The Princess and The Pirate
Chapter 44

The moon was a wicked crescent slicing the sky and providing an obscured spotlight on the world below, casting crooked shadows and an incomplete darkness over Rocqueburne.

A monster haunted the castle grounds. Silent and hungry, it ripped and tore whatever it got its hands on to soothe the insatiable need to consume. The beast was voraciously devouring life.

Magnus towered over the royal garden, cramming thyme and mint violently into his mouth like a wild creature. Starving and seeking out anything he could replace, he savored the succulent cooking herbs. Magnus knew these weren’t poisoned as he ripped them out, roots and all.

Escaping into the brisk cold, he stumbled and shambled across the vast royal garden. Dragging his makeshift cloak of heavy blankets, the once great golden general now looked like a pathetic wraith, hunched over, crazily swinging from shadow to shadow.

Migrating further in, leaving nothing but bare stalks in his wake, the general steadily followed the cobblestone path to where the plants grew more wildly. He discovered patches of blue, black, and red berries and began ripping through them like a starving bear. Magnus thoroughly enjoyed the virgin juices as they quenched his thirst and tamed his hunger.

That hag wouldn’t kill him yet! He’d eat the very dirt from the surrounding graves before Queen Lillian’s tainted food!

A sharp midnight wind caused the Rocqueburne cemetery hinges to creek, sending an eerie echo to bounce off the old tombstones and cracked Capebluff mausoleum walls.