Beauty in the Tower
By Erica Myers
The steepled edifice lurks in the sea of thorny burrs. Towers scratch through the fog, spiking high into the red sky. All who look toward it see the peaks, and those who dare to come close hear the roar. But there are few who enter its bloodied halls. A knight from afar is one such few. Though he fancies himself a man of courage, he trembles as he steps boot inside the stone walls. He follows a tale as old as the land, journeying long to find the treasure, the secret, that lies within the cursed castle. He treads the path where others sought the same fate. Their families bid them farewell, for they knew they would never return. The knight pushes away cut vines, the way before him already paved. His sword is out, a gleam against the darkness inside. Bones line the way, pooling in armor long since emptied, ravaged away in bloodlust frenzy.
The creature must be there — legend claims it waits silent, lurking within the castle walls. A creature old as the world, with scales a purple-red hue and yellowed eyes round and large as the heads that are snapped between its gnashing jaws. Silence pushes the knight onward, twining with fear stark in his veins. On he traipses, through stretches of hallways gouged deep with claws on each side of its wide expanse, past domed rooms where chained chandeliers catch dropped remnants of knights snatched while fleeing, up winding stairways lit softly with candles in sconces flickering blood spots into existence on the bricks and stairs leading ever up, up, to the highest tower. Odd how candles beckon him forward, and the knight thinks enchantment must be steep in this place, that plays with minds and souls and lulls fools into confusion and wonder before the creature strikes out and life is gone.
At last, the final step — he stands panting in a flourished room adorned in drapes of crimson. Fear is gone. Bravery has won. He bested the castle and its long-gone creature. Where others failed, he was the one foretold to live and bring back the treasure. He looks, and there upon the posted bed lies a woman of beauty, the deepness of sleep wresting her lifeless for centuries, the whiteness of her gown stark against the red bedding and dark wood. The knight’s heart thumps heavily at the sight, the only movement as he stands frozen in awe.
But, his eyes deceive him, for the woman’s head twitches, turns, and eyes open. He stumbles back, then lurches forward. A kiss to wake, yet she sleeps no more. To finish the gallant quest, a kiss must be given. She rises to her feet, a smile to her mouth as she glides to him as if on wings and lays her warm hands on his cheeks flush with rushing blood. His eyes catch in hers, yellow with passing time. Her smile widens, wider and wider as teeth elongate. Her paws, huge and clawed, grasping his head in a lover’s embrace. She towers above as wings unfurl, and she lowers her head as if for a kiss. The knight emits a cry that is snuffed out as his blood paints the walls a darker red. The creature engulfs flesh, entrails and armor, bones crunching, spit out with bent armor down the stairwell, the crashing of metal against stone complemented by a sky-rending roar.
People nearby shudder with knowledge that the creature has been fed again and will wait in patience for the next meal to walk its way into the creature’s lair and eager mouth. The woman high in the tower licks her shortening nails and bloodied palms. White dress spotless, she lies on the bed. There she sleeps until whispers fly on the wind that another knight will brave the quest to save the woman from the creature that kills ruthlessly all who dare enter.
