AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With our eyes locked, time stood still. The world slowed to a halt, and everything faded away. All I knew was the gaze of that Fae King, staring into my soul.
And he looked like he wanted to kill me himself. Hatred filled his icy eyes. He glared at me like I was the epitome of evil.
Well, the feeling was mutual. Because he was about to be the reason I died. And for what? I had done nothing wrong. I was innocent! But no one would hear me out. This was hardly a fair trial. Death-by-monster wasn’t a fair punishment, either.
I noticed Lucia, the future Fae Queen of Jasfin. Her presence next to Rainier demanded attention. A magnetic power drew my gaze.
Her cornflower eyes locked on me, too. They were scornful, narrowed at me. Her blonde hair hung over her shoulders like waves of silk. She sat next to the King, polished and regal and every bit as royal as he needed her to be. She angled her body toward him, and she looked at me down her nose, satisfaction in her eyes.
Hostility twitched and twisted inside me when I looked at her. She enjoyed this.
The monster let out a roar that shook the earth beneath my feet. The spell broke, the bubble burst. Time sped up, and the monster was going to kill me.
My pathetic existence wouldn’t end like this. I would fight back with everything I had.
The monster swished that thick, leathery tail as if it was soft and furry, like the tail of a cat. It held its head low, red eyes sizing me up. A long, pink tongue ran over the sharp teeth, and a shudder racked my body.
The creature didn’t run and attack the way I thought it would. I’d tried to figure out a pattern, but this monster was smarter than that. Instead of charging head-on, it circled slowly around me, stalking me.
The crowd held a collective breath, and I moved as the creature did. I kept my back to the wall, facing the monster at all times. When it circled left, I did the same. I would stay on the opposite side of the arena and keep away from the monster for as long as I could.
I stepped on something hard and looked down. A spear lay in the sand. I kneeled down and wrapped my thick fingers around it. The spear was thin and strange in my foreign hand, but I would figure it out. I didn’t know if the spear was there on purpose or if this was a mistake.
But thank Goddess for something I could use to defend myself.
Although I doubted a spear would be enough to take on the armored monster, it was better than nothing at all.
The beast suddenly lunged forward, teeth bared. Instead of stepping back, I stepped in toward the creature and pointed the spear at its face. I burrowed the back of it into the sand, so the monster would leverage itself against it. When the creature charged, the spear did what I needed it to do—the tip pushed in between two of the large scales, and blood poured out.
The monster let out a feminine scream and backed up. It regarded me with red eyes and snapped its jaws. It was angry that I’d done damage.
This time, the creature seemed to calculate its next move. How smart was this thing? I was in trouble.
It backed away, tail flicking again. Those eyes locked on me and followed my every move. I waited. Storming the monster put me at a great disadvantage—I was only human. Or…whatever. In this body, I wasn’t sure what I was. The monster was enormous, and I would let that count in my favor—or try to. Usually, I had speed on my side, but I was in a body I wasn’t used to. I had to figure something out.
Dead was dead, no matter what body I was in.
When the beast charged again, I ran forward, too. I let out a vicious battle cry that sounded strange to my ears, coming from my mouth in such a deep bellow.
I saw the steps falter—the creature was unsure about my reaction. It expected me to curl away in fear.
Was I terrified? I was scared out of my mind, but backing down would only get me killed. I’d learned a long time ago the only way to win a fight was to give it my all.
When the monster hesitated, I took my chance. I leaped forward, spear pointed at the head. I tried to get it into the eye. The monster turned its head last minute, and the spear skipped off the scales and clattered to the ground on the other side of the large body.
I looked up, and the monster’s lips turned upward, almost like a smirk. I held my breath, and terror froze me in place, but only for a second. I’d need to fight, or die a coward, and I wasn’t one to give up so easily.
The beast crept closer. I was without a weapon and in trouble. I started backing away. This was exactly what I shouldn’t do, but I had nothing to charge with now.
My back hit the wall, and I knew this was it. I was done. This monster was going to kill me, and I had no way to stop it. I glanced toward the hovel where we’d waited. It was too far for me to make a run for it. The guards poked their heads out, eagerly watching.
Everyone rooted for me to die.
Great.
The monster opened its jaws, let out a roar that made my bones rattle, and it snapped the giant mouth at my head. I ducked, and a deafening metal thud sounded. I blinked my eyes open and glanced up at the monster just above me.
It had gone for my head…and missed?
