Beast Below

I sent Freya off to take a cleansing bath, needing a bit of time to myself, to think and just get the ceremony ready. It had been a long three years. It had crept by, night by night. The time flew by, however. I was exhausting every single resource I had, every book Leanza or I owned, and even myself. My attempts weren’t enough. I wasn’t a strong enough warlock to try any major spells, not without potentially harming her. I know that she hates this monster that I created, but I’m not sure if trying to change her back is worth the danger of being, say, almost split in half. A half life is better than no life, that I am 100 percent sure about.

I don’t want to be the reason Freya dies.

Then again, I also had never wanted to be the reason she was here. That obviously didn’t work out very well. I still hadn’t told her exactly what had happened that night, that it was my drawing, my nightmare that Leanza had used as a basis for Freya’s real, living nightmare. How could I though? How do you look into the eyes of a beautiful girl and say, “Hey, you know that creature you painfully turn into every sunrise? That horrible beast thing? Yeah, I had a dream about it one night and my mentor took that beast and turned you into it. Want a cookie?” For some reason, I don’t think that would go over well.

I reached the protected clearing where I would be calling upon the Ancients, without tripping over myself! It was a first, to be honest. I have a hard time telling where my limbs are in proportion to the rest of my body. My friends used to refer to me as “the baby giraffe.”

I pulled things out of my bag and began drawing circles, humming underneath my breath as I worked, consulting my book every now and then. I’d never done anything like this. I was scared. What if the Ancients were angry with me for this? I shook off the thought and continued, looking for Freya every few minutes. It had been well over an hour and I was starting to worry. Then my worry turned to impatience. I had never really been the most patient of people.

Finally, well after I was finished, Freya emerged quickly from the darkened forest, cloaked in the white ceremonial robe I’d left her with. She looked gorgeous, even panting and out of her breath, with her blonde hair braided down over one shoulder of the robe that fell all the way down to her feet.

“I thought I said about an hour, not over an hour and a half!”

Her breath finally slowed to normal, her eyes narrowing to a glare. She really was stunning, the moonlight glinting off the top of her hair. She looked towards the circle, tracing each carefully drawn line

“Ready?” she asked and then moved to her spot. I nodded and began. I grabbed my book from the ground where I’d left it and took a slow, deep breath. I prepared myself to start reading off the incantation from the page in Leanza’s spell book. If she knew I had this, she’d probably kill me in every single way she knew possible, with her bare hands and every last tortuous spell and curse she has in her arsenal. She’s one of the oldest creatures on the Earth, so she has a very large arsenal.

Clearing my mind of all thoughts except what I was about to do, I began.

“I call to the Lord and Lady fair
I summon to us the Element of Air
I stir the Ancients with knowledge of old
Be here this night our spirits you hold

Lord and Lady protect us, keep us from harm
Air empower us with communication and charm
Ancient Ones give us knowledge that lasts
Provide us this in the circle that’s cast,” I faced the East and traced the rune for the element Air in front of me. It glowed brightly for a few seconds, then vanished. A warm gust of air answered my call. I smiled. It was working so far.

“I call the Lord and Lady with loving desire
I summon to me the Element of Fire
I stir the Ancients, the old ones, the wise
To comfort our fears, our yearnings, our cries.

Lord and Lady protect us with your strength of healing
Fire empower us with passionate feeling
Ancient Ones give us understandings that last
Provide us this in circle that’s cast,” I faced the South and drew the rune for Fire. It flared in the dark night. The flames from the candles around the circle flared higher, answering my call as the rune disappeared in the night.

“I call the Lord and Lady to hear your sons and daughters
I summon to me the Element of Water
I stir the Ancients with truth from the past
Be here this night in the circle that’s cast.

Lord and Lady protect us, keep us close to your side
Water empower us with emotions of pride
Ancients Ones give us patience that lasts
Be here this night in the circle that’s cast.” Facing the West, I drew the rune for Water. Rain, warm and gentle began to fall around us. I looked at Freya, who was smiling wonderingly at the skies above us. I concentrated on the ritual again.

“I call the Lord and Lady who gave us birth
I summon to me the Element of Earth
I stir the Ancients to be here this night
To travel upon their spiritual light.

Lord and Lady protect us, surround us with love
Earth empower us as below so above
Ancient Ones give us wisdom that lasts
Provide us this in the circle that’s cast.” Facing North, I drew the last rune for Earth. The cast burned brightly and the ground shook around us, answering my last call.

We waited, only for a moment, before a blinding flash pierced our vision. I threw up a hand over my face to protect my eyes. The flash left just as quickly as it came, leaving us in the dark, only the moon overhead and the fire flickering to give us light.

I looked to Freya, who stood just as still as she had before in the center, the long robe covering straight to her feet. She looked at me and then down at herself.

“Do you feel any different?”

I’m not sure how she was supposed to feel, but I’m assuming that being cursed would definitely feel better after the curse was lifted. This is my assumption, having never been cursed myself.

“No. Am I supposed to?”

“Hell if I know.”

She groaned and walked towards me, out of the circle.

“We’ll just have to wait ‘til sunrise, I guess,” she said and flopped onto the ground beside my feet. I joined her moments later, gently laying the spell book on the grass, shutting it gingerly. I made a mental note to return it to Leanza’s cottage as soon as I could.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. I hadn’t even been aware that I was sorry. My brain needs to keep control of my mouth.

“What for?”

“In case this doesn’t work,” I said softly.

“Oh, Ben,” she mumbled, leaning against me. We’d gotten quite familiar over the years that had passed. I now knew that before she’d come into my life, she was an artist, who basically loved life and had enjoyed her life in her small town. She had had one boyfriend prior to her transformation. She had told me very few details about him, just that his name was Hunter, and he hadn’t been the best of boyfriends. In fact, I believe her exact words were “Hunter was a godless douche nugget and I don’t want to talk about it.”

I hadn’t told her much about myself in return though. I was afraid to. How can you tell the girl that you’re practically in love with that you’re a warlock whose powers are beyond your control and that someday soon, one of these chance spells might kill you both?

“So, Bennett, I’ve been wondering, and it’s perfectly alright if you don’t want to tell me, but I was wondering how you came to live with the wicked witch of the west. How does a nice guy like you end up with a demon like that?”

“First of all, she’s not a demon.”

“If you say so, Benny.”

I shook my head.

“So?” she asked, nudging me in the side with her elbow.

“Alright. Well. I was 16, and my powers were finally starting to come in all the way. They’d started when I was about 12, and had been growing slowly since.”

“Like, magical puberty,” she supplied.

“I suppose, yeah. But at 16, that’s when they started, like full force. I couldn’t control them anymore. I’d sneeze and set fire to my homework. I once had a nightmare that almost caused my entire house to turn to an igloo. I was scared of myself. I was scared that I was going to hurt someone. But, more than that, I was sick of hiding. I still am. Why should I have to hide because other people are scared of a little magic? I wanted to find some place I could just be me. I found that after I left. I had to leave. My friends were starting to notice. And I might’ve been a nerd back then. I still am, mind you, but back then, being a nerd actually mattered to people. I was pretty popular though, for being a nerd. I left, because I didn’t want them to know just yet. I ran away and hid myself away in the woods. That’s where Leanza found me. She found me sleeping in a tree. Somehow she knew what I was and wanted to help me. Except, she scared me and I sent her flying backwards through a couple tree trunks.”

“Go baby Bennett.”

“She then took me under her wing, showing me the ropes. She taught me how to reign in my powers when I’m not using them, although I’m rather bad at it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Whenever I’m sleeping, my control goes right out the window. That’s why Leanza makes me wear this,” I said, showing her the silver band that’s a permanent fixture on my right ring finger.

“What does it do?” Freya asked, touching the cool metal.

“It dampens my powers. Anything that I do has to go through the ring.”

“Maybe that’s why the spells haven’t work. You can’t fully access your powers!”

“Freya, it’s not a good idea. Trust me. I’ve lived without this ring, I’ve done spells without it. It doesn’t end up well. I don’t have control. I could hurt you.”

“What’s worse than what I’m already living through?”

“You dying for starters!”

“I’d rather be dead!”

I could feel my jaw falling and my heart stopping momentarily. I knew the transformation was painful. I could see it in her face whenever she went through it. It was agonizing. But would death truly be better?

“Please, Bennett. We’ve tried everything,” she pleaded. I looked at the ring, then back at her. I couldn’t imagine what it would do to her. But that look in her eyes, that desperate plea for me to help her, for me to at least try, was heartbreaking. I had to try, for her.

“Fine,” I said, sliding the ring off my finger for the first time since Leanza had forged it. It was my safety blanket. My finger felt naked, and wrong without it. But for Freya, I’d do anything.

I put the ring in my pocket and stood up. I cracked my back and paced around. I turned to the spellbook and flicked it open to the first spell I’d ever tried. I knew it by heart.

“Stand up,” I said to her. She did as I asked, just as she always had.

“Bennett,” her soft voice mumbled. I looked up. “Thank you.”

“Let’s hope this works.”

I focused all of my energy on Freya, thinking of her in fully human form and then began.

“Formare mutari,
spiritus reversus,
tolle hoc incantatores perperam maledictus.”

I chanted it over and over, feeling the raw power building up as it began to turn into a ball in my stomach. I could feel it directing itself out of my body and towards Freya, as I prayed that this would work. Even if it didn’t work, I prayed that it would harm her. I was shouting by the end, the words leaving my mouth on their own, rolling off my tongue. All of the power built up inside of me finally sprang free and went flying towards Freya. She stumbled back as it hit her and I collapsed from exhaustion. But something felt wrong.

The night air crackled as Freya cried out and fell to her hands and knees, her face twisting into a mask of pure anguish. I knew that face. That was the face she made right before...

“Freya!” I yelled, trying to push myself to my feet. I was so physically spent though that I stumbled right back into the dirt. I watched helplessly as the transformation took her over. Her fingernails were replaced by talons, her neck grew as her body made the proper adjustments. I dug my fingers into the dirt, cursing to myself. I’d done this. I’d started her transformation early. She reared back and let out an ear splitting cry. She fell onto her front claws and stared at me. There was no recognition in those eyes, only the pure animalistic need to tear into me. I scrambled backwards as she advanced, her moves calculated like a hunters. This side of her, the beast knew exactly how to kill me, and there was no bit of my Freya left to stop it.

She swiped at me as soon as she was in range, catching the front of my hoodie, tearing it into shreds. I moved out from under her, forcing myself to my feet. I started to run, and heard the beast take to the sky in pursuit. She caught me in the back, pushing me into the Earth. I flung myself onto my back so her talons were digging into my stomach. Her fangs bared down at me as I threw up my hands. A burst of light and a flood of warmth left my hands, throwing Freya’s beastly form into a tree. The creature fell to the ground, unconscious. I let out the shakiest breath in my life, picked myself up out of the dirt and walked towards the monster. She was out, a bit of blood trickling down the back of her neck. Freya would have one hell of a headache when she woke up. I glanced down at my torn jacket and shirt, and then at the cuts beneath. I’d live, but I didn’t know if I could live with myself. I pulled myself up into the tree above Freya and situated myself. I fell into a dreamless sleep, the ring humming in my pocket.