The Iron Witch

Intro

Donna Underwoods Journal:

My father died saving my life when I was seven years old.

I wish I found it easier to remember him outside of my dreams, where of course he is tall and handsome,and over and over again saves me from the Wood Monster.

In my nightmares, Im always running through twisted woodland.The trees bend close together and whisper beneath the moonlight as I stumble between them,trying desperately to keep my footing.

Behind me I can hear quicksilver footsteps and a cacophony of cackling and screeching.I enter a small clearing with a yammering sound of my pursures still ringing in my ears.

The ashen stump of a tree trunk stands in the center, a fairy-tale woodcutters axe stuck into the top of it at an angle.Im breathing hard, my chest burns, and the fear is like a frozen claw gripping me so tight it hurts.

My childs hands reach for the scarred axe handle, even as I know I wont be able to pull it free.

I never can.

Im surrounded by a wierd choir of voices,inhumanly singing my downfall, though I cant see anything outside the clearing but trees and darkness.There are other sounds,too: strange clicks and scrapings that hurt my ears and set my teeth on edge.

And thats when my father appears,right there besides me.This part is always so clear that I cant help wondering if this is how it really happened.

Dad reaches for the axe and easily yanks it out of the stump, sparing me a glance.I see the flash of familar determination in his eyes.Maybe we will get out of here after all.Maybe it will be ok.

"Get behind me, Donna."

I do what he tells me, and as I cower behind my fathers broad back I begin to pray.
But when the screeching hoard breaks into the clearing, two of them riding on the back of the Wood Monster, I stop praying and begin to scream...