Savage Beasts

Prologue

Child of the Wilds

It was so dark tonight, even the moon struggled to pierce the veil of night with her light. A vast forest surrounded by a blanket of mist, this was the place, an eerie scene if any were there to bear witness. Tall and strong stood the trees of this grim wilderness, their branches stretching like arms trying to entwine with one another, it was no surprise that light struggled to press past the staunch foliage provided by the brooding sentinels that had their roots buried so deep within the earth.

This night would be different, certainly for the ancient residents that clustered together, as heavy steps and pained breaths could faintly be heard. Twigs snapped, cracks echoing through the silence that fell like a dense weight on those who tried to disturb it, while a lithe shadow slipped through the beams of silver light and danced between the trees.

If one has ever witnessed a frightened animal fleeing it's hunter then they would be quick to draw the comparison here, frightened and tired, the biting cold filling their lungs with each hurried breath. Yet as the wooden guardians watched this "prey" flee wildly through their joined limbs, then onwards past their kin, they noticed a bundle that seemed to writhe with the same panic as the creature that couldn't seem to flee as fast as they wished to.

Eventually the fleeing "prey" ceased their running and rested their back against the one of the many trees, even as the many brooding giants seemed to glare down at them. What this "prey", this creature running through the woods like a lost beast, really was...Was a woman.

A Human woman to be exact...As for the bundle of cloth that seemed to have life of its own, well that wasn't hard to guess, this bundle was their infant. Born but a few weeks prior, still unable to fend for themselves, even as the mother unveiled the tiny pink face that peeked out at her, oblivious to anything that was not the tear stained face of their mother. Small, weak, hands reached helplessly for all that they knew, the only thing that held any substance in their short life.

Empty promises were echoed dully as tears fell to the earth, landing upon crisp leaves, yet these tears began to flood as the bundle was pushed under thick roots. Almost as if this were to hide the child, entrusting their care to the elder beings whose flesh was bark, then almost to fill the sour goblet of sorrow to its brim...The mother placed one last mark upon the child, warm and loving, yet a brief kiss upon the fragile head of her infant only made the separation that came harder.

Swifter than the warmth of the kiss faded, the chilling cold began to set in, the mother left as she came with the crackling of dead leaves accompanied by the snapping of twigs yet this time she seemed to be more deliberate in her efforts to make noise. It was not when this noise ceased that a greater tension knotted itself within the atmosphere...But when the tides of silence truly fell when the incoherent babbling of a scared child calling out for its lifeline.

BANG!

Loud as thunder the sound of a single shot range through the forest, as if it were a grim messenger. After being stunned by the deafening for what seemed to be a few moments the child began to cry loudly, screaming as its calls went unanswered., until eventually the baby's little throat became hoarse and the wails transformed into desperate yet silent pleas.

Crunch

Crunch

Snap

A cane shifted through some of the leaves that had been blown over the writhing child, desperate to find the one that had always been with them, soon a pale hand reached down to gently caress the infants cheeks as the tiny beings flesh was cold to the touch. Then slowly if not surely the bundle was lifted into a rather protective pair of arms and then cradled by those limbs that made themselves a fortress for the child.

"You are safe now little one..."