The Beast and The Brain.

I woke up with a scream. I firing sting erupted from my thigh. I almost rolled out of the tree, before I caught myself. I stuffed my hand into my mouth and bit down hard to stop myself from yelling again. I rolled to my back and sat up. There was a green snake right next to my leg and in a panic I kicked it. It tried to bite me, but its fangs caught the thick leather of my boot and I flung it over the side. It landed on the ground below.

My scream had alerted the patrols, because they were running and looking around the houses below for the source of the noise. I laid down on my back and continued to bite my hand and hold back the scream that continued to try to force its way up my throat. The firing pain continued to spread up my leg and the pain was nearly unbearable.

I wanted to rip my pants off but I didn’t want to risk being seen. But God must have felt like being merciful because a dog found the snake before the patrol did and started barking. It growled and barked until the patrol came to it. I didn’t even have to strengthen my hearing to hear what was happening. The dog yelped suddenly like he had been bitten then started barking again and the men saw the source. “It’s just a snake, damn it I thought something was actually happening.”

“Shit, chop that bastards head off, if you get bit by that thing you won’t last through the night.” I heard the sound of steel and a soft thud.

“The dog’s been bitten too sir."

“Kill it, it won’t live anyway.” There was a short yelp again then nothing.

“Everyone back to your posts it was a false alarm. Darren, you go to David and let him know it was just a snake and a damn dog. Leah, you get rid of these animals. And take them far enough out where we won’t be smelling them.” Everyone murmured their understanding and soon everything was back to being quiet and normal.

I waited to make sure everything was settled before I sat up. I pulled off my boots and slid my pants down. The entire time I bit my tongue, I couldn’t yell out again, I got lucky with the dog the first time. I peeled my pants down to get a look at the snake bite, and when I spotted it a great sense of despair overcame me. I was going to die.

Even one of the men below said that someone wouldn’t last the night if bitten. I couldn’t die. Not now. Not before I had a chance to save J….I couldn’t. The thought of J being trapped here for the rest of her life was like a knife to my gut. I looked down at the two red puffy fang marks on my leg. The skin was already turning black from the venom. “J.” I whispered. “I’m so sorry…” I pulled my pants up and put my boots back on. I had to think, as a dragon I was affected less by things that would normally cause me harm, like the Gryphon’s tainted talons and uncooked meat. Maybe as a dragon I could fight this poison as well. I turned because I didn’t have any other answers. I didn’t have the strength to turn very big, so I tucked my wings around me and focused on staying awake. The fire continued to spread through my body.

Please.

Please let me live long enough to help J.

Please….ple-

~ ~ ~ ~

“Asher!”

I jerked awake and moaned involuntarily. I was drying. I could feel it in my boned and in the slowing beating of my heart. It was like a leech had attached itself to my soul. My mouth was paper dry so I reached for the canteen and realized that I was human again.

My heart picked up slightly as I cursed under my breath. No, no, no, no, no! I wasn’t supposed to be human. If I was human that means I passed out which means that I hadn’t even been able to hold onto my Beast form. I chugged all of the water, hoping maybe it might help. “Asher!” I froze.

Someone was calling my name with an anxious whisper from below. The voice seemed familiar, not J’s, but familiar. I peeked my head over the side, “Who’s there?” I whispered down, hoping my voice was loud enough to hear but not too loud. She threw her hood back and for a moment I didn’t recognize her…until I saw the scar running down her face. “Grace.” My heart wrenched at seeing her.

“Hi.” She looked around to make sure no one was watching or listening. “You’re hurt.” She stated plainly, “Now get down here before someone comes.” She threw her hood back on and slipped into the shadow of the house. I pushed myself to my hands and knees and gritted past the pain. I turned and dove to the ground, opening my wings at the last possible moment to make the impact less jarring.

I turned back immediately and stumbled to my knees. “Whoa there…” Grace came and helped me to my feet. She put my arm over her shoulders and took most of my weight. My leg felt like it was lying in a pit of fire. “Come on.” She started walking, trying to keep to the shadows as much as possible. “Where…” I could hardly speak, my tongue felt swollen and sloppy.

“My place…where I can heal you…and keep you safe…” she said between breaths. My mind reeled with a hundred questions, but I got the feeling that both of us weren’t in the best position to talk. So I opted for asking her later…assuming I lived. But Grace was a healer, so I was filled with a new sense of hope. “Almost there.” She said breathing deeply, I just nodded once very slowly even though she wasn’t looking at me.

We stumbled up the steps of a small house situated away from the others and between two trees. It gave the illusion of being secluded. Grace pushed the sliding door aside and together we stepped into the darkness. She led me to another room towards the back and laid me down on a thin mattress on the floor. I collapsed with a moan and she went to pulling off my boots.

“You’re covered in mud…I’m going to have to clean this before the sun comes up.” I meant to apologize but the words wouldn’t form. She pulled a blanket up to my shoulders which confused me, because I was burning up. But then she pulled my pants off and had I been in any other condition I would have resisted.

And Grace as if reading my thoughts said, “Just don’t think about it Asher. You’re not the first man I‘ve had to work on, and you won’t be the last either. I’m a Healer, so this is my duty.” She talked in a low soothing voice, and I couldn’t help but be a little reassured. This was Grace; she would take care of me.

She pressed her hand against my thigh and squeezed against the snake bite and I moaned, trying to keep the scream back. “Hurts…”

She nodded, “I know, but I need to make sure the wound is open so the poison can be dawn out. Bite down on this and try not to make too much noise or this will have been for nothing.” She gave me a roll of cloth and I stuffed it into my mouth as she squeezed the wound again and again from different angles.

Finally she stopped and I spit out the cloth, I was covered in sweat which mixed with the mud and got into my eyes and stung. She noticed my gashed, “Dear Lord Asher, what on earth have you gotten yourself into? These look like…oh…” She looked me in the eye, “So you did fight the Gryphon then? And the other two?” I nodded and gave me a half smile, “I thought I felt you a couple of days ago…but then it passed…” She shook her head, “First things first, let’s get this venom out of you shall we?” She took a shallow bowl and placed it beneath my leg where the bite was. Then she placed her hands on my thigh again. It wasn’t exactly as I remembered, instead of feeling like I was sitting under the sun on a summer day, only my leg felt warm, and the throbbing and burning seized. There was still a slight glow from her hands, but it wasn’t consuming me. I didn’t have the guts to watch so I just stared at the ceiling until it was over.

Grace took the bowl from under my leg and showed it to me. There was some blood mixed with a clear liquid which I assumed was the venom. “That’s it?” I asked and she nodded.

“That’s it.” She dumped it outside and came back. “I need to clean the mud off the steps and porch before the sun rises. If anyone sees it they will be suspicious. Get some sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow.” She put a think pillow under my head and ran her hand through my mud chunked hair and smiled, “It’s good to see you again Asher.” She kissed my forehead then wiper her lips from the mud and left me to sleep.