“Alric,” Wilhelm whispered. “Wouldn’t you rather spend the last hour of your life with Nieves?”
“So, it’s true?” asked Irene. “About the girl?”
Many of the people began to mutter and whisper the rumors they had heard. They wondered why love hadn’t broken the curse as they had all assumed it would.
“I wish to never see her again,” replied Alric. “Now take me to my holding cell and leave me there.” He got to his feet and waited for them to take action. Alric glared at them with stern professionalism.
Bartolemé took a while to react. He noticed the thin shimmer of tears in Alric’s eyes. “To the… cage,” he slowly said.
Valentine lowered his head effortlessly. “If that’s your wish, sir.”
CHAPTER 38
Nieves kneeled down on the porch and stared at her fumbling fingers. They pulled at her shirt unsure what to do. She was about to lose someone important to her. Someone who cared about her more than her own sister. There had to be a way to keep Alric with her. It was selfish, she thought, but she couldn’t let him go.
A deep bark brought her attention to the forest.
“Sneeuwbal,” Nieves muttered. She hadn’t seen the black lab for days.
He pranced out of the forest, his black coat shimmering in the light that filtered through the dark gray clouds. A few specks of snow lined his coat but it quickly began to melt. He barked in greeting, hopping onto the porch.
“Are you feeling better?” she asked, finally remembering the fight and how easy he’d been brought down by the Demon. “You look as good as new.”
Sneeuwbal licked her face a few times then barked. He padded his way to the edge of the porch and leapt off. Before his paws could reach the icy earth his body froze in the air.
Nieves quickly shielded her eyes as a heavy wind lashed out at her. It was a burning heat so intense she felt as if her skin would melt from the bone. She scooted away, daring to take a look at the black Labrador. Sneeuwbal’s black ebony coat was expanding and fluttering in the wind. His legs stretched out with slick talons edging their way out of his paws.
He threw back his head and let out an air shuddering howl. Jagged red horns began to inch out from the tip of his nose along the arch of his neck. His once normal tail was now a thin vine of fire.
Sneeuwbal landed onto the earth and turned to Nieves with fiery eyes.
“You’re not a normal dog, are you?”
He tilted his head. “No, Nieves I am not.”
Nieves clamped her hands down over her mouth to silence the scream that ripped from her throat. She hadn’t expected him to reply to her. He was just a dog… She shook herself mentally. No, he wasn’t a dog at all.
“Nieves, I’m here to help you.” He took a step forward. “I am the enemy of the Fox Maiden. For thousands of years I have watched this curse hold this family down. Never once have I found someone worthy until now.
“Your heart is pure as the driven snow. I wish to take you to the Fox Maiden’s tree.” As he spoke, Nieves’s eyes gazed at the row of sharp teeth. “I tried to protect you from Alric. I tried to keep his demons from you as well. Do you trust me?”
Nieves finally paid attention. “You’re going to help Alric?”
“No,” he said. “I will not help him. But I will help you.”
Nieves pushed herself off the porch and onto earth. “Alright, then. Help me find the Fox Maiden’s tree.”
Sneeuwbal gave a gruff sigh. “Climb onto my back.”
“Thank you,” she said while hugging his thick neck. “Thank you, Sneeuwbal.” She pulled away quickly and starred into his fiery eyes. “I’m sorry. May I ask what your real name is?”
Sneeuwbal lowered his head to her level. “I have no name. Sneeuwbal will do.”
Nieves laughed and it made the dog Demon smile. She moved to stand beside him. He was inches taller than her head. Nieves reached up, grabbed the thick muscle of his shoulders and pulled herself up onto his back.
“Grab tightly of my mane,” he commanded. “I don’t want you to fall off.”
“Okay.” Nieves grabbed a large handful of his mane and leaned her body flat against his back. “I’m ready, Sneeuwbal.”
He gave a rough raspy noise then turned towards the forest. His body moved like liquid through the air. His feet pounded into the earth, claws uprooting large amounts of dirt and grass. He leapt over a fallen log without breaking a sweat. In an instant the main house was lost amongst the distance they had made.
Nieves looked back just once more to see nothing but the shadows of the forest.
“We will find it,” Sneeuwbal assured her.
A painful chill scraped its way up Nieves’s back. She clenched her fingers, jaggedly daring to look over her shoulder. “Sneeuwbal!” she screamed. Her eyes strained to make out the strange silhouettes of shadowy beasts. They were easily making ground on Sneeuwbal.
“They’re Alric’s Demons.” Sneeuwbal skidded to a stop.
A tall heavy black beast, inches above Sneeuwbal blocked his path. It lowered its head, ears laying flat against its head. A hiss left its throat with a puff of dark gray smoke.
†
Alric leaned his head against the iron bars of the small window in his cell. He could see the white snow layer the rocks of the garden. It was falling fiercer than it had before. By the end of the day six inches of snow would have covered the ground as to what he believed.
His mind thought of Nieves and what she might be doing at such an hour. He winced. A sharp pain drilled into the side of his head then vanished.
Surrounding him was the dark shadows of the forest. A blackened beast stood before him with rows of red horns that lined its back and a tail of fire. He recalled the legend of the dog Demon that guarded the forests from the Fox Maiden’s rage. He had concealed her in the silver tree thousands of years ago.
Then again, the legend of the curse was lost among the years. Alric was never quite sure if that were what really happened or not.
“What is this?” asked Alric, moving his head for a better look. “Nieves!”
His view shifted. Alric finally realized he wasn’t in the forest but he was looking through the eyes of his Demons. They were warning him that Nieves was venturing in the forest on the back of a dog Demon.
“Stop her,” he commanded.
The Demon released a loud howl that filled the night’s air.
Sneeuwbal took a quick step back. “It’s Alric,” he told Nieves. “He is commanding them to not let us go.”
“Alric?” she asked the dog. Her eyes moved to the pack’s head Demon. “Alric, I’m going to find the tree! It could end the curse!”
“It’s too dangerous,” he told the Demon.
The Demon hissed, mouthing the words to the dog.
“He says you’ll be in danger if you go,” the dog told Nieves.
“It doesn’t matter,” she told him. “I’m going to find the Fox Maiden.”
Alric turned away from the window with anger. “Bring her back to me, now!” He made his way to his cell door and pressed against it. “Guard! Guard! Bring me Wilhelm at this very moment!”
CHAPTER 39
The dog threw his head back and released a loud screech that made Nieves’s ears ring with agony. She clamped her hands down over her ears until the noise ceased. Sneeuwbal turned his head to the shadow creatures surrounding him.
“What is your order, Nieves?”
She grabbed hold of his mane tightly and leaned forward. “Take me to the tree,” she demanded.
He nodded his head, sending the mane flailing through the movement. “Are you willing to die for him?”
“Yes,” Nieves replied without hesitation. “I am ready to die for Alric. If it means he’ll be free of this curse then I’m ready for it.”
Sneeuwbal gave a wide smile. “Good.” He lunged forward with full force, jolting Nieves back. She nearly fell off but her grasp on his mane kept her somewhat in place. Sneeuwbal landed on
a branch of the trees then jumped off, over Alric’s Demons of The Forest.
He thundered across the forest, leaves fluttering in the air from the mass winds that erupted from Sneeuwbal's speed. His lungs heaved in a breath of air and his legs grew stronger. The more air he breathed the move energy his body could produce. He was like a fire, Nieves noticed. Simply add oxygen.
Something brushed across Nieves’s neck. She gasped and leaned closer to Sneeuwbal. The shadowy figures were right on them. They nipped and hollered into the wind like giddy hyenas.
One gave a noise that Nieves simply couldn’t describe. It was a hallow echo that resembled a heavy and raspy release of air.
“Alric commands you to come back to him,” Sneeuwbal said, his breathing heavy.
Nieves shook her head. “No. I won’t listen to him. We have to reach the Fox Maiden’s tree. That’s all I care about right now.”
One of the Demons leapt forward ready to wrap his jaw around her ankle.
Nieves screamed, pulling her leg away. As soon as Nieves did she kicked the creature upon the snout. It yelped in agony dropping back with the shake of its head. Another moved to take its place in the chase.
“Hold on!” yelled Sneeuwbal. He gave a jolting stop.
The shadowy creatures skid to a stop only to watch Sneeuwbal leap to the tops of the trees. He vanished from site and pounced from one tree top to the next. The Demons hissed and followed quickly behind. They sped up ready for a final attack when Sneeuwbal gave a sharp turn.
“I feel it,” he told Nieves. “It’s this way.”
“Okay.” Nieves looked back over her shoulder to see the Demons catching their balance. “They’re still not giving up.”
Sneeuwbal gave an arrogant laugh. “Neither am I.”
“Why are you helping me so much?”
Sneeuwbal leapt forward and dropped onto an empty opening in the trees. He landed on the ground and raced forward. “I am the enemy of the Fox Maiden. When she sought her revenge against the Macter’s ancestor I used her hate to encage her in that tree. That tree is a part of me. It’s why I can find it when no one else can.”
He heaved forward, breathing finally getting hard. “I want this all to end. This curse has gone on long enough.” He leapt over a fallen log and raced up a small brook.
“Here,” he sighed. “The tree. I cannot go any further than this. And neither can the Demons so hurry.”
Nieves slid off and turned to him. “What about you?”
“I’ll be fine.” He held his head high, chest pulsing rapidly in and out. “I want the evil fox spirit dead. She’s caused all of this trouble.”
Nieves looked to the tree. “I do not think she is evil. I just think she is in pain from a broken heart. Somewhere inside there is goodness.”
Sneeuwbal gave a laugh. He must have been smiling because his next words sounded amused. “Your heart really must be pure for you to think the Fox Maiden is a good woman.”
The howls of the Demons were getting closer.
Sneeuwbal looked over his shoulder. “Hurry, Nieves. I’ll hold them off.”
“Be careful.” She raced over to the tree, her legs burning from the blades of the grass. They slid across her skin like razors but she didn’t stop until she met the trunk of the tree.
Nieves looked back at Sneeuwbal. He fought off the creatures as much as possible. He clamped his teeth down onto one creature’s neck, tossing the Demon’s body against another Demon. She nodded her head, knowing Sneeuwbal was safe, and then turned to the tree.
“So beautiful,” she muttered pressing her hand against the bark. The silver glowing trunk swallowed her hand like water. The silver rippled the color of moonlight. It vibrated like the pulse of a heart.
“Don’t waste time,” said a voice from inside the tree. “Step in here and let me look at you.”
Nieves hesitated. She closed her eyes unintentionally while passing through the trunk. She could hardly believe she was actually stepping inside of a tree. Nieves expected to open her eyes to darkened nothingness but she was starring at the empty insides of a pretty white room.
The air smelled of sweetness. It was the cleanest breath of air she’d ever had in her entire life. Her skin tingled as her insides felt fresh. It made Nieves think of peppermint and how it would clear her sinuses when she ate it.
“I have not placed my eyes upon a Mortal in many of years,” said a voice.
Nieves turned to stare into the honey eyes of a maiden. Her body was captured against the wall of the tree. Her arms had melted into its bark and so had her legs. The woman’s hair was wild and untamed about the bark, burning and twisting a bright orange fire.
“Hello,” said Nieves. “Are you the Fox Maiden?”
She kept her eyes upon the girl for a while, examining her clothes. “Yes, I am the one they call the Fox Maiden.”
“Oh.” Nieves blushed. “I’m sorry. What is your name?”
The Fox Maiden laughed a sound only a harp could produce. “Name? Dear child, I have not a name to be called. Fox Maiden will do me fine. If you would, please, tell me how you have gotten into this tree.”
Nieves answered her. She explained Sneeuwbal and who he was. She told the Fox Maiden about Alric, the Head Macter. “After asking me to end the curse he brought me here,” she finally said. “Please, end this curse.”
The Fox Maiden gave a smirk. “End the curse? That is absurd. I shall not. I have watched you mortals grow and age. I have heard your language for thousands of years. I have listened to the endless amounts of chaos that has reached the farthest ends of existence. I’ve tasted everything there is to taste and I have smelled every scent of air from every country. I have learned of your technology and I am quite impressed but I shall not ever end this curse.”
“You have to!” Nieves stepped forward bravely. “If you don’t Alric will die!”
She closed her eyes as if to sleep. “It is not my problem.”
“Please, I love him!”
Her eyes shot open with interest and worry. “Love? You think you love him? Then answer me this, Mortal child, would you die for this lover of yours? Would he die for you?”
“Yes, I’ll die for him,” Nieves replied without hesitation.
The Maiden huffed. “Fool. Would he die for you?”
“I don’t care if he would die for me or not.” Nieves raised her head. “I ask nothing from him. I want nothing from him. If I could have anything I would just want him to be happy.”
“What if he left you?” growled the Maiden. “Deserted you?”
Nieves shrugged a shoulder. “If it made him happy.”
She screamed and writhed. “Imbecile! Imbecile!” Tossing her head about, the Fox Maiden’s body began to grow free of the tree. “I cannot believe your lies!”
“It’s the truth!” screamed Nieves. “All of it is the truth!”
The Maiden became tired and leaned her body against the silver glowing bark. She released a sigh and the tree began to grab hold of her yet again. “If you are telling me the truth then step forward, dearest.”
Nieves stepped across the room until she stood before the Maiden.
“Reach into my chest,” said she. “Remove from it the heart.”
“Your heart?” She gave a gasp of surprise and fear. “Won’t you die without your heart, Fox Maiden?”
She gave a laugh that filled the chambers of the tree. “No, not at all. This heart is not mine. It belongs to Olf Macter. If you can return it to the Head Macter while he is in his Demon form then the curse will be broken.”
Nieves swallowed down the pain in her throat. “Olf Macter?”
“The Macter who I loved and was betrayed by.” She tilted her head with tired and weary effort. “Go now and take the heart.”
Nieves reached for the Maiden’s chest. She pressed the tip of her fingers against the center. It pulled away. The skin parted and pulled itself open to reveal a broken breast bone. Beating behind the gape in her chest was a hear
t. Hesitant, Nieves reached inside and grabbed hold of the beating organ.
It felt strange and slick in her hands. It gave out a last beat then died. Nieves gasped, looking up at the Maiden. “What happened?”
“My magic kept it alive and well,” said the Maiden.
Nieves turned to leave but as she reached the center of the room she stopped and turned to the Maiden. “I think maybe if you leave this tree, you’ll find someone who will love you better than Olf Macter.
“Somewhere in this world, there is someone who loves you. He’s waiting but you’ll never find him unless you leave this place and live your life.” Nieves smiled. “After all, life’s only meaning is to live.” She turned and walked out of the silver barked tree.
CHAPTER 40
“She what?” asked Wilhelm through the bars of Alric’s cell.
Alric pressed his warm forehead against the coolness of the bars. He felt feverish His bones were beginning burn inside of his flesh. It felt like napalm was coursing through his veins. He moaned, knowing his body wouldn’t hold on much longer.
“What am I to do?” Wilhelm racked his brain for ideas. “Alric, please. How can I find her in that forest? There has to be more than a thousand acres of trees out there.”
Alric dropped to his knees. “I know!”
Wilhelm got down onto his knee and looked Alric in the eye. “Hold on just a little longer, Alric.” His body was shaking with adrenaline. “I’ll find her, I promise.”
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