“Hope is as fleeting as love, and both are useless.”
A dark fantasy story based on “Beauty and the Beast”
Chapter 11 – Library
Cyrah woke to a sharp knock on a wooden door, eyes popping open wide. She leaped from the small cot at the back of the servant chamber no larger than her cell, though it smelled much nicer. Fixing her hair and wiping the drool from her chin, she hurried to open the door. Without even…
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Chapter 10 – Fate
One long table made of cherry wood split the majestic room. A generous amount of candles, seated in candelabras, lined the table top presenting a plentiful meal with a set of plates and silverware placed on both ends. After Cyrah’s previous behavior, Nikolis moved straight to his seat. She recognized his lack of chivalry when…
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Chapter 9 – Dinner Date
Throughout the afternoon, Cyrah visited each corner of her small cell, turning over the beast’s name in her mind like a mossy stone. News had trickled down the mountain one drop at a time, like rain water into a bucket, that King Nikolis had died in an accident. This followed shortly after another rumor that…
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Chapter 8 – The Power of Harmony
A gentle glow snuck in through a slim window at the top of the wall opposite Cyrah’s cramped cell. Her eyes flickered open, surveyed her surroundings. Past night’s events recollected, she nodded off to sleep again. A harsh clang of metal jolted her awake. Her breath came in short gasps, heart pounding rapidly. A group…
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Chapter 7 – A Brighter Past
Grim decorations lining the castle’s corridors passed by as a shadowy blur in his vague peripheral. Only the peeking pale light of the moon glinting in through tall, tapered windows guided his hooves forward. Every turn, each cracked stone, and the broken step on the second staircase were memorized. The portraits of his mother and…
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Chapter 6 – A Life Sentence
Cyrah rested against the vertical bars of her individual cell with her head tilted back, gaze transfixed on the ceiling somewhere up in the pitch darkness. Every breath was shallow, evading the stench surrounding her. She closed her eyes and considered her situation. Home burned to the ground, chased out of her home for declining…
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Chapter 5 – The Castle’s Master
An ethereal trail of magenta streamed from his palm, rising like smoke from the burning end of a cigar. A pair of ruby eyes tensed in concentration. The wisps of magic conjured from his hand flickered, darkening in shade and swirling clockwise to form a sphere. Pure darkness that chased away the warmth emanating from…
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Chapter 4 – Incarcerated
A harsh cough forced searing air into Cyrah’s lungs and woke her from a deep sleep on the soft chair. Each gasp became more desperate. Eyes burning, porcelain skin coated in sheen of sweat, and aching muscles made her senses burst awake. She sat straight up at the sound of a crash. More than just…
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Chapter 3 – Proposal, Take Two
Knock, knock, knock. Cyrah squeezed a groan inside her throat and closed her eyes, hoping to make the visitor vanish. She needed only one guess as to who stood on the other side of her front door. Leo shouted, “Cyrah? Are you home?” The book in her hands closed with care, and then remained motionless.…
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Chapter 2 – The Proposal
Cyrah’s captivating journey carried her all the way to chapter three when a man’s soothing voice snapped her back to reality. “Hi there, Cyrah. Fancy meeting you here.” She rolled her eyes, deep blue as the ocean. He approached, and he was the last person she wanted to entertain. “Greetings,” she answered dryly. He always…
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Chapter 1 – This Provincial Life
“Good morning.” “How’s your family?” “In good health, thank you.” The early summer sun shined that morning just over the horizon, spilling a pale yellow light across rooftops. Bakers, who had been awake before dawn, carried trays outside to attract customers with the alluring scent of warm breads. The blacksmith and tinkerer, with their shops…
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Kilena Shrelack 