The Beast

Chapter 1

long , long , time ago there was a little black beast living in the dark part of the sleeping forest. As each person crossed that pass have died either from the dreamers or the beast." As the children petrified from the scary story Helen the nice young lady walked over and began comforting the children magical getting the scary of the children and telling them "it's okay " in a sweet quietly voice.

Their bodies shook with fear as their eyes darted about as if looking at the shadows waiting for the Beast to attack. Helen sighed softly and knelt down to bring the children's attention to her. "Are you really that afraid of the Beast," she asked. The children shared mixed looks of embarrassment and a tad bit of fear before looking up at her expectantly. She pondered on what to say for a moment before getting an idea. "How about this, if the Beast ever appears, all you have to do is come to me and I will protect you." Their faces lit up with cheer and they crowded around Helen talking animatedly about how brave she was. But even in the back of her mind, Helen couldn't help but wonder about the nature of the Beast and glanced up at the silhouette of the castle upon the Northern Mountains.

A loud shriek echoed from the center of town and Helen stood up quickly before heading towards the brewing crowd. Pushing through and peeking in between people, her eyes widened at the sight that laid before her. A man, bruised and battered with purple and yellow marks on his skin. His lip was cut and his eye was swollen but he held tightly onto a piece of parchment tucked close to his chest.

"What is this," a woman whispered.

"He was sent into the Northern Mountains just a few moons ago," a man muttered.

"Could it have been the Beast," one of the children piped up hiding behind Helen.

Her eyes narrowed and she stepped through the crowd approaching the messenger and knelt down. The poor man was gasping for breath trying to see through blurred eyes. He held out the parchment with a shaking hand and Helen slowly slipped it from his grasp only to find that there was blood smeared across it's surface.

"Thank you," she whispered to him and the man smiled although it was painfully aware he was hurt. He fell limp and some of the village's men carried him to the doctor as the others crowded about Helen to look at the parchment.

"What does it say Helen?'

"Yes, tell us."

Helen's face was pale and her eyes were wide as she ran her fingers over the blood-stained parchment. She looked towards the Northern Mountains and spoke in a ghastly voice.

"The Sleeping Forest has awoken."

The reaction of the crowd was mere silence. One man actually looked panicked, his face was a pale white and he grabbed onto the hand of his wife before slowly backing away from the crowd. A mother grabbed onto her children and tucked them close to her. Helen noticed that the crowd was dwindling more and more.

"If the Sleeping Forest has awoken, all is lost. But that's impossible - the God of the Forest couldn't have awoken so easily. How could this have happened?"

Helen tried to halt her racing heart and closed her hands around the parchment before pushing it close to her chest.

"It will be alright. There is no need for us to worry," Helen began.

"How can you say something like that?!"

"Those beasts will overrun the village."

"They'll kill our children."

"They'll haunt us at night, slaughter us all. How can you even think th-"

"Because," Helen shouted silencing the uproars. They looked to her and she took in a deep breath before steeling her resolve. "Because. There is one thing that can help us in our hour of need. The Dreamers, the ones in the forest who plague us with their presence, they fear the Beast. If we can get the Beast on our side, maybe, just maybe we can stay alive."

***

Fear was a controlling emotion. Staring into the eyes of the beast, the huntsmen could feel it in their chest. She stood there with her arms folded over her chest, the moon creating a halo behind her that looked like the welcoming of death. Her eyes slid over each of them taking in their expressions and features as she took in a deep breath and a fluid motion forward. Her body blurred almost as she reached one of the huntsmen and took him by the throat lifting him into the air. His legs kicked and he held her wrist as he was jerked side to side before being thrown.