A Tale That Never Was [Book 1 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 23: Red Sun Rising

With the rising sun on their left, Red and Jack rode into Our Lady amidst a pall of black smoke. A great fire was raging near the center of the city and Bigbad pounded down the streets toward it. Jack's heart raced as his mind conjured up images of Selvina's charred body surrounded by ashes. He shut his eyes and forced them away but they soon returned, relentlessly creeping into his thoughts like scavengers surrounding dying prey.

"Jack," Red said to him. "Stop squeezing me so tightly!"

Snapping to attention, Jack loosened his hold in Red's slim waist. He had been unaware that his grip had intensified. "Sorry, Red. I...I'm just worried for Selvina...and Cindy." Truth be told, his mind had been filled with only visions of Selvina. He cared for Cindy and liked her as a friend but only Selvina made his heart feel the way it did when his eyes set themselves upon her. Mind, heart and soul, the beautiful young woman had a hold on him even when absent.

"So am I," Red replied, her eyes ahead.

Beneath them both, Bigbad kept up the pace, as full of energy as he always seemed to be. Despite two small scars where Gaston's arrows had pierced him there was no evidence that the huge wolf had ever died at all. Two holes in Red's crimson cloak were the only signs of her demise as well. Amalthea had performed a miracle and Jack would forever be eternally grateful. He only hoped that he and his newly reincarnated friends arrived in time to save Selvina from whatever harm she might be experiencing.

The cobblestone street opened up to a wide square and before them loomed the terrifyingly beautiful Cathedral of Our Lady. To their left were three piles of smoking ash. Flames rose from buildings across the square, some of them little more than rubble. A large crowd of people was gathered around the burning buildings, tossing buckets of water on them, having as much effect as spitting on a volcano. Strewn about the area were dead soldiers, their throats slashed, their heads lopped off, their bodies cleaved, and some appeared ground to a pulp. Puddles of blood dotted the ground and in some of them floated strands of grey hair. Red dismounted and knelt at one such puddle, examining it closely.

"Beast was here," she said as she picked up one of the coarse hairs.

"Beast is here," Jack corrected, staring across square.

Red looked up at him and he pointed ahead. She followed his gaze to where he saw Beast walking toward them, claws extended and fangs bared. His pale eyes were frowning and he appeared every part the monster people saw him as. Jack unsheathed his dagger, knowing already that it would do nothing against Beast but desperately needing some small measure of hope.

"Put it away, Jack," Red told him as she stood up. She didn't appear afraid of concerned in the least, despite Beast's terrifying appearance.

"Red, do you not see how he looks at us?"

"Bigbad isn't concerned so neither am I."

She was right, Jack noticed. Bigbad was watching Beast approach but was panting without a care and appeared completely at ease. If the wolf saw him as no threat then Jack supposed he should do the same and slowly sheathed his dagger.

Beast stopped a few feet from them and narrowed his eyes. He sniffed the air a few times and then sighed heavily, his shoulders dropping and his expression changing from one of rage to one of weariness. "Belle is relieved to know you are alive, Red Riding Hood," his rumbling voice said.

"How did she know what had happened to me?" Red asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"We share the same body," Beast answered. "It is a secret we have carried our whole lives but all of Our Lady knows of it now thus there is no harm in me revealing it to you. Our souls are completely different and we are separate individuals but we inhabit a single shell, albeit a changeable one.