Return to flip book view

Beasts by Blood Helen Hladik

An Introduction When starting a new project the first few days are often spent trying to decide what the project will be That was how this project was for me I was uncertain on what to do where to start and how I wanted to present my final project Fast forward to now with the project done and being presented here today I can t say everything went smoothly from point A to point B but rather we skipped around backtracked and ultimately ended up with a few pages of a potential story What I would like to present to you the reader is a few pages of a story left unfinished I realize now that there isn t anything wrong with unfinished stories as someday in the future you can always pick them back up right where you left off Stories can be polished and refined like a diamond in the rough and life is sort of like that too My own story is unfinished but I m wrapping up my own chapter here at Cowley and moving to the next one My story is unfinished meaning I can write it whenever I choose

Prologue And with a mighty swing she struck at the beast It let out a mighty roar almost knocking the princess back but then it slumped down in defeat It s slimy bubbling black blood poured from the wound staining the ground around her and signaling her victory A young child scrunches up her nose at the thought uttering a quick ew before looking back to the book within her father s hands She sits within his lap head near his shoulder legs pulled up entirely into his body He glances down at her a moment grinning at her expression before looking back to the picture book She quickly does the same briefly admiring the page of the princess with the sword then quickly looking past the monster eyes brightening as her father finally flips the page The princess puts her sword away Her people surround her and cheer Huzzah The princess has slain the beast Huzzah And then they pick her up and start throwing her around Suddenly her father releases the book Large hands grab at her and in one quick movement her father stands picking her up in the process before tossing her into the air She can t help but squeal first in surprise then in delight as he continues to toss her Huzzah You ve slain the beast huzzah He shouts only causing her to squeal more before beginning to carry her towards the bed then tossing her onto it She giggles the entire time breathing deeply before realizing just what time it is With the realization set she begins to

scoot up into the bed kicking back the blanket then pulling it up and over herself not yet laying down wide eyes quickly looking up at her father Daddy will I really do all that His large bushy eyebrows raise in question before he moves towards her side of the bed taking a seat on the edge of her just by her side Yes you re a little warrior just like me and your mother we re all warriors Before her father can finish speaking the child begins to grimace then interrupts nose again crinkled I don t want to do that I don t want to see the blood She shakes her head quickly causing her father to chuckle It can be a bit Icky He searches for the word a moment then continues But it s a great honor to put down such beasts you know that Our family has been doing it for generations It s very noble and although very unpleasant at first you ll soon fall into it when you re older He looks down at her staring at his daughter s unbudging expression her nose still adamantly displaying her disgust

Plus when you do it everyone likes you He adds letting out a gentle sigh when her expression finally begins to fall features softening as she looks up at him pale eyebrows raised Everyone Yes everyone He assures She pauses for a few seconds contemplating this information before letting herself flop down onto her pillow sighing aloud and looking up at her father Alright If everyone likes me I ll probably do it Do you really mean everyone You kill beasts and Yarold doesn t like you Yarold doesn t like me for other reasons Her father immediately laughs Oh so people will still not like me for other things Her head tilts slightly Love you can t actually be liked by everyone but If you kill beasts most people will like you in fact they ll even look up to you You re a beautiful little girl everyone is going to love you as far as I m concerned yeah Without looking for an answer her father finally moves to stand the bed creaking as his weight leaves it

He moves towards the door stopping at a desk to gently blow out a candle then fully retreating towards the door There he stops and looks back at his daughter offering a small smile Goodnight little love Don t think about it too much you ve still got many years before you ll join the hunt Sleep tight and don t let the beasts bite And with a final glance he leaves her room leaving the door slightly ajar so that a single ray of light still shines into the room The little girl stares at the cracked door for a few moments her mind racing over her father s words before she rolls onto her side back to the door With an inaudible yawn the girl closes her eyes Everyone would like her At the expense of a beast

Chapter One Upstairs within the castle a young woman stands in her bedroom before a mirror Her figure is tense as she stares at her reflection seemingly engrossed before moving a hand She moves it to her stomach touching at the dark protective leather armor she wore as if testing it a moment before letting out a deep exhale If she was just a year younger this would all be much simpler There wouldn t be any fancy gear no weapons no beasts to slay It would be a normal birthday just like all the rest If only the eighteen birthday could be just as simple She could ve just had another party invited her closest friends and remained in the castle all day entirely stress free Shaking her head slightly she begins pressing down harder upon the armor before turning towards her bed On her bed sits a young man two curious eyes watching her through dirty blonde bangs The longer she looks at him the more his eyebrows start to raise Hey can you punch me Tilly motions to her stomach a smile quickly sprawling across her face as the man s face quickly distorts into confusion Not like too hard or anything I just wanna see if I d feel it C mon do it Punch me right here okay She moves towards the bed soon standing right in front of the man He doesn t move in response features still twisted brows crooked He opens his mouth a moment to protest begins to raise a fist then lowers it just as quickly

Tilly s smile drops and a sigh soon follows For a moment she instead considers punching him She d only asked if he could punch at her she wanted to see just how strong the armor really was because if it was made to withstand a beast s claws it was surely going to withstand his punch James Don t be a loser Do it The gentle tone she d used before fades replaced with something more monotone This time it s James who lets out a sigh raising his fist drawing it back then quickly flopping back down onto the bed His twisted features relax in seconds a light chuckle passing through him fist uncoiling to instead sweep hair out of his face I ll do it in a minute you re like really on edge today Kinda stressing me out Til James shakes his head slightly as Tilly begins to squint I m stressing you out Like I m not the most stressed person here Are you joking As she speaks James scoots off to the side of the bed and pats the spot beside him That s all it takes for Tilly to walk over sitting down beside him then flopping down at his side The armor makes it uncomfortable causing her to fidget but after a few moments she gives up trying to be comfortable She then turns her head to glance over at James pausing at his crooked smile He d been watching hadn t he As if to answer he laughs a moment turning his head to stare up at the

ceiling Like this he looks relaxed Tilly doubts she looks anywhere near as relaxed as him or that she could even relax at all today for that matter If anything how could he relax with all of this going on Sure today wasn t his big day but Tilly would think that James would have the decency to cut her some slack today Hey Deep breath in hold it Deep breath out James instructs her soon taking in an audible breath pausing then expelling it She listens to him a moment before turning her own head to stare up at the ceiling not following along until he nudges at her Fine Tilly takes in a deep deep breath through her nose and holds it Breathing like this wasn t anything new and it had never felt like it worked before so chances were it wouldn t work this time James claimed that taking a few deep breaths often calmed him down but sometimes Tilly wondered if he was just trying to mess with her head or something A few seconds later she stops holding her breath and exhales feeling exactly the same way she d felt before Do you feel better No Tilly replies instantly Are you really trying though

Probably not That one works a chuckle out of her he was right she probably wasn t trying too hard but that s beside the point Things were still going to be stressful regardless putting in the full effort would probably only make things more stressful there d be a sense of commitment for today No there already was a sense of commitment for today today was meant to be special to feel special but instead Tilly only felt overwhelmed by stress I think you re overthinking things yeah All you gotta do today hey listen James pauses waiting for Tilly s attention With a dramatic sigh and the slightest sliver of a smile Tilly obliges and looks over at him Don t worry about the big appearance part of the day it s literally the least of your worries All you gotta be thinking about is later today s basically just celebrating that you re just having a cow for basically no reason The sooner you go out there the sooner you can get to the real purpose of today Tilly turns her head looking back up at the ceiling her smile dissipating He was right mostly but she wouldn t bother correcting him she didn t need to tell him the truth Going out and talking to her father talking in front of the various civilians and nobles was going to be the easiest part of her day she did that daily but what came after that was the real trick

Slaying a beast was the real trouble today brought but to admit she was nervous about that felt silly it would be frowned upon She shouldn t be nervous not for something she d spent years training for not for something everyone expected her to do with ease You good now Pep talk over or are we still moping James tone sounds light he s joking but his words still sting Tilly goes back to his much more useful advice taking a deep breath in attempting to hold it a moment then expelling a final exhale before moving to sit up It takes a few seconds to maintain her composure Something she usually doesn t worry about with James but today she puts on a small smile one that doesn t meet her icy eyes Yeah thanks I really needed that Her words meet her smile and when she looks over at James she can tell he s convinced He s always easy to convince anyways but well no That wasn t a very nice thought Tilly mentally reprimands herself shaking the thought aside and moving to stand up For the final time this morning she moves over towards the mirror giving one last look to her attire This gear she wore the tough leather that was meant to protect her Tilly can t help but look it over carefully Would it really be able to protect her Idle visions come to mind ripped attire much like her own claws that had torn through such attire such men this wouldn t protect her against a beast She would have to fend for herself tonight

The gentle rumble of her stomach reminds her of just how hungry she is as does the smell of food from far downstairs Maybe starting the day really would get things going starting the day was probably the hardest part anyway right With one last inhale one last exhale Tilly moves for the door She hesitates outside it glancing back at James as he begins to stand intending to follow her out After leaving this room her day would begin She d speak with everyone rejoice in how long they d all waited for this day they d feast and then finally they d send her away Once the day started once she stepped out of the room there wasn t any putting it off It couldn t wait any longer You ready Tilly asks swallowing still wearing that forced smile James meets her gaze with ease popping back with one of his own smiles one that always meets his eyes one that never has anything to hide He bounces forward past her even and opens the door for her offering a very quick bow as he holds it Of course your highness And just like that the day begins but the ending must remain the same

When later standing beside her father dressed in his most luxurious attire standing before oh so many people she feels hardly any pride Tilly had always felt proud to stand beside him to hear him boast of her status of her training of the traditions she d carry out but today she feels small when standing there against his large frame She finds herself glancing over at him trying to find traces of skin through his attire his arms are bare she can see traces of scars all along them She moves an arm to grab at the balcony and glances at her own arms There are scars to be found but they are not the same Scars from blades from scrapes scars from practice not from beasts When later at the grand feast Tilly can hardly fathom eating Her favorite meals hardly have any flavor but she can t keep her smile off her face she can t crack in front of this many people she can t let them know how she feels she can t hesitate now While eating she catches her hand trembling with a spoon and quickly eats something else instead something she can just hold with her hands to avoid the blatant shaking She switches to a freshly baked roll smothering it in butter and cramming it into her mouth but even it tastes grey and dull just like everything else Regardless Tilly continues to eat she needs to eat for what s to come When the feast finally begins to wrap up she wants to just sit there and keep eating the same tasteless food to put things off for just a little longer

Hey I think you should get going before it s dark A large hand rubs at her back her father s voice seeping with pride Everyone wants to see you off too so you should get going The sooner you go out the sooner you can get back yeah Tilly almost loathes it how confident he sounds how he doesn t even sound nervous about it all It s almost sickening how much he expects from her but Tilly knows she s overreacting and it s so difficult not to feel smothered She takes a deep breath and moves to stand She tilts her head upwards to look at her father meeting his gaze it s so familiar it hardly feels like it s changed since she was a kid it didn t feel like he d ever gotten older In one quick motion Tilly embraces him Her father makes a surprised sound but it isn t long before he wraps his arms around her making her feel small making her feel like a child again and Tilly leans into the feeling It was going to be alright probably An hour later atop of a white horse she rides off and away from her paradise She rides alone with only a sheathed sword and a bag attached to the horse s saddle enough food for only three days although she shouldn t be gone for that long When alone like this with her thoughts she no longer smiles Instead she wears a weary expression her shoulders slouched Tilly s hands grab at the saddle harshly causing her knuckles to turn white About half an hour into the ride just barely into the forest she gets off of the horse to stop at a tree proceeding to throw up behind it

Soon enough she s back on the horse heading back into the forest back towards her fate She can t help but contemplate turning around and heading home early just calling it quits right then and there but she knows better There s a fair chance she won t be welcomed without anything to show for her hunt to prove that she was capable of fulfilling the family legacy that she could slay a beast all on her own Tilly continues forward into the forest beginning to breach into uncharted territory unknown to most in her kingdom getting closer to the beast she must slay