A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Twenty-Six

It was morning in the forest, a small girl was playfully running about in the woods. She had been playing a hiding game with the other children but in her haste to win she had gone much too far from the safety of the village. It wasn't until she was startled by a screeching owl that she finally realized how lost she had now become. She wandered back and forth among the trees, desperately trying to find the path that would lead her home yet it never did appear in her sight. Something else appeared instead.

A man. A tall man with greasy black hair and a very long nose. His legs were quite thin though his arms were very wide. And he had such beady eyes.

"Good day to you child." He spoke to her politely.

"G-Good day to you sir." The girl replied, uncertain due to being instructed to never converse with strangers.

"What are you doing so deep in the woods child? It is quite unsafe you know."

"I lost my way while playing a game with my friends."

"How terrible. No one should ever be alone in the woods especially someone as small as you. But as good fortune would have it, I know the way back to the village. Won't you allow me to escort you?"

"I don't know." She said taking a step back. "Both my mama and papa say that I should never go anywhere with a stranger."

"That is good advice but then again how else do you expect to find your way home? True you could just sit and wait for help to come but who knows how long that will take. And you definitely don't want to still be here when it becomes dark. That is when the wolves come. It would probably be in your best interest to just let me lead you home."

"I suppose that makes sense." The girl said only slightly uncertain.

"You can trust me child, I mean you no harm."

He held out his hand to the girl. Though a little anxious, he had spoken very sweetly to her and he was right about her needing someone to escort her out of the woods. Also he had no weapons on his person so what harm could he possibly pose to her?

She reached out to take his hand but just before they made contact an arrow was fired right into the man's outstretched appendage. He let out a screech the mirrored the voice of a crow and the next the girl knew, she was being pulled away from him but a woman in a red cloak.

"I found you at last you filthy bird!" She said keeping herself between the man she shot and the child. "You're not going to get this child or anymore children for that matter."

The man looked at the woman, his beady eyes full of hate.

"You vile wench!" He spat. "How dare you interfere in my hunt!"

"Your hunt is barbaric!" The woman scolded. "How dare you prey on innocent children! Devoting their lives and breaking the hearts of their parents! Your hunting days are over nachtkrapp!"

"Nachtkrapp?" The little girl repeated confused. "What is that? What is going on?"

But her questions were answered when the man jerked the arrow out of his hand and stood up tall. First he tore his shirt open and then proceeded to rip the skin from his face, head, and body. It's eyes were ripped out next and they were revealed to be nothing more than two black stones. What laid under the fake skin were black feathers, wings with holes in them, and a long beak that could be mistaken for a snout. The hideous creature screeched again and moved to swoop down on the child but he was shot by another arrow that came from the woman's crossbow.

He then turned his wrath on to her and grabbed hold of her with his talons. He tried to lift her up but was met with an angry Rottweiler biting on to his tail feathers and jerking him back. She quickly used this distraction to slice off his left wing with her knife. He dropped and before he could make another move, she raised an axe and took his head clean off. He was dead but the woman wanted to make sure that he stayed dead and no mystical force could bring him back.