Those who lagged behind were pushed aside as the beasts marched them through the snow.
They were enormous in size and presence, towering over the humans. They each stood about seven feet tall and had shoulders nearly as wide as doorframes.
Eliora felt swallowed and dwarfed each time one went by next to her.
"Move," A soldier yelled and shoved a man so hard that he fell to his knees.
Eliora recoiled immediately, taking a step back. "Stay small... stay out of their way," she muttered to herself.
She made sure to wear her scarf tightly around her face, keeping her head down.
Ahead, a beast pulled a young woman forward, causing her to scream.
"Please...I'm moving!"
"Not quick enough," he snarled.
Eliora's heart pounded.
An elderly man next to her muttered, shaking, "My bones will crack if they hit me again."
Eliora whispered back, "Just... don't speak and they will ignore you."
They trudged through the frost until midnight before the palace rose into view; sharp black spires cutting into the sky.
The Beast King's Palace was haunting. Gothic. A monument built not for comfort, but to remind the world who ruled it. Yet, for some reason, Eliora thought it was beautiful.
One of the humans gasped. "Is that… the King's home?"
A beast snorted at him. "Try to keep your awe to yourself, human. You look stupid."
Eliora tugged her scarf tighter as a cold wind hit her face. "Why is it colder here?" she murmured.
The older man answered, "Because the King's magic chills the whole mountain."
Another human replied, voice trembling, "Eldfrost is always cold… but this is worse."
Eliora gave a small nod.
The air was so cold that it could burn. Through her cloak, she rubbed her arms.
Then she felt it, that odd tug in her chest once more. She faltered a step.
The older man took hold of her elbow. "Are you okay? Be careful there."
"I'm alright," she muttered. "Just... lightheaded."
He spoke more softly. "Did you feel it as well? I tell you, this place is strange."
Eliora remained silent.
With a loud groan, the gates opened. They were driven inside by the beasts.
One yelled, "Hurry up. Before the full moon, the King wants you sorted."
They felt a wave of dread.
Everybody was aware of the stories about the King's health during full moons.
Someone muttered, "Sorted?"
"For what?"
Another muttered pitifully, "Servant positions. We'll most likely be assigned by dawn."
They were led down a long corridor lit with icy blue flames. A woman ahead of Eliora whimpered, "I don't want to serve a beast. I heard one of them tore his last servant in half."
A soldier who overheard her, snorted, "Then don't disappoint whoever gets you."
He shoved her through a doorway.
Another human cried, "Please...we'll behave...just don't hurt us."
"Hurt you?" the soldier repeated with a laugh. "If we wanted to hurt you, you'd already be dead."
Eliora swallowed hard.
The beasts began forcing them into separate waiting rooms.
"You'll stay here until your assignments," the captain snarled. "No wandering. No crying. No questions."
A man asked, trembling, "What if we're given to a cruel beast?"
The captain shrugged. "Then pray."
Eliora whispered, "Saints help us."
As she entered the tiny space she had been shoved into, her hands trembled.
"Do you think your family survived the fire?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore." she heard two people whispering in the hallway before the door closed.
Eliora felt her chest constrict painfully.
"Mama... Papa... please be alive," she muttered to herself as she pressed her back against the chilly wall.
She felt a deep, unsettling throb in her chest once more, as though someone in the palace had heard her.
.
.
Even before the moon had fully risen, Zarek was already shaking, his breathing irregular, his muscles taut, and his claws digging into his skin.
He was standing in his room, holding onto a marble pillar's edge so tightly that it cracked.
"Not now," he growled to himself.
His voice was not entirely his own.
A scent drifted through the window. The same one that had haunted him throughout the night.
Warm and soft.
Delicious yet, unfamiliar.
Impossible.
Zarek's breath hitched.
"What is that?" He inhaled again, slower.
A sharp knock.
"Your Majesty?" Commander Aldric's voice. "I bring word from Ravehaven. The soldiers have gathered their villagers."
Zarek didn't answer.
Aldric frowned and opened the door.
He froze.
"By the saints…"
The King's eyes were already red. His fangs had extended. Veins darkened his neck.
"Aldric." Zarek rasped. "Go."
Aldric stepped forward instead. "Your Majesty, the full moon is close."
Zarek's head snapped toward him, a low growl vibrating the walls.
Aldric staggered back. "Guards!"
He shouted down the hall, "Bring me men. NOW! THE KING IS SLIPPING!"
Boots thundered.
Six soldiers rushed in. "Commander?!"
"Hold him!" Aldric ordered.
They closed in, but his beast surged forward. His back arched, a raw snarl ripping from somewhere deep within him.
Immediately, one of the soldiers dropped dead where he stood.
The torchlight shook crazily on the stone.
"Stand back!" Aldric yelled. "He's not responding ."
Then there was a flurry of quicker, lighter steps.
Maelina stormed in, four seers at her heels, their faces tight with worry.
"What happened?" she blurted, her eyes widening immediately she saw Zarek.
Aldric was barely holding it together. "Whatever is the reason, it's not the moon, this started early. I've never seen him like this before."
Zarek growled low, his voice layered with something inhuman.
"Leave… all of you."
Maelina didn't budge. "Your Majesty, listen ..."
He lunged at her.
Two soldiers yanked Maelina out of reach, just as Zarek's claws ripped through the empty air where she'd been.
"He's gone," one of the seers muttered. "The beast's taken over."
Maelina cut in, "Not completely. If it had, this palace would be in shambles."
She lifted her hands and faint violet shapes form around them. "Get ready."
Power hit Zarek like a shockwave.
His body lurched, lips still drawn back in a snarl, then froze... but just for a heartbeat.
He let out a roar that blasted one seer straight off her feet.
Someone else started coughing so hard blood spattered her sleeve.
Maelina's eyes went wide. "He's fighting all of us? That can't be right. He shouldn't be this far gone before the moon's even up."
Aldric's jaw clenched. "We have to try to bind him."
"No one can get near him like this!" a seer yelled.
Maelina sucked in a breath. "I'll try to weaken him."
"Maelina, don't!" Aldric shot back.