Black as Blood (Part Two)

The Storyteller

That night Arianna dreamed miserable, dark, muddy dreams. It started out when she was hunting in the forest by herself, her bow in hand and her breath bated, waiting for some sort of creature. The forest was gloomy and twisted, with gnarly branches barren of leaves that rattled like dry bones in the cool wind. Someone stepped in front of her, his longbow strung taut, broad shoulders almost blocking out the glaring moon. “Papa,” she whispered, edging up behind him.

        He put his finger to his lips and glanced at his daughter, but his eyes were a violent green. “Papa?” she asked, but her mouth was covered by a rough hand.

        A rustle to her right. She stiffened, her hunter senses kicking in. Her father slowly put his hand back on his bow, his body language reading danger. Reaching over her shoulder, she grabbed an arrow and aimed at the bushes, her arrow shaking in her hand.

        Something exploded into the moonlight. A monstrous figure, its form flickering and heaving. Arianna’s eyes widened and her heartbeat quickened as she recognized the unholy beast of the devil, rearing its monstrous head into the dark sky, a strange keen emerging from its chest.

        Beside her, her father lowered his bow, “The cat. The cat’s come for me!”

         Arianna didn’t think twice. She let loose a hail of arrows, each impaling its feathery chest. The creature screamed and swing its great claws in agony. Arianna thought I have you now foul beast, and reached to get the arrow that would finish it off. Her groping hand came up with nothing. “What? But… but that’s impossible!” she cried.

         The Julnfr smiled grotesquely, then its form flickered and it looked like a giant cat on its haunches. It blinked again and was once again the giant bird. Arianna backed up against a gnarly tree as it stomped closer, a thick purple tongue sliming over its beak. Its form flickered again, this time its face a grotesquely bloated version of Arianna’s mother’s- The Queen. Her eyes glittered maliciously, “Arianna, you never should have left Grunde. You’ll be the ruin of us all! You left your responsibility! Your country depended on you! You have always been a disappointment to me, Arianna. The only Princess in our royal bloodline to have the cowardice to run away. You are no daughter of mine, coward.”

             “But.. you don’t understand! I had to-”

             The Queen/bird laughed and for a second it looked like a misshapen cat. Something quivered above her and she looked up to find her father shaking like a leaf in the sturdy barren bough, his eyes firmly shut. His form flickered for a second and her father’s beard disappeared, his hair shrunk to just above shoulder-length, and his stature became even taller. What? Ralem is here? She thought. A stomp brought her back to the attention that a killer bird was about to impale her.

            “Now you must pay the price for your wrongs, Princess Arianna,” the creature said mockingly, shifting forward and opening its huge slobbery beak. In a blur of white it dashed at her, claws aimed for the strike.

              BAM! Several sickening crunches and squelches rang through the forest as the bird was beaten back. “DON’T”-punch-“TOUCH”-jab-“HER”-kick It flailed its saber claws ruthlessly, but could find no purchase in the blur of the attacker. Within seconds, it flopped to the ground, its form shimmering again, writhing and compacting. Ralem, or was it Jaydon, landed softly by it, his fist raised and a snarl on his face. Yes, definitely Jaydon.

               The thing reappeared as a man with dark, wild hair and strange green eyes. Jaydon faltered as the thing writhed, bleeding into the forest floor. “Jaydon, help me!” it called out weakly, “Please. Heal me, my soul brother.” Jaydon dropped to his knees. “Ralem?” he asked pitifully.