***GORE WARNING***
The further she walked into the woods, the more intense the scent of blood became.
She thought about ripping up the bottom portion of her dress but ultimately decided against it. She needed it for when they traveled back to the capital.
She did, however, take off her shoes and stockings, leaving them on the forest floor before trekking any further inside the woods. Kiera firmly held on to the hilt of her sword, the familiar weight of which made her confident as she ventured through the thicket.
Soon, she stopped walking. Her nose had led her straight to the source of all the blood.
***Flies buzzed around the carcass of the unfortunate man. His mangled body laid out on the forest bed as blood seeped out from the body and soaked the fallen twigs and leaves on the ground underneath. The man was missing an arm and a quarter of his left leg. His stomach was wide open, and there was a mess of his half-eaten innards strewn about.***
Kiera sighed and she looked away from the horrid sight. No mere animal could do this amount of damage to a body. If she was back at Wolfcyre Forest, she would have said it had to have been a Deranged Beast, but she wasn't in the Forest so she couldn't make the same conclusion just yet.
The sound of a twig snapping brought her back to the present. Her head whipped to the side quickly as a dark shadow moved through a tall bush. Kiera let out a growl in warning, but the figure that stepped out was none other than the prince.
"What are you doing here?" She said, exasperated to see him. "Go back to the house Your Highness." She tried to stand in between him and the body for she had wanted to spare him from the ghastly sight.
"Is that the merchant?" He ignored her last comment, going around her to take a look at the corpse on the ground.
"Yes. Now please leave the woods. It isn't safe for you here." He looked at her, his green eyes looked dark under the shadows that were cast by the trees. The thought of the prince and the merchant switching places made her insides twist most cruelly.
"I worry for you too Kiera, in the same way you worry for me."
She scoffed, shaking her head.
"I am one of the Beast Army's great Generals. I know how to fight, unlike the women you know at the capital."
"Yes, believe me, I know you can fight. But this could have been done by a monster," his eyes looked to the corpse on the ground, "in that case, I would rather be by your side. The monsters here might be different from the ones you have at Wolfcyre Forest."
"Monsters and Beasts are one and the same Prince." She said sourly. "I am quite capable of handling myself in a fight. You, on the other hand, I am not so sure about. I am not confident that I can protect you while trying to fend off any attacks." She eyed the sword at the prince's side. It was still unknown to her how much the prince knew about fighting. She didn't know whether he was comfortable holding a sword at all.
"You would be surprised at what I can do General." Kiera liked the dark look in his eyes, a stark difference from the Prince Sam the Solomon royal court swore was good for absolutely nothing.
"Unfortunately, that is not a gamble I am willing to take Your Highness. Please, go back to the house."
"Kiera--"
"Sam!" She rose her voice at the prince for the first time. Her frustrations were mounting up, but she never thought she would lose her temper and yell at royalty. Kiera adjusted the volume of her voice. "Forgive me. I did not mean to raise my voice."
She looked down, embarrassed.
"I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you on my watch. Please, just for this one time, can you do what I ask?"
She looked pleadingly up at him. He only ran a hand through his fake brown hair and nodded.
"I understand. I will wait at the house. Just promise me you will be safe." She accepted his terms with a nod of her head. Kiera had never made such a promise before. Usually, people would ask her to keep other people safe, knowing the Beast General's prowess and skill.
"I need you to promise me Kiera." Her lips pulled up into a smile as she stared at the serious-faced prince.
"I promise."
He let out a princely sigh, a faint smile on his lips after seeing the Beast General's smile in his direction.
"Then I shall leave. Be careful Kiera."
Kiera was about to say the prince should be careful as well as he headed back to the merchant's house. She also wanted to mention the little boy behind the crates, but the dark shadow that loomed behind the prince made the words dry up inside her throat.
"Sam!" She screamed, springing into action.
The prince followed her eyes to the shadow behind him, turning around as the flash of claws came down on him. Kiera did not know if the creature's claws managed to rip into the prince. She only acted on pure instinct.
The prince was thrown to the ground. Kiera saw the fully transformed Tiger Beast on top of the prince. It roared in the prince's face, its maw covered with the merchant's blood, white whiskers dripping with red.
Kiera brought her sword down fast, slicing into the Beast's side. Tiny wisps of smoke rose from the cut as it roared again, hopping off the prince to stalk away from them both. The eyes of the Beast were full of madness, a wild look of uncontrollable rage and hunger.
Kiera ran to the prince's side. Her heart sank into her stomach when she saw blood on his clothes.
"Sam!"
"Keep your eyes on the Beast Kiera!"
She willed herself to do as the prince said, her blue eyes went back on the Tiger Beast. There was a rush of shame that washed over her. The prince had been calm while the Beast General herself had not been. She should be ashamed of herself.
She told herself to get rid of her anger. Of any turbulent feelings she had that were shaking up her resolve, it was a lot harder to do now than ever before. She breathed out and repositioned her stance.
With a renewed sense of resolve, she steadied her gaze on the Beast as it circled Kiera and Sam. Its eyes were crazed but it still held on to a sliver of sane intelligence from before the time the madness first took root inside his brain.
Kiera waited for his next attack. The Beast's eyes and her eyes never left each other. Both predators watched each other in silence.
She waited as it circled around them once more. Kiera thought the Beast was solely focused on her but she was wholly unprepared when it suddenly switched its gaze from her to the prince.
"No!" She lurched forward as the Tiger pounced. It was much quicker than Kiera and it reached Sam faster than Kiera.
This time, the prince was prepared. He brought his sword up just in time. The force of the Tiger pouncing caused them to tumble back, but the prince held his own, keeping his sword in between the Beast's teeth and his face. There were wisps of smoke that rose as the prince's sword came in contact with the mouth of the Beast. Kiera realized the prince had brought a silver sword with him.
She had no time to be impressed with him though. Kiera had to do something before the prince loses the strength to keep the Tiger away. The claws of the Beast were still piercing into him.
Kiera flicked her sword around. She brought the silver blade down into the Beast's back, digging in deep. The Tiger roared out in pain. Wisps of smoke engulfed the Beast as it thrashed its body, trying to get away from the piercing pain of Kiera's blade. Kiera held on to her sword tight, causing the blade to slip out of the Beast's back with a sickening sound as it twisted away. Then it took off into the woods.
"Go after it Kiera. It's hurt." Sam was out of breath as he told Kiera. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch."
She threw a look down at him, trusting his words. Then she took off after the hurt Deranged Beast.
Kiera followed the scent and the blood drippings the Beast left behind in his wake. She soon met up with the Deranged Beast, this time, in his human form. The man lay curled up on the ground, his wounds open and bleeding out onto the dirt ground. He hissed as Kiera neared and Kiera narrowed her eyes at the naked man.
"Who are you?" She asked but the man stubbornly refused to answer.
"Have you always lived here?" Again, there was no answer from the man.
She tried one last time.
"Was it you that attacked the palace?" She did not know what she was expecting from the bleeding out and dying Tiger Beast. Nevertheless, she gripped her sword tightly.
"I am Kiera Blackwater of the Wolf Clan, and I am the Twelfth Beast General in the Beast Army. Under Law, I am obligated to punish you for the crimes you have committed."
She stepped closer to the Beast. Raising her sword, she brought it down hard, piercing the Beast in the heart. Upon contact, the wisps of smoke rose from where her sword pierced him.
The Beast let out one last final cry, this time human and not Beast.
She twisted the blade savagely, bringing even more pain to the man in his last moments. Kiera watched as the light faded away from the Beast's eyes.
"Disgusting." She finally removed her blade from the dead Beast's chest. It dripped with bright red liquid as she did.
"Kiera?" She heard the prince call after her and she turned around.
He appeared from behind the nearest tree. As he looked at her figure standing above the now-dead Beast, she wondered if the prince had heard her vicious remarks. He would not answer any of her questions, therefore she made the Tiger Beast's final moments the most painful that she could.
"Remember what I had said?" She looked wistfully at Sam. "A Beast and monster are one and the same."