Sophie Ashe

The Mountain

We headed up into the snowy mountains towards the location of the abandoned car. I sat in the front seat with a terrible ache in my heart. I thought about Casper and what we had discussed on the lake's shore. He had finally confessed that his greatest fear was being taken away from me, just as he had been taken away and imprisoned in a concrete cell many years ago. And now, it had happened again. Rayne had come and bound him with silver and taken him away from me. Casper couldn't help me now. My fairy tale prince was now relying on me to save his pretty ass from a wicked demon and his evil Aunt.

Fury boiled in my veins, and I thought about how I would avenge my poor husband when this was over. I would go Game of Thrones on Rudolph. I would have him marched through the streets and proclaimed a traitor, then have him publicly executed - hung, drawn and quartered. His entrails would decorate the city wall - although I don't think we had a city wall.

The bloodthirsty thoughts caused my fangs to protract downwards into my mouth. Nico glanced sideways at my mouth and asked, "Are you hungry?"

"No. I'm just thinking about murder," I hummed, visualising gifting Rudolph's head to Christie and Jacques at their wedding.

Nico didn't ask any further questions as I smiled to myself.

We travelled twenty minutes to the site of the abandoned car. The journey was slow and arduous as the road was covered in snow and black ice. Nico parked the SUV behind the car and peered out the window.

"I don't see any demons," he murmured.

"Good. Let's hope they got the message that if they fuck with me, they will end up dead," I replied.

A flicker of a smile crossed Nico's face. I think he was starting to warm to my badass energy vibes.

I stepped onto the road and gripped the door handle so I didn't accidentally fly onto my ass. The road was a sheet of ice, and the only safe place to stand was on the snowy verge next to the shadowy tree line.

"Keep away from the trees," Nico growled a warning, "We don't know what is hiding there."

"You don't need to tell me twice," I replied, reaching for the tiny knife at my hip.

I wrapped my hand around the blade handle and felt the metal warm against my fingers. There was something off about this knife.

Nico glanced about and said, "There is nothing here. The car is abandoned, and the fresh snow has buried Octavia's trial."

I spun around and scanned the road, trees and shadows. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for a small owl sitting high above us on a branch.

"I know that owl," I said.

Nico shot me a 'have you gone crazy' look and retorted dryly, "Are you telling me that you are aquatinted with this owl?"

"I've seen it before in the woods behind the lodge. The witch said it was a demon shape-shifter. It turns into an owl to spy on me," I explained.

The owl glared at me with its bright yellow eyes and leaned forward as if contemplating dive-bombing me.

"This forest is filled with owls. How do you know that owl is the demon shape-shifter?" Nico asked.

I rolled my eyes at Nico and gestured to the owl, "Look at it! Normal owls are cute and sweet. That owl is evil."

"I just see an owl," Nico replied.

I ignored Nico and stepped towards the owl, "I know what you are, demon bird. I've come to save Mia."

The owl's eyes narrowed on me and ruffled its feathers. Then turning its head, it looked towards a cluster of pine trees on the opposite side of the road. Finally, it leaned its body forward and dived off the branch, swooping between myself and Nico, and flying into the forest.

I grabbed Nico's hand and pulled him across the road and into the trees. I pursued the owl through the forest, winding through the tree trunks and jumping over downed branches. The owl was unnaturally fast, flying high above. I had to run fast to keep up, and at some point, I heard Nico yell, "Slow down."

I was so focused on keeping up with the owl I didn't even think about what he had said. Instead, I kept running, and when he tried to pull back, I let go of his hand.

Minutes passed, and soon the trees disappeared, and I was standing in a snowy clearing opposite a large snow rock formation that reminded me of a turtle shell.

The owl glided through the night air and landed gracefully on the arm of the Lady in Green. She lightly stroked the owl with gloved fingered and whispered words to it in a language I did not recognise. The hood of her cloak obscured her face, but I recognised the long silky golden hair.

"I know it's you, Princess Octavia," I ground out.

A light melodic laugh emanated beneath the hood, and a sweet voice replied, "You found me."

She pushed back the hood revealing her face. Although she was several hundred years old, she appeared to be no older than twenty. She smiled blissfully down at the owl and said, "I'm so glad you're here, Sophie. I've been looking for you since you were a baby."

The blood in my veins ran cold. She knew about me when I was a baby? Was she the person my father was trying to protect my mother and me from?

Octavia continues to stroke the owl. "You're father, Gustave, was my second husband. I was so in love with him, but he was more interested in your whore of a mother."

Anger bursts through me, and I snap, "He only married you because you were the King's sister."

Octavia's smile withers and dies into a thin tight line. "Not all of us are able to marry our mates," she replies stoically. "The world I was born into would not allow me to claim my true mate. Instead, I was used as a bargaining chip to further my brother's ambitions."

"Is this why you want to put Rudolph on the throne?"

She stifled a humourless and said, "Are you kidding? Rudolph's father was my first husband. I was given to him as a reward for helping my brother defeat the western covens. He was nicknamed the Butcher and had the charm and charisma of a serial killer. Rudolph takes after him and would make a terrible King."

"So, why are you stuffing dead girls into trees?"

Her face softened, and she replied, "This world is broken, Sophie. It's beyond repair. We can't save it. So we have to start anew."

Octavia glanced off to the side and beckoned for someone to come out. Gwendolyn stepped out from behind the rock, caressing her pregnant belly.

It was then I realised that Christie hadn't been a passenger in the car with Octavia. Instead, it had been her daughter.

Gwendolyn stood next to her mother, wide-eyed and frail. She offered me a half smile and said, "We would have been sisters if your father had been willing to put a baby inside Mother."

Octavia nodded, "I chose your father as my husband because of what he was - a demon hybrid. With his bloodline, I could have given birth to the living key that would have ended this world and birthed a new world. I shared with your father my grand vision, and he refused to bed me. So I was forced to take a lesser demon as a lover, a creature who would help me create my own hybrid child."

Her eyes gazed lovingly at the owl, who nipped her finger affectionately with its beak.

I stared at the two of them and felt a wave of sickness rise in my throat. "Please tell me you did not bone the demon owl."

Octavia wrinkled her nose in disgust at my accusation and replied indignantly, "Of course not! The demon Lord of Bloody Flies has many forms. We coupled whilst he was in the form of a handsome young man, not an owl."

I threw up my hands defensively and replied, "I'm not judging. I'm curious whether you did the dirty with an owl."

Octavia's cheeks went up in flames with embarrassment, and the owl on her arm released a low pitch hiss in my direction.

"When your father refused me, I took the demon Lord to my bed. Nine months later, Gwendolyn was born - a demon hybrid like your father. And so, the burden of birthing the key passed to her," Octavia explained.

"What is the key?" I asked.

Gwendolyn rubbed her belly protectively and smiled, "He has many names, the Anti-Christ, the Four Horseman, The Beast, the Whore of Babylon. But he is a living vessel of the apocalypse."

This was way worse than I had imagined. I thought Octavia was using black magic to put her son on the throne. I didn't think she was using it to bring about the end of the world.

"My Grandson will end this horrible world so that a new and better world can be born. A world without barriers," Octavia explained.

"A better world?" I replied sceptically, "Is that what you told those dead girls in the forest?"

"Yes, and they understood the great work that we are doing. They gave their lives so that my grandson could be conceived, and tonight with one final sacrifice, they will give their lives to destroy those who threaten my grandson's existence," Octavia said.

My eyes widened in panic. She must have another girl lined up somewhere. I had to contact Nico and his guards so that they could try and find this girl and stop her.

Octavia raised her arm, and her baby's daddy/owl flew up into the night air. She turned to her daughter and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"With this one final sacrifice, we will destroy your enemies," Octavia said.

Gwendolyn stared tearfully at her mother and replied with a knowing nod. Octavia lifted her hands into the air and began chanting strange ugly words up into the night sky.

The owl circling overhead screamed and then dived down towards Octavia. Its small form suddenly shifted, becoming much larger than its actual size. The feathers dropped from its body, revealing black leathery skin underneath. Arms and legs burst from its body, and it nearly looked human if it wasn't for the bird-like head on top of its shoulders. The head changed, too, and the beak became larger and longer, filled with needle-pointed teeth.

By the time it reached the ground, it was no longer a tiny screech owl but a seven-foot monstrosity.

Octavia looked adoringly into its black yellow eyes and whispered, "I willingly give my life for my Grandson."

The creature, her husband, stared at her briefly before opening its mouth and devouring her in two terrible bites.