Page 4 of Beauty and the Grendel

Lost in thought, I barely noticed the sound of footsteps approaching from behind. I turned to see Griiq, his enormous frame casting a shadow on the path.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, his deep voice cutting through the morning stillness.

I smiled, nodding my head. “Of course not. I’d enjoy the company.”

We walked in comfortable silence, the only sounds being the crunching of leaves beneath our feet and the occasional chirping of birds. Griiq led me to a breathtaking vista overlooking a forested valley, the mist clinging to the treetops like a delicate veil.

“Be careful,” Griiq warned as I stepped closer to the edge, my curiosity getting the better of me. “The drop is steep, and the rocks can be slippery.”

But I barely heard his words, too entranced by the view before me. As I reached the ledge, I noticed a group of men in hunting garb, their voices carrying on the wind.

I turned around, realizing that Griiq had stayed back, hidden from view. The hunters approached me, their eyes narrowing with suspicion.

“What brings you out here, miss?” one of them asked, his tone gruff.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice steady. “Just out for a hike, enjoying the scenery.”

The men exchanged glances, their expressions darkening. “You best be careful around these parts,” another warned. “That monster up in the castle, Griiq, he’s liable to kill you if you stay there.”

My heart raced as they shared tales of the horrors happening around Grimsby.

“Just last week, the Johnsons’ dog vanished without a trace,” one hunter said, his voice low and ominous. “And the week before that, the Millers found their best milk cow torn to shreds in the pasture.”

Another man chimed in, his face grim. “I’ve seen the destruction myself. Tractors and plows smashed to bits, like they were nothing more than toys in the hands of a giant.”

They spoke of Griiq as if he were a true monster, a threat to their very existence.

“That creature up in the castle,” the first hunter spat, “he’s the one responsible for all of this. Mark my words, miss, he won’t stop until he’s destroyed everything and everyone in his path.”

I listened, my mind reeling with the implications of their words. Could Griiq really be responsible for these attacks? The gentle being I knew seemed so different from the monster they described.

As I made my way back to the castle, my thoughts were a tangled mess of doubt and confusion. I needed answers, needed to confront Griiq about the community’s accusations. But a part of me feared what I might discover, feared that the truth could shatter the fragile trust we had built.

Chapter 4

Griiq

I paced the stone floor, my claws clicking against the weathered surface as Harlow recounted her encounter with the hunters. Their accusations stung like barbs, reopening old wounds I thought had long since healed.

“They claim your land doesn’t extend to the cliffs,” Harlow said, her voice tinged with uncertainty. “That’s why you didn’t follow me.”

I stopped, turning to face her. “And you believe them? These men who spin tales of horror and pin the blame on a creature they don’t even understand?”

Harlow hesitated, her gaze dropping to the floor. “They had a convincing story, Griiq. I’m trying to keep an open mind about all of this.”

A growl rumbled in my chest, frustration and sadness warring within me. “Of course they do. It’s easy to vilify the unknown, to paint a monster in the shadows and let fear do the rest.”

I stalked to the window, staring out at the misty mountains that had become my prison and my sanctuary. “I’ve lived here for years, Harlow. Alone, isolated, because I knew the world would never accept me for what I am.”

My voice dropped to a whisper, the weight of centuries of loneliness bearing down upon me. “But I had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that you might be different. That you might see beyond the horns and the claws and the rumors.”

I turned back to her, my eyes searching hers for a glimmer of understanding, of acceptance. “I am not the monster they make me out to be, Harlow. But I fear that no matter what I say or do, the world will always see me as such.”

I spent the next few days in a haze of uncertainty and frustration. Harlow’s presence in the castle, once a source of tentative hope, now felt like a constant reminder of the gulf between us. She kept to her room, avoiding me at every turn, and I couldn’t blame her. I had planted the seeds of doubt, and I feared they would take root and grow, poisoning any chance of understanding between us.

But I refused to let it end like this. I couldn’t bear the thought of Harlow leaving, returning to the world with the same misconceptions that had haunted me for so long. I had to prove to her I wasn’t the monster they believed me to be, that there was more to me than the horns and the claws and the whispered rumors.

I paced the halls of the castle, my mind racing with possibilities. How could I show her the truth? How could I convince her I was innocent of the crimes they accused me of?

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