Night Beast

Samuel

Samuel was rudely awoken from his much-needed and deserved deep sleep by a violent shake from his mother. 

"Get up, Sammy. We have to go," his mother's voice was wavering. She was scared. 

Samuel rubbed the sleep from his eyes as his mother handed him his father's coat to put over his onesie pajamas. She was wearing her sunhat in the dead of night. What was going on?

"What's wrong, Mom? Where's dad?" Samuel asked. He was tired and confused.

"He's buying us some time. We need to get to the granary. Now!" She wasn't just scared. She was terrified. 

Samuel decided not to be a burden. He would listen to his mother and do as he was told. Samuel quickly got out of bed and put on the coat. She was clearly in a hurry. The boy let his mom drag him out from their cottage by the hand. Her grip was suffocating.

Only when they made it outside did Samuel understand. The Sea of Chaff was under attack. The four operating guard towers had been destroyed. There were people hiding in the Sea. Thousands and thousands of them. Samuel knew the Sea so well that he could see the grain bend differently in their presence. They were under attack!

Samuel looked up to see Castle Hill on lockdown. Both curtain walls were alight with torches and bonfires. There were guards with bows lining the curtain wall. Some of the men on Hilltown's curtain wall were shooting fire out of stone tubes into the Sea.  Samuel saw light and fire growing and spreading out across the Sea. The Hilltown defenders were burning the Sea! What were they thinking? The Farmers weren't under attack. They were caught in the middle of a siege of Castle Hill.

Samuel saw, closer to home, that the farmers were gathered with pitchforks, torches, scythes, and sickles. His father was organizing the mob. Were they going to put out the fires? They would need his help if they were.

"Dad!" Samuel called out to his father. Big Sam Sawyer looked back at his son with a sad smile. Samuel's mom began to cry. She dragged Samuel away from his father. He tried to fight her, but her grip was too tight. He had to relent. His father didn't seem to need him right now. When the village was in danger. He was just a useless kid. 

Samuel's mother followed some of the other mothers, the elderly, and the children towards the granary. It was the largest structure in the town. A proper timber barn. Not made of mud like his hovel. It had a big set of oaken doors that were too heavy for Samuel to open on his own. At the moment they were swung open, held by a pair of men holding pitchforks. Everyone in the motherly mob poured inside. Samuel could hardly see or hear what was happening around him.

Once they were inside, the two men with pitchforks at the door barred it shut with a thick wooden plank. Immediately after its closing, more people arrived. They pounded and screamed to be let in, but not one person made a move to open the bar. The pitchforks stood guard at the door, forks raised. Eventually, the beginning and crying outside subsided.

Samuel's mother guided him into the back of the granary, where the rest of the children were gathered, many crying. It was a long, dark room full of grain. It wasn't too crowded. There were only around 80 people packed inside the large storehouse. It smelled quite nice despite it all. That niceness was soon canceled out by all the crying and screaming. 

Samuel's mother took the sunhat off her head and dropped it onto Samuel's intentionally obscuring his eyes in the oversized hat. 

"Stay here," His mother demanded. Samuel peeked out from under his hat. He was horrified to see dozens, maybe even hundreds, of giant silhouettes dancing on the walls of the shed, through the gaps in slats and illuminated by the light of all the outside torches. His mother pulled the sickle from her belt and moved up to stand with most of the mothers near the door. Samuel heard more screams and clashes of metal on metal. There was a battle going on outside, not far from here.

Samuel looked to his side and found the old counter and his cousin Chris, and another girl curled in a ball, crying. His cousin was holding Samuel's baby sister and trying to keep her calm. It was working for them most part. Samuel didn't want to make matters worse. He left them be. He tapped the old counter on the shoulder. 

"I'm sorry I was so rude the other day. I meant to apologize sooner, but I got caught up with work," Samuel earnestly apologized.

"Samuel. Is that you under that big 'ol hat? I'm happy to hear you are safe. Your baby sister was wailing for you. Don't worry about that no more. That was last week. Today presents new and novel challenges. We can't get hung up over the past. Now stay quiet and listen to your mama, you hear?" the counter concluded. Samuel nudged silently in acknowledgement. 

There was a loud bang outside, and Samuel's baby sister, among others, began to scream. He went over to his cousins and took his sister from her. She looked all too happy for the break. Samuel swaddled his baby sister until she calmed down.

Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, the timber above lit ablaze. A draggoon must have missed his mark and hit the granary instead. The rafters, below the thatched roof, began to rain down embers and soon flames. The flammable shed full of burnable grain quickly grew into a blaze.

The doors began to rattle, this time from the inside out. A call sound to open the doors from the people within. They were banging on the door. The men with pitchforks quickly removed the wooden bar. The doors were soon filled with spikey silvery metal. The walls were also coming down from around them. When the doors finally swung open, it wasn't farmers outside but shadows. The pitchforks engaged the first shadow to enter into the room, but were quickly dispatched. Samuel's mom and the other mothers raised their own steel in desperate defense. Samuel was so scared he could feel his heart. It was getting so hot. They had to get out of here. 

Samuel handed his sister back to Chris, who was now crying. He grabbed the sickle from his mother's shaking hands and went to work at one of the loose wall panels. He pried it with the steel until it started to splinter. He managed to dig his hands through the wood, filling them with splinters. 

 Just then, as Samuel thought he had it, the Beasts rushed into the burning room. That was when the beams holding the ceiling started to give way. 

The village was filled of Beast and bones.