"NG01 - Prologue" by Twyla Bendyna

Prologue

As a child, my brothers and I were always warned to never venture out past the village borders after sundown.  Many stories were used to keep us from disobeying the orders of our parents.  Always, though, they centered around one truth:  there was some sort of creature who lived beyond the tree line, whose favorite prey seemed to be children.  Sometimes, as Father and Mother told the story, the creature was eight feet tall, with claws like knives, and long fangs that were sharp as razors.  If told by our Great-Aunt Zell, the beast was tall as the trees that hid it, covered in ink-black fur, with red eyes, sharp, pointed teeth, and claws like a hawks.  The late village elder had scoffed at the stories used, said that there was no beast, only thieves that hid out there, and the missing children were those that were taken by the thieves to be trained in their ways.  There were other stories used, of course, and so many tales of either beast or men who lived in the forest that I dare not repeat them all.

My oldest brother, Syn, never took the stories to heart.  He constantly snuck off during the tales, or would doze through them.  Syn often hung out with the bad kids, the ones who disobeyed their elders, and did as they pleased.  My other brothers and I never had the heart to tell Mother and Father of Syn’s behavior, and during my eighth summer, I wished to the heavens that I had.  Maybe if I had, Syn would never have disappeared into the woods late one night, never to return.

Being all of eight summers, I was always full of energy, and slept little.  I thought myself invincible, and feared nothing save the woods that surrounded our small village – particularly the area near the mountains, where the beasts were rumored to live.  That warm summer night, I was sitting on the porch, looking at the moons above me, when I heard a low whistle from the side of the hut.  Startled, I glanced over, expecting to see a beast.  Instead, I saw Ry, Syn’s best friend, and leader of their little pack, standing just outside the boy’s window.  The cheesecloth over the window moved slightly, and I watched in horror as my older brother came out of the window to join his friend.

“You sure you up to this, Syn?”

“You bet.  We’ll prove to everyone that there’s nothing to fear out there.”  Syn stood so tall and gallant, I was almost proud to be his sister – almost.  Shadows began to gather a little ways from the house, and I was soon able to make out faces:  there was Han, the butchers youngest boy; Serra, the widow Anne’s oldest daughter; Gillam, the street urchin (parents died when he was four); and, of all people, Ell, the elder’s youngest daughter, and my best friend.  Only five of Ry’s group were missing.  Syn and Ry hurried over to the others, and I followed like a shadow, unseen and unheard.

“You guys ready?” Ry whispered to the group.  Everyone nodded enthusiastically.  I could see impish smiles on many of their faces.  “Let’s go then.”  As one, the group turned around and headed for the forest.

I slowly followed, eyes wide, afraid they were about to do the unthinkable: enter the forest after dark.  I kept thinking to myself: ‘No, they wouldn’t be that stupid.  Especially not Syn.’ I almost gasped out loud when I saw that they were going to do just that.  Ry entered first and all his companions followed, Syn at his side.  I saw no fear in their movement – only the calm bravado that they were right.  They stopped almost out of sight and waited.  Then Ry gave a small laugh.  “See guys?  Noth-”

I stepped forward in shock.  I don’t know what I thought I could do.  The shadows that swooped in on Ry and Syn were huge.  At least, they looked huge.  The others began to scatter in terror at the attack, and I soon saw that they were all being grabbed by what looked like fur-covered beasts with white, razor sharp fangs that glinted eerily in the moonlight, and long, cat-like claws.  I think I screamed when I saw Syn grabbed.  Then one of the creatures looked at me, and began to head in my direction.  I know I screamed then, and turned to run – or, at least, I thought I did.  I don’t remember exactly what happened, except that everything went black before I could leave bushes near the edge of the forest, where I’d been hiding.

***~@~***

I turned my head away from the light hitting my face, and realized that it was touching grass.  Opening my eyes, I finally heard the commotion around me; women screaming, men trying to calm them down.  The light was cast on my face by a torch, which was held by one of the village deacons.  “I found someone!  Aura, Rif, come over here, I think it’s your little girl, Aislynn!”  I blinked a few times as I sat up, and then was engulfed in Father’s strong arms.

“Oh, Ais, what in the name of the One were you doing outside!  I can only be grateful you weren’t by the forest tonight.”

Startled by what he said, I looked around me, and realized that I was, indeed, nowhere near the forest.  I had been laid in the grass by the fishing stream, fairly close to the edge of town.  At first, I wondered how I’d gotten here, and then memory came flooding back.  “Syn!”  I struggled against Father.  “Syn!  He went into the woods with Ry!  And Ell, and Han, and”- I stopped as my face got smothered into Father’s chest.

“Shhh.  Calm down, my little Spryte¹,” Father slowly ran his hand down my back, using his pet name for me.  “We’ll find him, don’t you worry.  We’ll-”

I pushed away, shaking my head.  “No!” I gasped.  “You don’t understand!  They took him, took them all!  They swooped in like fog, from nowhere, and grabbed all of them!  They were huge, and black, and furry, and”- I stopped and swallowed hard, realizing that I was probably making very little sense.  However, when I looked into Fathers face, I realized that he understood perfectly.  I didn’t know someone’s skin could turn that shade of gray and white, but his did.  I heard a strangled sound come from behind me, and turning to look, I saw Mother faint into the village elder’s arms.  He had that same gray-white color to his skin that Father did.  Han’s mother was sitting on the ground in tears.

“Ais, you saw the creatures?”  The village elder stared at me as if I’d grown two heads.  I nodded slowly, and swallowed again.  “They didn’t attack you?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”  Father turned my head to him.  “Either they did or they didn’t.”

I blinked a few times, and then said, “Well, that’s just it.  I don’t know how I got here, Father.  I was by the forest edge when Ry and the others got grabbed.  I saw one of the things turn to me, and I thought I turned to run, but everything turned black, and then the torchlight and noise woke me up, and I was lying here in the grass.”  Tears began to run down my cheeks.  “Oh, Father, I should have told you about Syn and Ry, I should have run to you when I saw them go to the woods, but I didn’t, and now he’s gone. I’m so sorry, Father!”  I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest as I cried.  His arms held me tightly as he spoke in a low voice to the village elder and stood up.  I didn’t hear what he was saying, but it didn’t matter.  I knew Father still loved me, or he wouldn’t be holding onto me so tightly, so everything was all right.

***~@~***

I don’t know when I finally fell asleep, but when I woke up, the sun was hitting my face, and Mother was sitting by my bed, arms crossed on the blankets, head down, fast asleep.  Looking at the doorway, I saw Willum, my youngest brother, standing there, looking sad.  I smiled at him, patting the blankets, and he rushed over, climbed up and into my arms, and promptly burst into tears.  At only three summers, I knew he didn’t understand what was happening, but knew that his brother was gone, that everyone else was sad, and needed comforting.  Mother stirred at the sound and looked up at me, then smiled sadly.

Brushing her hair back, she said “Good morning, dear.  Are you hungry?”  At my nod, she stood up.  “Well, I’ll go get you and Wil some lunch then.”  She leaned over, kissed my cheek, and brushed a hand down Wil’s back.  “I’ll be right back.”  I smiled slightly as she left, and then looked down at my brother, who had fallen asleep in my arms.  I made a vow, then and there, to make sure that he and Ludwig, my other brother, would know what had happened to Syn, and learn from the tragedy to never disobey their elders.

1. Spryte:  Sort of a fae, you could say.  Very similar to what we call fairies, they are small, bright (almost like little balls of fire), winged creatures, mischievous, seemingly carefree, and very hard to spot unless you are innocent enough.  Also Aislynn’s pet name.