Chapter 11: The beast in the forest

Ave was still trying to figure out if what she'd just experienced was a dream or reality as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, something beside her on the forest ground moved. When she looked slowly towards it, her eyes widened in horror and her heart made a sharp turn in her chest before dropping down to her stomach.

Right in front of her, towering above her, was a huge beast!

Its growl sent shivers down Ave's spine, and its eyes glowed like the color of flames. The creature's fur was dark almost blending into the night, but her lamplight which had fallen to the opposite direction when she fell revealed its muscular frame and elongated snout filled with sharp teeth.

It had large clawed paws and stood on hind legs resembling something out of a nightmare.

Ave could hardly believe her eyes as she stared at a creature she'd never seen in all of her life!

She screamed at the top of her lungs and quickly began to back away, dragging her butt on the uneven and unforgiving ground of the forest. To her horror, her scream made the beast even angrier. It pounced over her and roared in her face, so loud Ave thought she'd lose her hearing. Its breath was hot and it had the strong smell of blood.

Ave felt her panic increase as the beast pressed its large paw down on her chest, growling dangerously down at her as if warning her to shut up.

What the hell was this?!

She hadn't come all this way to get eaten by whatever this beast was!

Even though she hated Victoria so much and wanted to ruin her, she couldn't let this huge thing devour her and kill the poor Selene!

She looked up tremblingly at the sharp teeth of the creature. Though it was dark, the lamp that had fallen from her hands was still on the ground, and it allowed her to see the beast's face clearly.

Though she was terrified and on the verge of crying as everything was turning against her, she swallowed the lump in her throat.

She had come out to escape the palace nightmare and ended up plunged in a dream with some crazy shadows telling her things that made no sense, and now she was about to get eaten by a creature she had never seen before.

However, she wouldn't get eaten without at least fighting to survive. At least if she got eaten, it wouldn't be because she was too terrified to fight, but because she was brave enough to face it!

She'd always wondered why people panicked when being attacked by lions when they could simply climb a tree or play dead. Now, face to face with this beast, she realized just how absurd those thoughts had been.

Glaring up at the growling beast, she began to fight under it, hitting and kicking as she screamed, "I didn't come all this way to get eaten, you motherfucking beast! If you eat me, you'll have indigestion and die from poison. Because I am poison to anything that moves! You messed with the wrong person, bitch! I, Aveline, will survive, and I will make it to 2024 and face slap my damn family and Victoria!" she roared and screamed as much as she could.

Even the beast towering over her seemed taken aback and immediately stopped growling and snarling down at her as if it was confused on whatever she was saying.

However, its heavy paw pressed harder on her chest, and it leaned down to sniff her, making Ave immediately stop.

Oh no, this was it; she would get eaten!

Ave shut her eyes, waiting to feel the pain of those jagged teeth, but she felt nothing even after two minutes.

Her eyes snapped back open when she suddenly heard voices on the other part of the forest. The leaves rustled, and from the voices, Ave knew people were hunting down the beast.

"I heard him roar and I heard a scream too. He couldn't have gone far with that poisonous arrow in him," one of the voices said, their tone urgent and filled with determination.

"We were ordered to kill him and take out his heart. We must find him quickly before he gets to the village and starts attacking the innocent people!" another voice added.

That was when she also noticed the beast was bleeding profusely from its chest where an arrow was lodged, and the blood was dripping on her as the beast was caging her to the ground. No wonder it didn't eat her—it was in pain.

Ave looked into the flaming eyes of the beast, and she felt something in her heart flutter. Though it looked dangerous and ready to kill, its eyes made her feel some sort of familiarity and pity.

This was ridiculous!

This was a goddamn beast that had seemed ready to kill her. Why was she feeling pity for it?!

She could scream again and gain the attention of the people looking for it, but something in her couldn't bring herself to do it. Something in her wanted to protect this dangerously beautiful beast.

Ave remained as still as a dead person with the beast still caging her until the voices faded in another direction. Then, as if the beast knew the danger was gone, it slowly moved away from her weakly and was about to turn and leave without eating her, but it fell back down with a weak cry.

Ave quickly moved away from it and grabbed her lamp that was about to extinguish in her trembling hands.

She was preparing to make a run for her life but stopped in her tracks when she heard the slow, painful cry of the beast from behind.

She closed her eyes and scolded herself to run and go back to the palace for now until she figured out a way to get to that inn, but something in her couldn't leave the beast like that. If it had wanted to eat her, it would have, and the fact that it had spared her life made her want to help it.

"I must be insane," Ave muttered to herself, but she couldn't ignore the beast's suffering. Carefully, she approached it, keeping her movements slow and non-threatening.

The beast's eyes followed her, wary and pained. Ave reached out a trembling hand and gently touched the fur around the arrow wound. The beast flinched but didn't attack.

"I don't know why I'm doing this," she whispered, "but I can't just leave you here to die. If you promise not to bite or eat me, I will help you." She said gently as she looked down at the beast's pained eyes.

As much as she wanted to help, she knew injured animals were the most likely to attack if they were harmless, not to mention a beast like this.

The beast simply stared at her without any movement.

"If you agree not to hurt me, turn on your back so I can take a good look at your wound," she said, not expecting the beast to understand her. But when it turned on its back, she almost thought it was about to attack her and was about to run when she stopped in surprise that it understood her!

How could it understand?! Could it be that the creatures in this era don't eat or attack people? If that was the case, then the poor thing must have been hunted because of its size.

People are really cruel; they hunt down innocent creatures and stomp on the weak to feel better about themselves, just like her life in 2024 where she'd been stomped upon many times.

Ave took a deep breath and decided to try to help the creature, even if it meant risking her life. She dropped the lamp close to the beast so she could see the wound closely, and when she saw how deep the arrow went, she felt even more pity for it.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this, Beasty. Can I call you that?" She asked when the beast sharply turned towards her. She smiled, and to distract it as it seemed to understand her, from the pain she was about to cause it when she pulled out the arrow, she caressed its head and wrapped her fingers around the arrow.

"Although you are a huge beast, you are too gentle for your size," she said. And then when the beast snarled at her, she pulled out the arrow in one swift motion, and it roared in her face, startling her.

"I know it hurts, Beasty, but you might want to keep that down before those people come back to hunt you," she whispered softly, looking around. And when she looked back down, the beast was bleeding and looking up at her with what seemed like a glare in its eyes.

Pursing her lips, she scoffed, "So you can glare? Interesting. Let me stop your bleeding," she said as she looked down at the chemise she was wearing that wasn't long enough for her to tear the hem. It only stopped below her knees, and if she were to tear it, it would turn so short her thighs would be showing. Not to mention, the weather was freezing cold with fog escaping her lips with every breath she took, but then if she didn't stop the bleeding, the poor thing might die.

Without hesitation, she ripped at the hem of the chemise, and perhaps she was mistaken, but she heard the beast gasp in shock. And when she glanced at it, the beast was looking away.

Unbelievable! How could a beast behave like a gentleman?!

"Beasty, where I come from, short dresses are not a big deal. You can look," she remarked conversationally as her teeth began to chatter from the cold. "We can step out in panties and bras and call it fashion." The beast turned to look at her as she leaned down to tie the cloth around its wound.

"You must think I'm crazy because I also think I'm slowly becoming insane. No sane person would sit in a forest in an era they don't belong in talking to a scary creature who understands human words." She smiled as she knotted the cloth to stop the bleeding.

"I wish all this could be one big nightmare and that I will wake up the moment I close my eyes. Imagine having a life in 2024 and then, when things were happening the way I've dreamt of, I get plunged into an era I don't belong in and a crazy woman telling me I have to complete a quest to go home." She rambled on her frustration to the beast, who looked at her like she was out of her mind.

And the fact that she believed the beast could hear her made her laugh out loud until she choked on her saliva and began to cough violently and hit her chest.

All the while, the beast tilted its head to the side, studying her curiously.

"My life sucks," she whispered after her cough died down. Then, looking down at the beast, who was still studying her curiously with its head tilted to the side, she wondered out loud, "What are you?"

When Ave shivered from the cold, the beast surprised her by reaching out its hand and using its claw to pull her forward. Her eyes widened in alarm as she thought it wanted to go back on its promise of not harming her.

"Hey, you_" her words died in her throat when it pulled her towards its torso and wrapped a hand around her. Ave was surprised to find its fur soft and warm.

It was trying to give her warmth.

"You are such a gentle creature, Beasty," she said with a yawn escaping her mouth. She leaned her head on it and closed her eyes to rest a bit before she'd find her way back to the palace.

However, she ended up sleeping soundly until the next morning, where she woke up and found herself in Selene's chamber.