by D.K. Archer
Based off the Fairy Tale
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Chapter 4
Days passed quietly for the most part. Each morning Beauty awoke to the vision of to the bird perched on her headboard, staring down at her with to the cold blue eyes she'd become accustomed to. She dressed, ate, and went out to the garden to find company with her fathers brown horse, for whom a small self serving stable had appeared in to the corner of to the garden. Books kept her entertained long portions of to the day as she read under to the never changing sun, often curled against to the side of a particular stone creature which resembled a mix of a lion and unicorn, with an oddly human head from which three spiral horns rose in a sort of crown with it's two tall ears in to the middle. If she stayed there long enough it curled slightly and to the head almost invariably moved to look at to the illuminated pages over her shoulder. Loneliness was eased as she read long passages aloud, noting that to the bird listened quite intently from it's position at her feet. To the stone statues were a fine enough audience. She wasn't to the least bit surprised when she looked up to see several still leaned to hear, whatever ears they had perked at attention.
Truly, there were far worse places she could be. To the lack of human companionship began to grate on her slowly as two weeks passed, though. To the beast was quite attentive to her needs, when she saw him, and she was astonished by his utter lack of knowledge about to the world in whole. He met with her every evening after dinner. Talking to someone who could talk back was a comfort, but normal subjects of conversation could not be touched upon. When they were he simply stared blankly at her and twitched his long whiskers. Matters of government, daily life, and anything occurring beyond these walls were a complete mystery to him.
At to the end of two weeks she found herself utterly miserable for to the want of her family. Her grand gesture of sacrifice, and willing to die for her father, meant nothing now that no harm had come to her. She missed her family and wanted to return to them. Only one obstacle prevented her. To the beast.
After two weeks and two days she gained to the resolve to ask him. She waited until he had come to her after dinner, and spoke before her mind could convince her otherwise.
"What?" he said, an odd twitching of his right whiskers.
She repeated "I want to go home."
He was silent. Black eyes were unreadable as he tilted his head forward a bit, hiding his face in to the shadow of his mane.
"You wish to leave me. And return to your sisters, and to the merchant."
"Yes."
A long moment passed before he raised his head again, and her heart skipped at to the sight of pure misery. She was, after all, a kind girl, and during these weeks had grown a certain fondness of to the poor creature who stayed here so alone.
"H-have I done something wrong?"
"No!" she said quickly, reassuring him "No, it's nothing you've done! I just...miss them."
He swallowed, nodded, and gave an short sigh that startled her. His face twisted and he looked quickly around to the room for to the bird who was, oddly, absent. There was no one to help him decide. His instinct was to keep her here, under lock and key if necessary, but something that was hardly more than a tickling in to the back of his mind told him to let her go.
But...what would happen then?
To the girl was looking at him with her wide dark eyes pleading, and he realized quite suddenly he couldn't bear to make her unhappy if he could help it. Even if it meant letting her abandon him, like all to the other people that had stayed with him. His mind brought up nagging images of to the servants all those years ago, of climbing to the top of to the gate and watching thru tears as to the last one rode of on a speckled horse without so much as a 'goodbye', or 'remember to wash behind your ears'. To the servants had never come back.
He also remembered hiding in to the bushes listening to her read the long epic poems that to the bird had set in her library. He hadn't heard poetry in a long time, having never learned to read and having no one willing to read to him. Her voice had lifted in perfect words that metered and held him transfixed for hours. He remembered watching her loving ministrations to the brown horse, combing back thru it's mane, patting it's side affectionately, humming a soft tune to it's ear. Each little action had produced a curious lightness in his chest, though he could feel every movement of his heart quite well. He remembered the long, impatient waits until evening, grooming hours early (often with help from to the bird) and pacing from one side of to the room to the other until to the bird fetched him to meet her.
Nothing had made him feel quite this way before. Even the loveliness of his treasured flowers paled while she was near. He had never told the bird anything of this, no matter how she prodded. Largely because he thought she would taunt him or shout at him. Something else, too. He couldn't quite place it.
The world spun around him without moving, and with a great silent breath his shoulders slumped down as if the weight of worlds had been placed upon them He had reached his decision.
"Go. Go back home to your father. And your sisters. And your brothers." He turned his back, staring at the floor. "I release you. Live your life."
Beauty's face split in a grin and she ran forward to embrace him, but
he jolted as if her hands were made of fire and spun to face her, chest
heaving. She shrank back, frightened, as he apparently tried to control
his fury, but the way he clenched and unclenched his hands and the liquid
quality of his eyes made her think perhaps it was from a different effort.
Without warning he ran from the room on all fours, and was gone before
Beauty could catch him.
I returned to the house in a rather good mood, having spent the last half hour altering the horse's stable into a more permenant structure. I'd added several gargoyle's to watch over the addition and alert me to any trouble. I expected to find the girl and the beast still conversing somewhere in the house, since it had hardly been any time at all, but upon entering the beast's room I found him prostrate on the bed, shoulders shaking and short rasping sounds issuing from him. The significance of this all struck me suddenly as I realized...he was crying!
_What? What's this?_
He turned his head slightly and looked at me with red rimmed eyes, fur around them wet and glistening in the candle light. I narrowed my own as thoughts came to me.
_Have you done something?! Have you hurt the girl?! Well, answer me!_
"I l-let her g-go." he whispered harshly, closing his eyes tight.
_You what? What do you mean, you let her go?_
"I told her s-she could go home. She m-missed her f-family."
I flared my feathers angrily and huffed. How was he to learn kindness and love if there was no one here to learn it from? I'd be stuck here in this body forever, forever bound to this thing I cursed. The harshness of my own thought startled me, as it often did. But then I again wondered, and my feathers slicked to my sides.
_Wait...if you let her go back freely, why are you crying? Isn't this what you want?_
The beast sobbed and curled slightly, wrapping his arms tight around the pillow.
_Why...are...you...crying?_ I persisted, leaning forward as far as I could without falling from my perch.
"Because I...'cause I...."
_Say it._
"Because I love her!"
He curled into a tight ball and sobbed even harder. My own heart jumped in place and my brain filled with a wonderful rush of adrenaline. Those were exactly the words I had needed to hear. Now I could be freed!
But....no. The exact phrasing of the spell had been 'learns the powers of kindness and love'. I still needed the girl. Had she left yet? Panic overtook me when I realized she might allready be gone. If that was so, there was nothing I could do. My powers extended a little over a hundred meters past these walls, another odd bit of this arrangement. On a horse that swift she could cover a hundred meters in little more than a second. If she had allready left, there was no hope.
_Stay here!_ I ordered, figuring he wouldn't move in his state anyway. I flung open all doors and whipped thru the building at full speed, out into the garden, just in time to see the gate move the last bit in closing.
_Is the horse there?_ I demanded of the gargoyles I had set in the stable. One of their stone faces appeared at the entrance.
No. The girl took it just a moment ago. We thought she had permission.>
_No! Damn it!_
I landed in the top of the gate and stared in absolute horror that
she was allready beyond sight, leaving only a trail of running hoofprints
and a mirror of shattered hope behind her.
Dark shaped scuttled thru the underbrush, making the girl twist in her saddle and stare into the darkness. Something wasn't right. The horse had stopped in some stretch of forest after hardly beginning; they couldn't be more than three miles out. It was, however, quite dark, and quite unfamiliar. She had the suspiciouse feeling the horse was lost.
She felt...bad. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, not at all. After the first few days the beast had become quite nice, very considerate, and his reaction to her leaving was terrible. She had wanted to chase after him but thought it might only make it worse, so she left without goodbyes. Why did it hurt to see him so upset? It was a feeling she dared not analyze to closely, even now. Besides, who ever said this was the last she must see of him? She could always come visit!
The bushes rustled again, and she whimpered fearfully, holding the reign
so tight her hands had turned white and her fingernails had begun to dig
into her palm. The horse looked uneasy as well, looking from side
to side and nickering now and then. Ahead, a twig snapped, and something
large, stocky, and growling stepped out into the path....
_She's gone._ the bird moaned. _She's long gone._
The beast gave little reply. While she had been gone he had composed himself to some extent, and now sat with his back against the headboard, arms draped over his knees and head hanging down. His eyes were still rimmed red but tears no longer flowed from them.
_She was the last chance, you know. The last chance. We were so close!_
"Close to what?" he sniffed. "What are you talking about?"
_Close to freedom!_ she sighed and her wings drooped down, brushing the stone ledge she sat on.
The beast didn't understand. At any other time he may have questioned, but he didn't feel like it now. All he felt like was seeing Beauty, here, now. But that couldn't happen. Unless...
"Do you think you could work magic for me? Make something so I could see her?"
_Like a drawing?_
"Like...like a portal, or something. So I could see what she was doing at any time, if I only looked at it?"
What harm could that do? The bird sighed and glanced about the room for an idea. Her eye rested on a small cracked mirror that had once been set in the dresser. It lifted into the air and ran like liquid into a larger shape, complete and round, with a handle. The surface rippled and it came to rest on the bed. The beast picked it up and looked into it, but saw only his own reflection.
_Ask it to show you Beauty._ she instructed wearily.
He did so. The surface changed, and after a moment his jaw dropped, and his eyes went wide. He dropped the mirror onto the mattress and scrambled from the room, an obviouse destination in mind.
_Wait, where are you going?!_
The bird hopped to the matress and looked into the mirror. The girl sat atop her horse, which was not running, while several shaggy shapes surrounded them both. The shaped had mouths filled with yellowed teeth and ragged grey coats. Wolves!
She swooped out the door after him.
_Wait for me!_
They were just standing there! Five massive wolves, larger than any she had ever seen, and far larger than the one she had known as a child, had circled them roughly, blocking the path in both directions and holding the forest to the left and right. They neither advanced nor retreated, only paced to the sides, growling. The horse danced nervously and shreiked as this standoff continued.
Quite suddenly, a wolf on the right jumped forward and snapped it's teeth. The horse screamed and reared, throwing Beauty to the ground painfully and bolting past the wolf ahead of them. At once three wolves lunged and the girl let out a horrible scream, throwing up her arms and kicking madly. She hit one wolf in the ribs but another grabbed her forearm, gnashing down and drawing blood. Her hair tried to cover her eyes as she flailed, impairing her vision. Another caught hold of her left ankle and ripped. A third, teeth glistening horribly in the dark, leapt at her throat, and time seemed to slow as that open jaw decended on her, animal eyes glowing. Only inches fom her throat something slammed into it, sending it flying off into the trees. A familiar snarling figure in a red vest sent the other two sprawling in the dirt, and they scattered to regroup.
The beast, panting hard and hands bleeding from running on them crouched protectivly beside her, tail whipping. She tried to scramble up but the action brought a counter action from the wolves.
It all became a blur. Grey fur, tan, claws, fangs, yelps, snarls, and an abundance of red from the result of all this. Beauty backed to a tree, limping on her torn leg, tears streaming down her cheeks. A wolf yipped and strangled as it's throat was torn open and it slumped down dead. Another with a mouth full of bloody fur backed from the scuffle and lunged, only to be swung violently against the trunk of a tree. At length, four mangled wolves lay in unnatural positions on the path. The beast gasped air and sat down heavily among them, eyes glazed, clothing shredded, doused in red. Beauty sobbed and hurried to him, falling to her knees at his side. The bird had arrived sometime during the fight and now came to stand by him, though Beauty gave no notice.
"Beast! Beast, please, say something!"
He only gurgled in response, and blood bubbled up between his lips. The beast collapsed backwards, still staring into space, unnoticing. The girl put hands on both sides of his head and saw the blood dripping onto his shirt front was not entirely the wolves, but poured from a rip in his throat that pulled interior structures out to dangle over the skin. He twitched and his hands tightened into claws.....
.......and time slowly ground to a halt.
...
..
..
.
child, can you hear me?
I raised my head, startled by a sudden feeling of peace offering to overtake me. I ignored it. He was....he was lying there, dying! Dying! Oh gods.....Dying for a girl he had fallen in love with.
Dying....
child, do not worry. all is not as horrible as it seems. do you know what has passed? the boy your raised has sacrificed himself for love. the boy you were bound to by spell....
_What does it matter now?_ I said bitterly, wishing I could weep. _He's dead. Don't you understand that, Isthial?! He's dead!_
i understand more than it would seem. despite your actions you love the boy as your son, that i understand, better than you, perhaps. though you treated him cruelly more often than enough...it is why i never granted you children when you were alive. but the rules by which you served are broken. you are free.
The body I had inhabited these years seemed to dissolve, the feathers and skin and beak all vanishing quickly, leaving me rising like steam from a kettle, rising towards the sky. I twisted to see the frozen scene below me, the girl grasping the bloody boy who had killed for her.
_No! It can't end this way! You can't just let him die! You have to save him!_
and what would you do to save him?
_Anything! Anything!_
There was a long silence, and I continued to drift upward. The world below slowly surrounded with white fog until I could barely see them anymore. No longer confined to the physical abilities of a bird I wept, I wept earnestly for the first time in longer than my memory, the invisible tears cold like rain.
child, it will not end this way. by your own spell he has fulfilled, he has earned his right to humanity. he has earned another chance. and so have you.
_I don't understand_
you must make a choice now. he could be human from the beginning. you could have never cast your spell, he could be born a prince and now be king. you would have never been executed and died many years ago, alone. the girl would have stayed with her father all the days until he died, when she would have lived alone, and eventually followed him. no one would remember any of this had happened, because it never did. you may also take the second choice. i can make him human, here and now. repair the damage done to his body and let him rise.
_What will happen to them then?_
that is a future that has not yet been written.
The decision was mine. But truley, there was no decision at all.
_Make him human, here and now. Let them live and see what tomorrow brings._
as I thought. it will be done. would you like to say goodbye?
_Yes._ I whispered.
The beast dreamed. In that suspended state between living and death he found himself standing at the edge of a creek he had never seen before. Behind was a small cottage. The grass was green, the sky was remarkably blue with few white clouds drifting over it's surface. Standing on a moss covered stone, smiling sadly, was an old woman. Her hair was long and grey, her face well used and kind. The white robe she wore hung to her feet and rustled softly against the green moss.
"Who are you?"
In sudden insight her heart had become transparent, revealing the odd black bird that had been his companion all these years.
"Yes, it's me."
"Why..."
"Because this is the end." she said. "This is all that there is for me. Soon, I'll be gone, and you'll have to live without me. But you WILL live. I'm not abandoning you. You only will not be able to see me anymore. But you will have Beauty there by your side, and she will help you, as I never could. Even thru the changes ahead, which I assure you will be great." Her eyes wandered for a moment to the landscape around them. "I never told you why I stayed with you all those years, and now I will never have another chance. I know now that if I had wanted to leave you I could have, despite my bonds, but I stayed because....I love you. I never realised it. You were a son I had never been allowed to have, even though I treated you poorly. I still love you, and always will. Do you understand?"
"Why do you have to leave?" he whispered.
She stepped forward, and laid a hand on his cheek. "It is my time."
"Will I ever see you again?"
"One day, perhaps."
He nodded, and she noticed the tears standing in his eyes.
"Goodbye, then. And I'll see you again...." he said, doing his very best not to cry and succeeding wonderfully. The old witch embraced him for a long moment, and was hardly surprised to find tears on her own cheeks.
A gentle pulling began on her, and she knew she had no more time left. She kissed his cheek and faded slowly back into the sky, rising transparent, vanishing.....
Gone.....
-The End-
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