Lorcan

"Watch your step," I jumped forward as Cat stumbled down off the log, and for a moment the sounds of the forest around us faded as her body pressed against mine.

"Sorry, my shoelaces got caught." She stood back up, walking away from me, and the noises and colors rushed back in.

"They are certainly interesting shoes," I said, and then closed my eyes as she bent over to look at them. Interesting shoes? Really? Ten years of training in court compliments and interesting shoes is what you come up with?

"Thanks. They're my favorite Nikes."

I had no idea what Nikes were, but I said simply, "They suit you," and then turned and started down the path again before I could say or do anything else stupid.

We'd left the beach where we'd met the gargoyle behind long ago, and walked for hours through thick forest. The bright colors were disorientating, the blue sky high unending, the blazing sun merciless. I felt naked and exposed without magic or the shadows of the Dark Realm.

Even so, the burning globe above was useful as a directional tool, as neither of us knew the forest well enough to do anything but walk in one direction and hope at some point we found a road.

A high skreik sounded in the air.

"What was that?" Cat instantly wrapped a hand around my arm, and I lifted the sword. I doubted another dark beast would attack us, not when the sun shone bright, and when we were together.

"I'm not sure. Best stay close," I said slowly. I gave her a reassuring smile, my hand resting for a moment on the small of her back as we pressed onward. It was strange walking beside her, without magic, without any of the things that I'd thought made me me. I wasn't sure what I thought of this Lorcan, not a prince, not a magic wielder, just an ordinary man. It felt like I was one of the traveling circus performers who sometimes came to court, putting on an act.

Still, the company wasn't bad.

"So you never told me how you found me?" Cat asked as we walked beneath trees with round leaves that trembled in the wind. The same breeze ran through her hair, making it ripple like a dark waterfall.

"I heard you scream. And when I see a lovely maiden under attack, I don't hesitate."

"So if I had been an ugly old crone you would have left me to die?"

I reddened. "No, of course not, I only meant to say— "

She laughed, a teasing light in her eyes, and I shook my head. She was joking. Of course. People didn't joke with Princes. But I wasn't a Prince. Not here. High overhead a lovely bird with a bright red chest sang out a charming song before it flitted away.

"Relax, Lorcan," she dropped her shoulder and nudged me. "I meant where did you come from? Where do you live?"

I hesitated, and made the mistake of meeting her eyes, which widened with first intuition, and then surprise. "You're from the same place as that creature— aren't you?"

Something uncomfortable shifted inside me. I'd always thought myself superior to those of the Human Realm. Who would choose a life here when they could have dragons, fairies, and magic? But many humans saw darkness and were afraid, hiding away until the sun returned.

"Yes, I am from the Dark Realm." I waited for her to pull away from me in disgust. But to my surprise, her voice was curious.

"So are you like some sort of knight in that— other place?" She gestured to the sword.

I hid a smile. "I am a servant of the people." That was true, at least. I lifted the sword, and slashed at a tangle of vines in the path. "Or at least, I was. I'm not sure how I'm going to get back."

"Can't you just go back the same way you came?"

"It's not as simple as that. The doors to the Dark Realm are... unpredictable." And treacherous. "Almost as if they have a mind of their own, opening and closing at will. Hundreds of years ago the first Dark Queen changed that, by harnessing their power, and setting a sort of key to hold the realms apart. But the key is missing, and without it, I could spend a lifetime trying to return. I'm here to find the key and return it."

"What will happen if you don't?"

"The mist that lays over the Dark Realm will slowly be burned away by the sun, and the magic will be bleached from the land. Anything that feeds off the magic will die." Saying it aloud made me realize the weight of finding the Blood Rose, and the full cost should I fail.

She stopped and turned to me, setting both her hands on hips, her eyes serious. "Well then, we will just have to find the key."

I wasn't sure why her declaration surprised me, but it did. "You would do that? Help a stranger?"

"You saved me." And then she leaned forward, her smile sending a shiver down my spine as she whispered. "Though if you looked like an old crone I'd leave you to rot!" She laughed, her voice as high and free as the birdsong that rang over the forest.

The day passed like this, talking and smiling. Cat was unlike any woman I'd ever met, flirtatious, but also forthright, silly and serious within the same moment. Or maybe it was that I had never had a chance to act this way with a woman, as just a man and not a Prince. My crown colored every relationship. Even Rell, my closest companion and confidante, knew that when I gave an order, it was to be followed.

After a few hours we stopped beside a stream to rest. Cat swirled her hands in the stream before she cupped her hands and brought the cold water to her lips. Rivelets traced down her throat.

"So the key is a blood rose? What is that— exactly?"

Maybe it wasn't wise, filling her on so many details of the Dark Realm, but speaking them aloud brought a sort of cleansing to my body.

"A Blood Rose holds powerful magic— blood magic— and a terrible curse. Only one of royal blood may move the rose with impunity, so whoever took the rose will be cursed to become a Beast. But what that means exactly, I'm not sure... But I do know if we find the Beast, then we find the rose." I submerged my hands in the frigid flow. My fingers seemed distorted and wavering.

"Simple enough. Find the Beast, then find the rose. So... How does one find find a Beast?" Her voice was so confident, so sure, I almost wanted to believe that it could be done.

There was only one person who stood any chance of finding the Beast, the same person I'd spent much of my life relying on without realizing how much I needed her.

Rell.

But she was somewhere back in the Dark Realm, horribly out of reach. Still, I forced myself to think; what would Rell do? How would she have set out to find a Beast?

"Wherever the Beast is, death will be also," I said slowly. The words raised the hair on my neck: they were the exact words my mother had once said to me. "Anywhere there are strange happenings, unexplained occurrences, talk and rumors of odd things."

We both fell into silence again, the only noise the sound of the stream rushing by. After a moment I cleared my throat, "I think we should cross here. Would you like me to carry you so your clothes and Nikes don't get wet?" I felt a bit of pride that I remembered what she called her shoes.

She gave me the teasing smile I was beginning to recognize. "That would be lovely."

I came closer, holding my breath and looking away, as she looped an arm around my shoulders. I lifted her gently, and then carried her across, her body pressed against mine.

When I sat her down on the far side, she was uncharacteristically quiet, her brows furrowed. It was only as I led us down a small path that wove through the trees that she finally spoke, "Students have been disappearing from our high school. I sort of thought it was some kind of weird prank, organized on social media, but there's not really any connection between any of them other than they attend Shadowglen. It might be a place to start.''

"Did you know any of them?" I kept my voice casual. If the Beast had taken any of them, they would likely never return.

She shrugged. "One of them was friends with my..." She paused, her eyes sliding over to me and then back. "-ex-boyfriend.""

As we walked further from the stream, a distant noise began to grow through the trees. One I had never heard before. A distant roar. The closest comparison I had was the Dark Ocean.

"Do you hear that?" I whispered.

We both paused, holding our breath, and I heard it again. This time I drew my sword. But Cat shrieked with delight and took off running. "It's a road!"

"Cat, wait!" I chased her all the way to the top of the hill, but when I crested the top, I realized she was right. Far below, weaving through the trees, like a metal snake, was the road and the dirty, loud contraptions they called cars. Cat grinned, but my heart sunk as I thought of the momentousness of the challenge before me, how little I actually knew of this world, and this realm.

I was Prince of The Dark Realm; dragons, fairies, trolls and mer all bowed at my command...

And I didn't even know why someone named their shoes.

How would I find the rose in time?

Cat came to stand beside me, and I stared ahead, pretending I wasn't vividly aware of her beside me.

"You know, I've been thinking," she said. "If we are searching for 'strange occurrences, unexplained happenings, and talk and rumors of odd things' then there's really only one place we need to go." She cocked her head, lowering her voice with mock horror. "A truly horrible, dark and dangerous place."

I turned, my heart lifting. I had not known such a place existed in the Human Realm. But surely if a Beast were here, that is where it would be. I couldn't keep the eagerness out of my voice. "What is this horrible place you speak of?"

"Tell me Lorcan, have you ever been to high school?"