WebNovels

Chapter 6 - Chapter 6

The marsh was silent when they left the Circle of Thorns, but it was not a peaceful silence. It was the hush before a storm—the kind that prickled against Liora's skin and made the air taste of iron.

Corren led the way, lantern held low. The mist curled close around them, heavier now, thick with something that felt alive. Liora stayed close, hand tight around the charm in her pocket. The runes she'd touched at the altar still glimmered faintly under her skin, as if they had marked her.

"Don't speak," Corren whispered. "Not until we're clear."

They moved quickly through the reeds, following the hidden stones back toward the village. The wind picked up, stirring the marsh into uneasy motion. Somewhere behind them, far off but not far enough, came the sound of a distant growl.

Liora stiffened. "It's following us."

Corren didn't look back. "It won't let us leave without reminding us who rules these waters."

The growl came again, closer this time. Water splashed somewhere to their left. Liora's heart hammered. The fog made it impossible to see more than a few paces ahead. Every ripple could hide claws. Every shadow could be eyes.

They reached the tree line just as the first scream echoed from the village.

Liora froze. "That was—"

"I know," Corren hissed. "Move!"

They broke into a run. Lantern light swayed wildly, throwing jagged shadows through the trees. When they emerged from the marsh, the sight that greeted them turned Liora's blood cold.

The village was in chaos. Torches flared, dogs barked, and people screamed as a hulking shadow tore through the main street. Roof tiles shattered beneath massive claws. A cart splintered like kindling. Chickens scattered into the night as the Beast lunged from house to house—not hunting for food, but furious.

Its eyes gleamed like molten gold through the mist. It roared, and the sound rolled over the rooftops like thunder.

"They followed us," Liora whispered.

Corren's jaw tightened. "No. It was waiting."

Maren / The Beast

The Circle's voice still throbbed in her mind. The runes had awakened, stirring old memories like embers beneath ash. She had felt the girl's touch—the healer's blood, the soft defiance. For a heartbeat, she had remembered her own face.

And then the Circle had closed again, chains tightening. Pain had ripped through her soul. Rage followed.

She emerged from the marsh not as woman nor as human, but as the shape they had forced upon her centuries ago: sinew and shadow, claw and howl. She smelled them—the girl and the guardian—and beneath that, the village. The same bloodlines that had betrayed her.

Tonight, they would remember.

Liora didn't have time to think. A villager—a young man she recognized from the mill—was trying to drag a crying child away from the chaos. The Beast appeared above them in a blur of movement.

Liora shouted without meaning to, "Run!"

The Beast's head snapped toward her. For a split second, those golden eyes focused not on the man or the child, but on her. Recognition. Bond. Fury.

Corren shoved a rune-marked staff into her hand. "Hold the northern square," they ordered. "I'll draw it back toward the well."

"What—"

"No questions! Go!"

Corren sprinted toward the center of the village, runes blazing along their staff. The Beast roared and followed, smashing through a fence. Liora ran the other way, heart pounding so hard she could taste blood.

The northern square was a wide, open space surrounded by low stone walls. Villagers huddled behind barrels and wagons, clutching pitchforks and knives that looked pitifully small. Liora raised the staff the way Corren had shown her—high, then grounded with a sharp strike. Blue light burst outward, forming a shimmering ward around the square.

The Beast slammed into it moments later.

The impact nearly knocked Liora off her feet. The barrier held, but only just. The creature clawed at the invisible wall, its massive shoulders heaving, jaws snapping. Its eyes locked onto hers through the blue light.

Help me, whispered Maren's voice inside her skull.

Or burn with them, hissed the Beast's.

Liora gritted her teeth. "I won't let you win," she whispered.

Maren / The Beast

The barrier burned. She could feel it pressing against her skin, forcing her back toward the edge of the square. Her claws scraped at it, not from mindless rage, but because it was familiar. The same wards. The same runes. The same prison.

But now, she was not alone inside it. The girl was there, shining like a beacon through the cracks. Maren wanted to reach her. The Beast wanted to break her.

For a heartbeat, they were both winning.

Corren's voice cut through the chaos. "Liora! Now!"

Liora saw them at the well, slamming their staff into the cobblestones. The runes etched in the ground—old village protections—flared to life for the first time in decades. Light surged down the street, joining the barrier she held.

The Beast recoiled as the runes encircled it. It threw its head back and roared so loudly that the air itself seemed to tremble. Windows shattered. Horses broke free from their tethers, bolting into the dark.

Liora felt the staff pulse in her hands. Her vision blurred. The bond between her and Maren flared like fire. She wasn't just seeing the Beast anymore. She was inside its rage, its grief, its centuries of pain.

She saw villagers holding torches. She smelled rain. She felt ropes biting into her wrists.

For a terrifying moment, she didn't know if she was Liora anymore—or Maren.

Then Corren's voice snapped her back. "Hold the line, healer!"

Liora screamed, driving the staff into the earth. The runes brightened, searing against the fog. The Beast staggered backward, caught between the resurrected village wards and the bond tying it to her.

Maren / The Beast

The light hurt. Not in the way fire burned flesh, but deeper. It seared memory. It clawed at the bindings around her soul.

She wanted to run. She wanted to destroy. She wanted to be seen.

The girl was standing there, hands shaking, but she did not flee. Her eyes were fixed on Maren, not the Beast.

And for a fraction of a second, the Beast faltered.

With a roar that sounded more like anguish than fury, the creature turned and bolted toward the marsh, crashing through wagons and scattering villagers in its wake. Within seconds, it vanished into the fog.

The village was silent again—broken only by the sound of distant rain and the cries of frightened children.

Liora collapsed to her knees, chest heaving. The staff's light dimmed slowly. Her hands were raw from gripping it.

Corren approached, face grim but eyes alive. "You held it," they said quietly. "Most would have run. You held it."

Liora looked at the ruined street, the shattered fences, the terrified faces. "I didn't stop it," she whispered. "I only made it leave."

"For tonight," Corren said. "That's enough. But it will come again. You've touched something in her no one has touched in centuries. And that terrifies her as much as it enrages her."

Liora stared into the mist. She could still feel Maren inside her mind—distant but not gone. Watching. Waiting.

She knew the Beast's return had changed everything. The curse was no longer something distant in the marsh. It had stepped into the heart of the village. And next time, it might not leave.

More Chapters