Chrystal's Ball (Book 1 in the Shadow Chronicles )

Chapter 2- The Scream Heard 'Round The World

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MadHatter-chan!

Rosalyn Dance

It's night time now and I've made camp, a skill which I learned at the castle despite what ,my father,all 11 of my sisters and practically everyone else, said. It really is a good thing I learned these things or else I would probably be dead, or kidnapped like my sisters if I had been the "perfect little princess." Although no matter how much my sisters annoyed me, which was a lot, I still loved them, and it is kind of lonely here in the forest.

I've been out here for a week now and the monster situation seems to be getting worse, it kind of sucks trying to stop a great evil when you are the only one fighting it. Sighing I lay back and gaze at the stars, trying to remember all the constellations. It's calming, looking at the stars, they remind me of all the old storiesof our ancestors watching over us and protecting us. Despite the fact that thy're doing a horrible job, the stars just make me feeel safer.

Slowly sleep starts to over take me as my eyelids begin to droop and my mind begins to plummet. Then, suddenly, I feel the sharp prick of claws cutting into my arms and shoulders. I smell the warm, damp and completely rank scent of deep, loud breaths blowing across my face. So I do the natural thing and let out a scream.

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Crimson Rose

THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER! I race through the woods, the wind whipping through my fur, my feet pounding on the forest floor, it is amazing! Suddenly my nose picks up , on something, I sniff the air it's about 1 mile Northeast of here, sniff again, RABBIT! Not nessacarily the biggest meal, but tastey all the same. I dash past the foliage and follow my nose through all the turns and bends until, I come across a burrow.

I sniff around again and I find a single rabbit out in a nearby bush I carefully stalk the rabbit. I strategically avoid the branches and avoid the soft crunch of grass, instead making sure my paw steps are as quiet as possible. I'm just about to pounce when suddenly the most shrill and high pitched screech, pierces the air, scaring away the rabbit and giving me a headache . The screech still penetrates my ears in a practically deafening way.

I decide to head towards the scream to see if I can get it to stop, so I sprint past the trees and branches that lash and cut my fur, but honestly that scream is causing me more pain. I eventually come upon a small fire and notice a horrific creature squashing a girl with light curly brown hair who continues to make that horrible screeching noise. I run towards the beast and my nostrils are flooded with a truly putrid scent of death, decay, rotting flesh, it's so strong it's amazing I didn't smell it before, from miles away. However I do not falter I continue my approach and throw the creature off the girl, and finally, FINALLY, the screaming stops.

Relief washes over me until I realize that the creature is advancing on me preparing to attack. The creature begins to lash out at me, I counter as much as possible with my claws ans even manage to make a quite a few marks. However, the beast eventually pins me down in the same position he had the other girl in just a while ago. From here the terrible scent is even more emminent and my head begins to grew dizzy. I hear distantly hear a faint clicking sound, and suddenly the creatures head has plopped off it's boddy and onto mine with one clean swoop. It is then that everything goes dark.