Chapter 112 (Tigris)

TW: Fighting, weaponry, gore

The monster struck at midnight. Tigris almost didn't hear it at first. She stood in front of the knights, the cool summer night soothing the thin sheen of sweat that had formed over her forehead.

"Be ready. Witnesses said the beast struck at midnight exactly." Tigris warned them. Aodh stood at the back of the gathered group of knights, directing the ones at the back to complete the phalanx formation. Tigris placed her helmet over her head, moving to the front of the formation. In the back of her mind, she could see the mess of gore and blood that had coated the courtyard that very morning.

The hilts of the knights' spears thumped against the ground, confirmation of their readiness. Tigris swallowed, settling into the calm before the battle. Deep in the castle, bells tolled, warning of the dawning of midnight.

"Ready!" Tigris bellowed, "Be on your guard!"

The knights spread themselves out among the square, eyes scanning the distance.

Tigris waited, spear lofted.

The air went still as midnight fell upon them, bells clanging.

One, two. Tigris counted the tolling, her mind going silent. She scanned the sky with a hunter's precision, her muscles tensing.

Three, four. The stars twinkled, starlight beaming down on her face.

Five, six. The air was too still. The knights near her shifted, gripping their weapons uncomfortably.

Seven, eight. There was a flash of movement at the edge of her vision. It wasn't near the castle or by the forest.

Nine, ten. There was something in the stars.

A shiver ran down her spine.

"On me!" Tigris yelled. The knights converged.

Eleven, twelve.

A heartbeat passed as the bells went silent. A stirring of the air was all the warning she got before the beast struck.

A blur dove at them, descending from the heavens in a blur of shifting darkness. Tigris registered a hissing noise as the creature rushed past, barely visible. It snarled and roared, diving for the knights on her left.

As one, the knights raised their sharpened spears.

"Attack!" Tigris ordered, and the spears thrust forward. By all means, the creature should have impaled itself on the extended spears of the men on her left. The sharpened weapons should have pierced the beast's heart with ease.

Instead, the men went flying back with loud cries of surprise. Tigris sucked in a surprised breath as the creature, utterly unharmed, paused over the men pinned beneath its claws. The starlight seemed to warp and bend around it, revealing its hideous form.

The monster was large, as tall as two people stacked atop one another. It curled back, revealing scaly obsidian flesh that glimmered in the moonlight dangerously. Tigris dragged her eyes up from the rattling tail to its hideous face. Its pitch black eyes gleamed intently, intelligently even, tempered with animalistic rage. Its rubbery lips twisted into a leery smile, revealing thick fangs that dripped with ink. The worst part, however, was the snakes.

The vipers melded to the creature's skull, writhing and pulsating in a round mass. They seemed to protrude from its scaly head, hissing and leaning closer to the prey. Venom hissed and dripped from their fanged mouths, sizzling against the cobblestones.

One of the men pinned under the creature's claws shifted, eyes wide with terror. He thrusted his sword towards the monster's chest, straight for its heart.

The sword skidded off the plated scales, as if they were made of pure steel.

Icy fear trickled into Tigris' throat. The creature leaned down, fangs bared, preparing to bite the trapped men under its claws. Tigris recalled what Sir Osborne had said before he died. It was the fangs that had petrified her men into stone.

She couldn't watch more of her knights be lost to inkblood.

"Hey!" she shouted, unhooking her gun from her belt in one smooth motion. She fired off two shots towards the creature's flank, knowing it was a foolish move. If a sword couldn't pierce the scales, there was little hope that bullets would do much damage. But all she needed was to distract it from the men currently pinned beneath its razor sharp claws.

As expected, the bullets bounced to the ground harmlessly. The creature froze, its serpentine eyes slowly moving from the clinking bullets to Tigris' smoking gun. The hairs rose on the back of Tigris' neck as its eyes drifted towards her face, locking with predatory rage.

"SHIELDS!" Tigris roared to the men still standing behind her, "Ready your weapons!"

She watched in horror from behind a raised shield as leathery flaps of skin unfurled from the monster's back, blacking out the sky. Wings. The damn thing could fly.

It launched into the air so quickly that Tigris barely had time to brace herself before an impact jarred her body. She was thrown backwards, her breath leaving her in a quick gasp as she crashed into an unconscious body on the ground.

"Tigris!" Aodh called from across the courtyard, drawing the beast's attention. She rolled to her feet, heart racing as the creature began to barrel towards Aodh. She shouted in warning and he dove, the creature's claws raking his back instead of his face. It was still enough to make him scream in agony, a sound that made Tigris' blood freeze and boil simultaneously as her brother was picked up and thrown against the castle walls. His head cracked against the brick.

"AODH!" she shouted as he crumpled to the ground. She was moving before she could form a solid thought. She launched herself at the beast's turned back, her sword arcing through the air. To her surprise, the creature roared the moment her steel touched its scales. It spun around, and Tigris saw thick inkblood leaking out of its back.

"Get the wounded out of here!" Tigris shouted over her shoulder to the conscious knights, digging her heels into the ground, "Get Aodh out of here!"

"Princess!" someone shouted in warning, and she dove to the side, barely dodging a blur of motion. She relied on instinct for the next few moments, her battle hardened senses more reliable than her eyes. She darted back at the slightest movement, swinging her sword with jabs and defensive blocks that barely kept the jagged claws and slithering snakes at bay away. Sweat trickled down her temple, her focus wavering at the sight of Aodh's body being dragged off.

That moment of distraction was all it took. The beast lunged and Tigris knew instantly that she wasn't moving fast enough. The creature's eyes gleamed with triumph. Tigris had only one moment to think, oh shit.

She was shoved to the side. Sir Harold was there in her place, sword blocking the fatal bite. The momentum of the bite, however, still sent him flying.

Sir Harold crashed into the doors of the castle, revealing a handful of concerned maids and servants who had been listening to the commotion.

Tigris realised, with horror, that the alarm bells had never gone off. No one was sheltering in secure locations within the castle. The beast must have taken out the guards at the watchtower.

The bleeding beast's eyes focused on the new targets. A slow smile spread across its face.

Goosebumps rose on Tigris' arms.

"LOCK THE DOORS!" Tigris shouted, sprinting for the castle. But it was no use. The impact of Sir Harold's body had torn the doors clean off the hinges.

The terrified, frozen maids and servants were totally exposed.

"Run!" one of the knights shouted, herding the civilians deeper into the castle. Screams echoed across the courtyard. Tigris ran faster, legs burning, but she knew that her hope was lost when the creature blurred with movement again.

The sound of torn flesh and gurgling screams filled the air, easy targets.

"Retreat! Sound the warning bells!" Tigris ordered the few knights that were still conscious, the ones herding the civilians through the narrow hallways. Her mind raced. Aodh was down. Half of her handpicked guards were either dead or unconscious. And now the creature was slithering through the halls, spitting venom and inkblood as it tore into innocent civilians.

This was not looking good.

She cursed, racing down the halls. As she turned the corner, she spotted a cluster of servants huddled by the infirmary, carting some of the injured knights into the doors.

A blur moved in the corner of her vision.

"Get those bandages and some water!" Leinos was ordering within the infirmary. He had no idea of the reptilian threat approaching. The snake-like beast slithered towards the doors, rearing up with a hiss as it noticed the frozen servants standing by.

"HEY!" Tigris shouted, firing off another round. The beast turned, face contorted with annoyance and pain even though its lips were slick with greying blood.

Her knights' blood.

Tigris' vision went red. She lunged, dodging a spurt of venom from the strange snake hair. She arced her sword, slicing through one of the scales. To her surprise, the blow landed, cracking the scale like a knife cutting through butter. Inkblood gushed out of the wound in thick, syrupy streams. The creature roared in agony.

"The doors! Bar the doors!" she heard Leinos snapping to the servants in the doorway. They stared in horror at the hissing creature, frozen in terror.

"Don't just stand there! Get inside!" another voice cried out.

Tigris' heart stilled in her chest. No. She couldn't see another brother harmed today.

Finn charged out of the infirmary, hands bloodied and stained. He lofted his sword, coming behind the creature that was distracted by Tigris.

"Don't-" she tried to warn him, but it was too late. Her brother was already stabbing downwards, his sword skidding off the scales, only leaving a thin cut that healed instantly.

Finn's face drained of colour as the snake hissed, its serpentine body coiling as it turned to face him. Its rubbery lips peeled back, revealing fangs dripping with inkblood.

Tigris was shouting, begging, pleading as desperation clutched her like a vise. She shouted at Finn to move, firing off round after round to try and distract the creature. But nothing would distract it from its new prey.

Finn backed up against the closed doors to the infirmary, eyes flaring wide with panic. His beautiful, verdant eyes met hers, pupils blown wide with terror. His lips parted with a terrified gasp.

"No!" Tigris screamed.

The beast leapt forward, wings flared wide to block out her view. Growls and shouts filled the air, followed by the wet squelch of torn flesh. The creature suddenly pulled back, looking almost confused.

Tigris ran forward, her sword finding purchase against its flank.

The beast roared, flying off to nurse its wounds. Tigris found herself standing above a body. Horror made time slow as she knelt in front of the bleeding, unconscious form. Her fingers slickened with crimson as she knelt, rolling the bleeding body over. She expected to see a wound lined with stone, the pale face of her brother contorted in agony.

Her vision sputtered with her shock. Because the body she held in her hands wasn't Finn's.

It was Kai.

"No," the word slipped out of her lips, "Oh gods, no." Her body went numb.

Finn scrambled to his feet, sprawled out on the tile just a few feet away. His face was as pale as a ghost's.

"He pushed me out of the way," he gasped, kneeling next to Tigris. His hands pressed next to hers, trying to staunch the flow of blood, "Move, Tigris! Give him to me."

"How did this happen?" Tigris asked, her mind spinning as Finn shoved her aside. Because Kai, wise Kai, was unconscious and bleeding out in front of them. Her vision went red, and a sob clogged her throat, "He should have been inside!"

"He came after me," Finn's voice trembled, sharp in all the wrong places. He tapped the servant's cheeks gently. Kai groaned, but didn't rouse.

"Look," Finn said after a moment, his fingers prodding against Kai's torn shirt, "He's just bleeding. He's not turning to stone!"

The creature's bite had missed him.

Kai might live.

Tigris was moving, yanking Finn aside. She gathered Kai in her arms, holding the man against her chest, savouring the warmth of his body. She kicked the infirmary doors with her leg desperately.

"LET US IN!" she roared, "LEINOS!"

The doors flew open. Leinos' eyes widened at the sight of the bloody royals.

"What-"

"Help him," Tigris insisted, ignoring the gawking servants and maids trembling in the corner of the room. She thrust Kai towards the physician, desperation twisting her voice into something mangled and broken, "Help him!"

"Now!" Finn added sternly, steadying his shaking body against the wall.

Leinos wasted no time. He pointed to a cot, donning gloves. Tigris set Kai down, feeling like time had suddenly sped up around her. Figures were running around, hands with needles and thread, fire and sizzling sticks, swarming around the cot. Kai strained in his unconsciousness, groaning and crying out at Leinos' touch, and every sound hit her like a stab to the chest.

She gripped his hand tightly, letting the warmth of it hold her panic at bay. "I'm sorry," she murmured, fighting against a swell of tears, "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have gotten hurt."

Kai didn't respond. He sat there, his normally rich skin wan and grey. He could have been stone, and Tigris wouldn't have known.

A hand settled on her shoulder. After such a hard fought battle, her instincts had her leaping out of her seat, hand drifting to her sword. But it was merely Leinos, staring at her with sympathetic eyes that made her want to scream.

"I've done all I can," he told her gently, and Tigris felt the world crash. There was a good chance Kai wouldn't make it. The physician squeezed her shoulder, ambling away to give her some time to compose herself.

"I can't lose you," she murmured aloud to Kai. There was so much she had left to say to him, so many emotions stirring in her chest. She stared at the face of the man who had grown with her, who had cared for her as a friend, who genuinely knew her in a way that none of the knights ever did.

Tigris realised, in that moment, just how fallible her heart was. She despised it. She despised this power her emotions had over her. But she craved a response to it all the same. She wanted Kai to wake so she could tell him what he meant to her, how much she loved him for his wisdom, for his heart, for his truthfulness and his steady presence. She wanted to know what he thought about the soul deep truth she had come to realise over his unconscious body.

She wanted him to know how much she wanted him.

A soft sniffle shattered the haze of her thoughts. Finn was sitting on the opposite side of the cot, his face bone white and streaked with tears. He bent over Kai, his shoulders shaking.

Finn was crying.

The sight took Tigris off guard, breaking through the turmoil of emotions running through her. Finn noticed her stillness, looking up at her with bloodshot eyes. There was something torn and broken in his gaze, something that Tigris knew matched the look in her eyes. Time ground to a halt.

"I can't lose him either," Finn croaked, gently tracing Kai's face tenderly with bloodstained fingers.

The world shifted around Tigris, reorienting with this new truth.

"You-" her voice gave out, shock muting her for an instant. There weren't words for the way Finn loved, fully and completely without limits.

Finn looked up, his eyes fierce and churning with emotion, daring her to say more. She found that she couldn't, not around the heart lodged in her throat.

They both stared at each other, disbelief and protectiveness warring in their gazes at the revelations they both came to simultaneously.

"Finn..." Tigris trailed off quietly, the name tinged with warning. As if that could stop them both from saying something they'd regret.

Finn tore his gaze away, squeezing his eyes shut like this conversation physically pained him. "I know, okay?" he snapped, "I know how you feel for him. I've heard Roche say so." he spat the name like a curse, "But we know each other in a way you don't. And he likes me back!"

The words were like a slap, stinging Tigris' cheek. A surge of humiliated pain filled her.

"You don't know that. He's your servant, he has to like you," she snapped instinctively, the words burning as they came out of her mouth.

Hurt flashed across her brother's face. He flinched, his face betraying his emotions for all of one second before his lips twisted with a cruel smile.

"And what? You know that he likes you?" Finn sneered, "Face it, Tigris. He's never shown any inclination of liking you. We both don't know anything about what Kai wants. We can argue about this until our voices die and that creature returns to feast on our flesh. We still wouldn't have an answer."

Because they both loved Kai fiercely. In a court of nobles, knights, and traitors, liars and soothsayers, they both didn't want to give up the one truthful person they could trust implicitly.

Tigris' eyes fell back down to the man on the cot. His wide lips were crimped in his fitful rest, contorted with the pain of a wound that dragged him into unconsciousness. The sight made her blood simmer.

"We can't do this," Tigris whispered.

Finn snorted loudly. "Of course we can't. One of us will be heartbroken by the end of this, and it won't be-"

"No!" Tigris interrupted, not wanting to find out how that sentence ended, "This isn't about us. This is about Kai. We won't know how he feels until he's better."

They both stared at Kai's unconscious body. Finn's lips pressed together into a thin white line. The bitterness faded from his face slowly, leaving stiffness in its place.

"It's only fair," he murmured slowly, "That we leave this up to him. He deserves to have a choice after everything we've put him through."

Tigris nodded, shoving her conflicted emotions deep, deep down inside her. She and Finn locked eyes.

"So, let's table it for now," Tigris agreed, "And focus on catching the monstrosity that did this to him."

Finn's eyes narrowed to determined slits. He held out his hand, gummy with Kai's blood. Tigris didn't hesitate. She reached over and clasped it, their hands bound by the blood of the man they both cared about so deeply. They shook, staring at each other tensely, unwilling to let go.

The doors to the infirmary burst open. Leinos stumbled back into the room carrying armfuls of supplies. He glanced at the two royals, arching his brow inquisitively at their blood handshake.

"Your brother is doing fine, but I saw two puncture wounds at his neck." he said, almost dryly. A jolt ran through Tigris' body. In all the excitement, she'd forgotten about Aodh entirely.

"Has he turned to stone?" she asked.

Leinos shook his head. "He was bitten by something, though. I believe there to be some kind of venom in his body that is paralysing him. It seems to be temporary, though. Kai's injuries however, made the venom more potent. He'll need an antidote to survive." he explained.

"It must have been that weird snake hair," Finn muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Leinos' brows furrowed.

"Snake hair?"

"We got a good look at the attacker," Tigris explained darkly, turning to face the physician fully, "It's a monster of some kind. It had the body of some kind of snake with thick scales and a head of snakes for hair. Most of the knights' blades couldn't pierce it, neither could my bullets. Only my sword worked."

"Not my sword. I wonder why that is?" Finn mused, eyes narrowing as Leinos went pale. He fumbled with his supplies, laying a compress on the forehead of one of the unconscious knights.

"Perhaps you didn't swing hard enough?" Tigris suggested, but that didn't seem right. Her sword had cut through the scales easily, like a blade in softened butter. Finn and the other knights had swung as hard as they could.

She peered at her bloodied sword, noticing the sharp edge. Perhaps it was luck. Perhaps she was stronger than them all. Or perhaps, even less likely, Roche had sharpened her sword better than the knights had.

"I'll update Verita," the physician promised, breaking through Tigris' thoughts. He waited for her to meet his eyes before adding, "The king is looking for you, my lady. He wants an update."

Tigris stood, wiping the blood off her hands. Finn stood too, and she raised her brow at him.

"You don't have to come," she informed him, "You can stay with Kai."

"I know. I'm going to find Roche and Verita." he replied coolly, adjusting his glasses with a bloody finger. Tigris felt a rush of frigid discomfort at the detached look in his eyes that barely concealed a spark of rage. She recalled their earlier arguments about the maid.

"Finn?"

Her brother turned, an eyebrow arched challengingly. Tigris swallowed down the swell of emotions that rose to match it.

"You've nearly lost one friend today. Don't lose another." she opted to say.

The iciness in Finn's eyes thawed a bit, and his eyes lost their hard edge. He looked nothing but tired as he nodded ever so slightly and trudged out of the room.

Tigris watched him go, feeling a million years old as she leaned back to peer at Kai's face.

"You always know what to do," she murmured to Kai, her fingers skating past his cheek, "So tell me, how can I fix this? How will Finn and I get past this?"

Kai didn't respond. Tigris fought the urge to crumple to the ground and sob.

With an almost cruel sort of irony, the warning bells finally began to ring.

A/N: *Peeks out from behind a large laptop screen* so... it looks like we have a love triangle.

I'm sorry, LOL. I'm not a big fan of love triangles but this one really worked its way into the plot and I could not get it out. I promise it'll be worth it, though. This subplot is going to unpredictable, to say the least :)

Anyway, what do you think of this new development? Any feedback? Like I mentioned last chapter, this is my first time writing romance (or anything really, haha) so let me know what you think, I'd love to hear any feedback!

As always, happy reading!

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