"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man."
Hunt.
Hunt.
Hunger.
Feed.
He stalked through the thorny brambles of a severely overgrown section of roses, only vaguely aware that it was once a beautiful place.
His eyesight changed, both physically and in the time he'd spent as a monster. He only saw things for their value to him as a hunter. A thorny bramble was thick enough to provide him cover.
The scraping of the sharp thorns across him was not pain, but redemption. Every moment he could, he felt for anything that could make him feel. Pain was the easiest feeling to acquire these days.
The animals of the court lands had become well aware of him the last few months. They had become more scarce, harder to catch, harder even to find. He could feel the deep pang of hunger. He waited. Something would come to the water. Something had to be as thirsty as he was starved.
While he stayed perfectly still under the cover of the thick bramble, his animal thoughts drifted.
Lucien's face, peering at him from the gates of his decrepit, run-down manor. His shock, his disappointment. Lucien had been the final straw, the one that broke him completely. The very one that had made this existence better than standing on two feet ever again.
Rhysand.
How the High Lord of the Night Court had coaxed him from the woods with fresh meat. Had begged him to return to his duties guarding the borders of the Spring Court. Something had tinged that begging. Perhaps some guilt at his part in this. The destruction of the Spring Court.
And her.
Without meaning, a low growl escaped him.
Without realizing, he now stood with an arrow cocked in a shaking bow pointed straight at him. His eyes led from the arrow, to the water bucket now dribbling its contents along the grass between them.
"Please," the voice behind the bow stated, quiet in tone but steady in meaning.
"Please, I beseech whatever manner of creature you are; I just need water."
He hadn't sensed her, hadn't smelled her. Hadn't had the wherewithal to realize…
But maybe, maybe this was a good thing. Maybe he could finally rest. Maybe, he would find better things on the other side. Better than anything left for him here.
Still, he dared not move.
Her skin was a beautiful bronze that sparkled golden in the sunlight. Her long black hair flowed in waves down her back, falling to her waistline and being carried by the gentle spring breeze. Her focused eyes were emerald green, a thousand jewels encompassed within them. Her high cheekbones and full lips gave her an ancient look, of a people native to a land far from this one. She wore a simple white linen dress with long sleeves, a slit drawn up along the right leg that revealed a golden dagger cinched to her thigh with a leather strap. She was not a wanderer, perhaps a hunter or nomad of some sort. She was so very beautiful, something about her felt vaguely familiar to him. How had that breeze not brought her scent to him, had she been anywhere close by?
Her green eyes were steeled on him.
"Whatever you are, you must go. Move on from me. So that we may both live another day," she said.
She was trying to reason with him. What manner of creature did he appear to be to her?
That single arrow, she could not hope to have taken him down with only that. He could close the distance between them more quickly than she must have realized. He could kill her in a single blow.
But that was not what he wanted. He wanted an end to his madness. He wanted to see another place, a better place; where nothing hurt anymore.
"Please," she said again, so quietly he almost didn't hear her.
He wondered why she was here, what brought her to this place. How she had ended up in the Spring Court, which had since been all but abandoned since Hybern had laid siege to his lands. Perhaps this was his sign. He would put up a fight, because he refused to die a coward; but he would let her end him. She would be a beautiful death.
He lunged, she arched her body back from him in an almost inhuman way and shot. The arrow caught him in his shoulder, and he faltered, suddenly unable to breathe.
He felt himself fall from the air, twisting and contorting back to his human form. That arrow was not a regular arrow.
It had been tipped with poison.
She screamed.
Everything faded from Tamlin's sight. He felt a small smile of relief fall onto his features as the world left him behind.