Page 16 of The Howling
From what little I have gleaned in my time here, male Faerie take it upon themselves to procreate with as many humans as they can, regardless of whether they have taken a partner themselves. It is accepted and expected.
And the way Guyzance is looking at me right now…it suggests I am no longer going to be exempt from his desires.
Even here, in this dank dungeon, if he wants his wicked way, he will get it.
I back up to the door. It swings shut with a bang.
“Now, little creature,” he croons, “lift up your skirts for your lord.”
“I’m…er…rotten down there.” I attempt to edge away down the wall, wondering if the drain grating is large enough for me to get through. “You don’t want me.”
“I get the taste of every human female I own, and I can tell you’re going to be deliciously rebellious,” he growls.
“I’m not rebellious, I’m really not. I’m boring, a non-entity. Flavourless.” A mop propped in a bucket clatters to the floor as I dislodge it.
“I doubt that. You’ve been hiding your light all this time, little human, and I’m going to take you right here.” He takes a step towards me.
I grab a broom. It goes flying out of my hands.
“I prefer the ones who fight me, and you are going to fight me, aren’t you?”
I don’t have to debate the situation. While passive might mean he enjoys what he’s going to do less, I can’t live with myself if I don’t try to escape this.
I will not be the vessel for another Faerie human hybrid. I will not let it end this way. I grip at the heavy metal grating covering the drain. The hole might just be big enough I can get through. With all the effort I have in my body, I pull at it, managing to lift the thing a whole inch before it falls back into place.
“Ah-ah!” Lord Guyzance grabs me around my throat and lifts. “This is my castle, my fortress, my dungeons. No matterwhere you go, I will find you, escapee.” With a flick of his wrist, he sends me in the same direction as the broom.
I’m weightless as I tumble through the air, impacting the stone wall with a crack which sends stars spiralling around my head and pain flooding my body as I slump to the floor among broken buckets and shattered mops.
Through my daze, I see Guyzance advancing on me. His usually pretty features are demon-like, as is the true nature of the Faerie. I cannot get away. He is not going to let me and my fate is sealed.
The sound, when it hits me, is like an explosion. The door to the storeroom shatters into a billion matchsticks as something huge, something terrifying bursts through. Ethereal flame licks over its flesh.
“Guyzance.” It’s a word and a threat all in one.
The Faerie turns away from me, his clothing turning from white to black, claws unfurling from his fingers and horns rising out of his head.
“I told you I’d find your pressure point, Barghest,” he growls.
“And I told you your demise would be painful,” the burning creature says. “And I always do what I say.”
The second he leaps for the Faerie, I’m shoved back against the wall by a clap of magic, my head hitting the stone and my consciousness deserting me.
WYNTER
All of me hurts. All of me is being flung around like I’m a sailing boat in a storm. I rise into consciousness thrashing out at everything before the pain is too much and I go limp with a groan.
It’s then it hits me. I am no longer in the dungeon. The darkness surrounding me isn’t the dank stone with dim lighting. It’s the night.
Lord Guyzance’s castle is no more. I’m clutched in the iron grip of Reavely, who holds me to his chest, as we cover ground at an incredible pace.
“Wait! Stop!” I do my best to make my voice loud, but instead I squeak.
“Can’t stop.” Reavely’s words seem to rumble through his chest to me rather than reaching my ears.
“Stop!” I squirm as hard as the pain in my body will let me, arching my back and releasing a scream I seem to have dragged up from hell itself.
Reavely stops. He puts me on the ground and takes a step back. He is huge, hairy, with a long muzzle and jaws filled with teeth. As I stare up at him from the bed of heather, heshrinks some, and his face becomes more humanoid. The teeth, however, remain as sharp and pointed as ever.
