"I've caught a fish! I got a fish!" A young boy yells excitedly, swaying his first trophy water sprinkling in his shirt after a long wait beside the river. "Look, father, look!"
"Nice one, Anton." His father claps praising his son. "Now, catch some more, we have a bucket to fill." He tapped the bucket next to him twice before returning his gaze to the river where his fishing hook sank.
"Way to kill my happiness, father. Way. to. go." He rolled his eyes. "But why does it seem there are too few fish here? We've been here for almost three hours and we caught only - what? Like five or six." The young boy asked, throwing back the fish hook.
"I have not the slightest idea why. The season ain't changing anytime soon." The old man said.
"The river is being weird." Added the boy, to which his father silently agreed, noticing the changes that are not good. "And fishing is boring."
"Indeed it is." Mr. Degget agrees to his son's first statement, slightly anxious he diverts his attention over the woods.
The sky, as always on any normal peaceful day is blue and bright basking the world with its warmth. The chirping birds freely soared with the breeze blowing the leaves as they sang, landing their soft touch on her cheeks as her long silvery hair gently flailed behind her.
Her green peridot eyes caught the view of a butterfly flying, she held her forefinger out as the beautiful creature swiftly landed fluttering its wings, Ruina was mesmerized until it touched the droplet of blood and flew away.
She lowered her blank gaze to the ground, the serenity of the above contradicted the gruesome massacre around her.
She was out picking firewood when the scent of thick iron tingled her nose wafting through the air, getting thicker with every second that passed. She parted the branches blocking her visions - blood painted the leaves red splattering it across the forest floor as flesh littered the area.
Ruina kneeled and pressed her hand at the deer's carcass, warm blood immediately seeped through the wounds soaking her hand.Fresh blood.This is newly killed. Ruina looks upfront seeing more woodland creatures left dead, scattered. What kind of wild animal would cause such carnage then not eating their kill?
The wind blows from the west, Ruina's eyes twitch, mildly disturb at the atrocious scent carried by the wind. She stood up and faced the hill hidden in the lane of woods realizing it came from that direction, the wind blowing once more, stronger this time, as the scent was changed by a dense sinistrous presence telling the danger awaiting at the end of the dark path. "How ominous."
Mr. Degget felt the uneasiness in his chest lifted upon seeing Ruina walking out of the trees, on her back mounted by the heavy load of dried wood she gathered carrying them like a sack of cotton. "I suggest we return home now, Mr. Degget." She calmly alarms the two.
"That is a good suggestion." He snapped. He refused to stay any more seconds there. "We gotta go. Anton, go pack your things." Mr. Degget placed his fishing tools in his basket in a hurry.
"What?" The boy turned to his father. "Why? We're still fishing. I mean, it's boring, but we haven't caught enough fish yet." Anton told without a sense of urgency, a complete opposite of what filled Ruina's mind remembering the gruesome picture inside the woods she had just witness and utter nothing of it. She best not scare them.
She helped Anton pack his things.
"It is enough, now, more packing less talking. Ruina, will you please help Anton." Ruina only nodded, approaching Anton taking the bucket from his hand and the basket of fishing tools.
"Wait, Father, the sun is still high. What are you so hurried about wanting to leave so early?" Anton spoke without one ounce of worry in his mind.
"The woods are alive, son, dangerously so." Him, alerted in every of his senses.
"What? Pfft. Father, are you joking?" He playfully cast aside his father's paranoias. "This village never had cases of beast insights since the reign of Hero Philippa." Ruina only listens to the young boy's words, grabbing the bucket full of fish and Anton's fishing tools.
"All I can tell is, listen when your guts says there is something wrong." Mr. Degget prays to the glorious Saint Anieyn, that his son is right.
"Well, my stomach is telling me the number of fishes we caught won't be enough. I don't want to starve." He strongly commented on the last.
"We have tons of vegetables at home."
Anton only distorted his face for a response. He hates vegetables. Mr. Degget fastened the belt tight of the basket to his shoulder before turning to his son holding the fishing rod and Ruina carrying the bucket of bait. "Let's go."
"Have you seen the Forever tree?
Come with me and hang your piece.
Hold your favorite branch that connects us,
And we will be together even if we turn to dust.
Let's go. Let's go. Let's rest in its shade,
Underneath our Forever Tree." Anton sings while playing with his stick he found swinging it like a sword while happily hopping.
Ruina glances at the young boy beside her. "Did Mrs. Degget know you're here?" She questions Anton, and the cheeky boy instantly stops singing quickly facing the other direction not wanting to answer. "You know she'll be mad."
"Oh come on, big sis! I had to get away from her! I'm always stuck with her at the house doing chores while you get to be with Father. I get that you're strong and you're needed in the field and for hunting, but it's so unfair, I'm a growing boy, for heaven's sake!" He continuously rambles masking his real intention in his mind yelling I don't want to do chores! His lips curve into a frown annoyed remembering the nagging of his mother.
"Mrs. Degget only wants to protect you."
"Now, you sound like Mother." He was annoyed by the similar nagging.
"You know the danger of the outside -"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Beast lurks in the woods blablabla - Yeah, I'm well aware." He uninterestedly declared. Clearly, you're not. Ruina muttered in her head. "But the thing is, big sis, they're not here." You're wrong.
Anton is stubborn. Being aware of his surroundings is not in his nature. Ruina thanks whatever beings that kept Anton safe whenever he wanders alone.
"You can't be too complacent. Beasts are beasts." She calmly spoke the truth. "They're monsters." What she sees in the woods earlier is an example of it.
*******************************************
"Woah, I'm beat! My legs are going numb from that walking." Anton spoke, placing the basket at the table slumping on the chair nearby.
"ANTON!" Mrs. Degget roared from another room.
Anton, sensing danger, quickly stands on his feet, "Big sis, if Mom asks where I am tell her I'm at my friend's house." Scared, he runs to the window taking a leap after saying, "Don't tell her I was with you earlier!"
Just as Anton escapes Mrs. Degget bursts inside the kitchen holding a broom in her hand. "Where is he? Where is that boy? Ooh, I'm gonna hit that head of his." The angry mother swings her fist in the air.
"He tells me he's in his friend's house." She lied just like what the young boy told her.
"Now, he makes you lie. Goodness, that boy always escaping in the middle of chores leaving this poor mother to work alone." She shook her head in disappointment and lowered the broom she was holding.
"I will help you."
"You always do, dear. Anyway, welcome back." She welcomes the young lady with a warm hug. "I've been sick and worried here, and that son of mine disappearing out of nowhere doesn't help." She blew her worries. "So, where's Bimer?" she asked for her husband looking around the room.
"He's in the backyard tending to the chickens." They both walked into their small living room.
A knock came from their front door. "Hello, is anyone home?" A voice of an elderly woman speaks behind the door. Mrs. Degget opened it. "Oh hi - What a great timing!" She cheers after spotting Ruina nearby. "Can we borrow Ruina for a while? We need a few hands to harvest the cabbages." She asked Mrs. Degget. "Also, the Healer's daughter is here." A little brunette girl holding a brown teddy bear with red checkered ribbon tied around its neck timidly peek through the hips of the lady.
"Uhm… Mom told me to deliver this ointment." Her adorable little voice timidly said, shyly extending her arms to hand the packed ointment.
Ruina approached her, kneeled down to level the small child. She gently patted the head of the little girl. "Thank you for the delivery, Little Mona." She softly said.
"Pretty big sis…" The little girl, stunned, compares Ruina's beauty to her porcelain dolls. She stared for a short moment before dashing away while burying her face. Ruina stood and gave the ointment to Mrs. Degget.
"Is Mr. Degget hurt anywhere?"
"Oh, dear no." She smiled as the wrinkles of her age showed. "He's just been complaining about his knee, that's all. Nothing to worry about. He's old and so stubborn for not wanting to retire from helping the village with heavy responsibilities. Now, he keeps getting sick because of muscle pain." Ruina didn't speak, thinking she ought to kidnap Mr. Degget later and force him to rest. Mrs. Degget is warmly smiling, perfectly masking the scent of worry lingers around her.
"I'll be going now."
Mrs. Degget turned to Ruina. "Don't be out for too long, I'll be cooking stew for dinner."
"I will be."
******************************************
A couple of knocks came from the door. "Come in," a raspy voice said from the inside. The noise of men simultaneously talking greets him, their attention falls on him.
"Chief Rondor. Elders." Mr. Degget salutes as he takes off his farming hat, his gaze circling to the slightly darkened room as the strong scent of coffee tickles his nose, books left in disarrays in shelves and papers towering in the floors and corners, and the men crowded the round oakwood table, settled at their own chairs.
Once Chief Rondor sees his face looming of serious trouble, he stops scribbling on his papers. "Seeing you here, I suppose you bring bad news. Nowadays, those never ends." He straightened his back, ready to hear another complaint or request. "So what is it this time?"
"The fishes in the river - from the bridge down to the arc are disappearing. " Mr. Degget started his report. "I've been monitoring these past three days - I tell you, the fishes are gone. Earlier too, we managed to catch but it'll barely last for two days for a family of four." He meant his family.
Not a complaint, but a report. A negative report. The old Chief placed his pen down and removed his reading glasses as he blew a long sigh hearing the news. "Before, it was the boars and chickens at the barns. The second week is the wild deer we hunt. This time, it is the fish." Chief Rondor listed the past incidents. "Death spread even to the water."
The patterns are clear, Mr. Degget desperately tries to shove his thoughts further back in his mind, however, the series of unfortunate events tells only one thing. "We need to prepare to flee." Mr. Degget upright told.
"Now, now, let's not rush to any conclusion. It might be an attack by a wild animal." He softly tries to calm the spreading terror inside Mr. Degget. A few days ago, people from the barn began storming his office complaining of their livestock being caught dead in the morning. They're demanding help on guarding the barn, and people start questioning the causes spreading the possibilities of nightly creatures. Chief Rondor, wanting to avoid the clear blooming of hysteria, shut their dread by focusing them on the latest harvest.
"I can assure you, no wild animal causes this much shortage of livestock, blood, and death."
"I suggest you speak your words carefully, Bimer. Your speculation might create fear in our people." His gaze lowered and darkened, telling Mr. Degget's from telling nothing more. For as long as his strength wills him, he wants to avoid boiling fear to his people, and if possible, solve this problem in the dark.
"Sir, even a child would know - it is not a mere speculation, it is what the facts are pointing to!" Mr. Degget firmly stated. "Fear already resides inside them. People notice what these signs tell. They are not stupid, they know!" The room fell into stillness. "What we need to do is plan the next action or all is lost when we act late."
"Then are you saying beasts are here? In our land? It has already been five centuries, there have been no sightings nor incidents related to the beasts in those long years. The grave of merciful Saint Aniveiyn blesses us with protection to our village, it is highly impossible to be invaded." Their local Priest reminded Mr. Degget as the Elders agreed.
"I do not mock the Saint's Blessings," Mr. Degget cleared the uprising misunderstanding. "However, we're standing here having these signs that tell us that we are in fact, infested with creatures of the night!" He pointed at the pile of papers beside Chief Rondor. "The beasts are here and we are defenseless!" He firmly declared. "We have no arms to protect us, not enough men to fight those creatures, and all we can do is flee." Mr. Degget's declaration instantly set the mind of the council. Their fear is out of the box. Chief Rondor can no longer contain them.
A loud silence filled the room. "If the beasts are truly here, fleeing is out of option. The woods will only scream of death." An elder calmly speaks holding his long cane for support. Chief Romford silently agreed. They have not found the nest. Beasts are known of their erratic behavior, they will settle anywhere and quickly change their nest if alerted of danger.
Exhaling a deep exasperated and exhausted sigh, Chief Rondor asked the elders. "What does the rest of the council say?"
"I suggest we call for help. We already sent a Trader to a neighboring village last week. If we send a letter to him, he might be able to call for help at the palace." One elder suggested.
"Will the palace answer our needs? We are in the far outskirts of the kingdom's land, we gave them no money, only our harvest." Another elder responded.
"We're under a contract by the King's words. If they do not want to starve their beloved Capital, they will." Chief Rondor told the land's value. "When was the last time we communicated with the Trader?" Chief Rondor looked over his shoulder.
"Four days ago… His letter states he entered the woods returning from the mission." His aide answered.
The horrendous truth chokes the words in them. Chief Rondor clasps his hands together firm and tight, leaning it against his forehead and shutting his eyes hard. It only takes a day and half passing the woodland back to their village. Yet four days have already passed. That is a long time that now brews with death.
"We will send a messenger as soon as the sun rises tomorrow. No more leaving the houses at the first bite of sunset. Bimer, have the weaponry and carriages ready. Priest, we'll have to strengthen the Saint's Blessing tomorrow. We'll be needing that very much." Chief Rondor quickly gave his orders.
"How about planting the next batch of potatoes?" An elder beside him asked.
"I'm afraid we'll have to postpone it until we resolve this problem."
"What if the palace won't really help us?" A question that bothered the old mind of an elder.
"Then we might as well surrender our souls to the God of Light with our own hands." Chief Rondor forthrightly claimed. "The lord of our kingdom will provide help… They have to."
"This meeting is dismissed." The elders left one by one, until only Mr. Degget and Chief Rondor were in the room.
"Sir, I wish to volunteer as the messenger."Mr. Degget blurted. "I mastered the woodland, I can make it out before dark in no time."
"Felicia will kill me." He immediately responded.
"My wife will understand the reason. Sir, this cannot continue. If we don't act fast, we will suffer the upcoming winter." He knows that better than anyone. The ratio of food to be sent to the capital and their stocks, including the number of families the food needed to be distributed to, won't last long. "I'm a trained soldier anyway, I can do this - let me do this." Mr. Degget insisted, his eyes burning with determination.
"This is a very dangerous mission to do, Bimer. We don't even know where the beasts nested in the woodland, even if you are a trained soldier seeing a beast and fighting it is an entirely different matter."
"Sir, no one in the village is better than I for this mission."
"I'm sorry, Bimer. But I don't want to lose another friend to those monsters." Memories of his cruel past as a soldier flipped like pages inside his mind. "Mostly, I don't want Felicia to lose her husband, and Anton to lose his father." Chief Rondor wanted Mr. Degget to weigh the consequences of the situation, using his family to change his mind.
A few minutes passed, and no one uttered anything, letting the noise of the children playing outside be the only noise they could hear. Still, Mr. Degget looked directly at the eyes of his Chief, determined at his words. He won't back down. He wouldn't. He knew the weight of his decision, because he is a father and a husband. He, more than anyone, wanted his family safe even if that meant putting himself in danger for seeking help.
And Chief Rondor understands those unspoken words. He blew his stress away and leaned back to his chair. "Fine, I'll let you. But you must bring with you at least two or three subordinates. I can't send you alone."
"I will not fail you, Sir." Mr. Degget, relieved of his Chief permission, bowed as he exited the room.
Exiting the Hall his eyes spotted a familiar silvery hair on the training ground carrying a basket full of cabbages and holding a sack of the last batch of sweet potato in, she watched the young men learning to master wielding a sword. "Ruina, what are you doing here?" He asked, appearing at her side.
"The elders needed my help earlier at the field. They said, one of the horses in the barn was caught dead this morning." Ruina showed the basket mounted on her back. "They give me these. It'll help feed the chickens." Mr. Degget softly smiled at her. Their attention drifted to the sound of swords slicing the air. "Anton told me before about wanting to learn how to use a sword." She said simply. "Why don't you teach him, Mr. Degget? I'm certain he'll be happy to know you were once a soldier at the palace."
"One of these days, I will. Just not now" He answered, his hand reaches for his shoulder and still feels the soreness of the muscles contracting to each other. "Besides, there's no one better at teaching how to handle a sword than the Chief."
Ruina only remains silent, continuing to watch the fluid movement of the sword taking the images of them in her mind. "How about you? There's no gender discrimination in holding a sword."
"Holding a sword brings conflict, and conflict ends in chaos. I despise chaos. It takes and takes and takes." Ruina honestly remarks in a quiet tone. Images of a sea of flames flash in her mind like pictures in albums that were shown to her. "Nevertheless, sword or nothing, I am ready to lay my life to protect your family, Mr. Degget. I'm forever grateful to you for saving me."
"Don't be so cheeky just because you're young and strong." Mr. Degget ruffled Ruina's already messy hair as he started marching away. Ruina, wearing a blank face shortly followed behind as she fixed her hair. "And last time I checked, that family includes you."
"What did you report to the Chief, Mr. Degget?"
"Nothing of sorts you need to worry about." He confidently answers, hinting no terror at his voice. Mrs. Degget said the same words. Yet, truth always reeks. Ruina smells it. She pressed no more, as she silently followed.
The sky is darkened by a starry drape, a quiet night for a sleeping village from the outskirts woodland disturbed by the cicadas singing their loud buzzing songs and the roaring snore of Mr. Degget across the other room. Ruina bolts her eyes open in terror of haunting dreams, a fist tightens to her sheets as her loud quick pant echoes her quiet room. Circling her gaze to the room she's resting, cold sweats soaks her clothes as she rises to no monsters around her. Ruina blew her sighs of worries and relief realizing she's safe.
She swings her feet off the bed and sets her gaze out on the starry sky, calming her raging nerves. It's been eleven years now since the old couple found her wounded behind a tree after escaping a horrendous night from her homeland. Her cold hands reached for the silvery moon tied in red string hanging around her neck. She clasped her hands together. Dear merciful Saint, bless us with your light and protection. Let no harm come to this village. They do not deserve any form of pain and sadness. O' dear merciful saint that guides us, I pray you send your champion to protect them. She prayed.
The monsters are lurking, haunting their prey in every corner of the woodland and valleys - chasing after them. Playing them. Feasting them.
Ruina opened her eyes upon a thought. "Oh, I almost forgot…" Her quiet voice whispers in the night air. "Tomorrow is the Miracle Day." I should pray for that tomorrow again.