Marked By The Unseelie

Chapter 14 Emerald Beast

Chapter 14

I don't care where I am right now, and I scream my lungs out when I run. The beast lands right at the spot where I was standing a while ago. It's massive with dark green fur. The body is similar to a cat's, but the head is more like a wolf's, complete with sabertooth-like canines.

I hear its claws scratching the surface of the ground while it moves to chase me. I turned sharply to a corner, almost slipping on my dress when I made the turn. I made the book fall behind me as I ran, hoping that it would slow down the beast. Whether it worked or not, I am not entirely sure as I quickly rushed to dive under the table when I saw it leap.

The table rattles when the beast lands on top. I tried my beast not to scream and failed. As despicable as this sounds, I turn to the mark on the back of my hand, wondering why it doesn't seem to be working.

What's wrong with it? Don't it usually send out magic when I am in danger?

I scream when the beast seems to try to scratch the surface of the table to get to me.

"Livia!" I felt relieved when I heard Zhier's voice calling for me.

I hear the beast stop scratching, like it notices him too. It lets out a ferocious roar, and I see it jumping off of the table to head in the direction where I heard Zhier's voice a while ago.

I crawl out of the table to see what's happening. I see Zhier blocking the creature's attack with a sword and a chair.

"Get out of here, Livia! Quickly!" He screams like he senses me looking at them. "A stone guardian is outside. Ride it and get out of here!"

I get the feeling that I should ask him about his well-being, but you know what? If he says it's fine, then I am going! Besides, what can I do? I would just get in the way.

Or would I?

I ran over to the nearest bookshelf that I could find and waved over to Zhier. "Lure it here!"

Zhier's eyes shifted in my direction for a split second. He nods, drops the chair and lets out a blast of wind to knock back the creature right where I wanted it. I start to push the shelf, but it's heavier than I expected.

This is embarrassing.

"Move!" Zhier is immediately at my side, pushing the shelf in my place so that it tumbles over, trapping the creature under it. Zhier turns to me right after, and I can only fiddle with my hands.

"I did not think that it would be that heavy. Sorry. I swear, I am stronger than-"

"No time. Let's go. I doubt that this would hold it for long." He grabs my hand, and together we run to the exit. A stone guardian is waiting for us on the terrace. Zhier makes me get on it first, and then he hops on.

We hear a sound coming from inside the library. Zhier clenches his teeth and yells at the stone guardian. "Take us to the ground floor. Quickly!"

The griffin stone guardian that we are riding on spreads its wings and leaps down just as a horrendous roar is heard from the terrace. The beast's screech seems closer so I craned my head to look up. The creature is looking at us, and I have seen enough animalistic movements in the wild to know what it's planning to do.

"Zhier!" I did not have much time to explain, so I just pointed at the beast. I was just a second too late when it leapt down towards us. It lands on top of us, causing the stone griffin to descend faster.

The beast suddenly grabs the fabric at the back of my dress and jumps off of the falling stone guardian just before it crashes and breaks. Smoke and dust covers the air from the stone guardian's broken pieces.