Bella – The beautiful beast
He made his way up to the balcony where I was, with a sword in hand and a look of evil in his eye. I couldn’t see the beast and there were no soldiers around for me call on for help. There was nowhere for me to run and I could only make my way back up the watchtower, desperately trying to buy myself more time. I called out for help, but the only ones that heard me were a few soldiers and they were quickly dismissed by the huge man. Swatted away like flies.
“Come here Bella” came the cry from below the watchtower steps. Josh made his way up as we were now completely away from the fighting. I made it up to the top of the watchtower which was open with views across the castle and the land below. I looked across at the fighting below in the castle and the fighting outside. There was no escape and Josh had almost made his way to the top of the stairs.
From the staircase emerged this huge man that I was moments away from marrying. I thought I was just going to be killed right there and then, but Josh wanted to ask me something first. “Your life will be spared if you agree to still marry me!” he said with desperation. I couldn’t believe his delusion, as if I would agree to that after what was happening in the castle. I pondered for a moment whether I should lie and go along with it in order to keep me safe, but I had to be true to myself. “I’m never going to marry you, it was a mistake” I said to him. As soon as I said it, the look in his eye changed. He pulled his sword from out of the sheath and started walking towards me.
“You I can’t marry you, then no-one will” he said as he got closer. I had my own sword and drew it out, but it felt completely useless. A petite woman with no sword fighting experience against a huge man with countless kills to his name. I heard a scratching from down below. It wasn’t from the staircase, but outside the walls of the watchtower. I desperately wanted to look, but couldn’t take my eyes away from Josh. The scratching got louder and louder until I heard a familiar grunt. A grunt that was confirmed as a sound familiar to me when I heard a roar. The beast jumped over the watchtower walls and immediately put himself in between me and Josh. This magnificent beast had scaled up the walls to rescue me once again.
Josh came forward and thrust his sword into the beast, as he let out a roar of pain. He walked forward to attack Josh, wounded from the blow he had just taken. Josh once more thrust his sword forward, but this time the beast clawed at his hand as the sword flew out of his hand. Josh ran after it knowing it was his only hope. He grabbed the sword and climbed on to the small wall of the watchtower in order to attack the beast from above. He went to make a jump for the beast, but his foot slipped. He slipped down from the castle walls, grabbing on to the side with a 100 foot drop below him. He couldn’t hold on though and me and the beast watched as he fell below, outside the castle wall below and into a group of Oxerod soldiers. If the fall hadn’t killed him, he soldiers would finish the job.
“C’mon” I said to the beast, “There’s no time to waste” I knew we had to get back to the fighting and couldn’t dwell on what just happened. We made our way down the castle stairs and back down to the first floor balcony that we’d just came from. I looked across and the battle was still swinging in our favour, but the war hadn’t been won just yet. I looked down to the courtyard below and was frozen in fear, there was Ralph now off his horse, covered in blood looking like he’d just been dragged through hell. He had his bow and arrow drawn with it aimed between my eyes. He released his fingers as the arrow flew through the air. There was no time to react and it was too late for me to do anything about it. The beast however, had already reacted. The magnificent creature jumped in front of me and took the arrow straight through his heart.
He fell to the ground instantly, and I fell with him, comforting him as he lay down on the ground. The arrows continued to fly from Ralph as he tried to kill me. Most of them were taken in the beast’s back as his body continued to protect me. This was the third time that we had saved my life, but it was going to be the last time as the life left his body. I gave him as kiss. “I love you for all you’ve done, my hero” I said to him as the arrows continued to fly. I knew I couldn’t lift my head.
That was, until the arrows stopped. I wondered if it was just Ralph waiting for me to lift my head above the beast’s body to fire another shot, but I had to move eventually. I moved slightly before tentatively lifting my head up and looking down at the castle. I saw Ralph immediately. This time, however, he didn’t have his bow drawn ready to kill me. He was lay down on the floor, as dead as the beast before me. Over his body stood my other hero, George, the man that I loved. He was still alive, still able to save me. He looked completely spent of energy, covered in blood, but none of it was his own. He looked up at me and smiled, I smiled back.
The fighting was almost over, their king had been killed by the Oxerod soldiers and now all of the brothers were dead too. I saw a man shouting instructions at the remaining Sanyek soldiers, “Surrender now and your lives will be spared” said the voice. It was Max, he was walking around with a confidence and strut that I’d never seen before. In the absence of John, he’d been one of the men to step up and made sure the orders kept flowing. The Sanyek soldiers looked tentative at his instruction as they were surrounded. There was still many of them, but they had no orders and no king to go back to. They had lost, and they knew it. They dropped their swords and surrendered themselves to Max’s instructions. The war was over.