Page 54 of A Siren of Beasts

None can slither away from my voice will be free;

My name is Queen! Have you not heard of me?

I come to none before their fate’s sealed,

And when it is, they must submit and yield.

I take no bribe, trust me, this is true;

Prepare yourself to go; I’ve come for you.

I have you fast, and will not let you loose;

Leave it all behind, for you must go

Along with me, whether your will or no;

I am queen, I command the madness to leave,

You are mine, to keep, by blood and oath, I make it so.

The pain of my claws digging into my own skin as I bled letting it fall to the earth threatened to pull me out of the spell I was casting. Having no idea where I came up with the words or where I’d even heard the song before, I let it flow from me along with my blood. The magic that swirled around me burst, as if the bubble had popped, flooding the area with my power. I felt each and every monster that it encountered burning away the madness and restoring them to what they’d once been. These lesser monsters that my mates had seen as more trouble than they were worth started to scatter the moment their senses returned.

Finally, my magic encountered the creature before me. The rage, anger, and pain that radiated off him threatened to choke me with the strength of it. I knew I needed more. What I was doing wouldn’t be enough to break the curse that had been placed on this poor creature. It was as if I was fighting through a bog to find where the real monster was hidden in the muck of his own hatred. What has this poor soul done that he felt warranted him being punished this way?

Slashing my claws into my other arm and across my chest, feeling the blood running down my naked skin, I turned my face to the moon. “Mother help me, guide me to save those you entrusted me with.”

The feel of ethereal hands resting on my shoulders told me she was here with me. I wasn’t doing this alone. “Sing my child, your greatest gift and power is in your heart. Let the words ring true, my sweet child.”

Trusting in her words, I pulled from my depths and found my magic had more to give. Something about this monster made me desperate to fix what had been broken. To find and mend what had been taken, because the only thing I was sure about was that the madness didn’t create this creature. Something far more sadistic and vile had torn this monster apart and rebuilt him to this. I refused to let him suffer, not when I believed I could save him.

I come from sailing round the seas,

Through courts and kingdoms far and near,

Where rich and poor, slave and free,

Fall sooner or later on bended knee to me.

From crownèd kings to captives bound in chains

My power reaches; the farthest distance

That ever were, I put a call out to;

And now I’ve come here to conquer you.

Though you are unwilling to submit,

Yet surrender you must, no other option can do,—

Prepare yourself to go, I’ve come for you.

If you had all the world and ten times more,

Yet submit you must,—there are millions gone before;

The greatest monsters on earth yield and obey,