The Beast Must Die: Chapter 10
The Voice…The It… murderer…
It was the last thing Varco remembered…It was talking to him…called him …the things it said! How it seemed to burn a hole right through his stomach each time he thought back to that one scene…the children staring up at him, the young centaur dead on its feet…Still it talked to him. So many times he'd told it to stop, to shut up and go away…but to where? It seemed to be right inside of him, locked inside and sharing his very conciousness…and the things it told him! About the lion…and the prophecies, and the things he must do…
"You are Chosen, young Racomine" it said. The Darkness will fulfill the prophecies through you whether you like it or not." Such things, what could it mean? So confused, so messed up…Varco looked down to see a broken off half of an arrow, still stuck in his chainmail by his side…his side healed over completely…but the arrow…wait…the humans!
Pevensies…two girls it was, but then the haze came again…broken shortly by a sudden deep pain…how it seemed to clear his mind! In that moment of pain he could see clearly, see the girl with her bow, it's string still humming, and the other, smaller, much closer…looking up at him with…such strange eyes…like two little mirrors they were, seeming to reflect back at him all the fear and terror he stirred in her. But then, the haze returned, now he was here…where was here?
Giving his surroundings a quick once-over, Varco tried to get his bearings. In the receding light of dusk he could make out a great gathering place, in which he now stood in the center, more or less. Pillars and boulders surrounded him on all sides…and there, a flat slab of rock that appeared freshly broken, its cut still rough and unworn…suddenly it hit him.
This was the Stone Table!
No sooner had the realization come and his bearings were restored, he heard a soft whimper, a sniffle, a caught gasping breath…from the other side of the great stone altar. Making his way around to the other side he found the little girl, still dressed in her ornately simple white dress, her eyes now hidden, her face buried in her lap. She was rocking back and forth, crying softly.
"Susan, Peter, where are you? Aslan! I want to go home! I want to go home!"
This thing is a friend of the Beast. She is your way to the Beast, it will come for her, when it does, you must be ready. It was back, talking again, unavoidable, there in his mind. Suddenly the girl looked up at him, her eyes widened, and she drew back from him in fear. Varco just looked at her. The girl, scared as she was, talked to him anyway.
"You're eyes aren't glowing anymore…are you better now?" She seemed much older than she looked, Varco thought. He looked down at her, tried to smile, managing a twisted grin.
"For now, little one, I think I'm okay. I don't know what I've done to you- …I'm sorry if I've hurt you…try to understand…it wasn't me that…that brought you here…" Varco could only grit his teeth at how absurd he must be sounding to the poor girl.
"Are you going to become sick again soon?" Her voice took on some tension now.
"I don't know, little one, I don't know." He looked away.
"So you are a daughter of Eve, I presume? By that I assume you must know the four Pevensies that rule Narnia with 'The Great Lion'…" The voice cut in, low and angry, seething with hatred.
She's a damn Queen, you idiot! You will take her to the place I want you to, when the time comes. For now, you will stay here, rest a little, tomorrow we will kill the Beast. The prophecies must come to bear, you are the Right Arm. Guard the Queen, await my instruction…
"…which is to say I've never spent a night away from my fam – hello? Are you alright?" Lucy had realized halfway through her monologue/plea to go home that her captor had zoned out completely, and hadn't been listening at all…at least not listening to her. In fact it seemed he had almost forgotten all about her, choosing instead to talk to himself.
"Must I murder again? Why are you doing this? Why can't I just have my own vengeance, my way?"
Imbecile! She is the cost of war, It's the Lion's fault in the first place for dragging her into this! Her, and the centaurs, the two little faun children who got in the way; the Lion must answer for all their blood, and you are the one to do this! You will accept this, and follow my commands like it or not! Her blood shall point the way… By her death will you have justice…
Now Varco heard something he never heard before…Like a faraway song coming closer…a throbbing, a pounding, now a chorus of voices that seemed to play behind It's voice. The voices slowly rose, bringing with it a power all its own. Growing louder, still louder; stronger, still stronger! Varco's heart began pounding, he was being filled with the greatest rush he'd ever had. He felt the urge to jump, bound, roar, sprint away all at once! The power he felt coursing through his veins now was enough to take on the entire Lion's Armies! The chorus grew louder and louder, rising to an overwhelming climax in his head. The haze came now in full force, and Varco again lost control. Again he felt his own self pushed aside, seeming to take a second seat…next to It.
The deep red glow engulfed him now, drenching him inside and out, pulsating in morbid rhythm, and in the nearly-gone light of dusk the deep hue shone brightly. Lucy's dress, hands, and face were now illuminated dark purplish-red. Backing up in horror, she could only watch as the monster leapt atop the Stone Table to let out a piercing warrior cry before bearing down on her. She felt herself get picked up, then she felt a claw.
A razor-sharp, three inch claw bore deep into her shoulder.
Blood was running onto her once-white dress, running down her arm, sprinkling on the ground. A cry caught in her throat, then the ground below her began to move as the Creature carrying her charged into the pitch black forest. Soon, the moving ground beneath her began to spin, and the already-dark forest began to get quieter, quieter, farther, farther away.
Still the thing ran on, never tiring though eventually it seemed he'd been running for hours…
Lucy, now having dripped most her blood on the forest floor, soon lost consciousness…still the creature drove ahead, soon she would stop bleeding, would run out of blood to bleed…It didn't care…they weren't far now.