Beast

Chapter 2

Alexander galloped into the village square, dismounting before his horse had even slowed. As Alexander straightened and turned he felt all the breath leave his body; there was a stake set up in the middle of the square with a girl strapped to it, he watched as the village 'pure' chanted. Children held onto mothers who in turn clung to walls or their men, watching the priest and the most devout followers press their unlit torches to the priest's lit one, in preparation for the cleansing chant. The rumbling cadence of their chant commenced, and the assembly of 'pures' swarmed forward with their torches, touching them to the pyre. Alexander ran forward to the priest as quickly as his legs would carry him, and swung his meaty hand to knock the torch from the priest's grip. As the torch tumbled to the ground, the priest swiftly followed suit when Alexander flung him out of the way and made a scrambling dash up the pyre to the stake. The wood was already ablaze as he tripped and stumbled up it, spurred by the girl's sobs and the crackling of the hungry flames. Sweat beaded on his forehead as the memories assaulted him, but the vicious flames spurred him onwards - just like they had when he was a child. As he reached the top, Alexander lunged for the stake so he could wrench the ropes from the girl's wrists. As he fought with the rope he felt the heat from the fire as it crawled up his body, the panic made his already thick, gloved fingers fumble uselessly at the bindings. When Alexander finally managed to free the girl he grabbed her and flung her into Rowan's waiting arms; once he knew she was safe with Rowan, Alexander began to take notice of the heat and pain in his lower extremities. He realised - belatedly - that his worst nightmares were coming true. He could feel the flames lick a burning path up his legs and around his side, and there was no way for him to wake up from this. Once this realisation had dawned on him, he became aware of Rowan's terrified screams and the anguished howls of the bystanders. Alexander looked down at the burning pyre and made his decision - he would do more to save himself this time around. With this in mind, Alexander flung himself from the pyre to the ground in a blind panic, his heart thumped wildly in his ears. He landed clumsily and heavily, hitting his head hard on the packed earth floor. The darkness overtook his vision and Alexander slumped into a heap on the floor - the last thing he heard was Rowan's voice telling him everything would be ok, and the last thing he felt was something wet being slapped repeatedly over his burning legs.

Elise stood and watched the man who had caught her (Rowan was the name the other man had called him) check over the man in the hood. She felt sick looking at the bloodied, oozing legs that Rowan uncovered when the flames had been extinguished. Her stomach flipped as the smell assaulted her senses - but her healer training kicked in quickly, overriding her disgust at the smell and sight of the man's legs. She ran to the priest who was standing about 12 yards from them, and shook him violently.
"Where is my bag?" She shouted at him and shook him harder when he did not immediately answer. "I need it..... WHERE IS IT?"
"It... It's over there." The priest pointed to the church stoop, "We were going to throw that witchcraft on the fire after... After...." he trailed off and looked at the floor.
"Just be thankful it is still there." Elise snapped as she ran to the bag, grabbed it and ran back to the unconscious man. As she emptied the herbs and poultices she needed, she could not help but marvel at how big the man on the floor was - he was a veritable giant. Broad shoulders, thick and muscular legs, large gloved hands attached to taut and muscled arms - she snapped herself out of it as the ointment sloshed over her fingers. She began to smooth the foul smelling paste over the burns she could reach, being careful to press her fingers into the wounds only as hard as was strictly necessary.
"Sir?" she glanced up and the stricken face of the man who had caught her. "Sir... I need you to concentrate. I need your help; we need to get him home, clean and into bed." She touched his arm to get his attention.
"I... He.... Not again..." The anguish in his tone tugged at Elise's heart, she had never heard a grown man sound so forlorn and lost.
"Everything will be ok if we can get him back home and into a bed." Elise spoke calmly and -though it made her scared and uncomfortable to do so - kept her hand on Rowan's arm so he would concentrate on the contact and ultimately what she was saying to him.