My Fair Lady (Dark Cacao Cookie x Fem!Reader)

Chapter 14

"The horses are growing tired! And what's next, are we going to have to find their footprints in the blizzard?" An aggravated voice shouted.

"Patience! We will walk on our feet if we must," the king spat. Gripping the reins on his steed firmly, he maneuvered around a rocky ledge.

All of the men were exhausted, ready to go back to the kingdom. At this point they really didn't care much about saving the prince, just what they were having for dinner that night. The entire day they had spent forcing their way through the snow, reaching up to the knees of their horses by how much it was snowing at the time. The air grew more ferocious by the minute, thrusting their capes to the point where they felt like they were going to be yanked off into the air like parachutes.

"We might as well swim in all this snow, and I don't think we'll get very far knowing the storm is coming soon!" 

"I said PATIENCE!"

With his words, the entire search party fell silent, heeding reluctantly to his demands. A flock of black birds flittered over their heads, echoing their warning cries for the unexpected visitors.

"These birds will drive me insane if they keep at it..." the king muttered.

Within a split second of hearing his complaint, a bowman drew an arrow, shooting down the biggest bird down where it fell with a soft thud in the ground. The king held up his hand to signal for the soldier to stop.

"We can't be wasting our weapons on trivial targets, I can handle this noise just fine for now," he reassured grimly. The bowman hesitantly returned to a neutral state.

As they continued, their horses began to falter, some of them kneeling in the snow and knocking their riders off their backs. Infuriated, the soldiers attempted to push their steeds back on their hooves, but the large creatures refused, snorting and huffing in protest. They were too afraid to voice their concerns once more to the king, so they grabbed their heavy supplies and waded the rest of the way through the terrain.

Soon enough the king's horse fell himself, collapsing on it's side with his breath heaving shallowly. The king could only grunt in annoyance, looking down on the animal.

"Carry my supplies, I need to stay in front of you all. We will return for the horses once it is bright out once more," he said, his command swiftly being obeyed by the equally exhausted men.

"Your highness?" a voice feebly spoke up.

The king ignored him thinking he was going to protest against his demands.

"Your highness? Do you see that odd shape to the West?"

The king quickly turned his head around, squinting his eyes to see through the sheer white veil of falling sugar.

A cream colored form, masked by the snow, hurdled closer and closer to the party. He nodded, all of his soldiers simultaneously unsheathing their swords and dropping their cargo for the worst.

The king raised his finger to his lips, silencing the murmurs that had begun hearing the news. He creeped forward to where the thing was coming from, the ground beneath his feet beginning to tremble more and more.

As it got closer, the shape transformed in visibility, becoming something the king feared the most out here.

"Werehound!"

The animal roared, leaning back to curl it's hammer over it's head. Standing a few paces away, it slammed the earth, sending the sugar snow on the ground flying into the air. The king coughed as he inhaled a thick cloud of sugar dust, he couldn't see his own hand clenching his sword in front of him.

"May the witches save us!" he shouted, sending a war cry throughout the party.

Even though they couldn't see each other, they knew where they had been standing in place moments before being blinded. The men faced outwards, forming a protective circle to fight off the brute.

Just then a solider yelped helplessly, the ginormous stumpy paw of the brute flying in from the clouds. He flew backwards, sliding through the deep snow and getting stuck under the thick blanket. The werehound let out a deafening roar that caused the men to cover their ears desperately.

Luckily the king that stood beside the previous victim heard the location of the animal, swinging his sword instinctively. The blade deflected another paw that came in somewhat unexpectedly.

The ground shook once more, the werehound ran around the circle to the opposite side to confuse them. The king felt the vibrations and stood on his high guard, whipping backwards in case the brute came barreling through the center. 

"East side! Look alive!" he screamed.

Just then he heard the werehound whimper, the sound of an arrow plummeting into soft cream just barely ringing through the thinning fog. The king blinked, finally able to see his whole sword pointed to the supposed direction of the beast.

"You die! My territory!" the deep voice growled, buffeted slightly by the noise. The wind howled louder, carrying more of the sugar snow away.

"Keep the heat hot! It's getting more clea-!" the soldier grunted, the king could only assume the werehound was growing more aggravated at their skillful defense.

The king turned towards the source of the yelling, preparing to see the creature come at any moment. But something made the sky darker. His eyes trailed upwards, the shadow of the werehound slowly coming closer.

All bark, no bite, eh? The king thought, swinging his sword in his hands readily.

The creature's snout became visible, it's sharpened teeth fully visible as it snarled down at the cookie. The king, unaffected by the hostility, frowned and bared his teeth back at it.

The werehound pounced forward, raising it's hammer to slam on top of the king. As it brought it's giant weapon down, the king ducked, rolling underneath the creature. In an instant, he turned back around to the exposed back of the animal, plunging his sword into it's back.

The werehound shrieked as it felt the metal sink inside it's ribs. It tried to reach to where the sword was planted, but it's arms were too short to reach. It's eyes grew wild with fury, turning towards the king.

They had a staredown, the snow almost completely carried away by the wind. His soldiers looked upon the scene of the two, both completely vulnerable.

It felt like hours by how long they had stood there. Both of them burned their eyes into each other's. But the werehound eventually broke contact. It's eyes fell to the floor, the beast sulking weakly and scrambling away from the party, it's fluffy cream tail tucked between it's legs. The king looked around, seeing the men with their jaws dropped in awe.

"Pick up your stuff. We'll find a place to rest nearby for the night," the king said.

Word count: 1124