Of Swine And Beasts- A Short Story By Addison Lee

My bones shivered as something stepped into my domain, landing with a carelessness that only men could possess. Every breath I took was another hard crunch of dirt beneath their sandals as they forged scars in my land. One was different. His steps were faint and danced among the weeds with a taunting stealth. The lion beside me growled in response, shaking his mane out as I ran my hand through the golden tassels. All my beasts were agitated, restless as the men grew closer. The scrape of claw against stone shrieked through my hall as they paced. I slid back in my throne, the cool stone a comforting weight upon my back. Closing my eyes, I searched for their pulse in the soil. They were here. The golden gates glided open with but a sliver of noise as a breath from the Northwind devoured its words of warning. The scent of the night spilled upon my floor but with it came the sigh of the ocean. I clicked my nails in response to the scream of steel on stone. My beast’s growl rumbled through me as the soft padding of sandals grew louder. The scent of salt quickly overtaking me as the sound came to a halt.

“My lady, I’m afraid I must ask you to return some of my men. For while they are indeed foul of mouth and body, they do not deserve to be beasts of such.”

The voice was smooth, a strange, still ocean. My eyes slid open, and a wicked grin cut my face. The man was tall and stood as if he believed the world sighed upon his shoulders.

I stood, tilted my head and whispered, my soft voice winding its way through the stone arches, “Ah, but strange man, you forget yourself. For you are not the one to decide whether or not your men shall become beasts, but rather if they shall become beasts for my collection or for my dinner table.”

I closed my eyes and a shriek of steel greeted me. I snapped backward, a whip of air slicing my cheek. My eyes opened and I grinned at the sight before me. The strange man, a devilish smile upon his face and a sword in his right hand. A sword that happened to be a few inches from my bare neck.

He scowled and as he moved to push the sword into my skin I slid under him, popping up behind his back. In a dash he spun, the steel barely missing me. Smirking, I leaped back from him and slammed my hands against the wall. From which, I quickly spun two swords of gold.

He straightened, stretching out his back as he tilted his head to the sky and said, “Oh Zeus, must it be in your grand design to make me slay this beautiful girl? I am out of practice yet but to pit me against this helpless enchantress is even too cruel a joke for you.”

At that my grin dropped to a grimace. I flipped my swords in the air, catching them swiftly as they fell and looked in kind to the Gods, “Oh Zeus, must it be in your grand design to put such an arrogant man on my land?”

I looked him directly in the eye, stalking towards him and dragged my swords through the ground, letting the shrieks breathe sparks into the air, “A cruel joke indeed, you must now know I tire of such men for--”

I spun and slammed my swords downwards, the man barely reacting in time to stop my blow with his own steel. I leaned into the sword as I gritted my teeth, “--they are far too easy to beat and truly, make for poor beasts.”

For a second, we were held there, suspended in our steel and fire. A woman and a man, a beast and a sow, and a witch and a hero. His eyes met mine and through them, the gods winked back.