Page 117 of The Musician and the Monster

She stepped over the corpse of the king. Claws clicked on the wood as she neared. A whimpering groan slipped out of its mouth as it sniffed the air.

“Ceridwen, step back. You can’t—”

“Don’t move yet, you idiot,” Bronwyn reprimanded Malik somewhere behind her.

“To test the hearts of man, she gifted darkness too,” Ceridwen continued to sing.

Drystan sat on his haunches, a massive wolflike monster whose head was almost as high as hers, though it sat. She reached out her hand as she sang, leaving it to hover between them just a few inches from his snout. The dark tongue flicked out, licking her fingers.

No biting. No clawing.

“A temptation one can only resist if they stay true.”

Her whole arm shook as she stepped closer, running her hands along his head over coarse, dark hair. He rubbed against her arm.

One false move, and he could bite her in two. Despite the risk, she slunk closer until she wrapped her arms around his bloodied fur and stained leathery skin.

“To balance the two, magicless humans remained.”

His body shook. A sharp whine, like an injured animal, split in the air.

“Drystan,” she whispered before the next line. “Their gray the counterpoint to the magic strain.”

Limbs shivered in her grip, giving her voice a harsh warble. Bone twisted and shifted. Fur receded. His skin changed.

“I love you. Please come back to us.”

Tears leaked down her face, dripping onto the monster slipping back into the form of a man.

“Ceridwen,” he gasped.

She smoothed her palm along his face, now more human than beast.

“I’m here. Right here.”

Weak human arms slid around Ceridwen’s body as Drystan collapsed on top of her, no longer able to maintain his strength in human form. She took his weight, sliding to the floor with him in an embrace of body and soul. Her heart stuttered as she took in the blood marring his bare skin and the wounds that covered him.

Alive, but—

“I love you,” he whispered, barely conscious.

“Hold on, Drystan. You did it. You’ll be okay.” Tears blurred her vision again. The damage to his body undid her where nothing else had.

Malik limped into view at her side, Bronwyn supporting him. In his hand, he held a glittering golden hoop. Ceridwen sniffled and wiped at her tears.

He held a crown.Thecrown.

Malik placed the object on Drystan’s head and dropped to one knee. Bronwyn followed.

“All hail King Tristram Ithael, the king who banished darkness once again,” he proclaimed.

The men in the yard echoed him. “All hail King Tristram Ithael.”

Chapter 53

Ceridwen

In the days that followed, Drystan managed to mostly recover with the aid of light magic and skilled medical treatment. He still walked with a slight limp—he always might—but he’d lived.

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