Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 24--Vespers(2)

"No!"I screamed. The knife--which I had somehow managed to not stab myself with when I fell--found its way back into the palm of my hand. I reached up and slashed at the man, feeling resistance as the knife dug through his abdomen.

It was like a fountain of red. Warm blood spurted out from his stomach, splattering my legs and a few unlucky trees. The man gripped his stomach where my knife had torn through, trying to stop the bleeding. It didn't work. He only succeeded in coating his arms the dark color.

A cry escaped through the mask; a high, pained cry much like a wolf's vaulted through the treetops. The man fell to his knees, then the ground, whimpering.

I gasped. The mask that he wore slowly stretched out in front of his face, getting longer and more pointed by the second. Little sprouts of dark hair formed on the mask--which wasn't a mask anymore, it had turned into a snout. The eyes, which were yellow-ish to begin with, turned a deep shade of brown. Its legs shrank and arms grew. It's fingers molded together, forming a paw.

When the thing finally stopped changing, it was still. There was no breath, no rise and fall of the chest. Whatever it was, it was dead.

I had killed it.

I slowly reached out and brushed the tips of my fingers against its fur. The short hairs prickled me lightly. The creature itself was small. From foot to top of head, it was about three feet. It had a face like a wolf, and that continued on until its shoulders, where the hair flattened to its pale pink skin. Its feet were disproportionate to its size; they were bigger than they should have been.

"It was a child..." I whispered.

Like a punch to the gut, the realization of what had just happened hit me. I doubled over, gasping for breath.

Calm down, Zara.

I pulled my knees to my chest and shoved my head in between them. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

Why did that thing come after me? Why did it look like--look like him?

What was it?

As soon as I thought the words, the answer came tumbling to the front of my mind.

It was a vesper.

I shook my head. "Why? How did it... Oh."

They take the form of your greatest fear. That's why I saw that man, that's why Camden saw a wolf. That's why--that's why the king sees, no, saw,--an army!

Were we fighting animals the whole time? Joshua's leg, the baker's sons, they were all lost to animals?

Where did these things come from?

I took a shaky breath. I knew where to get my answers, and he wasn't going to like me when I asked.

*****

"Kvir!"

I stormed into the castle, flinging open the doors. They blew back and banged against the wall, rebounding so hard that they slammed closed with a bang.

All of my terror and sadness had been replaced by anger in the minutes it took me to get back to the castle.

"Kvir!" I screamed again. "Get down here! Now!"

No thought crossed my mind of whether he'd be angry at me for fussing at him. I was too upset.

There was a flurry of thuds following my demand. Kvir's head popped up from behind the balcony railing.