Word Count: 2050
I've never witnessed a more terrifying sight.
There is no doubting this is the Beast, standing tall and large at the mouth of the cave, staring at us with striking green eyes, the emerald shade almost exactly the same as the necklace I once wore around my neck, having only tugged it off yesterday morning before we left.
It's almost impossible to believe that looking at this creature, it was once human. It stands far taller than all of us, broad shouldered with thick arms that lead down to clenched fists, thick, yellowy claws. There are no clothes on it's muscled, yet bent figure, instead the creature being covered in a coarse layer of brown fur, so damp it's flattened against its skin.
For a long moment, all three of us are stunned into silence, paralysed from the sight of this creature standing within the cave, the shadows melting around it, making it all the more frightening
I take a shuddering step backward, feet sinking into the white ground, remnants of this vile creature's victims. Even from this distance, as the creature looms closer, it's thick scent reaches me, smelling like the deepest depths of this cave, Jade Province native ferns and rotting flesh.
I want to gag, but I'm paralysed with fear.
"Run, both of you," Marek murmurs, hand gently reaching around to pull two knives from where they were strapped to the side of his thighs. "Tai, take her somewhere to hide."
Looking at Tai, I briefly note the colour that has drained from his face, lips parted slightly as he regards the towering creature which lingers at the entrance of the cave, either waiting for us to make a move, or determining the move it wants to make.
Grabbing my wrist, Tai tugs me from the primary cave and into another section of the cave, scrambling over sharp rocks and through deceptively deep puddles. I keep following him out of fear he will keep running and we will all be split.
We twist around a corner in the tunnel, darkness shrouding everything to the point I can only see Tai's outline, my eyes shrugging to adjust. Just as the tip of my boots catches on the edge of a rock, causing me to stumble forward, only just managing to right myself, Tai lets go of me, whirling around to face me.
By now, we have put some distance between us and Marek and the Beast, yet I can still hear the subtle sounds in the distance of what must be them fighting.
I shiver. There's no way Marek stands a chance against that thing.
"We can't just leave him here to fight it on the own, did you not see how big it was?" I question breathlessly, resting my hands on the top of my thighs as I look back toward where they are. When I look back at Tai, I can finally see more of his face, although most of it is still shrouded in shadow. He has a frown etched into his features...one that suggests he is completely mortified about the situation.
"What are either of us going to be able to do? We will just get in his way," he murmurs, reaching his hand out for me to grab. I shake my head, taking an uneasy step back. I don't want to leave him there, not when there is such a risk of the beast killing him.
Tai shakes his head at me, anticipating me turning around to go help Marek. "We have to be close enough to make sure he is okay."
When he takes another step toward me, I match it back.
"And what could we do, Akara?" Tai questions tentatively. "We are human...If we kill the Beast we will die."
Of course we would die, we stand less of a chance against the Beast than Marek does, but it's about being there to help get him out of there if the Beast overpowers him. For all we know, he could have already killed him...
"We could distract it, give Marek any kind of chance to get away if he needs to," I voice my thought. I'm not about to let Tai grab a hold of my wrist to drag me further into this cave. The deeper we go, the more likely we will get loss, and the less likely we will be to find Marek again, especially if something happens to him.
A roar from further down the tunnel rattles harshly along the walls, sending small stones that have broken off scattering into the small puddles that litter the ground. My heart pounds against my ribcage, almost painful at this point. Regardless, I swallow my fear, not wanting to give into it when I need to go back to help Marek.
"I'm not letting you go back in there," Tai comments gently, taking another step toward me. He is fearful, and has no reason to want to go back to Marek to save him.
"You don't get to control me," I tell him firmly. "You've done that enough."
"I'm trying to help you. It's not worth it," he exclaims, motioning for me to join him. I can't abandon him, not when he has done so much for me, when I have built a relationship with him. I'm armed, as he has been training me to protect myself, so at the very least, I would be able to protect Marek if I needed to, just to keep him alive.
"Not worth it to you, because you despise him," I remind him, before turning around, not wanting to wait any longer to hear him try to convince me out of something I've already made my mind up about. "Well I don't."
Tai immediately grabs for me again, forcing me to turn around and give him my attention.
"I'm sorry I don't want you to die, Akara," he breathes, his rough voice echoing off the walls of the cave. I don't have to see his eyes to know that expression that is ceasing them. Tai isn't afraid to be vulnerable with me, yet I can sense this is more than he would like to divulge.
My voice shudders, despite trying to be firm. "Let me make my own decisions."
"Don't you understand? I care about you Akara, and it's because I care about you that I don't want you to go back in there," he tells me, his grip of my forearm so tight it almost burns. His voice is strangled, broken. It tugs at my heart, but it's not nearly as much pain, I realise, I would feel if Marek was killed defending himself.
"This isn't the time for this," I tell him, trying to shake him off. If I allow his words to get to me, I will never go. "Let me go Tai."
"I don't know what I would do if something happened to you," he breathes, finally letting go, only to rest his hands on either side of my face, so painfully gentle it breaks my heart.
"Nothing will happen to me," I say finally, stepping back, letting his hands glide off my face. "I'm sorry, I have to go back."
This time, he doesn't stop me, knowing there is little point in changing my mind. It doesn't take me long to pick my way through the uneven cave until I remerge into the main section. In the entrance, the Beast is no longer there, although it's scent still lingers, making my stomach twist uneasily.
Pushing the vines back, I step through the white bones scattered across the ground, looking back into the area with the pool, where the hole in the ceiling sends scattered light across the small space.
Standing near the water, is the Beast, looming threateningly over Marek's body, which lays unmoving on the ground.
It's clear he has put up a fight. The Beast is littered with bleeding wounds, scattered across his body and large head, which has human like eyes but a beast like jaw and teeth, which is bares at me, unsettling gaze falling upon me.
Immediately my hands fall back onto the knives tucked safely away, prepared for this moment exactly. Fear pulses through me, racing alongside the adrenaline that is keeping me from turning around and running for my life.
Marek's head turns, not unconscious like I thought, but unable to move, wincing as his eyes meet mine. I watch as he shakes his head, eyes pained as he silently warns me not to engage in a face-off with this creature. I know I don't stand a chance with it, but if I act right, I may be able to lure it away long enough for Tai to come back and help Marek.
Receding back a few more steps, I brace myself against another loud growl from the Beast, that rattles through the rock, nearly tipping my body off balance while my ear ache in protest to the sound.
And then it moves, straight toward me.
I don't waste a second, as I run back through the vines, jumping over jagged rocks and splashing through murky puddles, hearing the ragged breathes and scrap of claws on rock as the Beast chases me on all fours. It may be less nimble than me, it's large stature enough to slow it down, but it's near-silent in it's chase, until, I imagine, it it's right behind me.
Just as I begin scrambling up the incline of the cave into another section, I realise the sound of the vial creature and the smell of it's putrid breath haven't followed me.
One glance over my shoulder brings me to yet another stop.
Marek is fighting the Beast, a show of strength and rage as he swings and jabs adeptly at the creature, which in turn lunges with claws so thick and yellow, the sight of them alone could make me faint.
In my brief, stunned moment I can see how battered Marek truly is, even in the few moments we left him and the Beast to fight alone. His clothing is torn in places, revealing shredded skin that bleeds profusely, his face and body littered with grime, algae and ground bone. Unnervingly, I realise his blood isn't red, put a pale, almost pastel blue. Summoner blood.
Gripping the handle of my knife tighter I brace myself for one final choice. It would take one slice of the Beasts neck to end it...It's distracted, it wouldn't see me coming. And if I don't, Marek will die.
But I will die.
Gritting my teeth, I push forward into a sprint, readying myself for the swift manoeuvre needed to end this creatures life. This is what the past few months has been for, to finally end the life of this creature that has plagued mine for so long, that has tricked me, manipulated me...I'm ready for this.
And then I'm hit violently in the chest, my concentration on the Beast's nearing body, the shadows and the low lighting not allowing me to anticipate it. Flying back off my feet, I land square against the edge of a rock, knocking the breath from my lungs.
Gasping frantically I blink past blinding white light, heaving myself up just in time to look up, and witnesses a haunting sight.
In one movement, Tai appears within my shaky vision, grips the nape of the Beast's neck, to bring his knife around, where he swiftly ends it's life.
Horror grips me, tightening around my chest as I watch black blood pool violently from the Beast's neck, all over the front of Marek and all over Tai's hands. With a sickening thud, it's lifeless body tumbles to the ground...
And with it, goes Tai's.
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If you guys want to read ahead, you can read more of KING'S POSSESSION on Radish! It's chapters ahead of Wattpad (:
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I'm officially rewriting Alpha Jasper's story now on Radish! It will be following the same storyline with the same characters, but with revised scenes and some new ones!
I love Jasper's story so much that I wanted to go back and rewrite it. I hope you guys will enjoy it, you can find it now on Radish (:
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~Midika 💜🐼