It was a night with a full moon. The fresh smell of trees, flowers, and earth was very refreshing, but even in peaceful places, impurities and unpleasantness took hold. Blood stained the earth and fed nature with its luck. The smell of metal invaded the sense of smell and announced danger. But above all, death was present. Hundreds of bodies were scattered throughout the place, their faces full of suffering and toil.
Small children and young people with expressions of having lost all hope rummaged through the corpses. They removed their armor, weapons, and any valuable objects and loaded them onto carts pulled by donkeys. They were watched over by men much older than themselves. Stronger and with expressions attentive to their surroundings.
One of the children collapses from exhaustion. His hands are dirty and covered in blisters. One of the adults approaches him and orders him in an authoritative tone to get up and continue working. The little boy struggles to his feet and continues his work.
Time passed and the work continued. When someone couldn't do it, they were threatened to keep going, but if they didn't obey, they were beaten with large sticks until they reacted or were left almost dead.
Every corpse was looted from that field of death. Just as they were about to leave, a guttural howl echoed through the place. Without exception, everyone became alert and nervous upon hearing it.
The air grew colder and the wind violently shook the trees. Everyone was about to climb into the wagons to leave when a creature cried out again.
Everyone turned in the direction of the sound, as it sounded very close this time. In front of them, about 7 meters away among the trees, stood an enormous creature watching them intently with its seven golden eyes. When it noticed them, the creature stood up on its two legs, making its silhouette look a little more human, except for the fact that it had more limbs than a human would have. Four enormous, strong arms stretched up to the night sky to join together and make a sign as if it were praying.
The creature let out another howl before lunging at the humans in front of it. With no time to think clearly and overcome by panic and fear, everyone ran in different directions. It was total chaos. The slowest were caught by the creature, which grabbed them with its beastly claws and mercilessly tore them apart, spilling more blood and death in that place.
In a matter of seconds, the creature had killed several people, regardless of whether they were adults or children. The victims' screams were filled with pain and pleas.
The child who had previously been reprimanded after seeing the creature devour one of its guards as if it were candy began to run without looking back. For a few moments, he felt the creature's piercing gaze on him, but luckily he could hear that it had decided to go after someone else, which was unfortunate for whoever its target was now.
His weak, small legs moved beyond exhaustion. He gasped for air and his heart raced frantically due to the danger he found himself in. But he was human, and despite his body's overexertion to save him, it gradually gave in to fatigue. Then he saw a hollow tree, as if the gods wanted this child to survive the night. Without a moment's hesitation, the child made the decision to enter the hollow tree, and even crawled further to get completely inside his refuge.
And there he lay on the ground, surrounded by protruding roots, in the darkness of the night, perfectly illuminated by the moon. The boy could hear the distant cries of unfortunate and not-so-unfortunate people, and occasionally the howling of the creature. He never took his eyes off the entrance; despite being hidden there, he did not feel completely safe.
Time seemed to pass like an eternity. Hour after hour, the boy did not look away and did not dare to close his eyes. Darkness began to take over completely when clouds covered the moonlight. The boy panicked when he could not see anything, and the sound of footsteps and the creature's scent alerted him even more, causing him to begin to tremble and pant.
The creature noticed the hole in the tree and almost instantly heard the sound of a new victim gasping for breath, satisfying its hunger for flesh. It slowly approached the hollow and could clearly see a human child like the others. The child barely seemed to notice it. Effortlessly and savagely, it reached one of its limbs into the hollow and pulled the human child out of its hiding place. The child could only let out a loud roar when it was placed in front of it.
Seven golden eyes were what the boy saw in total darkness. He was motionless and suspended in the air. Then the clouds moved, giving way to the moonlight. A cruel joke of fate, one might say. As if it were saying: Look and contemplate the being that will end your existence.
He saw an enormous elk head with its jaws slightly open, revealing sharp teeth for tearing flesh. He looked down for a moment and saw the enormous hand that was holding him. He began to scream and beg for his life as the creature slowly brought him closer to its jaws, now completely open and stained with blood and the remains of other people.
Quick footsteps, silent as they moved toward the scene, approached. With a single stroke of a silver blade, it cut off one of the creature's limbs, causing it to howl in pain and release the child. The child fell backwards, seriously injuring himself, feeling some of his bones break inside him. He screamed in pain but was ignored. With tears in his eyes, he turned his battered body and saw the creature turn its attention to someone who had arrived.
A hooded figure covered in a brown cloak looked at the creature with a friendly smile. He swayed his curved sword slightly. He quickly charged at the creature, dodging its claw attack to the side. Responding to this with a single, swift movement, the hooded figure cut off the creature's arm. Its arm fell to the ground with a thud, leaving a wound that would not stop bleeding.
The creature seemed to contain its pain, opened its jaws, and a burst of snow-white fire came out of it. The hooded figure barely dodged the attack to one side, but its cloak was hit. Without wasting any time, it took it off and threw it aside, revealing its figure.
The creature's golden eyes rested on a young human woman dressed in simple, light-colored clothing, wearing a silver mask and carrying a sword in her left hand. The weapon emitted a faint blue light that only the creature could see. It roared and charged clumsily toward her.
The young woman remained calm at all times, and when the right moment came, she slipped under the creature while slashing open its abdomen with her sword. The wound spilled bloody viscera onto the ground. Despite this, the creature was still willing to fight for its survival. It turned despite its wounds and launched another fire breath attack, but the young woman's reaction speed was superior, and she dodged the attack again by jumping to the left, then lunging forward and severing another of the creature's limbs.
The spilled blood formed a large pool. The creature's gasps became heavy, and a slight tremor could be seen in its body.
-It's time to end this.
Finally, the young woman spoke. Her tone of voice was gentle and soft. The dying child's eyes never left her.
With a snap of his right hand, a metallic sound and the sound of gears moving could be heard, one of the last things the creature heard before looking up
towards where the sound came from, only to see a figure covered in a black cloak climbing to the top of a tree. The figure jumped and landed on the creature's sword. A sword appeared in his hand and, pointing it at its back, he stabbed the creature.
The creature let out one last roar of agony and pain before feeling its throat being slit by the young woman, who jumped with superhuman strength to reach its neck.
The creature fell to the ground, choking on its own blood as life drained from its body. A few final thoughts crossed its inhuman mind. An apology to its master and lord.
Again and again, the young woman stabbed the creature with her sword until it finally stopped moving and she confirmed its death. She wiped the sweat and blood from her face with her sleeve and, with the same friendly smile, ended her hunt.
The little boy's eyes met the young woman's for a few moments, but the pain was already unbearable for him. Little by little, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.