T he raindrops beat against Arianwen's face with their watery fists, and fingers of wind clawed at her clothes, but she paid no heed to the elemental army that sought to hinder her progress. With her heart in her throat, she ran headlong up the hill towards the Great Hall, with Peredur at her side. The sky was as black as the deepest abyss, and only intermittent flashes of lightening illuminated the surroundings. The closer they drew to the hilltop fortress, the stronger the air of malice became; it pressed down upon them and ground against them like a gigantic millstone. "What is happening?" Peredur shouted to his companion. Though he was at her side, the wind caught his words and flung them away, so that he seemed to be speaking to her from a great distance. "It's the Beast, Peredur," Arianwen shouted back, no longer caring if he thought she was mad or not. "Quickly, we must hurry or she will destroy my home!" "The Beast?! But I thought that was just a legend --- " They crested the hill and came in sight of the royal compound. Arianwen held up her arm to shield her eyes from the driving rain. The silver haired girl saw the great gates, their girth thicker than a man’s thigh, split and splintered from top to bottom. Many of the buildings inside were on fire and the smoke from them rose and joined with the towering, seething mass of storm clouds that smothered her home. They stretched up into the sky, blending into the blackness of the night. As she squinted and stared at the storm, it seemed to take the form of a figure, but it was not any recognizable earthly shape. Arianwen could see it growing out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked directly at it, it seemed to be nothing but clouds and rain. And what she saw seemed beyond the bounds of reason. Waves of skyfire came down from the clouds and slid over the sinuous curves of a monstrous form. It was immense and terrible, a being of greater power than she had ever encountered before. The storm was taking the shape of a great dragon-like creature that perched on the roof of the Great Hall. Its body was made of clouds and mist; shimmering drops of rain were its scales. Pulses of lightening were its heartbeat and thunder was its voice. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen and she started to shiver, not from the chill of her rain soaked garments, but from sheer panic. It was all she could do not to throw herself at Peredur and beg him to flee with her. A blast of lightening, like a spear thrown from the hand of Llew, shot out from the maw of the storm-beast’s long pointed snout, and despite the pounding rain, set the roof of the guest hall ablaze. The stables were already burning and Arianwen could see the grooms frantically trying to get the horses to safety. In front of the Great Hall, men ran to and fro, carrying torches and weapons. With a tremendous roar, the Beast leapt down from the roof of the Great Hall. She whipped her tail to and fro, creating a tremendous gale that sent branches and bits of splintered wood flying through the air; they were as lethal as ballista bolts. Hailstones began to fall from the sky, striking men and knocking them to the ground. I have to help my people!, Arianwen thought. She gathered her courage and rushed into the melee, clambering over the remains of the gate and dodging past running men. She had no idea what she expected to do, armed only with a sword and Morcant’s dagger tucked into her boot, but she knew she had to try. The force of the wind nearly knocked her to her knees and she grunted in pain as a particularly large hailstone hit her in the center of her back. Gritting her teeth, she struggled onward. In the midst of the chaos, she saw her sisters Eleyne and Soredamor standing in the open. They clung to each other, frozen with fear. Fighting against the howling tempest, she reached the girls’ side and bent down before them, trying to shield them with her body. “Ladies,” she cried. “What are you doing standing around here? Get to safety at once! Wait!” Her eyes darted between them. “The baby…where is Thaney?” Two pairs of wide and terrified eyes blinked back at her; raindrops were beaded in their long lashes. “Thaney,” Eleyne whimpered. “We can’t find Thaney…we were going back to look for her.” Mercy, Lady! No, not my smallest sister! “Where is the baby?” Arianwen repeated, and Eleyne blurted out the whole story of what had happened in Lot’s hall. She was so scared that it didn’t occur to her to wonder how the strange servant knew the name of the youngest princess of Gododdin. Frantically, the three of the looked around, and finally Soredamor saw her. “Look there!” Arianwen followed her trembling finger to see the small form of Thaney huddled beneath a hay filled wagon. The little girl had crawled underneath it, in an attempt to hide. “Find shelter, you two,” Arianwen ordered. “I shall go and retrieve your sister.” She ran towards the terrified child, but was knocked off her feet and sent skidding sideways by a backlash of air as the Beast’s tail whipped around. She had only a heartbeat to duck as the tail sailed over her head like a whip and tore into the burning remains of the guest hall. Raging, the Beast opened her mouth and spat out another bolt of lightening. Arianwen was so close to it that the hair stood up on the back of her neck and she felt the heat from it wash over her. The writhing mass of the storm dragon was now in between Arianwen and her baby sister. The disguised princess scrambled to her feet and drew her sword. She felt she might as well be threatening a mountain with a stick, for all the good it would do against the massive creature. “What are you doing, stupid boy?” came the voice of Derelei from behind her. The Pictish princess had found her bow and arrow. She stepped around Arianwen and unleashed a bolt. It buried itself in the Beast’s snout and the creature gave what sounded like an annoyed snort. “Don’t you know you can’t attack a thing like that with a sword!” Thunder rumbled and the ground shook as the Beast lowered her massive head and focused her full attention upon the two who stood in front of her. Sparks of lightening crackled around her eyes. She grinned at them, revealing teeth that were as long as Cryf’s legs. “I don’t know if shooting twigs at it will help either!” Arianwen returned. She shuddered and again glanced over to where Thaney cowered. “But sticks and twigs will have to do Lady Derelei, as that is all we have. Help me by keeping it distracted while I go and get the bairn.”