Rell

I wasn't sure if the students would remember Cat cutting the music and announcing they all needed to return to the house. But I didn't doubt that the legend of the stray rhinoceros would be passed down for generations to come.

RHINOCEROS ATTACKKKKKK! Poxel charged gleefully through the woods, shrieks and screams coming through the trees, as the few stragglers came screaming back into the house.

Finally, all the students were trapped within the house, with what looked like a hundred phones pressed up against the glass.

Poxel, I sent to him as he pounded across the front lawn. What happened after Lorcan became the Beast? What did the Blood Rose do?
It laugh.

The hair on my neck stood on end. Then I took a deep, steadying breath, knowing what I had to do, even as the fear grew inside me. You are a Beast-Slayer of the Dark Realm, and this is your duty. It was as if Poxel sensed my decision.

Don't go after Rose, Rell. It trick, confuse. Doesn't want to return. We wait till tomorrow, find it with Lorcan and Bastien. He sent me a feeling that was something like a tight hug, or a last glimpse of someone you loved. Concern.

It's going to be alright Poxel. I've trained for this. And I couldn't risk the Blood Rose moving before then.

So I turned to Cat. "Lorcan had the Blood Rose before he became the Beast. It must be somewhere close to where we last saw him. I'm going after it."

"I'm coming with you."

"Cat, it's going to be dangerous—"

But she held up a hand, eyes fire. "I'm coming with you."

I hesitated, then nodded, "Alright, let's go." I sent a last thought to Poxel. Don't let anyone leave the house. Keep them safe.

Rhino Poxel shall not fail you.

With that, Cat and I charged back into the forest. The golden light of the house faded, the forest became something darker and more sinister. The deeper we walked, the louder I felt the deep pulse of the magic, whispering and calling, sinking into my bones. And then the whispers grew into words, spoken inside my head as Poxel did. But instead of Poxel's warm voice, this one was cold and mocking, like a scaly finger scraped along skin.

Two beauties, seeking out the Blood Rose. Come to me and unburden yourself.

Cat froze beside me, her eyes were wide, terrified. "Is that it?"

I nodded. "Yes." We're getting closer. We kept walking, until I stepped around a massive pine tree and stopped. There, laying on the ground, was a single glowing, red petal.

I hesitated, then I reached down to touch the petal, but as soon as I did, it disappeared. I couldn't explain it, but as I did, I felt a far away sensation of a sigh, and a sudden release.

"Where did it go?" Cat whispered. I shook my head, not sure how to explain what had just happened.

"I'm not sure. Come on. We must be close now." Together we followed the growing siren call of the Rose through the darkened forest. At some point Cat had taken my hand, and now she clenched it so hard it hurt.

The voice grew louder and stronger, mocking us as we came closer. One girl, who wishes to stay in the Human Realm. And the other, who wishes to join her Prince in the Dark Realm forever. Come, make a trade with me.

No. We aren't here to trade. I sent back firmly.

A deep, bone-chilling laughter came back to me. Everyone comes to trade.

Finally, we stepped to a slight clearing, surrounded by ancient pines. There, in the center of the clearing, floating above the forest floor, glowing a hungry red, was a terrible, glorious flower.

The Blood Rose.

Ah, Rell, Cat, I've been waiting for you both for some time. The voice came, clear as if someone had spoken straight into my ear. Come closer, that I might see you.

Cat started beside me, and I squeezed her hand. Together we stepped closer, the glow of the moon bathing us.

Tell me why you have come.

Cat surprised me by speaking first. "We've come to break the curse... and to close the Realms."

And where are your lovers? The question was gleeful, wicked even, and again Cat answered, straight-backed and eyes glinting.

"You cursed them to become Beasts, you stupid, ugly plant. We want them back. Right the hell now."

My mouth dropped open in shock, but again came the cold, humourless laughter. Only one who loves both the princes, and who offers themself in trade may break the curse.

We were both silent, until I said: "Then I offer myself."

"No, Rell, you can't." Cat said, holding out at hand to stop me from walking forward. "No one will miss me. It should be me."

"No. It has to be someone who loves them both." I turned to the Rose, trying to suppress a shiver at the wanting feel that came, pulling me forward. "And I do. I have always loved Lorcan. I love how he cares for his Realm. I love how he can do what he needs to keep his people safe. I love how he can embrace the darkness, but not let it consume him." The Rose glowed brighter, as if it were devouring my words, and I didn't want to say the next words, not here, but it was like they'd pulled straight from me. "And I love Bastien too. I love that even if he was cursed to become a Beast, he did everything he could to protect others. I love that he shared his Realm with me. I love that, for the brief time we had together, it felt like I had found who I wanted to be."

There was a silence in the forest, and the Rose whispered. I believe you girl. And I accept your sacrifice. Step forward. There was a sort of smugness beneath the cold words, but I didn't get to respond, because suddenly another voice joined the clearing.

"Ahh, I have spent all day looking for the two of you."

Both of us turned, to where the voice had come, from deeper beneath the trees.

Dasan?

He wove between the trees now, as if he were made of the darkness himself. And the magnetic pull that had drawn me toward the rope suddenly dropped away, like a rope gone slack.

How have you found us? The Blood Rose hissed. You have no magic left.

He smiled, cold yet determined, and then reached into his pocket. I expected him to lift some sort of powerful, magical talisman— a mand, an enchanted stone, a fairy wind— yet instead he lifted . . . a magic mirror phone?

"Not magic. Just modern technology. Though some might say it's a sort of magic."

Impossible. A white-hot anger roiled in the Rose's voice.

But Dasan only smiled, stepping forward again. "I learned from a certain person while watching a certain vampire movie, that you can track someone's location when you're friends with them on—" he squinted at the phone like he couldn't quite read the words. "SnapChat." He winked at Cat. "And I also saw that there was a very strange animal running around the lake party this year. It's causing quite a stir on the socials."

You are nothing, old man. I defeated you as the Dark King. Doing so now will be easy as squashing a bug.

And suddenly the teasing, jovial Dasan I knew was gone, replaced by someone colder, and harder. "You tricked me into bringing you here, after my daughter killed someone as the Beast. But you only gave me enough power to put both my daughters into a sleep till we could break the curse... but you never wanted that, did you? You want the curse to continue. That's why you've brought these two girls here." He cast a look back at us. "Knowing that youth would trade anything for love."

You aren't the Dark King anymore. You are a shadow of that man. I will make no deals with you.

But Dasan didn't flinch at the words. Instead he began walking forward, straight-backed; the slow, confident pace of a King. "You're right. That man would have let you continue to reign. But I haven't come to you as the Dark King. I've come to you only as a man, ready to make my offer."

The girls have already made their offer, The Blood Rose screamed.

It did no good. Dasan kept walking forward. An icy wind began to grow around us, shaking the trees as Dasan's eyes darkened. "And so have you. Someone who loves both princes, and offers themselves in trade."

No... no I didn't say that... I didn't mean...

The wind grew higher and stronger now, filled with white flakes of snow. A tree crashed to the forest floor beyond us, Cat tugging at me to go, but I couldn't stop watching as Dasan pushed forward through the wind, unstoppable. The storm grew to a frenzy, the snow so thick I could barely see as he reached out a single hand, inches from the rose.

No! No! The Blood Rose screamed, the forest shaking and shuddering all around us, the snow growing stronger and faster, nearly blinding. You cannot! I will not allow it!

And I thought I heard, distantly, powerful and eoching, the words of a King: Your time is finished.

Dasan reached out and touched the rose, and I had only a moment to put my body in front of Cat's before a blast of blinding light threw us both backwards.

Ringing silence.

Pain.

Finally, I blinked open my eyes, finding a sky of stars mixed in with dark clouds, and falling, thick and heavy from them, was snow.

"Rell! Rell?!" Distantly I heard Cat calling my name, as I watched the wide, white flakes drifting down.

Snow. It's snowing. Was it snowing before?

And then Cat's face was in front of me, and the image of Dasan reaching for the rose came roaring back. She pulled me up and the two of us looked to the center of the clearing, where a moment before a storm of magic raged.

The clearing was deserted.

Dasan and the Blood Rose were gone.