The Howling Dark

With the light of day dwindling fast, and with rain clouds gathering overhead, the cart finally trundles into town along the ramshackle road. It comes to a halt just as it passes the boundary, and the old man driving it looks behind him at the sleeping figure lying amongst the supplies he'd been hauling. From the angle he's at he gets a good eyeful down the top of her tunic between the gap of the remarkably skimpy armour beneath the thick fur cloak she's wrapped in, and he takes a moment to leer at her before reaching back and shaking her awake.

"'Ey! Time to get up, not takin' you any further now." He says with a rasping voice as he watches the groggy warrior wake from her slumber. Emmeline groans as she sits up from her uncomfortable nap and stretches her arms above her head, yawning as she does so. Rolling her shoulders she picks up the bovine decorated greatsword lying beside her and slides off of the back of the cart. Stopping to grab her pack she turns to thank the driver for the lift, but by then he's already whipped the horse into moving on and is trundling back down the road.

Giving a curt glare at his balding head for his rudeness, Emmeline looks around for a few moments as she tries to spot somewhere to find a room for the night, and was in luck to see a sign advertising lodging for barely a handful of silvers across the road from where she was. She trudges her way across the muddy road just as the heavens began to open, and drops of rain started to plop to the ground and ping off her helmet. She pushes the door open and steps into the crowded tavern, though the atmosphere was far from what she expected.

Rather than the excited chatter and laughter of friends and companions she would have thought to witness at this late hour, the mood was dour and dejected. Though packed with people there were bare more than hushed whispers over barely touched drinks and panicked, suspicious eyes set in the sleepless faces of many of those around. Several of them flinch heavily when the door bangs open as she enters, fearful gazes staring at her.

"Ok then... Not a place to make any new friends it would seem..." She mutters quietly as she glances over the gloom of the tavern. Deciding she was of little threat or interest to them, those that look her way return to hunching over their tables and ignoring those around them, and Emmeline closes the door and walks slowly through the tavern to the bar, to speak to who was presumably the owner who could be found there.

As she approaches she withdraws her coinpurse and counts out the amount she'd read on the sign, slapping the coins down on the counter with a cheerful expression in her attempt to brighten the mood surrounding her.

"One room for the night, please!"

The man behind the counter looks around as she does so, a mug in his hand and a grim expression on his face. He glances down at the coins presented by the woman with little change in his expression as he then looks Emmeline up and down in silence. When he does speak his voice sounds as if he were gargling gravel.

"Not enough." Is the only thing he says as he continues his attempts at polishing the grime encrusted mug, catching Emmeline off guard.

"Oh? The sign outside said-"

"Sign's wrong. 'S not enough. Two gold."

Emmeline is quite taken aback by the increase in price from what was advertised.

"You're kidding me. Two gold for a single night?" She says somewhat incredulously, to which the man puts down the mug on the counter and stands, puffing out his chest in an effort to appear tougher than he truly was.

"Three gold now. Either 'at, or you can get out. Find somewhere else t' stay." He says with a sneer, pointing to the window across from them. He turns around again as Emmeline follows the finger and sees the rain well and truly pouring down now, as a clap of thunder sounds overhead. She glances down into her coinpurse to see what she had and reluctantly counts out the extorted price, taking back her silver and pulling out the priced number of gold. Though before she hands it over another of the patrons steps up beside her, leaning his elbow on the bar.

"Oh lay off, Ernest. Three gold for a night in this shithole? We both know they don't even charge that in the Capital." The stranger says, placing his own emptied tankard down on the counter and blocking Emmeline's arm from handing over the coins. She looks at the man and is surprised to see someone almost a foot taller than herself standing there, most of his features hidden by the heavy shadow cast over his face by the wide hat he wears.

What she can make out are a pair of piercing gold eyes, and the shaped beard that adorned his scarred face. Even when he shifts his head and the candlelight flickers over him she finds his face oddly difficult to distinguish. The bartender turns around and catches sight of the long coated man standing there.

"'oo the fuck asked you? Room's three gold, an' 'ats 'at." He says with an angered face, putting his hand on his hip.

"Ernest... " The stranger begins in a voice as if admonishing a child. "I think it's ten silvers, am I right?" He questions as he draws back his coat, exposing the sword and pistol hanging within. When his hand falls upon the pommel of the sword, just relaxing there for now, Ernest stiffens slightly. He looks as if he's about to protest before he deflates somewhat, grumbling now.

"Fine, ten silvers." Ernest says as he looks to Emmeline as the man slaps the bar in agreement.

"Wonderful! Aren't we all happy now?" He says with a smile- was he smiling?- Before patting Emmeline on the back as he lets his coat fall back into place.

"You have a good night now, lass."

And with that he walks away again back to his table where a dark skinned woman and winged boy sat in conversation with each other, looking at him as he returns and sits down, propping his feet up on the table.

Confused, mildly insulted, but overall not about to look a gift horse in the mouth Emmeline quickly turns her attention back to the awaiting and already begrudging man and hands over the silvers still in her hand to the bartender, who snatches them from her then fishes behind the counter for a moment, pulling out a worn looking key.

"Upstairs, las' door. Fuck off by noon." He says as he hands it over to her before immediately turning away, the sounds of his quiet complaining floating over his shoulder as he busies himself with other work.

Shrugging her shoulders, and feeling the exhaustion of the journey reaching her despite the nap in the cart, Emmeline steps away and makes for the stairs she could see at the back. She passes by the stranger on the way who raises the other tankard in his hand to her in greeting, and she gives him a smile and a wave as she begins climbing the stairs to the second floor in search of her room.

Turning onto the landing, the hallway of doors she's met with is markedly dingy, which was about as she was expecting really. She makes her way to the end of the hall and uses the key to unlock the door, a heavy clunk being heard in the rusted latch within the wood before she pushes it open.

Inside she finds the room is rather spartan, with a smell of damp in the air. Under a low ceiling a bed sits against the wall facing the window on the opposite, with a desk and a chair sat beneath the glass. The view outside overlooks the roof of the lower floor, and shows the expansive forest bordering the small village. Further beyond that stood the dark silhouettes of the mountain range that towers over it all. She closes the door behind her, locking it as she turns away to drop her bag beside the bed.

After a moment she then drags the chair over and wedges it beneath the handle to prop the door closed... just in case.

Raising her hands up she takes off her helmet, unclips her heavy fur cloak to let it fall to the floor and begins unbuckling her armour. With each undone strap she lays the pieces at the end of her bed until she is standing in her already revealing tunic and cloth shorts, which are soon removed as well. Her partly braided hair flows freely over her shoulders, and she stands naked but for her loincloth as the moonlight begins to filter through her window.

It bathes her in its pale light, washing over her tattooed skin and the honed muscles that shift beneath as she stretches her arms above her head. She places her sword on the floor beside the bed, where she could easily grasp its handle, before she slips under the covers and draws them up until they cover the red handprints tattooed upon her chest, closing her eyes and listening to the rain battering her window as the spectre of sleep comes to claim her.

Howling.

Emmeline's eyes snap open as her hand immediately snatches up her sword as she leaps from the bed. As the bright moonlight streams through the window it illuminates her curving figure and gorgeous, painted bosom, all the while that terrible howling echoes outside in the dark. Far too low in pitch for a wolf, or even a Lycan, the haunting sound rolls throughout the village like a blanket of dread, seeming to pierce even into her heart as it echoes around her like it was coming from within her room.

She approaches the window, pushing the desk aside as she almost presses herself against the glass as she looks out, becoming aware that something was shifting outside in the dark at the edge of her view. Something large. She fiddles with the latch of her window as she tries to open it to better see what's going on, looking down for a moment to see why the blasted catch wont open. She hears a loud crunch immediately outside her window, and she looks up and feels her blood freeze.

There on the roof, she sees a beast, staring through the window at her.

Twisted antlers rise out of a skull-like head, shaped like some kind of bovine or deer, with long, pitch black fur curling around its shoulders. Its body is dark as shadow with sculpted and moulded muscles all across its form. Though it hunches to watch her through the glass it still stands tall on its clawed hind legs. One of its hands is splayed against the side of the window, claws pressed against the class.

Behind it a long tail lashes down against the roof, cracking lines in the tiles. Matted fur covers the back of most of its body and though it was a despicable and feral looking creature she could feel its eyes slowly roaming over her naked body, and quite unintentionally she finds her eyes drawn downwards to the abnormally large member that hangs between its legs.

As her eyes linger she swears she saw it begin to stiffen beneath her gaze, and feeling her cheeks redden at the sight of it she immediately snaps her eyes back to its face as it presses closer, its breath fogging up the glass.

Emmeline stands transfixed, her eyes locked into the endless pits of darkness within the sunken skull of its face and she finds herself unable to look away. It's other claw reaches towards the window, and subtly it gestures as though it was beckoning to her. A chill runs through her as the world beyond those void-ful eyes starts to fade from view, and she feels her hand slowly move to unlatch the window once again.

They stand staring at each other, her grasp on her sword starting to loosen as a warmth creeps through her body. She stands fixated before a bellowed shout comes from outside the window. There's a crack of gunpowder as a shot splits through the air and shatters against the creature's antler.

An explosion of red lightning flashes in the darkness as the antler splinters apart, breaking the spell that Emmeline had been under as another of those terrifying howls is unleashed from within the depths of the beast. A second shot impacts its shoulder, the same flash of lightning, and the next second that beckoning arm is blown from its body. Though while she expected blood to spray from the grievous wound, instead there was merely a black mist that filters out from the tattered socket.

She watches as it turns to the unseen attacker and screeches at them, before leaping from the roof and into the darkness of the forest, its tail slashing wildly and cracking the glass of her window. The branches and trees ripple as it powers through the undergrowth and towards the distant mountain.

A new figure appears on the roof, landing from out of her view and this time she recognises it. The man from earlier that evening, his coat flowing behind him in the wind as he stands with a pistol in his hand, the engravings on the barrel lit up with a deep red light. He stands staring into the darkness of the forest, tracking the movements of the creature that had vanished into them until he could no longer see it. The man turns and glances in through the window at Emmeline, briefly scanning her exposed body up and down.

With a suggestive eyebrow raise and a wink he then holsters his pistol again and jumps down from the roof onto the ground, satisfied the beast had been driven away for the night.

Quite perturbed at what had just transpired, Emmeline swiftly begins to dress herself once again and buckles her armour back across her body as fast as she can. Carrying her helmet under her arm with her sword laid over her shoulder she tosses the chair aside and unlocks the door, sprinting down the hallway and down to the bottom floor of the tavern.

When she arrives she sees Ernest peering through one of the windows in the wall as he tries to see if the coast was clear. In her hurry Emmeline bumps a chair with her hip, and the loud clatter it makes as it tumbles to the ground causes the bar owner to jump out of his skin, wheeling round to her. When he sees it was just Emmeline he relaxes a little.

"Oh.. oh fank the Gods.. 'S jus' you." He breathes in a panicked voice, his hand clasped to his chest in fright. He quickly gets over his fright and resumes his trembling watch out of the window.

"Fuckin' thing... 'S been plaguin' us for months now... E'ery few nights, comes back af'er dark. Come morn some poor fuck'r's been ripped apart. Or missin'."

Months? Emmeline's shocked at the news, but it quickly sinks in why the mood earlier had been so remarkably dour when she had first entered the tavern. She comes over to where he stands, the window facing the same way the creature had departed when she had watched it before, and looks out into the darkness to see if she could spot it.

"What the hell was that... thing?" She asks the man as she stands beside him, though before he could answer another voice chimes in.

"That, Lass. Is why me and my crew will be leaving this town immediately come morning."

When Emmeline turns around, the stranger stands there once again, though she noticeably realises she hadn't heard the door open when he had come into the room. He walks closer to her and leans over the window, looking out with the other two.

"Something I would suggest you do as well." He whispers to her quietly as he leans there.

"What- why?" She asks in surprise, looking at the man beside her. He glances past her at Ernest, before he wraps an arm around her shoulder and turns her away from the window. He walks her a few steps from the other man's earshot before he speaks again.

"Whatever this thing is, these folks have been next to useless in getting rid of it. This thing is a force of nature. Something primal. And believe me I don't say that lightly. Damn thing took two shots from this-" He pulls his pistol out of his holster, and Emmeline watches as the engravings once again light up on the three rotating barrels now it's in his hand. "- And still managed to run off with barely a care."

"So what, it's just some... monster. You hurt it after all, I saw you do it. If you scared it off once like that I'm sure it could be killed." Emmeline replies, brushing off the man's wariness as unwarranted.

"Listen, lass. I'm not one to back away from a fight, don't get me wrong. But even I don't fuck with some of the things out there. That beast is magical. It's dark, and it is hungry. And from what I saw upstairs- It's pegged you as its next meal." He says, walking round in front of her and looking down at her as he holsters the weapon again. "You don't owe these fuckers anything, and as nice as that sword is, I don't think it'll serve you well against that. Spend your night, and get out. In case you don't get the choice to leave again."

Emmeline crosses her arms as the man implores her to leave the village, disliking the thought of leaving the people of this village in need. Though even as she opens her mouth to protest the idea, her mind goes back to just how intently the beast was leering into her window. The way those eyes had rolled slowly over her and burrowed into her own, locking her gaze into its own. That wanting, hypnotic gaze... And the sight of its-

She shakes her head, dispersing the thoughts just quickly as they come to her.

"I'm not going to abandon people in need just because some overgrown mountain goat has gone rabid. Especially after it decided to ogle me through my window at night."

The man raises his arms defensively at her protesting outburst, stepping back from her and leaning against a table nearby.

"Hey don't try and convince me, I'm not in charge of you. I just reckon you might not be in the best of situations here. This thing's been roaming around for months now, and I just don't see the need for it to get its claws into more bodies than it has already. But hey, your choice, lass."

He stands once again and tilts his head slightly, as if listening to something. When his eyes refocus again the man shrugs and starts heading for the stairs.

"It's up to you what you do, of course. But if I were you I'd still be getting out of here as fast as possible." He says, before heading back up to his room. Emmeline stands quietly for a minute, before she begrudgingly follows his example and walks back to her own room again. Closing the door behind her, Emmeline begins to undress once more before pausing.

She looks at the window, eyes lingering on the crack where the creature's tail had lashed against it. Not wanting to see it again, or give it the opportunity to see her should it return, she crosses to the desk and heaves with effort as she upends it, propping it against the window to block the view. She then returns the chair to its spot beneath the handle of the door to reinforce that as well. Satisfied with her work, she then sets about removing her armour to make herself comfortable.

She once again slips beneath the covers of the bed, with the sword propped against the edge of the bed, her hand still holding it as she stares at the tiny slit of moonlight that still filters through the window. In time the adrenaline wears off, and her exhaustion takes hold, and she finally drifts off to sleep.

In her dreamful sleep Emmeline finds herself alone in a dark forest. Though almost in pitch darkness she finds herself still barely able to see, and she looks around herself. Wind rolls through the forest, and its touch reveals to her that she is fully naked as she stands there, with even her loincloth missing from her body. At first shocked and a little worried about her lack of clothing, it's the sound of a snapping branch that catches her attention, and the tingling sensation that runs down her spine as she gets the feeling that someone- or something- was watching her.

She spins on the spot, casting her eyes into the darkness around herself as she looks for what created the sound and eventually catches a glimpse of something skirting around a tree, a large claw disappearing from view. She goes to step towards it, but freezes when another branch snaps much closer behind her.

She feels a warmth roll over her skin, and feels her heartbeat increase in speed as she turns around. The beast stands behind her, fully upright on its hind legs as it towers over the woman. Immediately she panics and lets out a cry, back-pedalling and falling to the ground as she trips over a root.