Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 5--The Beast's Castle

A twig. Of all things to step on, I stepped on a twig.

The wolf howled then came charging forward, directly toward us.

"Run!"

I didn't know who screamed that word. It may have been me, or it may have been the both of us. The carriage was only a few feet away to begin with, but we were both too stupid to get into it when the wolf showed up. The driver jumped onto his horse as I scrambled into the carriagе. I didn't get a chance to close the door because a big, clawed paw blocked me. My eyes grew wide. Somebody was screaming but I couldn't tell who. The head of the wolf was in the space with me, snapping its jaws, trying to bite whatever it could.

Then it yelped. Unconsciously, I had plunged my dagger into its neck. Warm blood ran down my hand as I yanked the dagger out from its jaw.

The wolf was dead.

I stared at it in shock. I had never killed anything before. The dead animal was pulled backward and I noticed the driver. His face was still very pale, and his hands were visibly shaking.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." My voice shook. "Thank you Mr.--" suddenly I realized I didn't know the driver's name. I looked at him apologetically. He grinned or did the closest thing to a grin that he could.

"Camden. No mister to it, Miss."

"Thank you, Camden."

Camden smiled again. "No, Miss. Thank you."

*****

The rest of the ride to the castle was relatively painless. No more creatures attacked us, but we also didn't stop again. Neither Camden nor I said anything about the guard that had accompanied us, but we both assumed that he had been killed by the wolf. I rode up front with Camden the rest of the way, helping guide him the best I could. When we reached the edge of the forest, the horse jerked to a stop.

"This is as far as I'm allowed to go, Miss."

My heart pounded in my chest as I looked at the castle in front of me. A wide walkway paved with stones ran all the way to the drawbridge in a curvy line from the entrance. I sucked in my breath.

Here goes nothing.

As I started to walk, I looked back at Camden as he left. A nod and a small wave was our exchange of goodbyes.

I hope he gets back home alive. Then again, I don't think any other creatures will attack him.

Panicked thoughts of what I'd do when I got inside the palace circled around in my head as I approached the drawbridge.

King Regol said to kill the beast. What if I can't bring myself to take a life again, even though the first one I took was a wild animal?

An unthought idea surfaced to the front of my mind. What if this beast kills me first?

I couldn't imagine what the beast would look like. I guessed something horrible, terrible, grotesque even. But what if he looked normal?