Circus of the Beast

15

Maghnus found Lorcan deep within the middle of the camp and helped him deal with one of Thomas' men. The man was tall and bulky, but that was no issue for Maghnus. The duo took down the man quickly and faced each other with wide eyes.

"How many more do you think?" Lorcan gasped as he glanced around the numerous bodies in motion.

Maghnus wiped at his brow. "We've restrained around fifteen without any casualties. But it looks to be about twenty left."

Lorcan inhaled deeply as he glanced around at the fallen bodies drenched in blood.

A mother wept over the motionless body of her son. He had been the age to assume higher ranked duties among the circus performers. He was of great importance to the circus, just as every nymph was. Now his parents were reduced to tears, bent over the body with a soul that will never return. Lorcan felt pure unadulterated rage set in. These human men stole the lives of innocents – No, Thomas caused this.

And for what? What would he possibly gain through all this madness? A sense of power? Superiority? Strength? According to Lorcan, however, this wasn't a show of anything but complete disregard of anything worthwhile.

And he would have to pay.

But first Lorcan wanted to be sure that Keelia was still safely tucked away within the forest. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't know what to do.

Lorcan took a quick survey and saw that his performers had contained the situation, but he didn't see Thomas anywhere.

Lorcan called out to Maghnus. The small man came bounding to his side, wide eyes displayed for all to see. The complete and utter horror that Maghnus felt was hard to dismiss. Something had happened and Lorcan didn't know if he was ready to hear such news.

Maghnus' face dripped water droplets as he formed his words.

"They're gone."

Lorcan's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Stella and Keelia are gone!"

Lorcan thought that he knew the feeling of fear. But this event opened up a whole new compartment of the emotion.

***

Keelia had tucked the boy away in a hollow log after doing all she could for his cut leg. The thing about nymphs that she had come to notice was that they healed swiftly, though their pain tolerance was much lower than her own with injuries she had experienced.

The boy would heal quickly as he hid within the log.

"Do not come out unless your parents, Lorcan or I come to fetch you, alright?"

The boy nodded but remained silent, knowing what even the slightest bit of noise would mean for Keelia. She needed all the help she could get. That man was still out there searching for her and the nymph child. She had to be sure that the two of them would be safe.

Keelia turned, determined to get enough distance away from the boy, but to stay close enough if any harm should head his way. She knew she would have to deal with the man chasing her. It was as simple as that.

The rain continued to pour, the rain droplets glistening on her pale skin in the moonlight. Keelia would have loved to venture out on a walk during a night like this, but at the moment it only impaired her vision.

Her feet left her tell-tale mark of glowing prints within the tall grass. The man would surely reach her in no time, but she was happy to have gotten the boy into the arms of safety. If it was to be the last thing she ever did, she would be proud of herself.

The sounds of men shouting reached her ears; they had followed her path well. But could they climb trees?

Keelia found a nice think trunk to begin her ascent. The fuzzy moss created great places for her fingers to latch onto, making it an easy task to climb. She felt the bark bite into the soles of her feet, but she ignored the sting. Climbing was her priority at the moment and she was determined not to fall.

The rain made the bark slippery, almost too hard to climb. However, Keelia knew it was her life on the line so when she reached a thick branch, she let loose a sigh of relief. She spotted a nearby tree branch of another tall sycamore and decided to put her tightrope walking skills to good use.

The path was slick with rain water, but it was thicker and rather easier to walk than those dry high wires in the Big Top. With a load of confidence, Keelia quickened her steps, getting ready to leap from this tree to the next.

Her feet pushed her off and she was soaring through the air, just like the eagles that would fly around her mansion. Her arms were spread widely as she maintained her balance when she landed on the adjacent tree branch.

She smiled to herself. Now all she had to do was leap tree to tree back to the circus grounds to gather Lorcan and that nymph boy's parents.

Her body was quick and agile. Her bounds were executed in a way that would make Maghnus and Tadhg proud. She would reach the grounds in no time.

At least, she thought she would.

The sudden blast of a gun echoed in the air around her as a bullet whizzed right by her auburn hair. The bullet continued to fly off further into the forest and disappeared. It had come from the forest floor, and from someone that wanted Keelia's head.

Looking down, the young woman spotted her mad uncle, wielding a pistol pointed in her direction. His eyes held pure hatred and disgust for his niece. She was sure he shooting to kill. His formally pristine suit was now caked in mud in select places with small stick jutting out and away from him.

"Come down, Keelia," He said almost sweetly. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Keelia eyed her uncle, then a branch on the next tree over. She already knew what she had committed to. She was going to find Lorcan and she was going to put a stop to this mess.

With swift feet, Keelia bolted down the long sycamore branch and leaped again. Then, the chase was on. Thomas continued shooting and shouting at Keelia while she continued moving tree to tree. Occasionally her footing would be off on the landings, but it was nothing that she couldn't recover from.

However, when she came to a large gap between two sycamores, she knew the landing wasn't to be a good one. So, she wasn't surprised when her grip didn't hold. Nor was she surprised to fall and land flat on her back just at the feet of her deranged uncle.

Having the wind knocked out of her, she could only listen to her uncle blabber on about his plans and stare at the barrel of the pistol aimed right at her very forehead.

***

"Maghnus!" Stella shouted as she ran to her friend. "Have you seen my daughter?" Her eyes were wet, but not from the rain.

Maghnus pulled her in close. "We will find her, Kyna. I promise you that."

Lorcan kicked a rusty bucket away from him. His hands were shaking as he ordered his remaining men around to look for the one woman he'd ever loved.

However, the sound of gun shots echoed out and reached his perfectly attuned ears. That was not something he wanted to hear.

Stella tore herself from Maghnus' arms and bolted into the tree line, shouting out for her daughter.

Lorcan and Maghnus followed, determined to have that insane man not to lay a finger on the young girl who had returned hope and light back into Circus of the Beast.