Wars of Eredhar: The Dawn of Darkness

"Unwanted company"

It was a grim dawn with the moon becoming more and more pale, still casting a dim light on the horrific events that had happened. The blood was sparkling on the ground and glistening on the stauts' fur. Liz was lying on the ground, bleeding from her many injuries, staring lost into the margins of the forest. The wind started to slowly move through the trees' leaves and the pointy tips of the grass, gently bending them to its will.

Through the forest's edge, a fiery glow gazed back at Liz, coming closer and closer towards her. Something big was heading her way, for even if her sight was blurry, she could feel the ground shaking as it began walking her way, from behind the trees. A cold shiver went down her spine as the creature approached her, jumping over a bush, thus making the soil under its paws tremble.

They felt its presence, the stauts that were devouring what had once been a strong horse. Upon laying eyes on it, they started hissing and nervously taking a few steps back. The fiend calmly, but menacingly stepped over Liz; she felt fear crawling into her soul, sending shivers into every bone of hers and making her choke on the very air surrounding her. Every breath she took was sickening and the stench that came from the creature was rotten, it was death itself.

The beast jumped on top of the wagon, looking down at the small pack, making it crack under its heavy weight. A cloud of dust rose from the ground when it went down, almost crushing Liz under it. It started growling at them, using different sounds, seemingly communicating with the creatures. As it did that, the veins under its foul skin started to boil, turning into a darkened red, with small glowing threads flowing inside them.

Laying down in her own blood in the dirt, Liz managed to get a somewhat clearer glimpse at the fiend. Its massive body was covered in dark, slick fur, with small patches here and there which looked like diseased flesh, blistered and rotten at the edges. The end of its tail split in three sharp spikes, each with a strong metallic aspect. Every swing of its tail cut the air with a loud swoosh.

As the creature started growling, the small pack reacted to it, backing off fast, hissing and squealing. The beast jumped down from the wagon and pinned a staut with its left paw to the ground, because it had become greedy and continued feasting on the horse. It yelped, trying to get away and even bite, but with a swift clench, the creature sank its razor-like claws in it, crushing every bone in the staut's body.

Seeing what just happened, Liz tried to crawl towards a bush, near the road. Her body was so ravished that even the slightest moves proved to be an agonizing ordeal for her. She desperately looked around, but all that she could see was the beast that was ripping the horse limb by limb.

"Help, someone, help me! Please, I need ..." she mumbled, frightened, hoping that somehow, someone would come to her aid. Even if her voice was faint, it wasn't faint enough, for someone did hear her, or better said, something. In her desperate attempt, all that she managed to do was gain the beast's attention. Liz's soft moans of help were heard and in a raging moment the fiend sank its massive fangs into the animal's corpse and with great ease, it threw the horse over her body.

Liz tried screaming for help again, but all that came out was a gargled sound. After several tries, she started to choke on her own blood, coughing it in her palm. Raising her gaze from the ground, she saw the creature charging towards her and in a blink of an eye she felt her bones crushed. It swung its tail, hitting her fragile body, throwing her further away from the wagon. It rushed after her and with each step, the ground shook under Liz.

Such a breathtaking display of sheer force, rushing towards her, slicing everything that got in its way, be it trees, rocks or even stauts. It pinned her down, under its massive claws, pushing right to the edge of snapping the bones from her tiny body.