The Rebel's Crown - Chapter 53 - Monster

Taking Charlotte's hand, Hamil turned around and ran up the stairs as hard as he could.

"Why are we running?" Charlotte asked, trying to stop Hamil from dragging her along.

"Did you not see that?" Hamil stopped, turning to look her in the eyes.

Hamil remembered the what was left of Lior after he transformed into a Plague Beast. Nothing could take it down. Even after Jaime had scorched the earth, the beast remained. If that couldn't stop it, then what could? How could Astrid and Damian hunt these things?

"Is there nothing that we can do?" She asked, her haze growing more intense with each passing moment.

"I don't know."

"Then let's find out." Charlotte let go of Hamil's hand and turned around.

The blob of dark ooze writhed on the ground, growing larger as ropes of darkness continued to wrap around it.

Pert took this time to push people through the doorway. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt.

After helping the last person to escape, Pert turned around to be met by two large, violet eyes staring at him. Floating in the shadows like driftwood, the eyes blinked. Slowly, a large mouth floated out to the surface of the ooze.

The mouth widened into a grin before speaking. "Poor Pert. Even after all of this, you can't hold on."

The voice was dark and deep. It spoke clear as day, but seemed to whisper inside of his very soul.

"R-release Jaime!" Pert stuttered.

"Ah, but that's just impossible. Naught but death can save her soul now." The ooze spoke.

Barely managing to breathe, Pert was somehow able to summon his aura, still staring down the being that had possessed Jaime.

"Ooh, how very frightening. Very true to your nature. Pert, the murderer, the criminal, the monster. No amount of fancy titles can erase the one branded on your soul."

Suddenly, visions and images that Pert had spent so long suppressing forced themselves to the surface.

"There's a reason that the Wark came to you. A predator recognizes another predator."

Pert was standing alone, surrounded by the charred remains of a village. He had been told that it was a Farrol outpost and was ordered to erase it. He fulfilled his duties as best he could, sealing every door and window before lining the houses with dry brush. When the morning came, and he went to inspect his work, he found charred bodies of families. Old or young, they all burned the same.

The village was an outpost, but one meant for the families of prisoners of war. An agreement had been made to allow the families of the prisoners to migrate to Kiech if the prisoner defected. The prisoners were told that the Farrol army had done the job in retaliation.

Pert knew that if he told the truth, that his own family would suffer the same fate. He couldn't let that happen. Licilia was pregnant with their child.

With another few months of work left, Pert's guilt led him to take on a suicide mission. An advance party from Farrol had built a hold close to their camps. He would scout its defenses and take it should the opportunity arise.

He was caught almost immediately. But before he was killed, lightning struck a dead tree nearby. In the distance, he saw it. Sleek, black fur that glistened like steel, the Wark roared as lightning arced off of its back. The lightning froze in the air, forming jagged wings that stretched out to the sky.

The Myth Beast disappeared, appearing directly in front of the man and pressed its forehead against his own. He felt the beast's power coursing through him as one singular thought swarmed through his mind. He was a monster, but everything he did was for his family.

After sending Pert into a trance, Tim's attention shifted to the door. "Well, we're far too big for that."

Before he could do anything else, though, a second pair of eyes rose from the shadows, followed by a second mouth.

The second mouth whined. "What's with this form? Weren't we a girl before?"

"That was the form of her soul. With us in control, things are a little messier. I'll fix it once I find my other selves."

"How long will that take? I was always fond of the human females. Why do you think I made the child one?"

"Enough Aleron! All things in their own time." Tim shouted. "I should be able to feel where the other three are. They do not have form, so they lack the senses to gather."

"I can't wait to have my own body again!" Aleron squawked. "I never thought I'd be stuck in my own feather for so long. The air tastes weird. Did air have a taste before?"

"Shut it! I can feel the others. Two are close, but the third is much farther than I had hoped. We won't be able to make it far in this form."

"So we just hide in someone's shadow again? I was hoping to see the sun sometime soon." Aleron pouted.

"You'll see your precious sun again, just be patient."

Just then, Charlotte burst through the doorway and came to a screeching stop, Hamil following close behind her.

Four eyes circled around to look at the two of them.

"Wh-what are you?" Hamil asked, frozen.

Two mouthes swam around to greet them. "Oh, Ham. You don't remember your poor, troubled sister?" Aleron said, frowning.

"Oh, Hamil. Always so quick to abandon. You'd forget me so quickly." Tim continued. "What would your mother think?"

Tim immediately tried to invade the boy's mind, but found that he couldn't.

Much to his surprise, two large wings burst out from the boy's back, spreading wide.

"Curious. I see that humanity has managed to evolve without my interference. I look forward to examining your body and soul. I'm sure there's something I can add to my servants."

"Hamil, I told you to leave." Pert said, quickly coming to his senses.

"Oh, you recovered much quicker than I had expected. Commendable."

"We came to help. That thing said… it said it was Jaime." Charlotte explained.

"It is. Or it was." Pert replied. "Something's possessed her. I've never seen a Plague Beast like this."

"Are they still calling me that? Plague? How nice to see that you all still remember. Even after thousands of years. I did make a lasting impression."

"You blew up my perch!" Aleron exclaimed. "I didn't ask for those humans to throw each other into the volcano."

"Yes, I know. We've been over this." Tim said, exasperated.

The blob of shadow shifted and took a vaguely human form for a moment before being corrupted and shifting again. Finally, the form stabilized into a human-esque form. Two, short legs that bent backward at the knee leading up to a long torso with four long, spindly arms and a large head that housed both pairs of eyes and both mouths.

"I dare say that this is worse than before!" Aleron cried out.

"Enough complaining, we have things to do and couldn't move in the old form."

Stretching, the two's new form turned to look down the hall, where the Plague Beast that was Lord Gelling sat frozen. The head was snapping its mouth much quicker than before and, after noticing the attention it was receiving, let out a bloodcurdling screech before turning and trying to escape.

"Oh, I don't think so. You have something that belongs to me!" The shadow monster chased after the Plague Beast.

Despite its unsettlingly large size, the creature made no sound as it lumbered after Lord Gelling.

"Why aren't they coming after us?" Hamil asked.

"Because there's nothing we can do." Pert replied.

"That can't be!" Charlotte cried out. "There has to be something!"

"I'm not sure." Pert said, downcast. "If what that thing said is true, then we're not dealing with a monster. A god is dealing with us."

"But Jaime-"

"What don't you understand! That thing can kill all of us like nothing!" Pert shouted. "The only reason we're still here is because it knows this, too."

Charlotte bit her lip as she stared him down, but he didn't say anything more. He awoke from his trance with a will to fight, but lost it the moment he saw the creature again.

The sound of frantic dragging came from the other end of the hall as Lord Gelling came into view. Not far behind him was the shadow monster. Seeing them, Lord Gelling snapped open its giant mouth as its tongue rocketed out toward them.

"Hungry, eh?" Aleron asked mockingly.

Before the tongue could reach them, the shadows on the ground in front the Plague Beast started to bubble. A hand reach out from the shadows, grabbing onto the slimy appendage and keeping it from reaching out any further.

Thrashing around, Lord Gelling's head started to weep.

"I'm feeling pretty hungry, myself."

The shadows all around Lord Gelling started to bubble as large mouths started to dot the floor, reaching out and biting into the monster.

"You don't taste too good, but this should be enough to last me a while."

More mouths started appearing, growing larger as they ate more and more of the creature until, finally, one giant one opened right underneath him, swallowing him whole.

Snapping closed with a gut-wrenching squish, the corrupted lord was no more.

"This curse was quite sloppy. I'm disappointed in myself." Tim sighed.

"So you couldn't find anything?" Aleron asked.

"No, the memories were far too distorted."

"At least we have enough energy to get out of here, now."

Stretching out two hands, a thick glob of black energy gathered between them before they tossed it at a point where the wall met the ceiling. The glob stuck where it hit and started growing larger as a deep rumble shook the entire estate. After growing larger than Lord Gelling had been, it shrunk rapidly and exploded in a flash of black energy.

Where the energy blob had grown now remained a perfectly round hole in the building, creating a large opening to the night.

"Now, you three." Tim said, turning their body to see them.

Right as they took their first step, Charlotte stepped between both groups.

"I won't go out without a fight!" She shouted.

Holding both hands in front of her, a golden light started to shine from her hair before waves of yellow flames flowed out from her palms. Like her own curls, the flames swept gracefully across the floor, filling every inch of the space in front of her. Despite her efforts, though, the shadow monster stepped through the flames, uninhibited.

Seeing that Charlotte's legs were shaking, Hamil stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her chest, supporting her.

"Neither will I." He said proudly.

If Pert's eyes had not been glued to the ground this entire time, he would have seen not one, but two pairs of wings erupt from the boy's back. Like bubbles of water hovering in the air, the spirits started to gather around the two children before swarming to the boy's wings. Slowly, all four appendages shifted to the form that Hamil had noticed when time had frozen.

Pert suddenly felt a pair of eyes looking at him and lifted his head to see what he thought was the Wark. He had to have been mistaken, though. The Myth Beast had died the day they'd met. The creature looked at him with disappointment.

Suddenly, Pert's mind was overcome with hundreds of images and visions. He saw every moment in his life with his family, old and new. Everything they've ever done together. He saw his daughter, Veria as a baby. He saw Hamil the dozens of times when the boy was bringing someone to safety, despite the dangers. He saw Jaime when he first found her, afraid, hurt and alone. She was probably feeling the same way right now. Then he saw an unfamiliar face. It was a boy that resembled himself.

Two Magic Rings formed behind Hamil's back, though he was completely unaware. One faced himself while the other faced Pert. The first of them to finish was the one facing himself.

As the Magic Ring disappeared, the color of the flames flowing from Charlotte's hands changed. What had once been a golden yellow became a vibrant flow of every color in existence.

The pride that had filled Tim's and Aleron's eyes quickly faded as the flame's intensity only grew stronger.

Unable to control it any longer, Charlotte dropped her hands and heaved, nearly falling.

At the opposite end of the hall, the shadow monster was now filled with a very dim light.

"Impossible!" Aleron shouted. "Nobody should be able to use those flames!"

Slowly dragging their body to the three of them, Hamil noticed something inside their body.

Curled up in the fetal position, Jaime lay still, cocooned in shadows.

"Pert, she's still in there!" Hamil screamed.

He moved to turn and look at the man, but stopped when a brilliant white light erupted from behind him.

Astrid, Damian and Dame Austen all dropped down through the hole that Tim and Aleron had made to escape and all froze.

Stepping past Hamil, Pert kept his gaze on the floor. A layer of white light covered his entire body thicker than the walls of the building they were in.

Staring at him, Hamil couldn't help but weep as he felt the man's emotions. It was indescribable.

"You do a very good job-" Pert spoke in a low voice, "of making someone forget their reason for living."