was already on the move, and I was following close behind.
The forest became darker the deeper I traveled, and the sounds of the search party faded away. Gobbersnot had done well, for we were heading in opposite directions. Normally, I would have been scared, but my fear for Pru spurred me on.
The ribbon danced and turned abruptly, and I knew I was getting close. A snapping noise from beyond stilled my movements as I listened, hunting with my ears for sounds of her cry or moans. Closing my hands, I raised the mage light and spun, searching the darkness, and saw a hint of a blue dress near the edge of a gully.
“Pru! Pru! I’m so sorry.” I rushed to her, grabbed her shoulders, and turned her over. Her eyes fluttered weakly, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She was still alive, though her pulse was weak, and there was a nasty claw mark in her side that was bleeding profusely. Guilt assailed me, and I knew it must have been me. I didn’t mean to hurt her. My hands glowed, and I closed my eyes, pressing them to her wound. I could feel her skin slowly knit back together.
“I never meant to hurt you, Pru. I promise I’ll go away, somewhere far away, where my inner beast can no longer hurt you or anyone else. Do you hear me? Just promise me you’ll wake up.”
Pru’s eyes fluttered open weakly, and she breathed out a sigh. “You came for me. I knew you would save me.”
“No, I’m not good at saving people. I only hurt them. It’s me. All my fault. All of those deaths. All because I truly am evil, a murderous beast.”
“N-No, you’re n-not a beast,” she cooed softly. She reached up to cup my face weakly. I put my hand over hers and she smiled. “I saw you. When the beast took me, and I thought I was dying for sure. You appeared to me, like a ghost or a dream, but you didn’t say anything. You were here and then vanished.”
What she was saying was confirming that she was indeed close to death and had summoned me to her while I slept. I had been here, but I didn’t remember.
“I thought for sure I was dead, but then he said….” Her eyes widened in fear.
“Who said?” I asked. “Who’s he?”
Pru leaned forward, putting her forehead to mine. Wrapping her arm around my neck, she murmured, “Rrrrn.”
“What?” I asked again, scared that maybe I had inadvertently hurt her.
Pru struggled to breathe out her warning again, but this time I heard her desperation. “R-Run, Rosalie.” Her breathing was ragged as she looked behind me in terror. “It’s a trap!”
Goose bumps traveled up my arms, and I sensed we were not alone.
“You cannot have her,” I said firmly, sending the mage light high above my head to try and cast its rays onto the beast.
The cracking of branches echoed around me as the beast moved in the darkness. I spun, trying to find it again, to keep the threat in front of me, not behind. Knowing that may be the only warning I’d have if it attacked, my hands crackled as I harnessed my power, focusing it as I prepared to defend myself.
“It’s not a beast,” Pru whimpered fearfully.
“What is it, then?” I asked.
“It’s Gaven,” she whispered.
A slow clap came from the woods, and I turned as Gaven stepped out from behind the tree line. “But that’s where you’re wrong, little girl. For I am more than a beast. I am invincible.” He fingered the fur he wore on his back, and I eyed it suspiciously.
“It’s enchanted, isn’t it,” I said, nodding to the black fur.
“I told you I was the greatest hunter alive. I killed a legendary brackenbeast. I’d heard tales of their powers, so I skinned it with a silver knife while under a hunter’s moon and took its fur as my prize.”
“You killed a fey. Why would you do that?” I gasped in horror, realizing that by doing it under those conditions, he had embedded some of the fey’s magic into the skin, making the wearer a shapeshifter.
“I was bored of hunting with arrows.” Gaven grinned. “Now I hunt with teeth and claws, and it is exhilarating. And no one can stop me. Not even you.”
“I will stop you. I guarantee it,” I threatened.
“We could have been good together, you and me,” he said, shaking his head. “But then you had to go and ruin