Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Ninety-one

We hurried to the square. I rode Winston while Lance and Tristan flanked us. Patrick was told to remain behind and continue guarding the territory.

When we arrived, I couldn't see anything. It was as though the entire city, all ten thousand residents were crammed into the space. Winston had to climb to the rooftops for me to get a view of the dais and what I did see made my blood boil.

Tied by their front paws in beast form with their backs facing the crowd was Shuu and Carl. The Wolf King was standing off to the side while the Ape King, was striking their backs with a whip made from leather, jagged stones, and bones. Each crack of the whip echoed through the space. The crowd was dead silent as they watched the two beasts have the skin on their back ripped open with each swing.

"Confess!" The Ape King was yelling at them. "Confess you were the ones who led the ferals inside! Confess you were the ones who led them to the Tiger Queen! Confess!" When they did not speak, he turned to the crowd and held his hand out. With a sizzle and a pop whatever he held burst into flame and smoke billowed out from his hand.

"These are not the only criminals that have brought death and destruction to our city!" He proclaimed. Then the smoke shimmered, and an image of the modern human world was displayed from its depths, "Look! This is the world of Bai Qingqing! She is an outsider! Her presence here is an abomination! She must be sacrificed to the Beast God or he shall reign fire down upon us!" The image changed to show a volcanic eruption with lighting flashing from the skies and lava flowing through the city, burning every home in its wake.

The crowd gasped in horror and those closer to the dais started to move chaotically. I saw a flash of red and knew Bai was down there with her mates trying to protect her from the increasingly angry mob. But my attention didn't stay on them long.

The Ape King seeing that Bai would soon be apprehended turned back to his captives and raised his hand to whip them again. A familiar rage coursed through me and like the volcano in the smoke, I exploded. Like a bomb gone off, pressure erupt from me, knocking most people to their knees. In panicked confusion, they looked around for the source and then a female screamed.

All eyes turned to the smoke where she pointed. The image of decimation shifted and changed. One by one parts of something began to appear. First, it was great golden eyes with slitted pupils, then a great maw with long sharp fangs. Then, great horns emerged like waves. Finally the entire face became clearly visible. It was feline in nature but the mouth was wider and Cheshire-like. Long whiskers flowed from its cheeks like silk ribbon. Its face and top of the head was furred but the neck, as it came into view, had golden scales.

It did not seem fully corporeal but the head became more than just an image in the smoke. It came out from the smoke in a blur of light headed straight for the Ape King. It passed him and anticlimactically disappeared into the nothingness from which it came. And then the Ape King screamed.

The arm that had been held high in the air ready to strike down on the backs of my mate and loyal guard was now missing the whip, and the hand that had held it. Blood poured from the empty wrist like a fountain, spraying the beasts nearest to the dais.

Whatever that phantom had been, it had given me an opportunity and I wasn't going to waste it.

"DO YOU FINALLY SEE!?" I yelled at the top of my voice. Lance exuded beast pressure and the crowd grew quiet as they turned to look at me sitting tall atop my tiger like a goddess with my flame red hair blowing in the breeze. "THIS IS HOW THE BEAST GOD REPLIES TO SUCH LIES! THE APE KING HAS DECIEVED YOU ALL AND NOW, IT WILL NOT BE A STRANGE FEMALE'S PRESENCE THAT DESTROYS THIS CITY, BUT THE KING YOU ALL FOLLOWED SO WILLINGLY. YOU WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN! FLEE FROM THE CITY BEFORE THE BEAST GOD'S WRATH CONSUMES IT AND ALL WHO REMAIN!"

And just as I'd hoped, chaos erupted. Beasts began to flee in every direction. Some were trying to get to the dais to attack the Ape King while others hesitantly moved to defend him, inching their way back towards the safety of his castle. Beasts pushed and trampled each other without care, fearing only for themselves. I saw a red snake lift a pale woman with dark hair into the air and an eagle swoop down to take her away from the mindless masses.

But I cared for none of it. My perceptive tiger jumped from rooftop to rooftop until we reached the dais and my wolf. Lance did not stay behind us. Instead, he moved to follow the Ape King into his castle. He was going to get our cubs and healer back.

Without the other kings present to force Shuu and Carl into submission, my wolf and the tiger were able to release themselves from their bonds and shift into their beastman forms. Shuu was weak from his wounds and collapsed to the floor. I ran to him and knelt next to him. I wanted to hold him but I was so afraid that I would touch his wounds and cause him pain that my hands simply hovered where he knelt on hands and knees.

He did not have such hesitation. When he saw me, he embraced me in a crushing hug. "Bailey! You're alright! I was so worried!"

"Worry about yourself you idiot! Did you forget what I told you! I told you to never let anyone harm you like this again!" I sobbed.

Winston interrupted the reunion with Tristan and Carl next to him. "Shift." He ordered Shuu. "We have to leave the city. Bailey won't be safe here after today."

Shuu nodded and a bloodied, black wolf took the space at my side.

"Wait! We have to wait for Lance. We need to get our cubs and Harvey!" I said a little panicky.

A smooth voice spoke from behind me. "I've got them Bailey. Let's go." Lance was there in his snake form with Olly in beastman form holding Kit and riding on his tail. My golden leopard stood beside them.

I ran to my cubs and embraced them tightly, crying in relief. Winston came over and bodily placed me to sit behind them. Then he shifted back to tiger form and we pushed our way through the city square to the Tiger King's territory.

We only stopped long enough to gather what we needed and release the shortbirds from their coop. Patrick and a few others also gathered their things and when they saw us, followed us as we left the city.

We became a group of fifty. None of us looked back. Not once.