“Let me help you,” I say, trembling as I approach him. He remains still, and I take that as permission. I conjure hot water, clean, and bandage him as he looks down upon me with his piercing blue eyes.

“Thank you,” he says, genuine kindness in his voice.

The beast begins to glow and shrinks slightly in size. I glare at him, surprised. “You’re a shape-shifter,” I mumble without thinking.

“No,” he answers, “it’s regression magic. I don’t fancy hitting my head on your roof. I don’t have enough strength to get any smaller.”

He suddenly grabs my left hand. I struggle. “Let me go!” I yell.

“Keep still,” he growls. “You have my blood on you. I’m checking to make sure you don’t have any open cuts, or it could get dangerous.”

I gasp. “Are you a blood sorcerer? Forbidden creature, get your hands off me!”

“I’m not a sorcerer. Just keep still.” I obey him again. He wipes the blood off my hands with the clean side of the cloth I used to bandage him. “You’re safe,” he says, throwing my hand away from his.

“You’re the one who took my hands,” I say angrily, “so why are you treating me like I’m diseased now?” I get up and storm off to my work table. I trip on my bag, which I tossed on the floor the night before. I see the ground and am sure this is going to hurt. I close my eyes and brace for impact. After a few moments, I feel no pain and open my eyes. I am in the arms of the beast.

“Let me go!” I yell. “No, wait,” I begin to say, realising he managed to get from one end of the room to the other in seconds.

“Wait or let go? Make up your mind.” He’s smirking again.

“I meant let me go!”

He slowly lets me go, making sure I regain my balance.

“How did you get here so fast?” I question, knowing that, like all my other questions, I probably won’t get an answer.

“Draven,” he grunts.

“What?” I ask in confusion. What annoyed me more? The fact that I obey his commands without hesitation or the fact that this stranger seems to think he owed some essence of me. He continues to growl, repeating, “Draven.”

“Draven,” he growls, “is my name.” He kneels to the ground and takes a deep breath. As he exhales, he shrinks slightly. “I need you to come with me,” he grumbles. “It’s not safe here,” he continues.

“It’s not safe here; let’s go now!” He yells as he grabs my arm again.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Let go now!” I scream.

“I can hear them coming. It’s not safe; your barrier won’t hold up.” I look at him with pure anger. Within his eyes, I see that he’s genuinely concerned. I lower my head. After some contemplation, I dash to the fireplace, lift up the stone to reveal my secret hiding place, and grab my emergency bag.

“That stone seems heavier than you,” Draven says, smirking to himself.

“I’ve got everything that I need; let’s go,” I say decisively, yet contemplating further where we would be going. I begin to cast an incantation, and my belongings start to disappear one at a time. First, my jars filled with herbs and medicine, and before long, almost everything but the bed, table, and bag is gone. With very little spirit energy, that’s all I could do.

Draven looks at me, amused. “I would ask where you got such a rare item from, but I’m guessing it’s the same reason why someone who is not part of the royal house can use magic,” he says, his smirk turning into a slight smile. “I’m impressed,” he adds. “Let’s go.” He flings open the door and steps out.

“What’s your name, please?” he suddenly questions.

“Ave,” I reply reluctantly.

“Well, excuse me, Ave,” he says as he suddenly grabs me from the ground and starts to run at an inhuman speed. I struggle to hold back my screams.

“Wait, Draven,” I screech. “You can’t just teleport people off the ground.”

“That’s an interesting way of putting it,” he says in a low voice, the wind muffling his speech.

“We all die one day, I guess,” I say, having already made my peace. I close my eyes. After what seems like a lifetime, I open my eyes to find his face inches from mine.

“You have purple eyes; you’re full of surprises, Ave.”

How could he see past my rune? I didn’t feel it breaking. My eyes should be black, my hair black, I think to myself, hesitant to reply.

“Sometimes,” I utter, now vividly aware of the lack of distance between us. I feel my cheeks warming up and turn my head away from his to notice that we are definitely nowhere near Fate’s Forest. Everywhere I turn, I see endless sun, green, and signs of life. It was truly beautiful. I could feel the peace in the air. I glance back into his crystal green eyes. His eyes begin to glow and he suddenly puts me down.

“What did you just—” he yells. A look of anger and sorrow on his face. The beast has more than a smirk and a frown, I think to myself, joking. I take a step back from him to see his face had turned cherry red. Within seconds, he starts to break into a ferocious sweat. He picks himself up and acts like nothing is happening.

“Let’s go,” he says in an oddly sweet tone. I follow him and after a while, I find myself looking at a dreary mansion. All stone, all creepy. It was oddly welcoming, like a summons to the grave. It was clear that though people lived here, it was unkempt and neglected. There was a singular light on in the whole colossal mansion, and it appeared that our presence was sensed as one by one the rest of the lights visible from the front began to turn on.

“This is my home,” Draven says, gesturing for me to enter the old decaying gate. I take a better look ahead and notice that the front entrance is quite a walk away.

“Ave,” Draven says, “I’m going to pick you up again. Don’t get scared.” He commands in a sweet voice. I nod my head yes, filled with questions about his sudden change in demeanour. The beast was starting to seem more human, which made me even more inclined to say yes to him. He lifts me off the ground and into his arms in a bridal hold, and I place my hands around his neck, my face buried in his chest. He shoots off again and within seconds we are at the front door of the grim mansion. He gently puts me down and brushes off my hair.

“The danger is not gone, just simply left behind,” he says with a half sigh.

“What would happen if we just ignored it?” I ask, already assuming the answer.

“The forests would die,” he replies, opening the large black oak doors. “Let’s finish this conversation inside,” he adds.