Christoph was woken at dawn by Emilia’s familiar face, the beast-girl crouching over him as he jerked awake alarmingly close to one of the platform’s edges.

“How do you like the place?” The cat-girl asked with a grin.

“It could be better,” Christoph said, resisting the urge to rub at his face with his bloody hands. Pushing his dreams from his mind, he stretched his stiff neck. Sleeping on the solid wood had tested his back sorely, and he felt a headache budding as he moved. “It has a nice view, though.”

Emilia slapped at his leg as she stood. “Get up, you need to prepare for the ceremony.” Turning, she began to walk away.

Reaching out, Christoph grabbed at her arm, her fur sticking to the dark red film that covered his hand. She glared back at him, a dagger already somehow in her hand as she turned, and he let her go.

“Sorry,” he said, holding his hands out in apology as he stood. Sighing, he straightened up and looked into her eyes, ignoring the flash of anger that was fading in her green pupils. “Tell me the truth,” he said. “Is this ceremony really something I can survive?”

Emilia smirked back at him, sheathing her daggers. “I hope so,” she said. She fell silent, a serious look on her face as she turned away from him. “Don’t think you’ll be the only one in danger. If we make it through this, I’ll keep my promise.”

Christoph closed his mouth to stifle his objections. This might not be what he had been looking for when he fled to the forest, but as long he was alive that was enough for him.

“Okay,” he said. “Tell me what I have to do.”

“Well,” she said, glancing down at her arm with a look of distaste. “First of all, you need to go get clean.”

…

Diana grinned over at Christoph as he washed himself in the river. Although he had realized that Oliver wasn’t going to be his guard for every hour of the day, he questioned their choice of replacement, especially considering the circumstances. Rather than keeping watch, Diana seemed to be simply watching him. He turned away from her, awkwardly self-conscious of his nakedness. Emilia had left him a pair of fur shorts, but they waited on the shore for when he had had finished his bath.

The blood was mostly dried on everywhere but his hands, but crimson billows still stained the water sanguine when he scrubbed at his body. His dark hair in particular was matted and coated, and the water didn’t seem to help much. Should he get it cut somehow? In the weeks since he had been summoned here, it had grown somewhat. Glancing up at the shore, he saw Diana staring over at him.

He hunched over again, but her gaze seemed directed at his arm. Looking down, he saw something that had not been there before – in a similar fashion to how the crystals had replaced his knuckles, a series of flat gemstones had covered his elbow. Christoph frowned down at the crystals, running his fingers over the smooth surface. When had that happened? Most likely, it had been… sometime around his fight with Gideon. A certain boyish face entered Christoph’s mind, but he pushed it away.

“Does it hurt?” Diana asked.

“Not at all,” Christoph said. She might be unnervingly blatant about her interest, but he still didn’t want to make any enemies if he could help it. “When they first appeared, that was painful. Not any more.”

He turned towards the shore, halting as her eyes brightened. “Do you mind?” he asked.

“Do I mind?” she asked, tilting her head innocently. Did she really not know what he meant? The way she cocked her head reminded him of Lucius. Was he still at Starthall lording over the church? The high-schooler might be worshiped by the Templars, but he had still saved his life.

Ignoring Diana’s gaze as best he could, Christoph stepped from the shore and wiped the excess water from his body before donning the fur shorts. Was it his destiny never to wear a proper set of clothing again?

“Is that all the crystals you have?” Diana asked.

“Is that why you were staring at me so intently?” Christoph replied.

The beast-girl gave a look of disappointment, standing again and leading him away from the stream. Was she some sort of monster maniac? Maybe he could pursue some sort of friendly relationship with her… Christoph watched her body moving from behind for a moment. Taller than Emilia, but not… no maybe taller than even Leila had been. Slim, though. She had an almost elfin beauty. Her fur was light brown, too, maybe even close to being white. Christoph rubbed his eyes as the shifting sunlight caused his headache to flare, taking his hands away just in time to see the beast-woman smirking back at him. Looking away from her furred form, he focused instead on watching where he walked for now.

…

When they got back to the prison platform, Emilia was waiting for them. Sending Diana away, she sat down on the wood and had Christoph do the same opposite her. Christoph lowered himself to the wooden platform, uncomfortably aware of the daggers Diana was glaring in Emilia’s direction. A commoner jealous of the royalty?

Emilia waved her hand to draw his attention as Diana disappeared up the tree. “I have to leave soon to prepare for the ceremony, so we don’t have much time,” she said. “You’re a special case, so I’m not exactly sure what will happen, but I’ll try to push for something that you could survive.”

“Is the sacrifice allowed to survive?” Christoph asked.

“This is my ceremony,” Emilia said. “The sacrifice is necessary, but nobody cares what happens to you afterwards. In most cases, the monster just dies.”

“What normally happens?” Christoph asked.

“You’d get slaughtered,” she said. “I’d eat part of your body, and your blood would be made into wine.”

“Isn’t monster meat poisonous?” he asked. To be butchered like that…

“That is my part of the ceremony to worry over,” Emilia said. So that was what she meant when she said he wasn’t the only one in danger.

Christoph held his hands up. “Wait a minute,” he said. “How much is poisonous? I’m not exactly on the same level as one of the forest be- monsters, you know?”

Emilia crossed her arms and glared over at him. “Why do you think I chose you?” she said. “I had wanted to claim the Guardian, but you’ll be good enough.”

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” he asked. Maybe the strength of her sacrifice would alter her standing in the village. No, if Bastias was the beast-clan god, it might be part of their religion.

“Enough,” she said. “I’m not here to be lectured by my prize. In any case, they’ll probably cut a chunk out of your arm or leg, maybe the whole thing. Drinking the pure blood is an option for me too, but that might be more dangerous than just eating your meat.”

Christoph stared over at her. They might amputate a limb? Was he supposed to just accept that?

“Will they grow back?” Emilia asked, leaning forwards towards him, ears raised in interest.

“They might,” he said. They would, wouldn’t they? He shook his head, shivering at the thought. “I don’t know. I’d really rather not lose a limb, you know?”

Was this really the correct choice? There was no alternative, to be sure, but he’d let himself relax, even. He’d been far too lax. Would he really not end up a corpse? “Hold on,” he said, raising his hands again. “How much blood do they take, and how do they get it?”

“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “I’ll convince Leila not to do anything drastic. We’ll take it from you when we cut off the meat.”

“I-” Christoph began.

“Remember where you are,” Emilia said. “I will be lord of this forest, and you will be my sacrifice, or you will die. Even the small chance we have is better than nothing.”

Emilia stood, walking out of the prison and leaving Christoph to dwell on his circumstances under Diana’s pervasively watchful eyes.

…

It was Oliver who finally came to fetch Christoph for the ritual. Night had long since fallen over the forest, and the bonfire was blazing in the center of the grove as the beast clan gathered around it. In contrast to the bustling crowd of the previous night, the mood was truly solemn as Christoph was marched in and bound to a wooden frame before the flames. He fought to control his breathing as the heat washed over his back, the stillness of the crowd suddenly stifling beyond words.

They had bound both his arms and legs to the thick wooden beams, and he began to test the ropes subconsciously. It didn’t matter how Emilia had promised to keep him living, or that he didn’t have any other options, his entire being was screaming to run from this place. He tried to suppress his panic as he looked around. Would he even make it two steps? His thoughts of escape were silenced as the crowd parted before him and Emilia stepped into view.

Because of the way she approached from the edge of the light, the dancing flames illuminated her body in teasing flickers. Even with that much, however, could see enough to feel his blood stir. Her usual wraparound top and fur shorts had been removed, and her bare skin was painted in crimson lines and whorls that accentuated the natural curves of her body. Although short gray fur covered most of her naked form, her entire front was laid bare, the small triangular patch above her pubic mound the only exception.

She approached Christoph slowly, and he felt his breath catch again, this time for an entirely different reason. The parted crowd was suddenly oddly reminiscent of a wedding or perhaps a funeral, and his eyes locked onto hers across the distance, her green pupils flashing in the light of the fire. Christoph had thought Diana appealing, but that couldn’t even be compared to the primal attraction he felt towards Emilia in that moment.

All too suddenly, she had closed the gap and was standing before him, one of her two daggers clutched in her right hand. There was a shifting of dark fur, and Leila appeared from behind him, a large bowl in her arms. It was a moment before Christoph realized that she was similarly painted, the crimson lines covering her otherwise bare form somehow harsher than those that adorned her sister’s elegant body.

Emilia took her position at Christoph’s side, and he started to turn towards her, stopping when she reached a hand out to grasp a fistful of his hair. Leila stood before him, holding the bowl up as he felt a blade come to rest on his throat. He jerked in his bonds, looking over at Emilia again as she pulled his head back by his hair. What was going on? Weren’t they supposed to be taking an arm or-

Christoph’s thoughts were abruptly ended as Emilia drew the knife across his throat, slashing through the entire front of his neck and holding his head still as he began to thrash. Blood sprayed out onto Leila as he struggled, the wooden frame cracking as he twisted his body, blood bubbling from his mouth as the crowd watched silently. From out of the corner of his blurring vision, he saw an expression of sad apology settle over Emilia’s face. The blood gushed from his slit throat and misted in the hot air, covering Leila and his own body in equal amount. Leila’s large wooden bowl slowly filled in her hands as it caught the remaining crimson spray.

The stream of blood began to lessen as his wound closed, and Emilia released his hair with a shaking hand as she tried to ignore his piercing gaze. Instead, she turned towards where Leila stood holding the bowl of blood, a wide smile on her sister’s face as Christoph’s blood flowed over her skin and through her dark grey fur. Dropping her knife, Emilia stepped forwards and closed her hands over Leila’s, grasping the bowl and lifting it to her mouth.

Tilting the massive dish upwards, Emilia felt the warm liquid fill her mouth, swallowing the coppery fluid as Leila tipped the bowl higher yet. She gulped wildly, blood streaming over the edges of the bowl to pour over her body as it had her sister’s. Finally, Leila allowed her to lower the bowl, and Emilia gasped for breath as she released the bowl, falling to her knees on the wet earth below.

Christoph looked down at the cat-girl as his throat healed over, and she returned his gaze with an empty expression, the lower half of her face stained red, blood running in rivulets over her bare breasts and down her body. Leila stepped back, her bowl still mostly filled with blood despite Emilia’s efforts. Turning, she handed it off to another beast-woman before stepping back towards the pair.

“Lord Bastias!” Leila’s voice shattered the silence as she stood before the fire, raising her hands to the heavens above. “Your daughter calls to you!”

The light of the fire seemed to dim suddenly, the treetops appearing to grow closer as a massive weight settled over the clearing. Christoph glanced over the crowd as they knelt down in a single motion, but a strangled cry quickly drew his attention back to the sisters in front of him. Veins bulging, Emilia fell to her side as she began to thrash, her bloodied mouth opening in a silent scream of pain.