Page 17 of A Siren of Beasts

This time when I shoved I didn’t just shove with my body, but also with something inside that had been waiting for the moment I would notice it. Almost as if the still small voice in my head that used to reassure me at various moments in my life that I was meant for more, wasn’t just made up nonsense I used to survive. With that shove, whatever had been on top of me went flying back out the door. Teeth ripped from my skin in the process, making me cry out at the pain.

“Shiny,” a husky voice called. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Shiny, please open your eyes. I need to see that beautiful silver gaze before I skin a hell-wolf and make a rug for you to walk over every day. Just one look and I’ll feast on his soul so I have the magic to help you.”

My breathing was coming so fast, I reached out a hand blindly, tears spilling out of my eyes at the pain. A strange textured hand grasped mine as the prick of claws grazed my skin gently as the hand tightened.

“Please, Shiny,” the same husky voice pleaded desperately, making me wonder why he was calling me Imp’s name for me.

The touch grounded me as a rough hand touched my cheek, brushing away the tears. “I really fucking hate to see you cry, Shiny, but I’m not leaving you until I know you’re going to hang in there. Otherwise, this whole fucking forest is going to be burned to the fucking ground.”

With great effort, I opened my eyes and found myself looking at a human-sized raven skull with red glowing eyes that were gazing intently at me. “Imp?” I managed to get out.

“Yes, my mate, this is my true form,” was all he said before resting his smooth skulled forehead to mine. “Hold on for me, Shiny. I’ve got a hell-wolf to kill then I’ll be right back.”

I tried to reach out to him, keep him from leaving me, but with a soft brush of feathers I watched him leave. It took everything in me not to freefall into the panic that threatened to engulf me. I was still alive, in a lot of fucking pain, but still alive. Something hummed along my skin as if trying to soothe and comfort me. When I noticed it the humming stopped and faded beneath the surface, almost like it was shy at being caught.

“Don’t leave me too,” I begged.

It paused and seemed to look back at me over its shoulder as if checking to make sure I was serious.

“Please, I don’t want to be alone right now, everything hurts and I’m scared. I hate being scared,” I admitted.

This seemed to convince whatever it was as it rose to the surface. My whole body tingled like when a limb had fallen asleep and was waking back up. It started out fine but the moment you tried to move it the tingling became painful. Gritting my teeth, I tried not to fight whatever was happening but I lost that battle when everything around me went dark.

Darkness had never scared me. What’s to fear when you could see better in the blackness than during the day? A soft luminescent glow appeared in the void and headed towards me. I frowned, feeling like I should know what was going on, but nothing made sense. The last thing I remembered about that night of the shipwreck was drowning. Yet clearly that hadn’t been real since I woke up days later, very much alive. Then to discover there truly were monsters and according to Imp, I was one of them.

The glowing object was closer now and I could see it wasn’t an object, it was a woman. She was stunning, tall with a regal way of holding herself as she walked up to me. Her skin was as white as mine with the same silver eyes, but where we differed was hair. Mine was as black as the night, hers was as bright and pale as the moon, with an obsidian crown resting on her head.

“Welcome home, my child.”

nine

Her voice was as light and musical as chimes, calming all the fears I might have had. She reached out and caressed my cheek with her ghostly touch. I felt drawn to her as if somehow she was someone I’d always been looking for but never knew it.

“My child, I knew when the time was right my offspring would find their way back to our home. This land has been ruined and squandered by those I welcomed with open arms. Those I looked after are now succumbing to the madness that has been released from the cage I’d been able to put it in,” she told me, like all of this should make sense to me.

“I didn’t know enough about the madness to be able to cleanse it from our lands, now that duty has fallen to you, my child. Those you need will be drawn to you, but as always with magic, there is balance. While you will call to those who resonate with your soul, you’ll also draw those who wish to extinguish the hope you bring. Trust your magic, it has been watching over you until it was time to reveal itself to you. Bring back the land I loved so much and care for the monsters and beasts I was taken away from. This is your true heritage and where you belong, Kezia, don’t fear it, because it’s a part of you.”

As she said this last part she pressed a hand to my heart and I felt a pulse and magic reverberated around me, shattering the darkness and revealing the ceiling of Imp’s home. My body no longer hurt, instead, it seemed to vibrate with an energy it never had before. Getting to my feet, I felt the tackiness of the blood still on my skin, even if I wasn’t bleeding anymore. I stood there a moment and looked down at my hands. The hands that now had black nails that came to a sharp point like tiny claws. My skin was still white but it almost seemed to have a luminesce to it that was never there before.

I was snapped out of my revelry when I heard a tree cracking and slamming to the ground, causing it to shake. Rushing out of the house, I found a strange humanoid bird monster standing in the small clearing before the house arms spread wide like he was defending it. Coming out of the misty underbrush covered in wooden shrapnel was a massive wolf. Only this wolf was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. He stood on his hind feet much like a human would. His long muscular arms had hands with nasty looking claws that flexed as he paused before charging at the bird-man.

“Get the fuck out of my way, bird brain,” the wolf snarled as he slashed out at said bird.

“You’re not getting anywhere near my Shiny, she’s fucking mine and your filthy mouth bit her. That means you’re going to die and I have no doubt your soul will be a tasty snack. I’m ever so hungry after so many years of starving,” the bird monster shot back, blocking the strike with his taloned hand. His feathered cloak swirled and he flitted to position himself behind the wolf.

It was Imp!

My pain filled memory of him looking down at me with those glowing red eyes confirmed it. Watching him with new eyes, I was impressed with his grace and ability to flit from place to place. His black feathers shone like armor in the twilight. His hands only had four digits like a bird with long bony fingers and long talons that looked deadly sharp. Under the cape I saw a glimpse of a human-like torso with black skin, but his arms and legs were covered in short feathers that went up his neck and around the back of his head like hair. The raven skull almost looked like a mask the way it fit the front of his head, but the beak looked as honed as any sword, betraying how real it was. Imp’s movements were incredibly fast as he toyed with the wolf, flipping, twirling, and darting out of the way of his claws seconds before the hit might land.

“What’s the matter, hell-wolf, been napping too long underground? Seems you’re a little rusty on how a fight should go between two powerful monsters,” Imp taunted. “Come on, be a good pup and bring on the fire. I’ve been itching for a fight and it won’t be as satisfying to kill you when it’s too easy. A soul tastes better when it’s been won in the heat of battle.”

The wolf tossed back his head and let out a howl that seemed to carry the screams of the underworld the way it made me shiver. Smoke seeped out of him and glowing red veins of color seemed to appeared all over his body before flames burst from them. His amber eyes glowed as if the fire inside him were illuminating them. The long pointed ears stood tall on his shaggy wolf head with flames flickering around them like extensions of his fur.

Now it made sense why my hands burned when I grabbed him. He was basically an ember waiting to burst into flame at any given moment. Smoke seeped out of his mouth, adding to the terrifying sight of him. Each step he took with his clawed feet left scorch marks on the ground, but didn’t set the underbrush on fire. As much as I wanted to be afraid of this walking torch of a monster, I couldn’t help but be drawn to him. All I wanted to do was curl up in his lap and let his warmth absorb me.

“Satisfied now, feather duster?” he snarled.

The words were hard to make out with the growl that was echoed in them, but Imp responded with a harsh cawing laugh with his head tilted back to the sky. His laughter was cut short when a ball of fire was hurled at him, and he had to dart out of the way.