Hunters of the Night

Chapter 1: Honesty

I ran through the woods, trying to outrun the creature chasing me. It was some type of wolf, I think. I did not dare look behind me, in fear it would slow me down to the point of being attacked. I kept my eyes forward, and pressed on.

Feeling drawn to a part of the woods, I began my way over there. It felt as though it would provide me with adequate safety, at least for the time being. Up ahead, I caught sight of entwined trees. I barely had time to think about what to do when I came up on them. I ran up the trees and flipped over them, landing in a small clearing.

In the centre of the clearing lay a garden. The garden had gargoyles placed around, as if they were the protectors. There were several types of flowers in the garden; irises, dahlias, roses, foxgloves, and many others I could not identify myself.

I cautiously made my way over to the garden. One of the gargoyles stepped forward, looking me up and down. It seemed as though it were analysing me, which worried me. What could it be analysing me for?

'Interesting,' it began with a heavy French accent, 'You are the first to find this place in almost a century.'

'Find it? It was not very hard to find, though.'

'Because you were meant to find it. I suppose this means you earned this.'

A small leather pouch floated up from underneath a Weeping Cherry Tree. The pouch landed in my outstretched hand, reddish leather cooling my hand off. When I attempted to open the pouch, the gargoyle shrieked.

'Do not open it here. Open it when you are alone. Keep what is inside it on you at all times. Never give it to anyone. If it is in the wrong hands, it can cause great danger to the world. If you do not heed my warning, you will perish. Do you understand?'

I nodded, worried about the contents of the pouch. The gargoyle seemingly nodded and went under the tree. A moment later, he reappeared, another gargoyle by his side, slightly smaller.

'Take him with you. He will turn into an onyx amulet you must wear whenever you are out in public. As soon as you take it off and put it somewhere, he turns back into a gargoyle. He will be much help to you, Mademoiselle.'

'Alright. I guess that will work.'

I bent down, reaching for the gargoyle. He recoiled in fear and I backed up, not wanting to frighten him even more. The first gargoyle chuckled.

'He is quite shy, this one. He is our new edition to the garden. We get new gargoyles all the time that end up leaving to find bigger and better things. I hope he is able to serve you well, Mademoiselle.'

'I am sure he will. What is your name?'

'Call me M.'

'M?'

'Yes, M. Call him G.'

'You can call me B.'

I jumped and saw another gargoyle. This one had a more feminine sounding voice. Like the other, she had a strong French accent. She nudged G. and he looked up at me.

'Hello, Miss. I am sorry, but I am still new to this.'

I nodded, 'That is alright.'

He came forward, slightly. I placed my hand down and he climbed into it, turning into an amulet like M had said. I placed the leather cord holding the onyx around my neck. The stone rested on my collar bone.

Realising that I still had the pouch in my hand, I pocketed it in my jeans. M. and B. nodded and turned away.

'Excuse me, but can I stay here a little while longer? Something was chasing me, hence why I arrived.'