Throne of the Beasts ✔️

The Cult

Surging with anger and fear, I used my legs to push him off with newfound strength. He flew off of the bed and crashed onto the floor. Scrambling, I looked vigorously around to find something to deal with him. My eyes landed on my owl, who was screeching loudly. I ran over to it, and threw open the cage door. The man jumped on my back, throwing me to the floor. The owl, though, had different plans. It leaped into the air and attacked his face, clawing at him until he got up, giving me the chance to escape his grip.

"Listen Eliza, I'm not trying to hurt you!" he screamed, throwing the bird to the floor. I looked sadly at it as it writhed around on the floor. But I didn't believe him. Even if he wasn't going to hurt me, he had definitely hurt my owl, and I had already been displaced once today, and I wasn't doing that again. He stood up, towering over me. In his hand was a rope, still partially in the pouch at his side. He lunged at me, but I dodged, throwing a swift blow to his nose. I went around him, and bolted for the door as fast as my dress and shoes would let me.

Throwing the doors open, I stepped outside. A hand threw me down onto the floor. I flailed around to escape his grip. "Why won't you let this happen!" He yelled at me, his nose trickling blood onto my face. I spat in his face and rolled onto my stomach. I sprang up and sprinted down the hall. It split into three halls ahead of me. Lost, I took the one to the left and continued sprinting until I reached a dead end. I saw him looking for me at the fork in the road, and his eyes locked on mine.

Unthinking, I barged through a door. "Hey!" Yelled two people in unison. I ignored them and looked for a way to escape. There was a door in the other end of the room, and went through it. It was a whole other room, with a small staircase leading to an even smaller room.

I descended down without a second thought, especially once hearing his footsteps. I pressed my back against the wall, hoping to not be noticed. After what seemed like an eternity, I assumed he had left, so I opened the door and ran. I hit a wall, or what I thought was a wall. He shoved me to the ground, putting his foot in my back. He wrapped the rope around my wrists as I struggled against him.

I kicked around as he lifted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and began walking to a window. Opening it, he said, "Hold on, mad'am." As soon as I could tell what he was trying to do, he plummeted down two stories onto a patch of grass, narrowly avoiding the pile of rocks that lined the edges of the castle. I exhaled, realizing I had been holding my breath the entire time.

A few corpses were splayed around of royal guards, presumably the ones he had killed in order to get me. He broke into a sprint, and we were off through the woods to God-knows-where. But I couldn't help the feeling that I was missing something. My owl.

"Excuse me, sir," I said, clearing my throat. He hummed in response. "It seems that through all of the kidnapping shenanigans, that I have forgotten my ow-"

"Look up, your majesty." He said blandly. I twisted my neck as far as possible so I could see the sky. Sure enough, there he was, following us closely as we moved at high speeds. Thinking of which, I should probably name it. I mean, it'll be alive as long as I'm alive and vice versa, so I might as well give it some kind if title.

As I went through a list of names in my head, I finally stuck with one. His name would be Alfred. I don't know why, it just sounded majestic or royal enough to be an Alfred. Plus it rolled off the tongue well- Alfred the owl.

It was nearly nightfall by the time he stopped running and put me on my feet. "We've arrived, mad'am." He announced in a sing-song voice. He untied the rope, and I immediately slapped him. Hard. I was extremely mad, and the long run had given me more time to think about my situation. He frowned, rubbing his cheek, before uttering a quiet, "My apologies."

He removed his hood finally, revealing a black haired, blue eyed, handsome man, all traits of Meinese common folk. Meinua was a large country a few provinces south of Stuainia. It was widely known for its wealth and abundance of conventionally attractive citizens. Many of them migrated here in search for a new life and love, leaving many people here a mixture of Stuanian/Meinese heritage.

He put a gloved hand in the small of my back, and pushed me toward a wooden gate. A dozing man with a rifle clutched in his hand was stationed at the side. He snapped his fingers, and he jumped awake. He composed himself and bowed his head,opening the gate.

Beyond the gate was a dirt path, presumably leading to the source of the large amount of noise. He ushered me along, until we finally reached a clearing. There were tons of people all dressed similarly to my captor, mostly sitting around an enormous fire pit or chatting with smaller circles. They all had ale. They looked at me as I entered, and became quiet. They all bowed and went back to sipping their hops and laughing boisterously.

We passed the social area into a residential area, filled with huts of all shapes and color. Then, in the very back, was an extremely large one, decorated with wildflowers and skulls. He ushered me inside as I hesitated. Through the tarp entrance we went. Inside was a man, adorning face paint, no shirt, and a plethora of small forest animals. Scurried around him in a whirlwind of movement.

Acknowledging my presence, he stood and bowed, promptly rushing up to me. "Is she the one?" He questioned. He nodded. "Really? Where is her bird?"

Right after he spoke, Alfred flew through the door, landing graciously on my shoulder. He let out a loud call before looking around, stopping at Biming and letting out an almost purring noise. He then preened his feathers. He gawked at him and then me. "So it is true," he murmured. He took my hands and said, "Come. We have much to discuss, your majesty."