Chapter 14 Emerald Beast
I don't care where I am right now, and I scream my lungs out when I run. The beast lands right at the spot where I was standing a while ago. It's massive with dark green fur. The body is similar to a cat's, but the head is more like a wolf's, complete with sabertooth-like canines.
I hear its claws scratching the surface of the ground while it moves to chase me.
I turned sharply to a corner, almost slipping on my dress when I made the turn.
I made the book fall behind me as I ran, hoping that it would slow down the beast. Whether it worked or not, I am not entirely sure as I quickly rushed to dive under the table when I saw it leap.
The table rattles when the beast lands on top. I tried my beast not to scream and failed. As despicable as this sounds, I turn to the mark on the back of my hand, wondering why it doesn't seem to be working.
What's wrong with it? Don't it usually send out magic when I am in danger?
I scream when the beast seems to try to scratch the surface of the table to get to me.
"Livia!" I felt relieved when I heard Zhier's voice calling for me.
I hear the beast stop scratching, like it notices him too. It lets out a ferocious roar, and I see it jumping off of the table to head in the direction where I heard Zhier's voice a while ago.
I crawl out of the table to see what's happening. I see Zhier blocking the creature's attack with a sword and a chair.
"Get out of here, Livia! Quickly!" He screams like he senses me looking at them. "A stone guardian is outside. Ride it and get out of here!"
I get the feeling that I should ask him about his well-being, but you know what? If he says it's fine, then I am going! Besides, what can I do? I would just get in the way.
Or would I?
I ran over to the nearest bookshelf that I could find and waved over to Zhier. "Lure it here!"
Zhier's eyes shifted in my direction for a split second. He nods, drops the chair and lets out a blast of wind to knock back the creature right where I wanted it. I start to push the shelf, but it's heavier than I expected.
This is embarrassing.
"Move!" Zhier is immediately at my side, pushing the shelf in my place so that it tumbles over, trapping the creature under it. Zhier turns to me right after, and I can only fiddle with my hands.
"I did not think that it would be that heavy. Sorry. I swear, I am stronger than-"
"No time. Let's go. I doubt that this would hold it for long." He grabs my hand, and together we run to the exit. A stone guardian is waiting for us on the terrace. Zhier makes me get on it first, and then he hops on.
We hear a sound coming from inside the library. Zhier clenches his teeth and yells at the stone guardian. "Take us to the ground floor. Quickly!"
The griffin stone guardian that we are riding on spreads its wings and leaps down just as a horrendous roar is heard from the terrace.
The beast's screech seems closer so I craned my head to look up.
The creature is looking at us, and I have seen enough animalistic movements in the wild to know what it's planning to do.
"Zhier!" I did not have much time to explain, so I just pointed at the beast. I was just a second too late when it leapt down towards us. It lands on top of us, causing the stone griffin to descend faster.
The beast suddenly grabs the fabric at the back of my dress and jumps off of the falling stone guardian just before it crashes and breaks. Smoke and dust covers the air from the stone guardian's broken pieces.
"No. Zhier!" I tried to head to the crash, but the beast kept me in place.
Is he dead? What happened to him? Why can't I see him!?
"Let me go! What the hell do you want?" It would seem like my anger overpowered my fear at the moment that I was able to man up and scream at a fae beast that could potentially kill me. "If you want to kill me, then what are you waiting for!?"
It utters a soft whimper and cocks its head to one side, which caught me off guard. It lets go of me very gently, and the unexpected shift in its demeanor leaves me bewildered.
"What are you-" As I was going to question it further, it lowered its nose to the mark on the back of my left hand. I watch its feline tail wag in delight before coming to lick it.
"It's the Emerald Beast."
I hear boulders getting cast aside, and I see Zhier getting up from the pile of rubble. He wobbles over until he arrives at my side.
"You're bleeding." I notice the small cuts on his forehead and arms.
"I can heal myself." His lack of self-consciousness in relaying this information to me is striking. "Moreover, we have to deal with him." His gaze narrows dangerously. The beast registers his gaze and gives a low growl of warning before repositioning himself between me and the Seelie Prince.
Is this beast trying to protect me?
Zhier can only smile sarcastically at it. "I knew it. You're his mutt, aren't you?"
"Do you know this guy?" I ask Zhier. Unfortunately, the moment the beast hears my voice, it quickly looks back at me, but with a more docile demeanor. It quickly runs back and rubs its head on my cheek in adoration.
I know that it's a fairy beast and all, but why does it feel like a dog? A golden retriever, to be precise.
"I have seen it a few times, and none of them were pleasant. It is the Unseelie Prince's pet." When Zhier spits out the word as an insult, the beast snarls at him again.
"Prince Zhier!" The palace guards come over, bringing their weapons in a hurry, like we were not in eminent danger a while ago.
Where were these guys anyway?!
"We heard a crash." One of them says while the other one lets out a gasp when he sees the beast beside me.
"Is that Prince Klovis's Emerald Beasts!?" He points a spear at it, only making the creature feel more agitated.
"Drop your weapons. You are only going to make it worse." I tell them.
"Don't lecture us, human. You don't know anything about that creature!" The fae guard screams without taking his eyes off of the creature.
"I may not know anything about this creature, but I do know how to read an animal's body language. I am telling you now that if you keep showing it your aggression, it will only make things worse for you. Are you sure that you want to fight it?"
After that, the two fae guards were silent. No one said anything until Zhier broke the silence. "Do what she says. Drop your weapons. It does not seem like the beast is here to attack. It only seems like it only wants to protect Livia."
"But, your highness, you are injured. It attacked you."
"Only because its small brain thought that I was taking Livia." He brushed away their concern by healing his wounds before them. His wounds glow with a blue hue before completely closing.
"Then what are we going to do with him?" Out of curiosity, I decide to ask, and I address the beast. "Does it have a name?"
"Call it whatever you want, but that thing is not going to live here looking like that.
It will scare the others when they recognize what it is.
It's best if we put it in a cage or something unless it can change its form to something smaller.
" He utters the words while casually stealing a glance at the beast, as if he is expecting it to understand his words.
The beast rises from its prone position.
To my surprise, it starts to get smaller until it resembles a house cat in size and has a baby wolf's head with sabertooth fangs.
It lets out a sound that resembles both a cat's and a dog's at the same time before jumping into my arms. On instinct, I catch it, completely forgetting the fact that it was a scary and massive beast just a while ago.
It shrunk. The beast just shrunk. I know that I should be used to magic, but some things are hard to process!
I turn to Zhier, who was looking at the creature with distaste in my arms. "That will do for now, until we figure out what to do with it."
"But, Prince Zhier. Having an unseelie beast-"
"Emerald beasts are naturally in the seelie boarders.
This specific one just happens to be Prince Klovis' pet.
Tell no one about this, as we might need it to figure out where its master is.
I need to see you two in my office to make your oaths after I take Livia back to her room.
" Zhier's eyes become piercing, and they seem to glow under the light from the moon.
"If I ever hear you telling someone about this before making the oath with me, just know that it is not the first time that the palace has a few missing guards on duty at night. "
The two guards exchange nervous glances before fixing their positions. "Yes, your highness!"
Zhier turns his gaze to me after. "Come on. I'll escort you back to make sure that no other creature would sneak again."
When Zhier escorted me back, all I could focus on at the moment was the creature in my arms and how it seemed to nuzzle its snout against the mark on my hand.
All I wanted was to learn fairy language, so how did I end up gaining a pet!? Moreover, HOW DO I EVEN TAKE CARE OF IT!?