Page 5 of Thorns of Deceit: The Beast Within

“Silence,” King Lyinell snapped, his eyes flashing with irritation. “I’ve not come for your strategies, boy. I need Duke Anathemark.”

Skylar felt a chill run down her spine as the King’s gaze locked onto her. She knew what was coming, dreaded it with every fiber of her being. Her heart began to race, pounding so hard she was sure the others must hear it. The air grew heavy, charged with otherworldly energy that made her skin prickle.Sounds of battle faded, replaced by an eerie silence that pressed against her eardrums. Time itself seemed to slow as the King drew in a deep breath.

“Duke Anathemark.” His words boomed across the battlefield, each syllable resonating with power. Skylar felt it in her bones. An order that could not be ignored. “The tide turns against us. I command you to summon the Divine Beast!”

The words hit Skylar like a physical blow. Her head throbbed, a sharp pain lancing through her skull as the ancient pact that bound her family to the royal line stirred to life. It surged in response to the King’s command, its power pulsing through her veins, demanding obedience.

The beast within. The Gryphon.

2

It hurt. It hurt so much.

Skylar’s vision blurred, the world fading into a red-tinged nightmare. The pact—that ancient, cursed agreement binding her family to the royal bloodline—surged through her veins like liquid fire. It burned, searing away her humanity with each passing moment, her consciousness beginning to fracture.

No. Please, make it stop.

Her silent pleas went unanswered, lost in the deafening roar of her own pulse. A second heartbeat thundered in her chest, alien and powerful, drowning out her own. Its rhythmic pulsing echoed in her skull, threatening to split her head in two. Skylar gritted her teeth, jaw clenched so tight she thought it might shatter.

She couldn’t stop it. The realization choked her, leaving her gasping and trembling. No matter how desperately she clung to her sense of self, she was powerless against a Clawborne’s command. Always had been. The pact would not be denied.

Hurry up, damn bird!

A scream tore from her throat, raw and primal, echoing across the battlefield. For a terrible moment, it silenced the clash of steel and shouts of men. It was a sound of pure agony, of a soul being ripped apart again and again and again. Skylar collapsed, fingers clawing at the blood-soaked earth. Her body convulsed as the true materialization began. She pounded her fists against her chest as hard as she could, desperate to stop her heart—to end this unbearable torture. And her life.

“Skylar!” Arye’s voice cut through the veil of pain, sharp with panic. He must have realized what she was trying to do.

She wanted to look at him, to memorize his face one last time before she lost herself completely. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t bear for him to see her like this—weak, broken, and so very inhuman.

“Stay back!” she managed to choke out, the words tasting of copper and ash. Her tongue felt swollen, too large for her mouth, making speech a monumental effort. “Don’t look at me,” she whispered, her final words full of shame. “Please.”

The air around her crackled with energy, heavy with the scent of ozone and… Lavender? Her skin felt too tight, as if it might split at any moment. The beast stirred within, its presence an ache in her chest.

Skylar arched her back, a guttural moan escaping her lips as she felt the Gryphon growing inside her. Its talons scraped her bones, each movement a shockwave of agony. Her spine contorted unnaturally, flesh rippling and shifting to accommodate the beast’s form.

Through the red haze of pain, Skylar was dimly aware of the chaos erupting around her. Clanking of armor and panicked cries created a symphony of fear, punctuated by the thud of retreating footsteps. Snippets of terror caught her attention.

“The Duke… By the gods, what’s happening to him?”

“Run! Run, you fools!”

“It’s a demon! The Duke is possessed!”

Hooves thundered closer. “Hold your positions, you cowards!” Captain Knox’s steel-edged voice brooked no argument, even as supernatural horror unfolded before them.

Skylar sensed the newer recruits watching her, their gazes a palpable weight. She could almost taste their fear, their awe, their revulsion. They must have heard the stories, of course—whispered tales of the Anathemark’s curse. But to see it manifested before them, to witness their stoic leader giving birth to something decidedly not human… it was beyond comprehension.

Her pain crescendoed, reaching a fever pitch that threatened to shatter her very being. An eternity passed in minutes. Just when Skylar thought she could endure no more, she felt the Gryphon’s beak pressing against her back from the inside. With a final, agonized scream, the Divine Beast burst forth in a cloud of dark fog and steam.

The world exploded into chaos. The ground beneath her trembled, the very earth seeming to recoil from the unholy birth. The air grew thick with the stench of brimstone and the scent of magic older than time itself.

The Gryphon materialized beside her, its form coalescing and growing rapidly. Within seconds, it stood twice as tall as her warhorse—a creature of impossible beauty and unimaginable horror. Its body was that of a lion, powerful and sleek, covered in golden fur that shimmered with an otherworldly light. Massive eagle’s wings stretched from its back, each feather edged in silver. Its head was that of an eagle, fierce and proud, with eyes that burned like molten gold. A wickedly curved beak completed the nightmarish visage.

The beast’s presence was overwhelming, a force of nature made flesh. The air around it shimmered with heat, distortingthe very fabric of reality. Each breath it took was a gale, stirring up dust and debris in small whirlwinds.

As the fog dissipated, Skylar slumped forward, gulping for air. Her clothes and skin remained unmarred, as if nothing had happened. But the echoes of pain still reverberated through every fiber of her being. Her perception shifted, her awareness expanding. She could feel the Gryphon’s presence in her mind, its thoughts bleeding into her own, blurring the line between human and beast.

“The Duke’s eyes are… golden?” A soldier’s whisper reached her ears, barely audible over the pounding of her own heart.

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