POV of a certain village girl.
I was scared, I was terrified, I wanted to go home. My wrists and ankles were in pain from the chains fastened on them, and I was freezing because of the ice-cold breeze of the night. Why was this happening to me? Why was I here? I wanted to see my mom again.
Another scream from a woman resounded and I pressed hard on my ears and closed my eyes even harder, as though doing that would remove me from where I was. The woman that was holding me and Liam, held us even harder, burying us in her chest.
Me, Liam, and a group of other older women were chained to the man's wagons. These men who had taken us were probably the bandits that the adults in the village talked about. They had taken us, they had taken me and now I was probably next to whatever they were doing to the other women they separated from us.
The men. The scary men were hurting the women. Around their campfires and away from us who were still chained up. The bandits had stripped those women of their clothes and whenever they fought back the men would beat them. They were doing something to them. I didn't know what when I was looking at it, but I know it disgusted and frightened me. Were they going to do that to me as well? Was that why there were only women? Would they hurt Liam if they found out he was not a girl?
My heart drummed in my chest and I couldn’t stop shaking.
I wanted to escape, but because of the chains and the fact that I didn’t know where I was, I slowly cried in despair. I didn’t know where my village was. It was too dark. We were in the woods and there were probable wild animals and monsters around waiting for a child like me to walk around by herself. And what was I going to do about Liam? I couldn’t just try to run away without him, even though we were in this situation in the first place because of me.
I spun around to try and catch a glimpse of Liam, who was positioned across the woman's arms. I turned, my bare feet kicking up dirt, but even when I managed to turn to face him, I was still unable to see him. The woman was in the way, and it was too dark.
He was probably scared, terrified, and miserable. He must have been blaming me, which he should have. It was all my fault. Our parents were probably looking for us right now, but they were probably not going to find us. They didn't know when we disappeared. They didn’t know where we were, I didn’t know where we were.
Foot stepps aproched. Someone was coming. I knew immediately it was one of the men. I didn't open them. I didn’t open my eyes. I didn't try to look at him. I didn't want to look at him. I was terrified he would choose me if I did.
Someone screamed.
"No, no, no, no, please! Somebody—aarg,”
The woman's begging got cut short as the sound of a slap resounded. I heard chains reddled, probably being removed, and a second I heard the sound of someone being dragged away. The girl quietly cried, but her sobs became quieter and quieter as they moved away from us.
My mind ran away, as though it was trying to remove me from this situation. It brought up memories of the home that I was
never going to see again. It brought up my mother's face, the face of the people in my village. It even brought up the face of the person who I bearly knew. My father who had passed away while I was younger, was killed by a monster while he was off hunting.
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“Hey, my little princess…. you’re awake.” My father called out to me and I ran to him.
My father was eating his breakfast and my mom was making hers and mine. I ran up to him and jumped on his lap, nearly knocking over the things on the table. My mom scolded me, but my father calmed her down. He was a hunter, and he had to join the others in hunting for food for the village. That was one of the main sources of food for our village because we couldn't grow enough crops.
"I don't want you to go, can't you take a break for today? Can't you stay at home!?" I yelled because at the time I could only reach his hips. I could only hug his stomach when he was sitting down.
He patted my head, rubbing it gently, as he said in a gentle tone.
“Don’t worry, I’m always back before sunset…….. you know that. Today will be no different.”
“No, no, no! I won’t let you go!”
At my insistence, he stayed quiet for a moment and the next moment I felt myself being picked up. He placed me on his lap and when I sat perfectly, he fetched something in his pocket. He pulled out a silver coin and handed it to me.
“What's this?” I asked, curious.
“You can think of it as a magic charm. It's gotten me out of trouble so many times in my life and I think it's about time that I give it to you. You can use that coin as a symbol that daddy’s always with you. Because even if you can’t see me, just know that, that coin contains all my love. It will keep you safe.”
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I opened my eyes and averted them away from what was happening at the campfire. Moving one of my hands away from my ears I fished my skirt pockets to find that same very coin I was given. I couldn't see it but it was familiar to me as I often pulled it out when I was in stressful situations.
I wanted to hold it tighter as it brought me closure, but the sounds I was hearing ripped that closure away as they reminded me, of my situation. No amount of luck was going to help here. My dad wasn’t here and was never going to be. No one was going to save us.
Tears clouded my vision which was already bad, but before I could cry again, a small golden light appeared in the direction I was looking at. It was through the woods into the darkness and it lit up like a small sun.
Curious, I blinked multiple times to clear the tears. Perhaps it was the people from my village searching for us. Or maybe it was adventurers who could rescue us.
I pushed away from the lady, moving away from her as I tried to see what it was, what I was looking at. The lady was surprised, but let go. I moved away from her arm while also wiping away the tears in my eyes.
The small dot grew, becoming bigger, showing that the thing making that light was getting closer.
The light flew out of the darkness and passed us, leaving a trail of light behind it. It flew in a circle around the group of men and then back before stopping in front of me.
I gasped as I saw the source of the light, and I felt women backing away from me. It was a fey, a tiny creature with dark skin and pointed ears. The fey darted around me, making my head spin as it tried to follow it. It paused in front of me and grinned. Then it flew over my head and settled on top of it.
I quickly lost my fascination with the fey as I noticed the men who were staring at me with keen interest. I scrambled back to the women, hoping they would forget my existence if I blended back with the others. I bumped into someone, but I didn’t care who it was. I was too scared to look back.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Despite my fears, however, not a single man moved toward me. Confused I looked closely at what they were looking at and it wasn't me. Though they were staring in my direction they weren't staring at me, nor were they staring at what was on my head.
I saw someone walk past us and approach the group of men. As the fire illuminated the figure, the men relaxed their expressions. A man with a scar on his cheek exclaimed. "Well, well, well! What do we have here!" He was looking at the 'tree woman' who stood before them. She was another fey who had arrived.
A beauty with brown hair that matched nicely with her tanned skin and transitioned perfectly with the bark that made up her arms. The simple dress she wore, which was adorned with different kinds of plants, covered her legs. It had been hard to see her face in the darkness and it was impossible now that she wasn’t facing us.
She was also a fey, the same as the one that sat on my head. A dryad was what I think she was called. A creature of the myth that's said it was once a tree and as it aged over the year it developed a mind of its own, and that mind would occasionally wander off in the form of a ghost-like spirit resembling the form of a beautiful girl.
Was she a dryad? Did she come to save us away from these horrible men?
“Well then beautiful lady, you here to have fun with us too? because if you are you came at the right time.”
They laughed as some of them went back to what they were doing. I moved my eyes away, trying to look at only the dryad, as though I could communicate my thoughts just by looking at her. I wanted her to help us, even if her coming here wasn't her original intention. I knew some stories said dryads couldn’t fight, and that their magic was only meant to heal and support. But I still wanted her to do something. I wanted her to save us. So with my eyes locked on her, I prayed for her to get rid of these men and set us free.
A naked man who had a large grin on his face approached the dryad, his intention clear as day. The dryad didn’t move or say anything, however. Instead she just stood there unmoving, like a tree.
“Tyyyikjgg weakkl?”
The fey on my head let out a sound that I hadn't heard before. It was small and cute like the sounds birds make, yet also precise and complex, like a language.
Did the small fey say something?
Hjju,” The dryad answered in the same similar sound, which convinced me that they were communicating.
The next moment happened so fast That I was sure if I had blinked I would have missed it. The man that had approached the dryad and was an arm's length got impaled by a tree that suddenly grew from the ground. Though I said like I saw it happen, in truth, I was barely able to recognize what was happening. One moment the man was there just fine, then the next he had a tree trunk running through his stomach.
I shuddered as I saw the blood gushing from the man. I had seen animals killed before, but never a human being. This was horrifying. I wanted to look away, but something kept me staring.
The men were silent as they realized what had happened.
“Magic! She can use offensive magic!” One man screamed that and they all scrambled to get their weapons.
“Who the hell are you?” one of them shouted.
"Is she really a dryad why is she attacking us? Are they no wimps?"
“She’s a fey so of course she could fight…. But… what did she want… everyone, do not approach till we know what’s going on.”
“Boss, what do we do?” another asked.
“Let’s attack together and kill the freak,” a third suggested. “Are you a moron? She could use magic.”
They murmured among themselves, trying to decide what to do. They acted like they were ready to fight, but their faces betrayed them. They were scared and some of them wanted to flee.
“Hey, you tree woman, you’re a fey, right?” The biggest man in the group asked. He was filled with scars and seemed to be the leader, by how he carried himself.
The dryad didn’t say anything, however. She pulled out a lump of something from somewhere on her clothes. It was a black mass with small red stripes running across its surface. The black thing fit perfectly in her hand as she brought it closer to where the man was impaled.
"Oi, bitch! Don't just ignore me, tell me who you are!" The leader yelled, but the fey paid him no attention as if he didn't exist.
As the blood droplets fell on the black lump, I wondered what the dryad was doing. Then the black thing started to move. It pulsed like a heart. The black - which I realized was char - peeled off the moving thing. One by one, they uncovered a real heart. A heart that was beating outside a creature. I looked in amazement, at the absurdity.
The tree trunk withdrew into the ground, dropping the body to the floor. The dryad bent down pushed the beating heart into the chest and backed away. The corpse twitched and jerked as its limbs flailed. No one moved but watched in horror.
It stopped after a few seconds, but its skin started to shrivel as if the body was rotting before our eyes. The body shrank and decayed, but before it could finish, the creature rose, with some of its bones and flesh exposed. Its eyes were red and it looked like a hybrid of a man and a woman. The man's genitals were still there, but the shape had changed to resemble a woman, or rather, a corpse that looked like a woman.
I felt sick at the sight. I looked away, vomiting what I had in my stomach.
What was that thing!? I wondered, sobbing on my knees.
I had no time to recover as someone yanked me back into the group. I heard the screams of the bandits and the women they had taken. I couldn't see what was happening, but I knew the creature was fighting the men. And by their cries for mercy, I knew it was a horror I didn't want to witness. But… But was this good? Was the creature on our side? Or would it turn on us when it was finished with them?
I was buried, or I could describe it as such because someone was using themselves as a shield to hide me away. I couldn't see anything, it was dark, and people were in the way. Where was Liam? Was he okay!?
Lots of thoughts ran through my head and I panicked more. I was being crushed and I wanted to get out. People were dying and yet I didn’t. I couldn’t see Liam, where was he?
***
The screaming stopped and the silence of the night fell over us. Everyone was quiet, too scared to make a sound or even move. They were all looking at something, presumably the creature that was killing the men. I couldn't see because I was small and everyone was in my way.
I squeezed through the gaps between the people, but no one seemed to mind that I was pushing them. The first thing I saw was red, and I instantly regretted looking. The scene was horrific, it was nauseating, and it made me want to throw up again. I tried to avert my eyes from the mutilated limbs and ended up seeing a person— a girl.
She was a goddess who could have outshone all the beautiful women in my village. She had long white hair and pale skin that matched the color of the clouds. She stood in the middle of the carnage with her back to us. There was not a single drop of blood on her or her hair, even though she was surrounded by it.
As I stood there stunned for a second, I wondered where this girl had come from, but it didn’t take me long to figure it out. The girl or rather thing from before, helped as well by turning around. It allowed us to see the blood that was dripping from its mouth and covered most of its chest and neck if not all.
The creature looked at us intently, as though it had just become aware of our presence. It had black eyes, or rather, black on the whites of its eyes. Its pupils were slitted, and a red light emanated from its eyes. I wasn't sure why, but they made me feel more terrified than the bandits ever had.
It lifted its hand, which had long black claws that contrasted with its white appearance. No one moved, as the creature wiped the blood from its mouth. Its eyes never left us, even for a moment. It was like we were mice and it was a snake, ready to strike.
"Vampire..." whispered one of us. That word took away my last shred of hope. As I heard some people fall to the ground, their legs too weak to hold them up, I experienced the same hopelessness as everyone else. One of the monsters from fairy tales had emerged from the pages. This was the monster that had scared me into never going outside after my mother had read me their stories.
The vampire walked towards us, its feet slow and precise. And the gaze it was giving us, was clearly filled with hunger. I felt small—no I was small, smaller than I have ever been in my life.
I knew running or fighting back was out of the question, even if I hadn’t heard stories about vampires and the things they could do, I would still have come to the same conclusion of not resisting, of not attracting attention to myself.
My hand moved and I gripped harder on the coin I was holding onto.
But even if doing nothing was the right thing to do in this situation, I didn't think we would survive that way. As the vampire didn’t seem to have any mercy in it.
My heart rang in my chest and my body couldn’t stop trembling. I felt like my body weighed more than it actually was, but even with all that, I needed to do something. I needed to protect Liam. He was in this situation because of me and that meant I had to get him out, even if it meant trading my life for him. My body shook even further at the thought that I was going to die. I was terrified of death. I didn't want to die.
Without thinking, I moved, the chains clanging under me. My legs trembled as I rose to my feet. It was hard to stand, but even harder to walk. I was fine as long as I didn't think, I just had to move and be the sacrifice if needed, but I had to protect Liam.
I stumbled forward and blocked the vampire’s way. My hands were spread out and I wished I was somewhere else, but I had to do this.
The vampire stopped advancing, and just looked at me, confused.
I opened my mouth, which felt dry and rusted like I hadn't opened it in years.
“P-P-Please….. l-leave us a-alone.”
The vampire looked at me as if she really did not know why I was there.
A curious "Ohh" escaped her lips.
.
I didn’t know what it was, maybe it was magic or maybe it was a result of the fear that was running through me, but I felt even worse when she was just looking at me. I wanted to step away, turn around and run. I wanted to disappear somewhere, where she couldn't find me.
I gripped the coin in my hand hard before bringing it to my chest. Yes, I could use this. It's given me strength before and it’ll give it now, and besides, didn’t vampires hate silver? Wasn’t the coin I was holding made of silver?
I brought my shaking hand forward and brandished the silver coin.
Yes, this could work, I thought to encourage myself, but due to the vampire's lack of reaction, I started to have second thoughts. But no, I had to get through with it.
“P-Please leave us alone!” I put more charge into my voice as I brought up the coin in between my thumb and index finger, holding it like a weapon. “O-Or…… or, I-I’ll use this!”
“Aaha.”
A small chuckle escaped from the vampire's lips, and at the very next moment, those lips curved into a wide grin. Six sharp teeth, four on the top and two on the bottom appeared with that smile.
“And what is that? Silver? Interesting, never would I have thought to be challenged by a human child one day.”
The vampire's appearance warped, and I felt something cold pressing against the coin-holding hand and obstructing my vision. She had moved so quickly that she was now holding my hand directly in front of me. The vampire crouched down and held my hand tenderly as she leaned over me. She did not squeeze my hand, and her claws were not in contact with my skin. A sizzling sound caught my attention, but I chose to ignore it. As the vampire spoke, I couldn't help but stare at her face—especially her teeth.
“Let us play a game, though it is far from my preferred way of facing a challenge. You are a mere child and thus you will not be a worthy opponent in a clash.”
“W-Wha-wha-what kind of game?” I said trying to pull back my hand, but her grip was unmoving.
“A simple coin flip, you know it, yes?”
I nodded and she continued to speak.
“I’ll pick a side and you pick a side. If the coin lands on your side, I'll let you and one person you choose to go."
“O-One? G-Go?”
“Yes, one. You should appreciate that I'm even entertaining this at all. I'm ravenous and weighing the possibility of two of my targets fleeing is very critical. I'm doing this because I want to play a game, don't waste your chance by being greedy,” she said teasingly in a tone that my mom would often use when scolding me.
“A-And if you win?”
She grinned at me.
"Just know…… I'll be saving you for dessert."
My knees gave out under me and I fell to the ground with my arm she was holding the only thing lifting me upright. I was really going to die here.
Fear took hold of me like never before, and then the vampire let go of my hand and retreated. I almost fell flat on my face, but I caught myself just in time to look up at the vampire.
For a brief moment, her body trembled and her face twitched, but she appeared to settle down. Her expression shifted from emotionless and frigid to animated and amiable. She backed away, waving her hands side to side. As she spoke, she maintained a forced, unquestionable smile.
"W-Well, it a-appears that I went a bit too far…… I’m sorry; I… was merely kidding. I…. I’ll—”
She pivoted, only to come to a halt. Perplexed, I followed her gaze and noticed the two fey from earlier.