Page 114 of The Musician and the Monster

In a flash, the king grew in size, his body twisting and transforming until a massive dark beast settled on four legs above a heap of shredded cloth. Golden jewelry clattered to the ground in pieces. With a swift kick of its hind legs, he knocked Malik away. The prince screeched as the beast’s foot connected with his wound and sent him sprawling across the wooden stage to where it met a stone wall.

Red eyes flashed as the beast, so much more massive than Drystan’s or the one that lay dead, stalked toward the man Ceridwen loved.

Drystan gritted his teeth, a guttural growl of his own slipping free. His jacket ripped as his arms bulged. Red colored his eyes.

A strange calm settled over her. His monster would be with them soon. For once, she was glad. They needed him now, that horrible monster of darkness and death.

The king charged Drystan in a rush of dark, leathery skin and fur. Claws and teeth warred against Drystan’s sword.

Ceridwen used the moment to rush to Malik and fell to her knees at his side. He gnashed his teeth, moving his hand in a pattern across his stomach.

“Malik! Can you heal it?” She reached for him without thinking, halting when his gaze slid to hers.

“Trying,” he bit out.

She yanked her hand away, unwilling to disrupt his spell further.

Drystan roared as the monster clawed the sword from his hand. Blood dripped onto the ground from his arms before his back hunched. Another cry split the air along with the ripping of dark clothes. Two beats of Ceridwen’s racing heart later, the rest of his clothing fell away in shreds as Drystan’s monster took form on the stage, facing down the larger one of the king.

He wasn’t a man any longer, but the beast who terrorized the city.

The one who attacked her. The one who saved her. The one she loved.

Her teeth bit into her bottom lip.Please, Goddess, help him.

Growls rumbled back and forth as they circled each other like rabid wolves.

A set of far doors opened, allowing a stream of uniformed guards to rush into the yard. Some pulled swords free of their scabbards and stepped in front of the remaining nobles. Others stumbled back. None attempted to approach the stage. Would they even know what they witnessed?

The beasts leaped at each other, scratching, snarling, and snapping their teeth.

Pain lanced through her heart as she watched Drystan fight for his life. All their lives. The Gray Blade had failed. He had only his monster’s brute strength to aid him now.

The king smashed into Drystan’s smaller beast, sending it sliding across the floor, claws leaving deep groves in their wake as he attempted to halt himself.

A woman’s cry caught Ceridwen’s attention in the yard. Bronwyn cupped her hands over her mouth, Adair at her side. Her attention wasn’t focused on the beasts leaping at each other. Instead, it fixed on her and the injured man at her side.

She shook off Adair and ran, climbing the edge of the stair far from the battle taking place on the other side of the stage. Adair rushed up a step behind her, hair disheveled and eyes wide. “Ceridwen, areyou—”

“I’m fine.”

Bronwyn reached for Malik, but Ceridwen grabbed her hands. “Let him finish.” He still traced patterns in his own blood over his skin, trying to heal the wicked wound, which leaked blood onto the floor.

“You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine,” Bronwyn repeated at a near whisper.

None of them would be if the king emerged victorious. Ceridwen turned to the duel.

“Dear Goddess. Where’s Drystan?” Adair murmured, following her gaze.

“The small one,” Ceridwen’s voice cracked out in a rasp.

Claws raked down his side. With a roar, he reared, blood dripping onto the ground, before lunging at the king again.

Despite the dagger wound Drystan inflicted, the king showed no signs of slowing or backing down. Quite the opposite.

Ceridwen’s eyes blurred with tears, her heart constricting as Drystan took another blow.

“I’ll see if I can rally the guards.” Adair rushed to the yard where men had stepped back, watching the spectacle with looks of fear, confusion, and unease. A few more had joined their number. What were they waiting for?

---