On the outskirts of a small village, a teenage girl traveled alone through the dense forest that inhabited the mountaintop. The Blue Star had long fallen beneath the depths, allowing the Darkness to climb up again. This girl, her name is Liz, short for Elizabeth, was wearing ragged clothing that was not befitting for the beginning of this year’s winter chill.

Yet, she seemed unbothered by the cold sting as she trudged through the dark woodland. Carelessly, she crunched dead leaves beneath her feet and let fierce breaths escape her lungs. Wild beasts lurked in the forest at night and any out-of-place sound could immediately alert them to the traveler’s position. But that was kind of the point.

Liz wasn’t planning on going back to her village tonight or going anywhere else for that matter. One way or another, she was hoping to die tonight. Recently, at the brothel she worked at, she had overheard talk of a monster roaming closely to the village. She didn’t care how she died, as long as she was dead before the blue star rose from the abyss again. A certain cliff came to Liz’s mind should the monster not sniff her out.

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Which turned out to be a short-lived thought as a shadowy figure leaped from behind a tree a short distance from Liz. Despite wishing for this, she still got startled and stepped away from it as she held a hand to her chest. Her eyes closed tight, anticipating an attack and then a sweet relief. None of that came.

She opened her eyes to see the shadowy figure still standing where it jumped out to. Its skin seemed darker and rougher than her own, but it stood on two feet like her. That was unheard of for wild beasts. Except its eyes had the bright and dilated pupils that were commonly associated with the beasts as well. Not that any of that mattered to Liz as long as she got what she wanted.

““Will you kill me?”” Both her and the monster said to each other.