The Taming of a Beast

Chapter 1

"Faster! The Beast must be caught, dead or alive!"

Adrian ducked as an arrow whizzed by. Had he been a little slower, the arrow would have embedded in his head.

With his sword, he slashed away vines that would have caught him in their grasp. But unlike the usual easy lifting of his sword, he felt his arms were heavy as lead.

Shit, Adrian cursed in his head. The poison was spreading faster than he had expected. His blue eyes narrowed as he felt the poison coursing towards his heart. He should have been more vigilant. But never had he thought that he would be given orders so heinous as to wipe out an entire village of innocent people. 

His mother had warned him since birth to never stand out. Not that Adrian had ever wanted to, but the attention always seemed to land on him no matter how he tried to avoid it, especially as his silvery white hair made him stand out. The lighter the color of hair, the more mana one had. His white hair signaled him as a great mage, and in return, a target of fear and persecution. 

Was this the end for him? He laughed bitterly. What a fitting end for a beast to die in the wild all alone.

His assailants continued to pursue him while he darted through the dense brush of the woods. Adrian's vision was blurring. The pain was almost unbearable now.

"Stop!"

Another arrow flew by, this time landing its mark on Adrian's shoulder. Adrian hardly stumbled as he kept up his running pace. The pain from the arrow could hardly compare to what the poison was doing to his body. He had to live. If he died, then all the secrets would be buried with him.

If he had been given the antidote, the number of people after him would not have been a major problem. But the poison Adrian was given as a child seemed to not only deter his physical strength now, but also seemed to drain his mana. Only the antidote could stop those effects, and he could not possibly receive a dose of the medicine once he had decided to rebel.

There! Adrian still had enough energy to spare within him to sense that there was a large source of flowing water nearby. He changed the course of his running direction immediately, ducking from tree branches along the way.

The ground became wetter, with the ground sucking his boots from the mud like they wanted to drag him down. But it worked to Adrian's advantage as he drew into the leaking pool of his mana to draw water from the mud. Without bothering to look behind him, the mage knight forced the water into ice spears that hurled towards his pursuers with deadly speed and precision. He didn't need to look back to know that his ice magic had struck.

Soon, he found the source of water. A river--fifty feet below--was churning furiously below his feet just as he managed to stop himself from going over the cliff.

Adrian grimaced as he looked at the dark waters below. The only escape route was now down.

The sound of several men crashing through the undergrowth made him turn his back to the river as he faced the enemies.

"It's the end of the road for you, now. You should have just come quietly and kept your mouth shut," one of the men sneered.

Adrian stared coldly back. There were five men left from the original group of eighteen sent after him. Just two of them in the five left were water mage knights. He had considered them his fellow knights until they had betrayed him.

But even though Adrian was outnumbered, the assailants were wary. They were facing the "Beast of Galvador" after all, and he had just taken down so many of their comrades in front of their many eyes.

"I doubt that. Shouldn't you know what happens when you corner a beast?"

Adrian's icy blue eyes narrowed as a huge torrent of water suddenly gushed out behind him. The other two water mages tried to reverse the waves, but Adrian simply created two giant hands out of the larger wave that smacked the water mages into the ground. The mages were knocked unconscious, and their mana energy dissipated before they were able to counter his attacks. Before anyone else could make a move, the water had turned to ice, freezing the men as their expressions turned to horror when they found themselves encased in ice.

But Adrian couldn't see whether he had fully taken care of his attackers. The poison was burning his lungs now as he wheezed for breath. His mana reservoir that had been as flowing as a lake was reduced to a mere puddle the size of a dinner plate. His knees buckled and Adrian felt himself falling. The last thing he saw was the darkening evening sky and the cliffs above him before the rushing river swallowed him whole.

****

"Pathetic." The man sneered. As he shook his head, his dirty blonde hair flew in wisps.

He coolly checked out the wreckage of the fight. The woods were so cold that the ice had hardly melted around the bodies.

"Eighteen men with water and fire mages combined, and not a single one of them can capture one man?" 

Prince Neer snorted. But he too, knew the answer why. 

The "Beast of Galvador" was no simple man indeed. His physical prowess and mana manipulation was worthy of that title alone. The prince loathed to admit that he was just as wary of the water mage as the prince's men were.

"Your Highness. We found this floating in the river."

One of Prince Neer's men showed a knight's jacket, torn and wet. There were traces of blood on the sleeve.

Prince Neer didn't bother taking the dirty jacket from his servant.

"Have this delivered as soon as possible as proof he is dead. Father should be pleased."

"But Your Highness, we have not located the body yet. Are you sure we should send out this information back to the King? After all, the King has not ordered for the capture of---hmmph!"

Prince Neer had raised an eyebrow. With a flick of Neer's wrist, Neer's second in command stepped forward. The man who had questioned Neer's order was suddenly flung into the sky with the second in command's wind magic. In seconds, the hapless man fell screaming until his body collided with the ground. His screams were cut off abruptly. 

Those who were smart stayed quiet and obeyed Neer's orders, lest they too, ended up in a broken mess of flesh and bone. Though Prince Neer had no magic himself, he ruled other mages through fear with scenes like these.

Neer prodded the man's body with his foot. "To answer your question, you fool, Adrian Therry will soon die from the poison regardless. Whether the Beast is alive or not, he will regret not dying a painless death in my hands."

***

Author's Note: Let me know how you all think about the story so far c: This story will be a combination of fantasy-romance, with ahem-steamy scenes throughout. So, please do be aware of that! 

Well, lovelies, I will see you all next chapter!