Maria paid little attention to the calamity unfolding around her. Every room they passed was different, specialised in matters of biology, physics, magecraft or shamanism.

Everywhere Hawkes subordinates were elimeninating the staff, going through folders of research, taking out single pieces or whole books, and burning the rest under the watchful eyes of a supervisor with a long list of items that were to be recovered. The scientists and other staff were unarmed, surprised and incapable of resistance, it was a one-sided slaughter.

They were not bothered, Hawkes lead them straight through to a large door that had just been breached, labelled "Beast Research". Here they entered a large round room, with a few soldiers already rummaging through the many drawers and desks that were aligned at the edge of the room.

In the centre of it, within a glass container, hung an odd pair of clothes. A long mantle, dark purple in colour, with fine Sigils woven into the fabric with black thread. On a small pedestal in front of it laid a pair of fingerless gloves, each with a different Sigil on the back of it, and next to them a very large pointed hat with a very wide brim that would shadow ones eyes if it were worn, made out of the same dark purple material.

When Elaine saw the clothes, she screamed with a bestial sense of anger and despair that caused the soldiers to turn around in an instant, reaching for their weapons in panic. "Stand down!" Their lieutenant yelled, and their discipline to not fire without orders saved their lives in that moment.

Elaine ignored them, ignored everything around her. With a silver flash her threads wrapped around the glass cage, shattering it to pieces. The shards tore her dress, drove themselves through her thin skin, she stepped through the shards and tore her feet open. When she reached the pedestal her body was a bleeding mess, her black blood mixing with her darkened tears as she wailed.

Maria took a step forward, Melanie clinging to her arm. Before following her servant, she turned to Hawkes. "Please, leave us alone. We wont be long." The Lieutenant narrowed her brows. "I understand your grief but, we still have not recovered every-"

"Leave us." Her glare gave Hawkes a shiver, but she staid firm. "According to our agreement we take the results that her ladyship is interested in, and you get your beast, or what is left of her." Maria slowly shook her head, biting her teeth together. "Lady Elizabeth and I have a pact already. She said 'Interfere not with mine and I shan't interfere with thine'. You helped people murder my servant and extract knowledge out of her. She and everything you may have learned here is 'mine', and you will leave it."

Her voice was little more than a whisper, her body trembling with anger. Finally, Hawkes backed down.

"If her ladyship has me flayed for this you better believe that I am going to haunt you for the rest of your life. But better a death that may be than a certain one." The Lieutenant shook her head. "You heard the lady, leave it here and help the others, this place is meant to blow in forty, so get to it."

As she and her subordinates left the room she gave Maria one last look. "We wont be waiting, alright? Say your goodbyes, then get the hell out of here."

The door could not close, but nonetheless Maria was alone with Melanie and Elaine shortly after. Quietly they followed the small beast, making sure not to step on bigger glas shards. Elaine was still sobbing, sitting in a puddle of her own black blood and tears. "She is gone, all gone. Trinity, little sister. Please forgive me, please forgive me!"

She was clawing at her face, stretching her skin enough for it to grow transparent, showing the black mass hiding underneath.

Maria looked over the set of clothes, at a loss. "This is, Trinity, right? Or, what they, left of her?" Elaine was trembling, her knees wobbly as she got up. "They took it all, it's all gone. Her body, her soul, only her Lore is still there." She ran a hand across the hat, with such gentleness that it moved Maria to tears.

Melanie was still holding onto Maria, staring at the hat, unable to take her eyes off of it. "What does that mean, can we, what can we do, did we come here for nothing?" Maria was getting increasingly worried, her body shaking as she could think of nothing but the ticking down of the clock.

Elaine slowly ran her hand across her face, trying to wipe away her tears, though it only sullied her face with her blood. "I don't, I don't know, my beloved master. This isn't, supposed to happen. When a body dies, the soul disappears, and without body or soul, the lore fades away. We beasts are tied to our lore, so if our bodies are destroyed they can be remade, but here."

She shook her head, starting to claw at her left arm with her right, her long nails digging through her thin skin. "It truly is as you can see it, my beloved master. The power is there, but without the body to carry or the soul to wield it."

"Then, would she not just need, a new body and soul?" Melanie's voice was soft and quiet, she still had not stopped staring at the hat. Elaine growled and shook her head. "You think it is that easy? If you could just throw the lore on anyone we beasts would number in the thousands, not the ten, it needs willing-."

She stopped for a moment, her eyes widening as she trailed on. "loyal souls that would be ready to give up, everything." She turned her head to Melanie, and despite the obvious determination in her eyes, her answer was evident. "No, little sage. You have not the slightest idea what this means."

Nevertheless, Melanie stepped forward, laying her hand on the hat. From the moment her skin touched the fabric, she felt a draining sensation, her hand growing cold, starting at her fingertips. "I've been nothing my entire life, lady Elaine. And Lady Maria needs someone capable, not a worthless, cowardly weakling."

Violent tremors ran through Melanie's body, shaking her to the core, yet she managed to produce a weak smile across quivering lips. "If I can, give myself to be of use, then I gladly would."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Elaine closed her eyes, disdain and apprehension still speaking clearly through her posture. "You have no idea what it means to be consumed by the Lore of a beast. But if you know that you will change, that your body and will shall be no longer your own, yet you accept that willingly."

The small beast let out a sigh, lowering her gaze. "It is up to my beloved master, a mere beast cannot make a decision, especially not an unsightly shield that failed to protect her own."

Maria had watched the two silently, with growing dread as the situation unfolded. "Melanie I, you barely know me, you don't have to do this." She pulled Melanie's hand off of the hat, holding it tightly with both of her own. "We can just take her things along and leave, when we are out of the city we can drop you off at relatives, or you can come with us, or we can get you money and you can build up a new life wherever you want please I."

In her panic she did not even feel the warmth of her tears staining her face. "I don't want you to die or, change or whatever for me, for nothing!" Voicing her thoughts overwhelmed the young Lady of Beasts, her voice cracked, she could no longer look at the young woman.

"Please, Lady Maria, do not lower yourself." Melanie did not pull her hand away, her body slowly calming down as she spoke. "I have known nothing, all my life. I saw nothing but monsters when I was let outside, I was told by all that I was unworthy trash that should not have been born, I cannot read, Lady Maria."

She wiped her face with her free hand, remaining the most composed out of the three of them. "I do not know, how to live. I truly, did not want to live, either. You were the first who looked at me, like a person. And truly I, still do not quite, want to live even now."

Maria did not resit when Melanie pulled her hand back, though her sobbing grew stronger. The young woman laid her arms around her informal master, holding her tightly. "Please allow me to have my life have meaning, and purpose, even if it is only to accept this death for you."

The sirens began to sound throughout the facility, with Hawkes'voice across the intercom. "You only got ten more minutes, young Lady. Make them count." First these sounds and the first small explosions caused Maria to snap out of her despair, though still not completely. At the last she could look Melanie in the eyes. "Alright, I, cannot thank you, enough, Melanie." She ran a hand across the countless scars on the young woman's arms, her fingers still trembling. "I will never forget you."

Melanie let go of her, her smile still weak, if genuine. With a deep breath she turned to Elaine, a sense of dread starting to rise within her. "What do I need to do, lady Elaine?" The small beast growled, not meeting her gaze. "You basically don't need to do anything, just put on her Lore, or what of it manifested. You will need blood for the catalyst, you can have mine, that is all you need."

Loud footsteps picked up outside the room as the soldiers were beginning to evacuate. With one last deep breath Melanie began. She slipped on the gloves, slid into the mantle, which began to shrink around her until it matched her size. Finally she donned the large hat, letting out a weak, forced laugh as she looked at Maria. "I am sure I, look quite, unusual."

Maria did her best to return her smile and failed miserably. "Yes just like, a witch from the picture books." Her words turned Melanie's quivering smile into a real one, peace slowly returning to her. "I only remember seeing those in stores, when they let me out of the punishment room. I hope I can, be good, for you, Lady Maria."

Elaine had dug a nail deep into the palm of her right hand, her blood was oozing out of the wound. Swiftly she scaled the pedestal and held her hand out Melanie, still unwilling to look at her. "It needs to enter your body so, just, be quick about it." The beast could not blush, though the mix of embarrassment and discomfort were very evident in her expression. "Thank you, Lady Elaine, for accepting. I promise I, or what I become, will do their best to live up to your example."

Finally Melanie leaned forward, and lapped up some of Elaine's blood. Her body convulsed as the bitter, revolting taste overwhelmed her, it took all of the young woman's willpower to swallow it down.

The change began instantly. From one moment to the next Melanie was writhing in agony, her body convulsing as she screamed and cried out. The veins under her lively skin turned black, even the ones on her eyes, which changed colour from brown to a deep, lifeless blue.

The countless scars across her body were vanishing, replaced with tiny white scales on her arms, legs and her neck. Melanie grasped at her throat with both hands, gasping for air as every fibre of her body was burning in blinding agony. Hawke's voice once more yelled across the intercom. "Five minutes, what on earth is taking you this long?"

With one last blood-curdling scream Melanie fell to the ground, lifeless. Maria had stared at her transformation in horror, unable to move from her spot. "Is she, is she, did she fail?" Elaine in the meantime was changing. Her body grew taller, wider, increasingly feminine. She first stopped when she was a good head taller than her master. "No, she succeeded. I expected it to just kill her, but she will be out for some time."

Even her voice had changed, fitting her more mature appearance. A weak smile flashed across her face as she noticed Maria staring at her in awe. "I told you I could appear however you wished, my master. This one is blood of my blood now, she is my burden."

Elaine was surprisingly gentle as she picked Melanie off the ground, holding the young woman in her arms like a bride, with a hand on the back of her head. Her eyes were not closed, they blankly stared off into the distance. "Let us go, my beloved master, there is not much time left."

Her words were followed with another explosion, it was all the motivation that Maria needed. Together they bolted out of the chamber and towards the exit. Only Hawkes was still in the reception area next to the elevator. "People with a flair for the dramatic usually die very young, your highness." she yelled over to them as they reached the elevator, and she was speaking not without some admiration.

Together they darted into the elevator itself, it's doors closed and they shot upwards. Already on their ride up they could hear and feel the explosions underneath, as the facility was reduced to rubble and ash. Hawkes looked at Maria and the new Elaine, surprise evident in her expression, though she knew better than to ask questions.

Back on the surface they were greeted by Hawkes' retinue, standing in file amidst a carnage of dead monsters. The sound of helicopters filled the air, coming from the roof. "Well, those are our rides alright." Hawkes joined up with her subordinates, and gave a weak salute to Maria. "You drive a hard bargain and I'd say you are every bit as stuck-up as the other ladies, that's a compliment. Oh, I forgot."

With one pull she tore off her dog tags, throwing them to Maria, who caught them with a look of surprise. "Should anyone ever ask, don't hesitate to brag with wiping us out, yeah? Maybe try making my death sound all heroic, if you would." With a light chuckle they marched off up and to the roofs.

Both Maria and Elaine were silent as they walked through the ruined hall, over corpses of monster and human alike. It was still dark outside, though the temperature had slowly picked up. As they walked Maria frequently looked over and onto Melanie's still lifeless body, and every time it hurt her more to look into her eyes.

Those widened eyes, screaming out in silent terror.