Monsters and Maidens

Barry looked at the Hound with apprehension. She was tied to the tree, wire dug into the maiden’s wrists and throat, dark fur coating her hands and feet, claws at the ends of both, her face still had traces of the white paint Veronica had sprayed her with.

The woman, maiden, creature, monster, she slept. For the first time since she’d been tied up, apparently. Barry suspected it wouldn’t take too long before she’d wake again either.

The monster had insane amounts of endurance, healed fast, and barely slept at all. There was no one thing about her capabilities that weren’t equally frightening and fascinating. To Barry, she was nothing short than a nightmare made flesh, just ready to break free at any second to lunge at his throat.

She’d tried several times already.

Barry’s eyes took a long moment to take in the sleeping face, almost peaceful if not for the half-snarl. Its presence was a constant reminder of how, even if the rest of her might hold some degree of allure, she was all too dangerous.

Perhaps that was part of the allure, he figured, a morbid fascination that lingered at the edges of his thoughts.

“Are you going to wait all day?”

The voice reminded Barry he couldn’t just run away from this particular nightmare or stall indefinitely. There was something bigger and more dangerous waiting for him to give up. This other threat was a monster that pretended to be an angel, with wings on her back and a glowing sword.

Holding back from showing his nervousness any more than he already was, Barry scooted closer to the slumbering monster. Legs crossed, he held in his hands some torn up pieces of meat and fruit. The human dared not ask where the meat came from, he’d seen wild hogs at some point, he hoped it was from those. But the fact that he was hesitating was all too telling. The monster’s nose twitched, ears perking. Barry froze as he watched those golden eyes regain consciousness. There was a fraction of a second as she met his gaze and nothing happened. For that singular beautiful instant, he almost believed she would take the offered food.

The next moment he’d squealed, pulling his hand away as her fangs chomped down on the empty air almost close enough to bite where his hand had originally been at. Her snarl was mixed with the sound of raucous laughter that burst from behind Barry. The human turned around to glare at the blond monster as she held her sides, laughing as if all of this was some hilarious joke. Perhaps it was exactly that to her, nothing more than amusement before she grew bored and killed him.

There was little doubt of exactly who was responsible for Barry not getting run through a sword, and that person currently was not present.

“Try that again.”

The command made Barry flinch. The young man looking down at the food he’d been holding earlier that had smeared across his grip. What was left of the offering was now mostly paste and crumbs that coated his palm in a fruity smell of overcooked meat. The human could only grimace at this.

“We have trouble.”

The words interrupted the glare Pan had been shooting at the human, the winged maiden turning towards the tree-line as Kajou broke through. The dark skinned woman panted, clearly having been running for no small amount of time.

“What trouble?”

“The rush is changing direction.”

“Fuck.” Pan frowned at this declaration. “Are you sure this isn’t some splinter?”

“It might be, seems too large. I’m not the one that can fly and check.”

Pan didn’t wait a single second, spreading her wings wide and leaping into the air. She beat her wings with power, light glowing out of every feather. She rose sharp and fast, quickly climbing over the treetops. Barry could only sigh in relief as she vanished from view. His eyes turned towards the brunette as she was quickly checking over the items throughout the camp. “What is a ‘rush’?”

“Ferals get displaced or spooked, run off. They displace or spook more ferals. Some rushes are just mass migrations, but if things go bad, it can snowball into a sort of stampede.” She said. “The storm must have caused something up at the mountain, so ferals had started migrating down our side of the river. It might turn into a rush thanks to whatever’s caused them to change course.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t care enough to risk and check.” Came the brusque reply. She was packing up the camp at lightning speed, shoving everything she could into the backpacks. “We need to start moving, get ahead, reach the Court. We’ll be safer there.”

“How much time do we have?”

Kajou paused, elbow deep in the cloth bag that she used as a backpack. Her eyes lingered on him, moving towards the snarling Hound and then back at Barry. “Not enough.”

“What do you…?”

“Barry, I’m sorry, but we can’t waste time dragging an uncooperative feral.” The young woman said, shaking her head. “We can find another feral later, right now the important thing is to get moving and put some distance. We can’t waste time.”

The human froze, looking at the creature that was tied with wires against the tree. The naked woman with bared fangs and pursed lips. There were no bleeding wounds, only scars of past injuries. Barry’s jaw trembled, looking onto the prisoner as his mind connected the dots. They’d leave her here, tied up. It would be a death sentence.

“I don’t-.”

“Kaj!”

The voice snapped both of their attention upwards, Pan was descending, fast. The not-angel was at a steep dive, straight towards the forest floor, clearly having very little regard of the possibility of what might happen if she were to crash against the floor. And for good reason, Pan’s wings snapped open instants before she made contact with the ground, turning the vertical descent into a horizontal flight path straight towards the nearest tree. A sharp turn avoided collision yet again, she flapped, killing her speed and touching down.

The woman wore a nervous expression, the first Barry had seen upon her angelic features.

“It’s a rush, it’s coming. Probably some territorial feral got aggressive. It spooked them.”

Kajou flinched. “Shit. How far?”

“A day. There're some nasties mixed in.”

“Blood frenzy?”

“Not yet.”

“A blood wh-.”

Barry’s words died in his throat, Pan’s nervousness had snapped into anger as she turned to look his way. The seething heat within those blue eyes was enough to make his mouth snap shut.

“We’re dropping the human.”

The sister stepped forward, arms wide. “Pan, no!”

“I am not playing games here. The human slows us down. The rush might catch us.”

“I’ll carry him.”

That snapped the angel’s attention, eyes narrowed dangerously. Her blade began to shine in her grip. “Don’t make me beat you up and drag your body to safety, sis. The human is not worth this.”

The dark haired woman stepped forward, hands glowing. “You’re making a grave mistake. He could change things for the Coven, for maidens everywhere!”

“You trust this weakling?”

“I trust the Elder.” Came the harsh response.

“Myths of old deluded women and a world that never existed.” Pan raised her sword. “We don’t have the time for this. Step aside.”

As if to punctuate the proclamation, a shrill scream broke the silence. It came from the forest, echoing through the trees and drowning out into the distance. That singular sound came with a shift in the direction of the wind. A cold chill ran up Barry’s spine as he saw the tied up Hound go very very quiet.

The feral’s eyes widened like saucers, nose twitching as she breathed in something that lingered in the wind. Her ears were standing stiff and aimed straight towards the darkness through the forest. Very suddenly she started to struggle harshly against the wires that were holding her against the tree. Choking whines escaped her, thrashing and fighting against the metal string, bleeding as it bit into the flesh of her wrists and not seeming to mind one iota.

Barry’s mind raced, breath stuck in his throat. Seeing the woman so desperately fighting for her life…

His feet moved before his brain could catch up, he rushed to the side of the tree, feeling the woman as she kicked and struggled. Feeling half blind from the lack of detail, the young human still reached out for the wires that were holding the feral in place. Someone complained behind him, the sound of metal rung loudly.

The young human froze as he noticed the feral looking into his eyes. She’d gone completely still, ears flat against her skull and the barest hint of a frown. His fingers kept fighting against the metal string, feeling himself rooted in place. She was close enough she could rip his throat out, close enough he could smell the musky earth of her fur, close enough he could see the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest from her breathing.

SNAP

The metal knot had become undone, loosened and broken by the strength of the creature. The feral wasted no time to stand, finally free of the device. She loomed over the crouched Barry, claws wide and ready. Her gold eyes stared into his and did not break away, now wide in surprise.

“He let her loose!”

The words caused the feral to look away, the instant she had, her body had melted into the shadows. And just in time to avoid the sword that Pan had come swinging. The blond woman’s face was contorted into confusion and anger, staring at Barry with a scowl. Another expression that was a first for him to see upon her face.

Behind her, Kajou had a look of determination, moving in to stand between the angel and Barry, arms wide. “You saw it. She didn’t attack him.”

“A fluke.”

“I don’t care. I’m putting my bets on him Kajou.” The woman stated flatly. “And if you don’t like it, then cut me down.”

Hesitation, a growl that was interrupted by another shrill scream, this time the noise accompanied by several more. Pan shook her head, pointing at Barry with her index. “If he slows us down, we’re dropping him to get eaten by the ferals.”

There was a collective sigh of relief from the other two.