arms by his sides. Rage flashed a scarlet veil over the Beast’s eyes and he growled. Quivering with fury, he charged the doomed pirate. He seized Poogs by the throat with a crushing paw and smashed him into the decorative door. The Beast squeezed tighter, salivating at the color draining from the traitor’s face. The pirate did not struggle, did not beg. His arrogant lack of resistance stoked the Beast’s ire further, pushing it dangerously close to the edge.

How could a man deal in such betrayal and have nothing to say for himself?

The Beast squeezed tighter still. He leaned in closer until his snout was a hair’s breadth from
Poogs’s blood-shot eyes. A thin rivulet of crimson dripped from the pirate’s nose. The Beast smelt the sweat beading on Poogs’s forehead.

“Do not fear, Malachai will join you soon enough,” the Beast said through a clenched jaw full of bared fangs.

Poogs fished into a pocket as he dangled, inching closer to his fate. The Beast’s words were the frigid breath of icy winter.
“A little late for one of your toys, pirate.” 

The pirate struggled to raise his arm with the last of his breath. Something glimmered beyond the corner of the Beast’s eye. He felt a warming pulse on his face and dropped Poogs to the floor. The pirate gasped and gagged for breath, but kept his hand high and steady.