Scrawl-Shorts: The Woods of Nimgae

Diamond arcs of water splashed into the air as Hannah doused her parched face in the flowing Nimgae River. Her dripping hair dappled the smooth rocks under her knees with water drops. She caught a drop with her tongue as it fell from her nose and savored its cool texture with a restful sigh while the roar of a waterfall echoed through the shallow gorge above her.

Wrapping a frayed, linen cloth around her head, Hannah stooped to retrieve her father's sword from the river bank and stepped back up the wooded incline to their pack animals. Her feet ached after two days of flight from the Gaunt mercenaries whose teeming hoardes raided the lands behind them and spread destruction like a long shadow. She comforted herself that all would be well soon. She and her father would find peace in the western provinces. It was just the two of them now. She knew they would.

Slinging a water sack off her shoulder, she tended to the animals. The sharp report of an axe on wood rang out at intervals a short distance over the ridge. Humming dutifully to herself, Hannah wiped down the blade of her own dagger. It had been with her as long as she could recall and its short metal blade was clouded with age and use. She thumbed its silver edge and secured it against her thigh while the animals browsed among the forest shrubs.

A twig snapped behind her, and Hannah spun around to see a young girl with brown, flowing hair, not much taller than herself, observing her from behind a distant tree. Hannah raised her hand in acknowledgment and shouted a greeting but the girl shrank behind the tree and ran in the opposite direction. Starting after her, Hannah pulled the cloth off her head and tightened the strap that held her father's sword to her back. It was still heavy to her but would make a better defense than her own weapon in case something was to happen. It didn't seem likely that she was a Gaunt scout, but the mere presence of this girl, alone in the woods, sparked apprehension in her.

Hannah ran swiftly after the girl and stopped at the tree where she had last been. The forest had become strangely dark and the colors seemed to have gone out of the trees as she traced the girl's steps. Hannah bolted around a boulder in pursuit and nearly ran into the girl. She skidded to a halt, inches from the girl's face.

Time stopped. A cold wind hung in the still air as Hannah met the girl's eyes as if in a horrible mirror. The girl stood stiff with a look of speechless terror on her face. Her cheek bones protruded from underneath tight, pale skin. Her wide eyes were darkly ringed and sunken. Hannah stared, disbelieving as she recognized her own face beneath the girl's anguished expression. The girl whipped around and vanished before Hannah's eyes, leaving her where she stood with her fingers locked around the sword's hilt. A peculiar twilight soaked the woods and an acrid fog swirled through the branches. Trembling fear crept through her body.

Hannah turned back toward the river, freezing suddenly at the sound of deep breathing just ahead of her. Squinting into the gloom, Hannah saw two faint discs of light approaching. She stepped backward just as an enormous dark head appeared through the billowing fog. Its great, round eyes glowed like lanterns and the flattened face regarded her with brutal curiosity. Its body materialized as the foul creature lurched forward. It was unlike anything Hannah had ever seen before. Oily skin glistened deep black over every part of its stocky body except for its clawed forelimbs, which were caked in what looked like blood and dirt. A low rumble issued from the monstrous creature's throat as it moved closer.

Hannah stood, motionless, her jaw clenched, as the beast filled the space in front of her and seemed to pour forth darkness from its flared nostrils. It thumped the ground menacingly as it dropped to all fours. Instinctively, Hannah pulled at the sword hilt to take a defensive position but the sword stuck in its scabbard. The beast let out a deafening bellow as Hannah darted to the side. It batted the air with a powerful arm; its sickle claws spread apart. The monster lunged and Hannah jumped back within inches of her doom.

Frantic, she wrenched the sword from its scabbard. The blade rang coldly as it swung free and glinted like ice in the pallid fog that encircled her. Hannah sprang forward, gripping the sword tightly in both hands and brought her full weight down on the creature's neck with a desperate cry.

The blade bowed backward on contact and the piercing shriek of shattering metal filled Hannah's ears as the shock of the blow knocked her flat on her back. The shards of her father's sword clattered against the rocks and roots of the forest floor and the creature glared down at her with an almost gleeful look in its impassive yellow eyes. It opened its wide mouth in a grin, baring rows of blade-like silver fangs. The stench of decay and death poured from its black gullet.

Leaping to her feet, Hannah cast the scabbard aside and ran deeper into the woods, calling for her father. Low branches and shrubs tore at her cloak and lashed her arms and face. She beat them down madly, trying to flee farther from the monster in the darkness. A small voice caught Hannah's ears and she slid to a quick stop, calling out again. The voice came to her over the sound of clattering leaves and stones.

"Hannah? Where are you?" it cried.

She turned to follow the voice and saw a dark shape moving swiftly away from her, back down the slope to the Nimgae River. Hannah crashed through the trees in pursuit, shouting ever louder but the pleading voice diminished the more she ran and then died out completely. A terrifying silence crept back into the forest and Hannah stood alone in the gloom. Her rasping breath resounded against the tree trunks as her eyes darted back and forth. The monster was nowhere in sight.

The river was clearly visible below her but the coursing waters made no sound at all. Near its banks she noticed a man standing behind a young oak with his back to her. A spark of hope ignited in her belly and she ran down the hill and circled the tree to meet her father face to face. Dry leaves crackled beneath her feet as she approached with open arms. He would know how to protect her.

A choked gasp escaped Hannah's lips when she came closer to the man, and her arms collapsed, limp at her sides. The lifeless body hung just off the ground, impaled on a sharpened branch. Its arms were bound to the tree trunk by an impossible web of thorny vines. Her father's severed head, in a leather cap, lay on its side at the foot of the tree next to a broken axe and glared up at her with an accusing sneer on his dead face.

"Where are—you, Han-nah?" wheezed the head, rolling toward her. "You left—me like you—left Mother."

Hannah jumped back in horror and the forest descended into absolute darkness. Disoriented, she spun around with outstretched arms, groping for anything of substance to anchor her back into reality. Something bumped into her ankle and she kicked at it, slipped on a protruding root and fell to the ground.

A wave of terror flooded Hannah's thoughts. She scrambled for footing but found none. All around, she perceived spirits of dead men and women pointing down at her with caustic scowls on their rotting faces. Among them, she saw her mother, standing, silent, glaring straight at Hannah with milky, dead eyes. Nausea overtook Hannah and a deep voice spoke inside her mind.

Your fears are so beautiful, Hannah. Why do you resist them?

She clamped her hands over her ears and curled up on the damp forest floor, willing herself to disappear. Her body shuddered from the pounding in her chest.

Come back to me.

She peered through the slits of her eyelids and saw two bright yellow orbs glowering fiercely down at her. The beast's form emerged again, faintly outlined in a cold blue light as it came forward on all fours. It seemed to have grown since she last saw it, carried now on massive limbs that appeared rooted in the very rocks beneath her. Searching in the darkness, Hannah moved a hand down her leg and felt for the hilt of her dagger.

The weapon flew from its sheath with a sound like water, its blade glowing hot and bathing the trees in a warm amber light. She stared in wonder at the glittering weapon. She had never seen it like this.

The monster's blunt face jerked back, growling into the shadows as Hannah shot to her feet with a defiant cry and stood, crouched. The dagger in her hand burned with a fiery torch light that glimmered in her moist eyes.

"What are you!" she screamed in a tremulous voice. "Answer me if you dare or I will kill you where you stand!"

The beast ripped its claws from the ground with a roar that rattled Hannah's bones as it stood upright into the heights of the forest. Its tremendous arms splintered the trees towering over her.

You are a fool, Hannah. Without me, you could not exist. You need fear to survive. You need my strength.

The monster snapped a tree in half and slammed it down at Hannah's feet like a club. Splinters stung her watering eyes as she dodged the branches and resumed her defensive stance. With a horrible laugh, the creature dropped the tree, reaching for her with a giant hand. Its fingers suddenly disappeared into a mass of snakelike cords that whipped outward. Hannah leapt back in surprise, overwhelmed as the leathery tentacles tightened around her.

She doubled her grip on the dagger as the beast lifted her off the ground. Its growling rose into an excited wail and it pulled her in toward its waiting mouth. For a moment, Hannah stared into those vacant yellow eyes and the voice invaded her mind like rust.

Why did you abandon me, Hannah?

It was her mother's voice. Hannah was paralyzed as the image of her lost mother flashed through her thoughts. She lay still in the smoldering grass, a Gaunt halberd buried deep in her chest and a wordless mercy plea stretched over her soft face. All around, the fires burned hot, engulfing home, family, and memory.

"No!" Hannah cried, and the vision faded. She felt a burning strength course through her hands, heating the fiery blade ever hotter. She twisted her wrist in the vice-like grip and sliced the cord that bound her arm. The creature howled angrily and lashed her through the air. She swung upside down, her dagger casting long menacing shadows into the forest as a wave of blood rushed into her head. Kicking against her bonds, Hannah arced in toward the monster. The dagger blade flared white as it ripped through the darkness and thrust upward into the beast's throat.

The woods fled back into that unnatural night as Hannah's blade sank deeper into the creature's gullet. Cold streams of putrid slime flowed over her stiff arms and the yellow light that illuminated the creature's eyes from within dimmed and flickered out. The gaping jaws gnashed convulsively. A sputtering sound swirled into her ears.

You can never kill me, Hannah. As you live—so shall—I.

The massive body that held her melted down and its skin flowed like tar, sinking slowly into the ground until there was nothing.

Hannah remained, kneeling, on the forest floor with her eyes squeezed shut and the dagger poised in front of her. Sunlight gradually crept back into the trees and the forest sang with the voices of wind and water. The blade fell heavily from her hands. She clasped her arms tightly around her chest, her mouth open in a silent cry.

On the ridge above her, Hannah's father stood, summoned by the pained cries of his only child. He clambered down the slope, shouting reassurances, and slid to a stop in front of her amidst a shower of loose earth. Grabbing Hannah's shoulders, he stared intently into her flooded eyes and saw the cuts and scrapes that scored her face.

"Hannah! What has happened to you?"

She looked back up at him and bit her lip. "I didn't mean to leave her, Father," she sobbed. "Forgive me. Please—please, just take us away from here."