"So you want to know something about fate?"
His breath was the stink of stale bread and tobacco. I could feel it on my ear as he spoke and I wanted to tremble, but a voice inside my head urged me not to show my fear.
"It's all a lie," the necromancer explained. He sat across from me now, perched upon a stool with a blade in one hand and a squirrel carcass in the other. Blood dripped softly upon the floor of the tent as he skinned the animal carefully. I was sitting too, though bound to a chair with ropes tight enough to leave angry red impressions in my skin. I dared not look away as he spoke.
"You are not fated to be here, sitting across from me in this manner, in this world," he said, his face smeared with an ashy powder. "You are here because I myself made it so. Do you understand?"
I did not answer.
He continued. "But I'm willing to make you a deal."
"I will not be your wife," I said.
The necromancer's painted lips spread and he let out a cacophony of shrill laughter. "I don't need a wife," he said at last. "I need a beast."
What?
He finished skinning the squirrel and set it aside, wiping his bloodied hands on a filthy cloth. The tent was filled with animal carcasses in various states of preservation or decay. I was nauseous from the smell. He pulled his stool closer to me and sat down. "You know of what I speak."
Again I did not answer.
"It doesn't matter," he said, "if you play dumb. In any case you're smart enough to accept my offer."
"What offer?"
"For your life. You will deliver the beast to me, and after I have taken it you will be free to go—if you fully cooperate." Here, the necromancer lit a pipe and stared thoughtfully into the smoke.
"I won't do it," I said.
The necromancer looked surprised at my answer, but then shrugged. "The beast will come looking for you. It won't be long now. All you have to do is lure it to the right spot. If you don't, I'll kill you and bag the creature without your help. I don't see why anyone would refuse such a generous offer."
But the beast is Adrian. I would never betray him after he protected me, beast or no beast.
"Why do you want the beast? Why did you follow me and hunt me down this way?"
The necromancer blew a long chain of smoke that filled the tent with a foul haze. "I'm a hunter, at heart," he said casually. "And I knew you'd lead me to the greatest prize the world could ever give. And now you're the perfect bate. I must say, this has all fallen into place so idyllically."
"How could you have known about the beast?" I demanded. "I didn't even know there was one!"
The necromancer smirked. "Because you know nothing, dear Mary."
I'm trapped, I realized. Choose or die.
"I do not need you to agree," Lord Terrowin decided aloud, "for the beast will come looking for you whether or not you aid him in doing so. And he will find you, for I will make it easy. I would've liked to help you, for we share a great and terrible enemy. But it will be as you decide."
"What enemy do we share?" I asked, my fear giving way to confusion.
The necromancer's eyes glittered with malevolence. "Why, your wonderful fairy godmother. The beast is her creation—her prize. But soon it will be mine, and it will give me all the power I need to rise above her and the other wretched relics of the Old Ways. She's the one who cursed you."
My heart began to race. He is a liar, I thought. He is trying to bend me to his will.
"Fear not, Mary. Your part in this will soon come to an end. The beast will probably kill you. Or worse." He arose from his perch and departed the tent, leaving me ensnared among the ropes. I sat in a silence so hollow I could almost feel it.
After what seemed like forever alone in the tent, Lord Terrowin returned.
"I've nearly completed the trap. It's in need of but one final thing," he said, stooping down and dragging me up by the ropes I was bound with. He took me outside, where a light rain fell upon the small clearing in the woods.
"It's just a short walk away. I will give you that amount of time to change your mind. I do not know when we will meet again, unless you survive this. Really such a shame, we could've been great together." His words now burned as he pulled me through the trees. The dark powder on his face began to wash away in the rain. Slung around his shoulder was a great bow and thick arrows smeared with a putrid smelling substance at the tips.
As I stumbled through the wet, wild forest I silently prayed that the beast would not come.
Because someone is not getting out of this alive, I realized.
The necromancer led me to a larger clearing some distance from his camp. The rain continued at a steady pace, and in the distance there was a mighty echo of thunder.
If it storms, I could escape, I thought. The sky would darken, my scent would be aloof—and I would run. I would run away faster than I ever had before, so fast that the necromancer couldn't dream of catching me. And Adrian would be saved.
God bless the summer storms.
The necromancer disappeared up an enormous oak tree with his bow and arrows, waiting with one at the ready for me in case I tried to run. I was to stand there in the open, Lord Terrowin told me, for he knew exactly how to draw the beast in this way. Once the beast entered the clearing, the arrow would turn from me to him.
How do I signal to the beast that this is a trap? I thought frantically.
Maybe he won't come. Maybe he knows it's a trap…
Another rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, but it was undoubtedly closer. Come on, storm, come to us. You have to cover me and save us.
I stood in the middle of the clearing, my hands bound tightly behind me, shivering in the wet haze.
Suddenly, there was a crowing in the distance. I looked up, my face bearing to the sky to perceive a hundred shadows; there was a tremendous flock of birds swooping over the clearing, emerging from an overhead cloud like blood spilling from an open wound. I watched them in awe as they descended, coming closer to the clearing in the woods. I looked over to where I knew Lord Terrowin was positioned in the tree; all I saw was a tree. My gaze returned to the sky—the birds were swooping down towards me. In an instant they were all around me.
I dropped to my knees, holding my head beneath my arms to protect myself as they swarmed; they were a dark, chattering blanket blowing in the wind. I felt nothing but the whooshing of air over me as they passed, and within the commotion, to my greatest surprise, I was delivered a letter. It thudded to the ground before me. It had been carried among the birds, who now flew towards the big tree Lord Terrowin occupied, encircling it within their dark grasp.
I snatched up the letter and tore it open despite my hands being bound, my eyes reading faster than I could conceive.
I think you understand now what I could not tell you before. Please trust me that I will not hurt you. I will lead you back to Blackhill as the beast. Then we will meet again safely.
I am so sorry for this.
The birds ornamented the tree in a roaring cacophony. Lord Terrowin was undoubtedly preoccupied with their presence—there was no way he'd be able to see me through the chaos they ensued.
As I turned to make way for the woods again, before I lost my chance—surely Adrian was ready for me, wherever he was—I stopped in my tracks as Prince Stefan entered the clearing on his horse. He was just as I had seen him last, princely, confident, and drenched, accompanied by two footmen with crossbows.
His eyes widened as we recognized each other.
"Mary? Is that you?" He dismounted his horse and sprinted across the field.
No, I thought. Not like this. This can't be…
"Stefan," I gasped.
He was at my side, drawing his sword and running it through the ties that bound my hands. "Tell me what has happened. Are you alright?"
"No—Stefan," I said quickly, my heart racing, "you have to go. This place is dangerous-"
"Where is the necromancer?" he asked urgently. "I brought a team of men with me to capture him." He then noticed my wounded palm crusted with blood. "He's hurt you."
There wasn't enough time to explain what was going on; the flock of birds that had enshrouded the oak tree rioted through the branches, but I knew it would not stop the necromancer.
"He's—he's in the tree with a bow; if he sees you he will shoot you!" I desperately tried to warn him.
The prince stole a furious glance at the oak tree, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword. He looked to his bowmen and nodded; they trotted across the clearing over to the tree, sending a volley of arrows in their wake up into the branches.
"You are safe now," he said quickly, undoing his cloak and draping it around my shoulders. "I've been looking for you for days; we've been on the necromancer's trail. I knew he had gone after you—why didn't you tell me you were in trouble?"
"You're in trouble!" I said hurriedly, "I don't have time to explain. Please, just try to get as far away from here as fast as you can-"
There was a striking roar in the distance. It echoed through the woods from a short ways away. I shuddered as I heard it, and Stefan simultaneously drew his sword.
"It's not what you think," I said as Stefan began calling for his men.
Six king's men emerged from the trees, all armed and hurrying towards us with a host of dogs and horses. Just as I spotted them, a mortal cry sounded from where the two crossbowmen had pursued Lord Terrowin; one had been shot in the chest with an arrow, and in the chaos, the flock of birds retreated into the sky just as quickly as they had come.
Stefan looked to me, "I have been hoping all this time that I would find you again. Please, go with my men. They will make sure you can make it back to the kingdom safely. I will take care of the necromancer." With his sword brandished Stefan took off towards Lord Terrowin's hiding place.
I called after him: don't go there. Please don't go there!
And then entered the beast.
He came from the furthest side of the clearing, appearing as terrible and savage as before. The king's men balked at the sight of him, and even Stefan was stopped in his tracks as the beast snarled at the scene before him, his teeth and claws bared for battle.
"What is that-" Stefan began to say, turning in apprehension at the sight of the beast, when one of Lord Terrowin's arrows whizzed out from the tree and shot him clean through his left shoulder. He was surprised only for a moment before crumpling to the ground.
"Stefan!" I shrieked, and my feet began to move towards him, but Lord Terrowin dropped out of the tree with his great bow and the beast was suddenly there, intercepting us.
The beast was twice the size of the tall sorcerer; his movements were impossibly quick. In one swift motion, the beast charged Lord Terrowin as he drew an arrow from his quiver and made to shoot. On the other side of them, the king's men rushed to Stefan's side, pulling him up onto his horse. I couldn't tell how bad his wound was, but I knew he was hurt.
Adrian, I thought, I know you're in there. I trust you.
The remainder of the king's men charged the beast with their arrows drawn. One soldier let his loose and it pierced the beast in the middle of his chest. The beast roared and stumbled forward, knocking the necromancer into the ground. The sky darkened and with a flash of lightning, and the heavy rain began to fall.
"Come with me," said a voice. "My horse is readied. The others will take care of the necromancer," he said urgently.
It was the prince's friend with the curly hair. His cloak was drawn up over his head as he took my hand.
"I can't," I said. He looked at me incredulously.
By now the men who had taken Stefan had disappeared from the clearing, and the remaining men were circling the beast and the necromancer, who now writhed in the mud, blood spilling from fresh claw marks down his arms. The beast was wounded too.
"Adrian!" I cried out over the static of the storm.
The beast's gaze met mine through the chaos. It trembled, weakened from its wound. Lord Terrowin cowered in the mud.
"What are you doing?" the prince's friend asked.
"Please," I said quickly. "Go to Stefan. The necromancer's arrows were laced with a deadly poison—I could smell it. He needs to get help now."
The boy seemed unsure, but I didn't give him the chance to respond. I turned to face the scene once more: the beast hesitated, was surrounded. I could almost recognize the look in its eyes—Adrian's definitely in there.
Come to me, I thought, gazing into the beast's eyes for a moment suspended in time. I know it's you!
Two king's men disappeared into the woods, Lord Terrowin now their prisoner. He had been easily subdued without his advantage. The three remaining men began to close in on the Beast, their intention to rescue me from what they believed to be a gruesome fate. The smallest of the trio hurled a stone his way, and the beast smashed it in the air with a heart stopping roar.
It was all the men could take; they took off running after their company, swearing obscenities in terror.
The beast then too rushed into the forest, though heading the opposite direction. I knew I was meant to follow.
The prince's friend did not stop me; but I was aware that he was watching as I took off after the beast.
It bounded through the woods, creating a path for me to follow in its wake. I pursued it through the winding and darkening forest until I lost sight—though the path was quite clear. After a difficult trek through, I finally discovered Blackhill looming above the trees with its darkened towers stretching high into the misty clouds. The storm was left behind, and the afternoon was giving way to a humid dusk.
I found Adrian lying on the front steps in a pool of blood. His eyes were closed and his chest heaved as he struggled for air. He was no longer the beast—he had morphed back into himself—but he was hurt badly.
"Martha!" I screamed towards the door of the castle, which stood ajar. She and Clarkson appeared and hurried down the steps.
An arrow was lodged through Adrian's chest. I trembled at the sight of it. What if he dies? I thought frantically. He cannot die!
The three of us picked him up and carried him into the castle. His clothes were soaked in blood.
"Help him," I pleaded, tears unexpectedly rising to my throat. "Please, you've got to help him…"
As the castle doors closed behind us, I didn't even look back.