Freya wandered alone for several months, stealing food from villages and towns she came across and drinking and washing in rivers, lakes or streams. The Bastet appeared to have increased her hunter's sense, even while she was in human form, as she sometimes had to catch small animals in order to survive, though she only ate wild animals as a last resort. She grew to hate meat more and more thinking that the Bastet had probably killed enough people for the meat to last her a year. She felt even worse at the thought of being a cannibal and absolutely refused to eat the humans that the Bastet had killed, no matter how hungry she was. Freya was rarely able to change her clothes and on the occasions that she did they usually had at least one tear by the end of the day and got more tattered as time went by.
The girl eventually arrived at the forest of Balor though she had no idea what the place was, nor of the giant lizards known as Cockatrices that lived there. She had seen people travelling on the road near the forest and detoured to the woods in an attempt to avoid them.
Freya made herself a fire and huddled next to it wrapping her torn dress tighter around herself. Like the one she'd been given by Thomas, this dress was red but it wasn't in good shape. She'd need to try and steal a new one soon.
Freya just sat there watching the flames thinking about her life. She'd started off being so happy and carefree. Then that man had attacked her and she'd killed him. Her family had been killed in a fire and she'd been cursed to kill for the rest of her life. She felt extremely lonely and could only stay in towns or villages for a very short time because of her curse. Even then, the Bastet found at least one person to kill almost every night.
It was dark by the time she nodded off to sleep. As always she transformed that night and her beast form sniffed the air. The humans on the road had long gone but the Bastet didn't have wings for nothing. It flexed its wings preparing to take off when it heard a sound that seemed to be somewhere between a roar and a hiss. It turned as a massive Cockatrice about the same size as the winged panther stepped into the clearing. The Cockatrice looked like a massive lizard with two large ridges sticking out of its back and a long tail. Hissing the enormous lizard stepped forwards. The Bastet stood its ground, snarling. The prospect of fighting the Cockatrice excited the beast.
Hissing the Cockatrice lunged with the speed of a much smaller lizard. Fast as it was the Bastet was faster. The winged panther leapt aside and turned lunging back towards the Cockatrice shoving it down. The two monsters fought furiously, throwing up clouds of dust and leaves as they snapped and clawed at each other. They were well matched and neither seemed able to gain the advantage, though the Cockatrice hadn't yet managed to sink its venom filled fangs into the Bastet which would ensure its victory.
Spitting and snarling the Cockatrice clawed at the Bastet's shoulder forcing a whine of pain from the beast. The Bastet whirled smacking the Cockatrice in the face with its tail and the lizard staggered back. The Bastet leapt but the lizard intercepted it with its own tail sending the panther sprawling. The Cockatrice leapt on top of it, doing its best to sink its fangs into the Bastet's throat but the big cat braced its feet under its stomach and kicked it off with both legs before struggling to its feet. Amazingly the Bastet had still managed to avoid being bitten by its opponent.
They lunged again, standing on their hind legs as they wrestled with each other. Then the Bastet coiled its tail around the Cockatrice's leg and pulled it off its feet. The Cockatrice fell on its back and the Bastet leapt on top of it, sinking its fangs into the giant lizard's throat. The Cockatrice made a sound somewhere between a choke and a scream and then died.
The exhausted Bastet staggered back to the fire, which had been extinguished during the fight, too tired to go after the humans that had been on the road. It lay there for a few minutes before transforming back into Freya.
Freya was just as scratched and injured as the Bastet had been so she tore off parts of her dress to make bandages hoping that infection wouldn't set in. Then she lay down by the remains of the fire.
At least I didn't kill any humans this time, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
The next day Freya woke up still sore from her fight with the Cockatrice. She stumbled out of the forest and headed towards the road, intending to go in the opposite direction to the people she'd seen the day before. The only good thing about fighting the Cockatrice was that it had distracted the Bastet from going after the humans.
Freya walked until she had found a stream which she decided to wash in, to clean out her scratches. The water made her feel more refreshed despite the cold. Because she'd spent so long washing in cold water, Freya was not really bothered by the iciness the water provided. Freya didn't know it but her magic was helping prevent infection.
Early the next morning Freya met two men clearing up their camp. They had a wagon behind them, with two horses and the wagon had a cage on the back. Freya started past them but then one of the men, a man of about forty with long blonde hair noticed her.
'Hello there missy,' he said, 'what's a girl like you doing out here.' His words reminded Freya of when she was attacked by Fernald.
'Travelling,' Freya said curtly.
'By yourself?' the other man said with a slight sneer, 'I can't see a little girl like you lasting long out here.'
'I'm tougher than I look,' Freya said moving past them but then the second man noticed her tattooed arm and his eyes widened as he stared at it.
'What's that?' he said. Freya looked at her birthmark.
'Oh it's just a birthmark,' she said. The man looked at her suspiciously.
'I know what you're thinking, Halig,' said the blonde man, 'A birthmark doesn't mean she'd magical.'
'Birthmarks are signs of magic,' hissed Halig; he believed that anyone with a birthmark was magical, thinking that no birthmark was there for no reason; 'I bet she's running away from king Uther's men. If we take her to him we could make a fortune.' Freya started to walk quickly away. Abandoning his gear Halig leapt onto one of his horses and followed her quickly overtaking Freya. She stopped and looked up at him.
'What do you want?' she asked.
'Are you a druid?' said Halig. Freya hesitated for a moment then shook her head. Halig sneered, 'I don't believe you,' He leapt down from his horse and moved towards her. Freya backed away but the blonde man came up behind her.
'Halig we don't know for sure if she's magical,' he said reasonably.
'You're far too soft!' snapped Halig, 'I don't know why I travel with you. Don't you want money? Even if the girl isn't magical we'll get a fortune as long as we say she's magical.' The blonde man was more compassionate than Halig but he was nevertheless a bounty hunter and the prospect of money was stronger than his sense of compassion.
'Fine,' he said and put a hand on Freya's shoulder, 'but we help her escape afterwards if it turns out she isn't magical.'
'You do that,' said Halig dismissively, 'I don't give a damn about her.'
'What are you going to do with me?' Freya said nervously.
'You could make us a fortune my dear,' said the blonde man and pulled her back towards the cage.
'Don't put me in there!' Freya cried, 'I'm not magical! I don't want to go in that cage!'
'Calm down,' said the blonde man, 'As soon as we get our money we…' Halig cleared his throat, 'I mean I will help you escape.'
'I don't trust you,' Freya said, 'I've been through enough to know that people like you aren't trustworthy.'
'Oh just toss her in the cage and let's go,' said Halig irritably.
'Sorry,' said the blonde man, 'but if you don't come quietly I'll have to force you.' Freya didn't move, neither struggling nor moving towards the cage, so the man grabbed her and pulled her towards the cage. Freya started struggling furiously as the man began to force her inside. Halig helped him.
Then Freya felt the same flare of power she'd felt when she killed Fernald and the instinctively pulled herself out of the bounty hunters grasp with supernatural strength.
'She is magical!' bellowed Halig in triumph, knowing that no girl of Freya's build could have pulled herself from the grip off two strong bounty hunters without magic. He and his partner pounced on Freya who dodged Halig's large bulk but was grabbed by his comrade. Freya slammed her foot into the man's stomach forcing him to let go and then, with her magic giving her strength far beyond that of an ordinary girl, she punched him in the chin with such force that his head snapped back and he flew into a tree and broke his neck, dying instantly.
Halig roared in rage and lunged at Freya drawing a knife. Freya felt her magic die down; she was horrified that she'd killed the man when she hadn't even transformed. The blonde guy was the second person she'd killed while she wasn't in her beast form and it was because she couldn't control her magic. Halig grabbed the girl by the neck and held the knife up to her face with his free hand.
'If you even think about using magic on me,' he snarled eyes flashing with rage, 'I'll cut your pretty little face to ribbons before handing you over to Uther.' Freya swallowed and nodded to show she understood. Halig dragged her to the cage keeping the knife to her throat the whole time. He shoved her into the cage and bound her wrists in manacles and chains. Halig put his face up close to Freya's, 'If you even think about using magic while we're travelling I will make you suffer horribly,' he hissed, 'Understand.' Freya nodded mutely; all the fight had gone out of her. Halig grunted in satisfaction and cleared up his camp and got onto the front of the wagon. In his haste to get his money the greedy bounty hunter had almost forgotten about his dead companion and when he remembered he was already over the hill. He shrugged. If his companion was dead then that meant more money for him. He wasn't a completely heartless man and felt a bit sad and angry that the man had died but he just left him where he was lying.
They travelled for the rest of the day and by the time they arrived at their destination it was already dark and had started to rain. Freya shivered and looked around at the street before seeing a huge castle towering above the town. She looked at it for a moment and then lowered her head and stared at her bound hands. She could break out of them with her supernatural strength but her heart wasn't in it and besides the strength came randomly and she couldn't control it. Perhaps it would be better if Uther just killed her; at least then she wouldn't have to turn into a murderous beast every night. The girl looked through the bars of her cage and quietly accepted her fate.
Halig hopped down from the wagon and came round to the cage. He growled at Freya through the bars and she flinched. Halig smirked slightly and strode off towards the nearby inn. Freya just sat there staring at the floor and shivering slightly in the cold.
Then she heard a door open and saw two people come out, one an old man and the other a boy about her age. At the sight of them Freya suddenly wanted to be free so she lunged at the bars. The boy turned in shock and moved away beside the old man.
'Gaius,' he said looking at Freya. The old man turned around and looked at Freya.
'She's fallen prey to a bounty hunter,' he said quietly. The boy looked at him.
'She's only a girl,' he said.
'I bet she'll make a good price though,' Gaius said.
'Someone's going to pay for her?'
'Uther offers a handsome reward for anyone with magic,' Gaius said.
'There must be something we can do,' said the boy looking back at Freya who watched them through the bars.
'Merlin,' said Gaius, 'bounty hunters are dangerous people. They're not ones to be meddled with. You of all people should understand that.' He turned and left. The boy, Merlin, looked at the girl in the cage as she turned away from him. After a moment Merlin went off after Gaius leaving Freya, cold, soaking and awaiting death in the cage.
Freya didn't know that Merlin would be back for her as soon as he could and nor could she have foreseen the bond that would form between them.
I know Freya said that she was in the cage for a few days but if you think about it that doesn't make sense. She turns into a Bastet every night so if she had been in the cage for a few days Halig would know what her curse was. Therefore I decided to do the capture and the arrival in Camelot on the same day.