Holt Wraith | Minotaur x Reader

3: A Night Beast At The River

"Shall we gather at the river?
Where the Night Beasts once roamed,
With its crystal tide forever,
Flowing by the Moon's throne."

Your voice rings out in perfect harmony with the Sisters, reverberating off of the mountains and echoing ominously through the forest.

It's a dark melody, the tones matching something you'd hear sirens singing deep within murky water on a moonless night, all joining together to drag sailors into the depths. But it's a beautiful tune, one that needs no beat or instruments to make it flow any more beautifully.

You all do your own things under the dispersing clouds, with one Sister crocheting a scarf while sitting on the grass, and another running her hand through the river's cold water, and Delle plucks innocent flowers from the ground to make flower crowns.

You choose to weave baskets with fallen twigs, as it doesn't kill flowers, and you find it more entertaining than crocheting. Also...you don't know how to crochet.

And even with everyone doing different things, you all still come together by singing a lovely song for the Moon, and though you're caught up in your own worlds, you can all still harmonize as if you've practiced over a thousand times.

"Yes, we'll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful-"

"Night Beast!"

The beautiful...Night Beast? You question the shrieking voice that broke the song.

Everyone stops singing, drops what they're doing, and they turn their heads.

You follow the other Sisters gazes to Delle, and you look at her in confusion. Her half-finished flower crown lays in her lap as she points into the dark woods ahead of her, her eyes wide with terror and her hand shaking.

You follow her gaze to the forest, but see nothing lurking in the darkness, but you're sure you know what she saw. The Night Beast from your dreams, she must have seen it too.

"Ida, come with me," Delle says, coming to a quick stand and walking over to you.

You blink in surprise as she tugs your arm, and her eyes gleam with a demanding look, one that makes you comply and stumble to a stand. She pulls you towards the forest, pointing in a specific direction.

"I saw it duck farther into the forest. Maybe we can still catch it before it gets away!" she exclaims while dragging you on the bridge over the river.

Your eyes widen and you look behind yourself, giving Mother Saoirse a worried glance. She replies with a soft smile, her eyes gleaming pityingly as if asking you to do this one thing for Delle, and the look makes your heart clench.

She knows you and Delle don't get along, and she's probably hoping this to be a bonding experience between you two. As if tracking down a Night Beast is going to help you two bond, but even with that doubt, you don't tug your arm away from Delle.

So, as Saoirse wishes, you comply, turning to face ahead and waltzing into the dark forest with Delle guiding you. As soon as you step foot on the forest floor, your skin prickles with goosebumps, and you get the feeling you're being watched.

You stare at the back of Delle's coif, wondering if she feels what you're feeling. But she continues deep into the woods as if unfazed by the uncomfortable atmosphere. That, or she's unaware of the dark shift you felt as you stepped into the forest.

You glance around worriedly, your nerves tingling and buzzing, preparing you to run. But you don't know where you would run, mainly because you don't know where the staring is coming from, that is, if something even is staring at you.

With a shaky breath, you glue your eyes ahead of you and follow Delle deeper into the forest.

"Uh-I don't think we should..." your voice falters as you take a quick glance behind yourself, realizing just how far away you are from the other Sisters. You can't even see them through the trees with how dense the shrubbery is, and the idea that they can't see you either leaves you perturbed.

"Here, this is where I saw it," she says in a low whisper while releasing your wrist.

She starts to scan the woods, tiptoeing around, and hunkering down as to not be seen. "You look that way," she orders, pointing in the opposite direction she's looking.

Your shoulders slump in response, but you comply, even though you'd rather not be here in the first place. As you scan the forest floor, you feel a dark presence lurk up behind you, and you're sure it's a Night Beast about to pounce onto you and tear through your flesh like a piece of cloth.

You take in a deep breath, preparing yourself for what you're about to see behind you. You spin around to face the beast, but your eyes don't lock with white orbs, they lock with crazed, brown eyes.

She lets out an irritated huff as she lifts a large rock over her head, and you gasp in response before stumbling back, falling onto your butt and closing your eyes while waiting for the rock to crash into your skull. You lift your arms over your head as if that will protect you from the large object's force.

But then, you feel a gush of wind, and you hear Delle let out a sudden gasp before something thumps against the forest floor. And then you hear the crunch of bones as something crushes downward without any problem, the sound causing you to flinch. You cower into a ball as something growls under its breath, and then you feel another gush of wind as something leaves.

Then, all is silent.

You lower your arms away from your face and slowly open your eyes. Which, you wish you didn't.

A trembling cry escapes your tightening throat as you shuffle back, gazing down at the lifeless eyes of Delle. She lays with her arms outstretched as if something knocked her down, and blood pools into her mouth, but that isn't the gruesome part.

The entirety of her ribcage is caved in by a large rock. Bright red blood stains the grey stone, and the same blood is flowing from the wound like a river escaping from a gaping hole in a dam. It looks like the stone would take at least three men to carry, and you're sure you only felt one other presence, and only heard one other being.

You turn your whole body away as you start feeling lightheaded, and something within your stomach lurches up into your throat. You swallow, your throat burning and your teeth clenching, and you get on your hands and knees as another wave of nausea slams into you.

Whatever it was, it saved your life, but it had no problem taking the life of another. You're glad yet horribly frightened, left shaken by the end result.

If you ever meet whatever did this, you aren't sure if you should thank it, or run as far away from it as you can. Either way, you pray to the Moon that you forget this ever happened.

As you hyperventilate, there's an odd tingling feeling at your fingertips as you grip the green grass. It's like your fingers have been shocked with lightning, and no matter how hard you ball your hands into fists, the feeling doesn't go away. Then, the grass around your hands start growing ever-so-slightly, and the strands start twisting around your fingers as they grow up to your wrists.

You gasp, pulling your hands up and wiping the dirt and grass strands on your dress as you sit up, staring down at the ground with your eyes wide and mouth agape. You look from the grass to your hands, and then wrap your arms around your waist as the buzzing in your fingertips subside into a dull fuzzy feeling.

"Oh, by the grace of the Moon!" A trembling voice screams behind you, coming from where Delle is laying.

You're snapped out of your thoughts with how loud the voice was. You spin around and stand up, your legs wobbling, but you lock them in place.

Mother Saoirse's wide, frightened orbs meet your large, terrified eyes, and only two words slip through your tight, burning throat.

"Night Beast."

1,397 words