Caretaker's Pride

My eyes tear through the forest. Horrified screams are crying out in here, not caused by anything I know of. There seems to be a predator on the prowl.

I climb on trees, then climb along the tops to survey the scene

A large patch of the forest has been cleared out, and judging by where the screams were coming from, the piles of bodies match my suspicions.

I jump down to the ground, quietly sneaking closer to the field. The closer I get, the more I hear the low rumbles of some other beast. Groans of contentment or of excitement sound the louder as I finally approach the entrance to the clearing.

In the glistening moonlight, a dark humanoid silhouette basks among the dead cadavers. From what I can see, bright white teeth decorate its wide toothy, pointy grin.

Quietly, I step inside the area, holding close to the trees. It seems like the monster is serene for now, leaning against a tree.

My morbid curiosity pushes me further. I come into the middle of the clearing. My hand digs in my purse for a knife. My locket pulses an alarming red. “He…Hello?”

It looks up. “Who are you?” The voice is familiar, but rough and deep.

“My name is Sassilia Abernthy.”

It blinks a few times, then suddenly shrinks back.

I squint a little, following it back.

“Stop, no.”

Scared of me…? I just caught it mauling an entire village!

“It's al-"

“No. Stop, please.”

I pause. It sighs out, its claws only drawing back in its hands just a little.

My locket pulses brighter. A black vein hand erupts from it, grabbing the creatures shoulder, and pulling it into the light.

I see a flash of candlelight and glowing purple. A blackish suit.

I gasp. “D-!”

It slaps its hand over my mouth. “No, no, no!”

The spike drives into my heart, and very quickly, I fling into Denomilia form. “Get off me, brute!” I push it down and away.

It stands up and starts to run.

I wipe my mouth. Blood from its claws.

I start to chase after it, racing through with my wings. I know Caretaker is around somewhere, he always is when I’m Denomilia.

The forest goes back to being thicker, but I know my way around. Right before I can throw my chains around the creature, the spike retracts back into the locket. I careen off-course, temporarily blinded by the transformation. I fall on top of someone. I breathe heavily.

“Sass, are you alright?”

I groan a little, blood coming from my chest and bleeding through my torn clothes.

“It’s alright.” Demvare helps me up.

I hold onto his shoulder. “S-sorry, I-"

“Your locket.” He glances down curious at it. “It started flashing and you went haywire.”

“Well, well, well!”

I hold onto Dem. Caretaker is here.

He comes from behind a tree, clapping and grinning. “How quaint.”

“Shut up..” I mumble painfully.

“Mr. Erar. I recognize you from around town.”

“And you must be Demvare. My little darling has told me so much about you.”

He glances at me, then to him.

“Yes, her. She’s very informative.”

My head hits Dem's shoulder as my mind starts to get fuzzy. “Bastard…ass…”

“She’s saying she doesn’t entirely agree with you.”

“Not like this, no. Anyways, I have places to be. Make sure she doesn’t loose that locket, will you?”

“What’s it to you?”

He chuckles. “Everything.” He snaps, and he disappears.

My eyes start to close and I start to fall.

“Sass!” His hands grab my shoulders.

My head bobs back. Everything goes dark. I start to sleep.