Beastly Beauty

prologue

//

The door was closed and the faint sounds of my brothers'  breaths lulled me into a deep slumber. Tense muscles from a long day of training finally unraveled and I relaxed deeper into the mattress as  the familiar darkness that sleep brought wrapped itself around me. Like an innocent child, I embraced it with the expectation and promise of a sweet dream.

But when I opened my eyes next, all I could see were the flames.

//

Flames danced in the wind, blowing smoke around the clearing and painting familiar blue skies red. The blazing inferno raged on, leaving wooden huts in the village to creak and groan softly before giving way to the fire. The fire only grew, as did my horror, making every breath harder to take. Whether this was from the smoke or the disaster that lay before me, I couldn't tell.

A startled scream echoed from behind me. I spun around, surprised to see one of the wooden huts collapse on a young mother and her child. I watched as the child managed to crawl out from under her, but the mother was still trapped. The child that looked to be no older than six was hunched over her and pulled with all of his might, but to no avail. It only took a moment before he began to sway from side to side, no doubt from all of the smoke he breathed in.

Finally she spoke to him in a soft voice and her hand tightened around his. She begged him to run away and save himself, but he shook his dark head firmly. It was at that moment that her bright green eyes shifted over to meet mine.  I could see her desperation, a wild gleam shining in her eyes as she sent me a silent plea to save her child.

'There was no reason for both of us to die.' She seemed to say.

It only took a moment for me to make my decision and I ran as fast as I could into the roaring flames. He didn't see me coming from behind and I took this to my advantage, carrying him away without much difficulty. A quiet hiss escaped my lips as wild flames licked at the exposed skin on my arms. The smell of burnt hair and flesh filled my senses and I struggled to keep him still. Little arms and legs pushed and flailed around recklessly in my arms. I held him protectively to my chest and ran as fast as I could away from his mother and towards the forest. 

His cries were deafening, his screams making my ears ring while thick tears blurred my  frontal vision. I whispered an apology as I ran faster, taking him further from his mother and rushing to hand him off to one of the other women that fled from the village. I looked one last time into his wide green eyes before he was quickly pulled away from me. 

"Mama!" His scream echoed across the clearing.

I spun back around, with the hope that I would be able to save her too. 

But she already knew that it was too late. 

A small smile graced her youthful features as tears filled her beautiful emerald eyes. My feet began to carry me towards her, but the unforgiving flames that swallowed the village rose high into the sky and took her without a moment's hesitation. My body recoiled from the flames and when I trained my gaze back on the hut, I was met with the sight of the dust of what once was. 

I kept my eyes trained on that hut for another moment, watching as what was once a happy home to a mother and son burned to the ground. Hot tears ran down my cheeks and I closed my eyes to say a silent prayer, wishing her safe passage and peace in the afterlife. 

Mothers and children continued to run past me, seeking shelter in the lush forest and screaming in fear of what I could not see. I tried to follow them, my instincts telling me to run to safety, but my legs remained motionless.

In that moment I realized that the flames had caught up to me and I was surrounded, trapped within a ring of fire. Oddly though, I didn't feel the bite of the flames like I had earlier, but I felt the cold dread that washed over my skin and the hairs that rose in warning on the back of my neck.

The rough touch of my assailant was what shook me into high alert. Sharp nails pierced into frail skin and sticky rivulets of blood trickled down my arms. I only caught a glimpse of his eyes behind his dark hood when he looked at the blood that spilled from my wound.But when I saw his crazed charcoal eyes disappear into a sea of crimson at the sight of my blood, a silent scream formed on my lips and my body flinched away from his touch.

His hold on me tightened and I was paralyzed. 

"Monster." An unfamiliar voice sounded from my lips.

That was when he looked down at me and he paused for a moment. I could see a flicker of recognition flash in his eyes. With his reaction, he seemed to know me, but I didn't have a clue as to who he was.

Time went by slowly in this uncomfortable silence and fear crept up my spine. I reached around frantically in my consciousness for her but when I didn't feel the familiar warmth that her presence brought, panic and dread seized my heart.

"At last. I've found you," a gravelly voice interrupted,

His blood stained lips were stretched unnaturally wide and he chuckled darkly to himself. A grin that flashed sharp pearly fangs made it clear that he found amusement in something that only he understood.

Every cell in my body was screaming at me to run, but I didn't have control of this body. I felt one of his hands wrap tightly about my neck and my throat began to close as my rounded nails clawed helplessly at his hand. I was lifted higher and higher into the air and my legs kicked weakly until I no longer possessed the ability to breathe. 

At this point, I was counting down the seconds I knew I had left until I lost consciousness.

"You have no idea how long I have searched for you." He breathed.

Three.

"You took everything from me."

Two.

"And for that, I will destroy everything that you hold dear."

One.

My eyes stayed focused on his, up until the last moment when black spots began to appear in my vision.

Zero.

Then it was as if a rug was pulled out from under my feet and I fell back into the darkness.

//