The distraught girl looked around her. She wiped her puffy red and swollen eyes as she stood up. It’d be much easier to carry him as a griffin, but she could be seen in the sky by guards, despite the darkness. Better not to risk anything else. Deciding to stay safe, she shifted into a lion and nuzzled her large head under his torso, using her paw to pull him up over her back. It felt strange becoming an animal outside of her bedroom. She’d feel nervous, but the torment she was going through made it hard to feel anything other than misery.

As she walked back to the village with him on her back, she held in her tears and thought of an explanation. It was all her fault. If she just would’ve stayed out of his business...if she would’ve shifted sooner…

When she arrived, Rose and Marcy rushed over to the girl in confusion as they saw a lion. None of the Shifters in the village were lions…Mariyah noticed their confusion, and lifted her paw, showing her birthmark. Their eyes widened as they realized who it was. “Mariyah?” Marcy asked. “Is that you?”

Mariyah looked at the two with heartache before closing her eyes while the pain hit her heart again. “He tried to protect me,” she whispered, tears sliding down the furry cheeks of her lioness face.

“What?” Rose asked, looking at the body she carried. She shrieked and held a hand to her mouth as she realized who it was. Others quickly joined the commotion. Gil and David immediately helped take Oliver off of her back.

Mariyah shifted back into a human and rubbed her wet cheeks. “I’m so sorry…I have to go home. I’ll come back and explain it all.” She backed up before shifting into an eagle and flying into the air, leaving them all to mourn and sit in confusion at Mariyah’s shifting.

The feeling of her wings pushing at the wind and the air against her face felt new, it felt foreign and frightening but natural all at once. The movements came easy to her as well, as if she knew how to fly since she was born. She would have enjoyed it more if were under different circumstances.

I should’ve stayed. I should’ve explained... But she couldn’t. Not now. She knew her emotions wouldn’t have let her get a word out, and she had to get back to her parents. Hopefully word of an unmarked Shifter hadn’t been announced yet. She could only imagine how worried her parents must be.

She became a human before the lights of the dark kingdom appeared in her sights and ran the rest of the way across the field and through the empty streets where she burst through the doors of her lit home. “Mother!-” She froze in her tracks as she looked ahead of her. Her eyes shot in all directions of the room as shock stole her words.

Her parents were sitting at the table, their hands in shackles and three guards standing behind them. Her mother looked at her with sad and worried eyes, but she tried to give her daughter a small smile. “It’s alright, Mariyah.”

Her father’s teary eyes looked at his daughter. “It isn’t your fault, my daughter.”

“Maryiah Thimpson, you and your parents are under arrest for the deceitful hiding of your identity. Your punishment shall await you.”

Mariyah whimpered before collapsing onto the ground in tears. “No, no, no,” she begged as they shackled her hands. Her head began to pound and her vision grew blurry and spotted. “It wasn’t them, it wasn’t them! You don’t need to take them- please! Why won’t you listen to me?!” Her screams were met with ignores other than her parents telling her to stay quiet. Familiar panic filled her throat as she looked frantically to her parents as she was tempted to shift. But as if knowing what she was thinking, Lucinda subtly shook her head.

In the celled prison wagon, Mariyah poured her heart out to her parents, apologizing and weeping in fear. “I’m so sorry I brought you into this. I’m so sorry, I never wanted any of this to happen!” She clutched them tightly in her shackled hands as best she could, and cried into their arms.

“Mariyah, my love, do not cry. Please, sweetheart. I wouldn’t have stopped you from helping even if I knew our fate would come to this.” Her mother stroked her cheek while her father spoke comforting words.

“They won’t hurt you, I won’t let them. We need to escape at our earliest chance.

I’ll fly us away- I can shift into a griffin!!” She looked out through the cell bars as they rode through the town.

Lucinda looked at Victor with sad eyes and then back to her daughter. “Mariyah, you cannot carry us.”

“Yes- yes I could!”

Victor cleared his throat. “You could possibly carry your mother-”

Lucinda’s sharp stare met him quickly. “Don’t you dare, Victor.” She looked at Mariyah. “I will not leave your father. But you can, my love, you can leave on your own. The second these doors open you must take flight. Do you hear me? You must go quickly when you do, they may shoot arrows, Mariyah.”

“What?! No! I can’t leave you, Mother! I can’t- I don’t know what they’ll do to you!”

Victor looked at Lucinda. “Please, let her take you with her. Please, Lucy.”

“NO. I am not leaving you. She can try all she wants but I will not let her take me. We

made this decision together, and I will face the consequences alongside you.”

Mariyah knew her mother must be afraid, though she did such a job at hiding it that it was hard to tell. But Mariyah knew deep down that her mother must feel it, and that tore her inside. Mariyah shook her head, refusing to accept their answers. “Please, we can’t stay here!”

Lucinda looked at her daughter. “We are more than happy with you, Mariyah. Don’t ever question that for a second.”

Her eyes widened, and she looked confused. “What?! NO! We aren’t just giving up!! They killed OLLY!! I won’t let you both get hurt too, I won’t let them hurt you, okay?!” Tears were streaming down her face and her heart wanted to explode with the emotions filling her. “Please!” she screamed out to the man leading the wagon, pressing her face against the cell bars. “We can pay you! How much do you want? Just drop us off here, please! We’ll leave quietly.”

The man remained silent and just clicked the reins so the horse would speed up.

“PLEASE!” Mariyah screamed out, clutching the cell bars of the wagon.

Lucinda’s eyes welled up with tears as she watched her daughter grow hysterical. “Honey,” she said softly, but Mariyah’s cries were too loud. “Honey!”

Mariyah finally met eyes with her mother, and it broke Lucinda’s heart. Her daughter was scared...so scared. She had never seen her look this way before and it broke her.

“UNLOAD!” a loud voice shouted from outside as the wagon stopped.

Victor spoke firmly, “Mariyah- leave. Now! I love you- we both love you-”

Mariyah leaped to the cell bars again and pressed her face against them, looking outside. The castle towered above them. “NO!!” Mariyah screamed out and shifted into a coyote, the shackles slipping off of her.

“Mariyah, stop, they’ll kill you! Do not put up a fight- I swear, Mariyah, I am telling you now to shift back or they will kill you!” she half shouted-half whispered. “Wait until the cell is opened and shift into a bird and fly, my dear girl, fly.” Lucinda's eyes flashed towards the distracted guards, thankfully it was dark enough to hide Mariyah’s shifting.

Mariyah frantically put her paws back in the shackles and shifted back into a human, overwhelmed and confused. “Why won’t you let me fight back?!”

“You will not win, my love. I would rather you fly away. When they open this door, fly. Do you hear me?”

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “I am not leaving you two.”

“Mariyah, do this for us,” Victor pleaded.

“No! I won’t, I can’t!”

Metal clanging caused them to go silent and the door swung open. “Alright. Everyone out!”

Mariyah shakily looked forward and stepped out, glaring at the three guards that surrounded them. She helped her mother and father out, keeping eyes on them and the guards.

“Mariyah, please.” Lucinda whispered, and looked at her with sad eyes, waiting for her daughter to flee.

But Mariyah refused to shift.

“Mariyah!” Victor shouted in a hush, urging her to make her move.

“I am not leaving you,” she whispered. She shook her head at them as each of them were led inside the side entrance of the castle.

They led the family down cold, musty, hallways and stairways that just led deeper and lower into the castle. Finally, they stopped by a cell. Mariyah watched as they roughly shoved her parents inside. “Be gentle with them!” she called out, hearing her mother grunt from the force. She moved to follow behind but was yanked back as another guard shut their cell door. “Wait-no! NO!” she screamed out and grabbed their cell bars, squeezing them tightly. “Mother, no!”

“Let go, girl!” The soldier grabbed her by her waist and tugged.

“What are you going to do to them?!!” she shouted.

Her parents pressed against the bars and pleaded with their daughter with tears in their eyes. Lucinda shook her head at her daughter, noticing the stirring ideas in her head. “Honey, go. We’ll be okay, I promise. Remember what I said…first chance you get. Please, Mariyah?''

But Mariyah was adamant, crying through her shouts, “No, I can’t leave you!”

Finally the soldier tugged hard enough, a second soldier prying each finger off of the cell bars, and Mariyah was thrown over his shoulder where she thrashed about and screamed until her throat was hoarse. The idea of not being able to protect them killed her. She didn’t know what to do, what would be smart, what would be safest, what would be best...she just didn’t know. Her mind was pure chaos.

Mariyah was eventually thrown roughly into an empty cell two levels below her parents. She had no desire to look around and take in her surroundings. All she could think about was them. Her brain tormented her in all possible ways. She envisioned what they would do to her parents. She thought of the worst tortures imaginable, causing her to scream out in disgust as she tried to force the images out of her head by digging her fingernails into har arms. She loathed the guards who chose to lock her up separately from her parents. She had no idea where they were right now. Fear gripped her throat as she thought of them.

Are they torturing my family?

Repeating and uncontrollable images of her mother being brutally tortured along with her father finally pushed her to her limit and caused her to lash out. Picturing her mother and father in pain, she suddenly began hitting her fists against her head, begging her mind to give her a rest from the grueling and disturbing images she was picturing.

If she wasn’t thinking of her parents, she was thinking of the villagers. How the villagers must feel...the girl they trusted was a Shifter all along. And Oliver’s death-they didn’t even know what happened. She wished she could be with them and help them. She didn’t want them to think she had abandoned them, but she knew that’s all they could assume.

Her friend’s death replayed constantly in her head. All the things she could have done differently that might have resulted in him being alive. It was torture for her. She clutched the pendant around her neck as she cried, holding it close to her without release.

The cold musty cell gave her no comfort, and neither did her head. Sleep was not an option, though she begged that it would come in hopes that she would have a small rest of this dark, dark feeling and this relentless mental torture. But all she could do was sit in this dark cell, screaming for her parents. Screaming for someone to speak to her.

For three days.

Soliath

A short and slender man stood in the middle of a large chamber with royal decor all around. He spoke in a soft but insistent voice to the man who paced back and forth in front of him. “Sire...I highly frown upon this. I almost don’t want to give you a choice, sir. If you do this...the entire kingdom may riot. If not riot, doubt will fill their hearts. They might question you. They might think you have gone too far. And you cannot afford that attack on your image. Please...sir. You forget, she is the blacksmith’s daughter. Shifter or not, the townspeople loved her. Allow her to flee, send her far away. But there is no need to kill her. Not on top of this.”

Soliath stood with his hands clasped together behind his back, pacing his chambers. “She lived hidden amongst my people for seventeen years, Jutlin. If that goes unpunished, what example am I setting? Are my laws so empty and hollow?”

“And that is why you punish her parents. Punish them for breaking the law, for risking the lives of every citizen by hiding such a dangerous Shifter for so long. But not her. You killing her will be too far...at least in the people’s eyes.”

“My people will not care. They trust me. There are plenty of public executions, Jutlin-”

“Yes, exactly! For alleged Shifter thieves and murderers. Not young Shifter girls who these people grew up with. What do you want to do? Label this young girl as a thief or murderer? Do you not think fabricating a thievery story on top of this will be obvious? You truly think the kingdom will believe a young girl killed someone?”

“If they learn she’s a Shifter, her shift being a lion at that!”

“Maybe. But they lived with her- there is a chance they will not believe that, sir. And a chance you will begin to come across as too firm as you are already punishing her parents, the real criminals. Let the people see you spare this girl’s life. Give a forgiving impression to Naturals and Shifters alike, reassure them you are a just but gentle king.”

Soliath sighed and rubbed his forehead, with no words left to say.

“There is no need, Your Highness, no point in risking any controversial reactions. Almost twenty years of this built trust, they would follow you to the grave. Don’t ruin that,” Jutlin finished.

Soliath’s hate filled eyes looked out to the kingdom rooftops through his window as he pondered. “Then I won’t kill her. I will banish her to the villages or even farther. Less trouble for me. But if she returns within these walls of my kingdom… I will label her as a criminal, and she will be executed,” he said. His eyes looked coldly into the streets of his kingdom.

“After today, I don’t think this girl will ever be returning.”

Mariyah

Finally, a guard appeared in front of Mariyah’s cell. “Get up. It’s time.”

The dark circles hung under her eyes as he lit the lantern by her face. “For what?” she asked him. She hadn’t eaten in three days, only receiving a pot of water to sip from, but not once did the thought of hunger cross her mind.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

He ignored her and led her down the hallway, through a passageway to another cell building. Mariyah’s heart lifted at the sight of her parents, and she almost collapsed at the relief that flooded her body. They seemed unharmed, and the soldier opened the door for her. “Mother, Father!!” she exclaimed as she wrapped her shackled arms around them. She held in her tears as she clung to them tightly. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry...I’m so sorry,” she said repeatedly, her eyes unable to hold the piling tears.

“It’s not your fault, my darling,” Victor whispered to his daughter, gently rubbing the back of her head.

“Look at me.” Lucinda held her daughter’s face. “Don’t you ever apologize for this. Ever. Do you hear me? This isn’t something you feel sorry for. You saved a village. Never apologize for that- no matter what the consequences may be.”

Mariyah nodded her head, the tears still flowing. “I love you both. I love you so much, and I’m so thankful-”

One of the guards took her by her arm and pulled her away from them. “Enough chat. You’re coming with me now,” he gruffed out as he pulled her out of the cell, ignoring Mariyah’s thrashes and grunts. Her mother pressed her forehead against the bars as they closed and watched as her daughter was taken from her once again.

“No!!” Mariyah shouted, resisting as hard as she could.

“Remember what you must do! The second you can!” Lucinda shouted, urging her daughter to flee at the soonest possibility. Lucinda held in her tears and the fit of outrage that wanted to claw through her skin and scream until her lungs burst, she didn’t want her daughter watching that. Victor stood in the corner of the cell watching as Mariyah was taken. His fists were clenched tightly and his arms trembled in furry while he stood in helplessness.

“Not again!!” Mariyah’s hands gripped onto each of the cell bars along the prison hallway, the guard having to pry them off each time and tear them away until they got through the doorway. “I love you! I love you so much!” she shouted out to her parents. She turned to the soldier. “Let me GO!”

But he only continued to drag her up flights and flights of stairs until eventually, she was brought into the chambers of what looked like royalty. She looked around and saw a man sitting at a desk to the side, his back to her. A beautiful satin bed lay on the far right of the room, with beautiful carved, dark wooden furniture around it. It looked royal here, but there was a simplicity about the area that surprised her for being a room in the castle.

The guard threw her roughly onto the stone ground and announced to the man, “Your Highness, I have brought her up as commanded.”

Your Highness? This is the king? Her stomach swirled. He looks much different up close...

The man turned from his study, sitting on his leather chair. With anxiety pulsing through her, Mariyah finally laid her eyes on him in front of her- not just from a distant balcony. Her heart skipped a beat as he met eyes with her.

He was attractive, he had short cut black hair, and a close, sharp trimmed beard with gray eyes. Even from afar, she always knew he did not look like what most kings looked like. He looked like a simple man dressed in royal wear. A humble looking king. And up close, it was the same.

As they looked at each other, she felt her face heat up with anger. She thought of Oliver’s death, her parents' imprisonment, him starving his own people simply because of an added trait they possess. The reason for the persecution of her people around her stood right in front of her.

She had imagined that she’d be brave and spiteful if she ever came in contact with this man. But no. Now, she was fearful. This man held her parents’ safety in his hands, and she would not do a thing to tilt him.

“Thank you. You may wait outside the door,” the king said to the guard, his eyes remaining on the chained girl who stood in front of him with ratted black hair and dirty skin. She flinched at the sound of the door closing as the soldier exited the room.

“Tell me why you’re here,” he asked her.

She remained silent, her bloodshot and tear filled eyes just staring into his cold ones as she supported herself onto her knees.

“Tell me why you are here,” he repeated. As he stood up, his stature towered over her. He walked to her slowly. She did not respond. He reached down and grabbed her right hand, observing her birthmark. “So you are the one?” He observed her forehead. “An unmarked Shifter.”

Fear choked her, and she swallowed the saliva that gathered up in her mouth from her nerves. “There was a mistake-”

“A mistake? You tried to kill one of my guards and you’re an unmarked Shifter that has been hidden since birth, and you’re calling that a mere mistake?”

She inhaled deeply, her breath shaky. “The midwife didn’t know. I was late to shift at birth, so I was never marked, it wasn’t their fault.”

He smiled and shook his head. “You’re not stupid. You and your family are not stupid. You know what you did, don’t dare try and smart me. Your parents could have informed the census of your identity immediately upon discovery.” He held his hands behind his back. “It shocks me, it truly does. You all did this despite knowing the punishment...fascinating, really.”

Her chest pounded with each heartbeat. “Why does it shock you that one would try to hide being a Shifter when they’re persecuted and tortured for who they are?” Her eyes watched him as her confusion of his hatred lifted over her fear for just a short moment.

A long moment went by of him staring at her silently. “Because I didn’t think two Natural parents would care for their Shifter child this much. I didn’t expect that, but evidently I must expect the unexpected.” He paced the room slowly as he spoke, “Most families kill or give away their child if it’s a Shifter. Yet yours not only kept you, but they hid your identity and tried to give you a normal life.”

Mariyah’s eyes looked down at the stone ground.

He stared at her a bit longer, “You look at me with such hate as if I do not spare you now. My laws upset you, though I don’t see why. I could kill you all off, rather.” He sighed. “But, despite your beastly ways and the danger you threaten my people with, I keep you alive and instead ask for simple rules to be followed? Is that so much?”

“Keep us alive? You place them in villages with no way of receiving any food. You starve them and kill them off! You look for any excuse to have a Shifter executed…” She thought it’d be better to be respectful, and beg for mercy for her parents, but what he was saying was so warped, the words just funneled out. “You are killing off your own people- you’re only doing it slowly so no one notices immediately.”

He stared at her strangely before replying, “No Shifter is one of my people.” His cold black eyes looked into hers.

“We’re the exact same as you...we just change form-”

“You’re beasts. You’re beasts who somehow change your body to turn into humans but you’re actually just wild animals deep down. If it weren’t for the public’s eye I would have you all killed already. Your kind is not to be trusted. Wild things, you are...”

Her eyes wandered to his shoes as she sat on her knees, her hands shackled, and her breathing became labored. “We have emotions, we aren’t monsters. We are humans that can change our form. It’s nothing more,” she said quietly. She lifted her eyes pleadingly, “I promise you, there is nothing different about us. I was able to live among Naturals, doesn’t that say something?”

“That is a lie. Every Shifter has some amount of uncontrollable wildness inside of them. It’s just a matter of when it’s released...when it comes out. Your wildness may have just taken a significantly longer time, but it showed, as it always does...”

“Having a reaction to your cruelty is not wildness!” Tears filled her eyes as she felt as though she was pleading to convince him. Her one chance to speak to the root of all of this evil that has been stirred in this kingdom, she had to show him. “I haven’t felt that...and I haven’t noticed anything worse in Shifters than Naturals. You’re the one starving off innocent people. That seems much more beastly than us!”

He narrowed his eyes, and she swore he could feel the hatred seeping from him. “You are an ignorant young child who thinks everything is honey and flowers. You think I’m some monster because I am killing your kind. I do it to protect my people and I do it because I know your nature-”

“If we had a wild nature, your entire kingdom would have been eaten alive by now!”

His eyes went colder than they were before and he stepped forward to her. “I’ve experienced the wildness myself. You can try to convince me all you want, but I know the truth. And I've seen it. Calm your lies, girl.”

“How?” She asked, her eyes welling up even more as she realized how stone cold he was on the idea of Shifters being beasts. How would she convince him to free her parents?

He looked out the window, distracted and ignoring her question, and stared into the city below him. Citizens of Seenparay walked around minding their own business as he stayed reigning in this castle, a hateful man leading them all under the impression of his acts being out of kindness.

“How did you experience Shifters who were wild?” she repeated.

But he was locked on the outside.

She shook her head, not caring about his answer anyways. All she cared about was getting her parents out of here. “Can you please release my parents? I-” Her voice grew quiet as she saw how firm he was. “They were just protecting me. I promise you we will go to a Shifter village. My family and I will leave this kingdom, just please release them.” Her wide eyes looked up to him, begging him to listen to her.

He paced slowly around her as she lay there kneeling. “Why should I listen to your request when I punish all others? You are not special. You knew the crime you were committing all the years you’ve been alive. A punishment is necessary.”

“NO! For me? Yes. For them?...please. I promise, they’re my parents. They were just trying to protect me.”

He bent down slowly and stared at her for a long moment. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something about her that was different from the other hundreds of Shifters he imprisoned or killed. Something he couldn’t name, and something that he wanted to break. His voice tensed at her relentless pleas, “You are charged with hiding as a Shifter and

your parents are charged with hiding you. You all will pay-”

“Please!” She broke into tears and shook her head frantically. “Not my parents,

please, not them!”

He closed his eyes as a flame flickered inside of him. He suddenly turned from the window and lunged toward Mariyah, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the stone wall, her legs dangling as she gasped for breath.”You speak to me as though I am not your king. As though I do not hold your life in my hands. I could smite you down now, and I could throw your body off the side of my tower. Do you think I give any care for your life?” he hissed out as his face sat two inches from hers. “You think you are in a position where I will listen to your begs?” he sharply whispered, his warm breath hitting her skin. “I will not. I only brought you up here for the view.”

His grip around her neck tightened causing a whimper to leave her mouth, before he let go and turned back to the window, her body slid down the wall and onto the ground. She sat on her hands and knees coughing aggressively as she tried to regain her lost oxygen.

He turned his head to look outside. “Oh look,” he said as he observed something through the window. “Your parents are going to serve their punishment for their crime.”

Mariyah looked at the ground as she heard him, her coughs slowing. The punishment for hiding a Shifter? She whimpered and suddenly scrambled up and ran to the window to see what he was talking about. She looked down at the crowd that had formed in the streets below the balcony.

Her parents were standing.

On a wooden platform.

Dangling above their head,

were necklaces of rope.

And her heart felt as though it had completely collapsed inside her.

“Let us go get a better look, shall we?” Soliath’s sharp and heavy voice yanked her back into her body. He took her arm and brought her out to the balcony that allowed him to look out among the kingdom. A perfect view of the gallows.

Her hands began to tremble wildly as she watched her parents stand in fear. “Mother!!!!” she screamed from the top of the castle. She held her hands on the ledge as she screamed for her father too.

Her mother looked up, noticing the screams, and saw her daughter. “No, no!” She looked at the guard with rage. “You’re going to make our daughter watch this?”

The guard ignored her.

“How sick are you?!” Her voice trembled but she remained firm.

The guard looked at her. “I just go by the orders ma’am,” he said to them. He had sympathetic blue eyes as he put the nooses around their necks. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

A large crowd stood in front of the couple. Many of them recognized Mariyah. They pitied her as she stood screaming and crying beside the king. Her screams tore through the crowd and all eyes were up at her on the balcony. Sorrow fell around them as they watched…conflicted emotions and quiet murmurs spread throughout the crowd…Mariyah and her family…now under the king’s judgment? How could this be?

Mariyah tore her eyes from her parents and looked at Soliath in desperation. “Please, please. Kill me,” she begged, “Please, Soliath!!!!” She screamed until her throat failed her, and she fell onto her knees and held onto his pants, begging. “Those are my parents, they were just trying to protect me. Please!” She noticed his unmoved face and tried another angle, “Please, please listen-That’s your best blacksmith! You need him right? You need him!!!” Her words came out hoarse as panic filled her lungs and caused difficulty in breathing. “He makes your weapons! No one makes them as strong as him, you know that!”

He looked down at her with a face of surprise as if her words clicked inside him. “He is my best blacksmith. I suppose you’re right…” He turned his head down to her parents.

Her face lifted as she nodded her head. “Yes, your Highness, yes. He makes the best armor in all the land, you can’t risk that.” She nodded her head repeatedly, not stopping.

“Hm,” he continued. He tilted his head and turned to her with a straight face. “I must find a new one.”

Her mouth fell open as a loud cry fell from her lips, her hand clutching her heart. She continued to plead with everything she had in her. Her hands were trembling as she screamed out. Tears continued to stream out of her eyes with no stopping.

But he ignored her cries, and his eyes moved to lock onto her parents. He finally reached his hands down and pulled her closer to him. With a sympathetic face, he whispered in her ear. “If you listen closely, I suspect you’ll be able to hear the snaps of their necks.”

And she could have puked.

She screamed out, pushing him away aggressively. “Please!” Her throat was burning as her neck strained in the scream. “Kill me!!” She slammed her hands on her chest, begging for a knife to her heart as payment for their crimes. “I am begging you, King, please punish me instead. Let me take their punishment!!”

He tilted his head at her. “Don’t you think you should put on a better face for them?”

She swung her neck towards the gallows, her swelling eyes making her eyes heavy.

Her mother looked up to her daughter with a small smile.

Her father refused to look at her as he went. He didn’t want her seeing this.

As distraught and panicked as she was, she could feel the king’s refusal to move. She closed her wailing mouth and quivering lips and breathed in and out heavily through her flaring nostrils. She could stop her groans but she couldn’t keep her face from looking distorted as she felt a physical pain that she could not ignore, and her convulsing chest kept jolting as it held in her wails.

They can’t die. They can’t.

She looked to Soliath as he faced her parents, another rush of panic filled her body. No, he can’t He can't. I won’t let him. I won’t.

I can get to them.

I have to.

In a split second, she shifted into a hawk, the shackles slipping off of her, and then into a griffin.

Soliath stepped back a step. “I thought you said her shift is a lion!” he shouted at his guard outside the door.

And as if it all happened in slow motion…

She leaped off of the balcony, tucking her wings as she began to dive to her parents.

It felt like slow motion.

The king looked down at the executioner and waved his hand as she dove down towards the gallows.

The executioner looked up at the king with guilty eyes.

And he pulled the lever.

Mariyah screamed as she watched the trap door give out, and her parents' bodies begin to fall.

She reached her arms out as she dove down to grab for them.

So close.

So

close.

A harsh yank.

And silence.

She landed roughly onto the platform a split second after, grasping their bodies and lifting them up off the pressure of the ropes around their neck.

But she felt no movement in her arms.

“Mother?”

“Father?”

She looked in front of her as she gently released her unmoving parents with trembling hands.

Two limp bodies dangled from ropes.

Mariyah didn’t know she was screaming until she realized she was out of breath. Her loud shrieks were heard by the entire crowd who stared at her. She couldn’t stop. The crowd was silent around her. There was usually applause or hollers after executions, but Mariyah’s grief was deafening alone.

The bodies of her parents dangled in the air by their snapped necks. She shifted into a human and short quick repeated gasps slipped out of her chest as she began to hyperventilate. “NOOO!!!” she suddenly screamed as she tried to lift their bodies up. She grunted and grabbed the knife from the executioner’s belt and sliced the rope of her mother, holding her so she wouldn’t fall. She lay her down and did the same to her father as she wept.

“Please, no,” she said to them as her face was pulled into an expression of agony. She shook them gently in efforts to wake them up. “PLEASE!” she screamed again, her throat hoarse now. “No, no, no…” she whispered as her tears fell onto the wooden planks beside them.

King Soliath watched from above with the soldier who had rushed to his side. “It’s a tragedy. It really is. He was my best blacksmith. Made the most exquisite kind of armor too. Absolutely nothing could puncture it.”

The girl’s tortured face looked up at the man with such hate that her stare might’ve killed him on its own. “I’LL KILL YOU!!” she screamed coldly with her dark eyes staring him down.

And he stared right back at her.

Her body trembled as she stood, frozen in time. She turned to the executioner with her face distraught. “Why did you listen to him?” she asked, her throat tightened in pain. She shifted back into a griffin, and with her talons wrapping around their arms, she held onto their bodies and began to lift them, pumping her wings in efforts to carry them both at once. She struggled under their weight, groaning as she lifted them, but adrenaline aided her.

She flew into the sky with them, above the shocked crowd, and began out away from the walls of the kingdom. Her body was begging to release the heavy weight, but she pushed on. She gasped out in pain as she looked down at their bodies, “I could’ve carried you both! I could’ve flown away,” the wind carrying away her voice as she flew. “I could’ve flown you away!”

Soliath’s eyes stared as he watched her leave. He remained silent for a moment. He watched her as he could see her soul had been crushed. “Justice.” he said in a low voice, to the soldier beside him.

“Do you want us to shoot sir?” he asked urgently.

“No. Let her go. Let her flee. I want her to feel that sorrow.”