Beast

Fairies are not to be trusted. 

We are told as children that we should not listen to the fairies, should not look at them, should not enter their rings, should not taste fairy food or drink fairy wine. Every child makes mistakes, of course. Most are lucky, and are simply ensorcelled or bewildered for a couple of days, and learn their lesson. The older a child is when they finally make a mistake, the harsher the penalties the fairies exact upon them. I made my only mistake upon my twenty-first birthday, and for that I am now locked in two cages. My newest cage is made from white elm, carved with a cold iron dagger and secured with a silver lock. My oldest is this body. My hands are black-furred paws, my mouth a muzzle of granite teeth. I can see- I can always see- the points of my oaken horns. Could I speak, I would tell two things. I would tell that fairies are not to be trusted, and I would tell the townsfolk that they have imprisoned the wrong beast.