Chapter Two

Ven ran to the window, and looked down into the village square outside. Some on the far side were scattering, some yelling things she couldn’t understand from here. Others closer craned their necks to try and see what was happening. They hadn’t started the Harvest Hunt already, had they? It wasn’t even fully dark yet! Then, as she watched, something stepped far enough into the light, and she froze, the breath caught in her chest. What in the name of the All-Mother was that?

It wasn’t human. It couldn’t be. There was no way anyone could make a costume that looked that real. The creature stood nearly nine feet tall, with oversized arms and legs both ending in fingers and toes far too long. It looked almost as if it was covered in tree bark, but dark and glistening, like it had been drenched in oil. Then there were its eyes. They shone out of a writhing, misshapen mass of a head, harsh and yellow like a pair of lumenite lanterns that traced beams of light across wherever its gaze landed.

The thing strode through the scattering crowd before coming to a stop near the center of the square. It stood there motionless for several long moments, seeming to stare down at the ground. Some of those fleeing, seeing it stop, stood to watch it, wondering what would happen next.

Suddenly, the creature threw its head back towards the sky and emitted an ear-splitting wail that was loud enough to force Ven to clap her hands over her ears. Those closer were knocked to the ground, and those that weren’t were already running as fast as they could out of the square. At the sound of its howl, several smaller darker shapes dropped out of the air into the square. They looked like giant crows, but with crooked human-like arms and legs and the same glowing lantern eyes. With a chorus of harsh squawks, the bird-beasts set off in a flurry of limbs after some of the fleeing villagers. The large tree-like one in the center of the square gazed around as if looking for something. The crack of a musket rang out into the air following the sound, and the creature stumbled backwards a step from the impact. Looking in the direction of the shot, Ven saw a man lowering the weapon and starting to reload. Was that Anders? Another shot rang out from another direction as Logen the blacksmith fired a short distance away from the front of his shop.

The second shot knocked the creature another step backwards. It roared loudly and snapped its eyes on Anders. It dashed at terrifying speed, and before the man could even drop his rifle the beast was on him. It lifted him over its head like he was a child’s doll and hurled him clear across to the other side of the square where he smashed into the wall of the apothecary with a sickening splat. Dropping his weapon, Logen turned and ran. Seeing him flee, the creature’s glance fell on one of the nearby untapped wine casks for the Harvest Dinner. It snatched it up in an oversized hand and hurled it in the direction Logen had run. Syrvena couldn’t see what happened next, but the fleshy crunch of the barrel hitting its target was enough.

Unable to keep herself together any longer, Ven retched onto the floor. Her whole body shook, and she felt numb. This all had to be part of the festival somehow. It was all just a trick to frighten the kids back into listening to their parents about bogeymen. Monsters weren’t actually real. They couldn’t be real… right?

Before she could dwell on things further, the door to her room burst open and her mother rushed inside, her face pale.

“Leave your things. We have to go. Now!”

Ven climbed to her feet, wiping the vomit from her mouth.

“Mom, what is going on?”

“Now, Ven!”

Before Syrvena could say or do anything else, her mother snatched her by the hand and half led, half dragged her out of her room. In her final glance out the window as she fled, she could swear that she saw more dark shapes descending from the sky. The two of them rounded the corner and ran down the stairs into the kitchen. More faint shrieks pierced the air outside, but were suddenly cut short by a thunderous boom that shook the ground hard enough to knock the two of them off balance. Ven was only able to keep her footing by bracing herself against the oven hearth, and yelped in pain when a falling pot fell on her foot.

Amara’s eyes darted back and forth between the door to the common room and the rear entrance. She grabbed Ven’s hand again. They ran into the common room, heading for the front door. They made it about halfway before a long twisted shape darkened one of the windows. The two of them froze, and the serpentine creature turned its head towards the window. A pair of vivid yellow eyes shone into the roof, illuminating the two of them in a harsh yellow glow.

The two of them spun and ran the other direction as the beast burst through the window behind them, its limbs making a wet slapping sound as it shrieked and pounded after them. They ran back into the kitchen and slammed the door behind them.

“Bar it! Bar it!” Amara said, leaving Ven to do so while she shoved open the rear exit.

Ven groaned as she lifted the heavy wooden beam into place across the doorway and dropped it into the slot. No sooner had she done so than a thunderous crash slammed into the door, buckling it inwards with a chorus of cracks and monstrous shrieks. Ven stumbled backwards and followed her mother out into the rear alley, slamming the exit door behind her.

“What is happening? What are these things?!!” Ven asked. Something told her the answer should probably have been obvious, but some part of her refused to accept that as a possible option.

Amara said nothing, but continued down the alleyway away from the town square. The alleyway emptied out into a side street, where others were already fleeing out of the village proper in the direction of the forest to the south. There was Mikkem and his sons, but where was Laira? And that was Helga and Geralt and the Herrmat brothers. They joined the fleeing crowd, their feet slapping hard against the paving stones. Ven’s mind still felt blank. Numb. She kept trying to process what was going on, but it was like the part of her that was capable of thinking about anything further just didn’t exist. There were only her two feet, and the grip of her mother’s hand, and sounds of ragged breathing, and the burning sensation that was already beginning to build in her chest.

Then she saw more dark shapes emerging from the treeline in front of them.

Those around her seemed to notice them at the same moment, and one by one they all slowed to a stop, looking at each other uncertainly. One by one, pairs of shining yellow eyes flared to light in the faces of more twisted creatures. Someone screamed, and at once the tide of people scattered in all directions as a dozen of the yellow-eyed beasts surged towards them from the forest. Amara was shouting something at Ven, but she couldn’t hear it. It was as if the world had suddenly been shoved underwater. She stood transfixed, her eyes frozen on the swarm of oncoming creatures. Everything seemed to slow, and for a moment, nothing seemed real any longer. One of the creatures caught Mikkem and pulled him screaming into its jaws, but she felt nothing. It was like she had stepped out of her body and was watching a traveling theater troupe perform reality in front of her.

Someone or something seized her arm, and all at once, the world snapped back into clarity as Mother drug her behind herself back towards the center of the village and away from the treeline. Wait, why were they going this way? There were monsters this way too! Ven tried to protest, tried to pull out of her mother’s grip, but something was wrong. There was a wild look in her eyes Ven had never seen before. She’d only seen it a few times, and never on a person.

It was the look an animal got when it knew it was going to die, and there was nothing it could do about it. Last time she’d seen it was when a wild fox had cornered itself inside the cellar of the tailor’s house. There was no removing it. It shrieked and snapped at anyone that drew too close, its eyes filled with deranged terror until Fredrick the Miller put it down with his hunting rifle. Syrvena had cried then. Hilde the Miller’s wife had tried to comfort her, tried to tell her that once something had crossed that line of fear it could never be brought back and that nothing else could have been done. Ven knew it was supposed to be comforting, but it wasn’t. For weeks she’d spent nearly every night kept awake by that wild look in the poor creature’s eyes.

And now, here it was in her mother’s eyes too.

They made it to an intersection, and Amara’s eyes jumped wildly from one street to the next. In her hesitation, some of the creatures from the forest broke free from the rest and began to close rapidly towards the two of them. Ven screamed, and tried to get her mother’s attention, but upon seeing the creatures charging at them, the wild light faded from Amara’s eyes, leaving dead, empty pools where once had been life only seconds before.

“Go to the crawlspace, Ven.” She said quietly as she let go of Ven’s arm. “You’re the only one small enough to fit. They won’t find you there.”

“Mother! We have to run!” Ven said, tugging at Amara’s arm. Her mother, however, remained unmoved.

“Go, Ven.” She said again as tears traced pale lines down the dirt on her face. “Please. Go.”

Ven looked from her mother’s face back to the approaching mass of dark bodies. They were within a hundred paces now. She gave her mother one final look.

“I love you, mother.” Ven said, letting go of Amara’s arm.

Amara smiled, and for the faintest of moments, a bit of light returned to her eyes.

“I love you too. Always. Now go!” She said, nudging Ven towards one of the streets.

Without a second glance, Ven turned and ran, the sound of howls and shrieks and slapping limbs filling the intersection behind her as she hurtled down the dark street.