The village was eerily quiet. Not a sound to be heard. Not from humans or animals, nor from whatever chased them away.

A thrumming began in Sarien’s chest, something more than a sense of unease. Something he hadn’t felt before. A beat. Almost like his own heartbeat, except it and his heartbeat didn’t match up.

Sarien tried to shake the sensation off and focused on what was in front of his eyes. "Everyone is just gone.”

Trillian waved for Sarien and Ben to approach the rest of the group where they’d stopped a little way off. Neither him nor his friends looked very bold now that they’d arrived. The strange quiet was getting to them as well. "Check the nearest houses to see if anyone stayed behind.”

“You want us to go alone? With the sticks?” Sarien asked, holding up the stave.

Trillian shrugged. "You do as I say or when we return home, I can inform your father and mine how you willfully disobeyed me.”

"Fine,” Sarien said. He thought it unlikely that a bear would be hiding inside one of the houses.

The village was tiny with only one main road and a smaller one running parallel. Three rows of buildings lined them, mainly homes. A few farms dotted the horizon, but their main concern was the village itself. At the end of the road sat an inn, the only two-story building in the village.

Sarien and Ben approached the closest house and knocked. There was no answer. Sarien leaned in closer to the door. “Hello?” Nothing.

"They’re all gone," Ben said. They both looked back to Trillian and his friends, as if asking what to do next.

"Well, go on. Try the door." Ben and Sarien looked at each other and shrugged. Sarien tried the door handle and it swung open without a sound. The inside was a mess. It looked like the people who lived here had gathered their belongings in a hurry before running off.

"Do you really think a bear would have scared these people like this?" Ben asked.

"I don't know, but I don’t like this," Sarien said. He turned back to Trillian again. “They all left!"

Trillian released a heavy sigh and rode closer. “Do I have to do everything myself? You two go down the side street and check the houses there. Every one, mind you.” He turned to his friends “You three, check the buildings on the main road. I’ll stay here with Lady Trishan to make sure she's protected. Return here when you're done, or yell if you find someone.”

Ola, Perti, and Hein dismounted and drew their swords. They hurried down the road, splitting up and each disappearing into a building.

“What’s the plan if we don’t find anything?” Sarien asked, watching as Perti exited one house and shook his head in the negative before moving onto the next. “What do we know about what happened here? My father mentioned claw marks. Anything else?”

“Just go and do what you’re told. Leave the thinking to your betters,” Trillian answered.

The thumping in Sarien’s chest hadn’t stopped. If anything, it changed a little, or perhaps his sense of it was getting better. There was a direction to it now. Like a pulling force that wanted him to go east. He looked in that direction but saw nothing but hills and more rocky grassland. “What’s over there?” he muttered.

“What’s that?” Ben asked.

Sarien looked up, startled. “What? Oh, nothing.” He blinked and then turned to go. “Let’s get this over with. I’m sure the rest of the houses will be empty too.”

They were. All of them. Not a single villager stayed behind. The group gathered outside the inn.

“Now what?” Ola asked, his voice almost a whisper. Sarien wasn’t sure he’d ever heard the man speak before.

The young noblewoman hugged herself and kept glancing at the shadows between the buildings. “I don’t like this, Tril. Why don’t we just ride back?”

“There is no need to worry, Lady Trishan,” Trillian said, patting the scabbard at his side. “Not as long as I have this.”

“What then?” Sarien asked.

“The last attack occurred at night. We’ll stay here and wait for it to return,” he said, pointing at the inn.

“You want to stay the night?” Ben asked, his voice uncertain.

“We will stay the night,” Trillian repeated. “And I don’t want any whining out of any of you. This has to work out.”

“Work out?” Ben asked.

“Never mind!” Trillian barked. He waved to the inn. “Just do as I say!”

All they could do was wait for night to fall. Sarien thought they could have ridden out into the country to investigate the surroundings, but Trillian didn’t give that order and would probably have bitten Sarien’s head off if he tried to suggest it.

The group sat in the main room of the inn after raiding the cabinets for food. There was plenty to eat and even some opened casks of wine. Sarien drank deeply, the wine providing some much-needed warmth.

Ben came out of the kitchen with an excited grin on his face. He held up two large knives and a bundle of thin rope. “Look!”

“Knives?” Sarien asked.

“That’s right!”

“What about them?”

“You said you wanted a spear, didn’t you?” Ben proffered the items. “Well, now we can!”

“Oh!” Sarien said. “Good idea, Ben!”

“Lisa always says you’re the pretty one and I’m the smart one.”

Sarien raised his brow. “She said what?”

Ben laughed. “Those big eyes of yours and the wide mouth. She says you’re pretty, like a girl.”

“I’m not sure that’s a compliment,” Sarien said, accepting a knife and a length of rope. “And I’m even less sure you’re the smart one.”

“Of course, I’m the smart one. You’re doing that all wrong.”

Sarien was trying to tie the knife to the staff, but the knife kept slipping free. “So, you’re an expert on spear making too?”

“It’s kind of obvious when you think about it, you can’t just tie the thing to the stick. You do it like this,” Ben said and produced a hammer he’d found somewhere. He placed his blade against the top and struck it with the hammer so it dug into the wood. A few more strikes and the wood parted about a hand’s breadth down the middle. Once that was done, Ben placed the knife down on the floor and struck the handle a few times until it broke off. With the blade free, he placed it into the split wood and then tied the rope around it.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Sarien couldn’t help but be impressed. “How did you know to do that?”

“Told you I’m the smart one,” Ben said, handing over the spear and grabbing Sarien’s stave. “My da makes a lot of things for the stables himself without asking the smith. It isn’t that difficult.”

“You are full of surprises.”

Ben grinned. “With this, we’re ready for anything!”

Outside, the day was drawing to a close. They would soon find if whatever had haunted the village still lingered just out of sight.

The tugging in Sarien’s chest didn’t stop. It made him want to head east. His left hand tingled with pins and needles. Sarien held it out in front of his face and flexed it. There was no difference that he could see, but it was almost as if something occupied the left side of his body.

“Are you listening?" Trillian said, pulling Sarien out of his own head.

“What?”

"You are on first watch. I just told you.”

"You want me to go out there alone? In the dark?"

Trillian rolled his eyes. “Do you have to question everything I tell you to do?” He raised a fist in front of Sarien’s face. "This is it. Show me, your father, and my father that you have what it takes. You have your little spear and I'm not asking you to fight anything by yourself. If you see anything, you yell for us. Don’t try to be a hero." He opened the fist and put it on Sarien’s shoulder, smiling. “I don't want to have to be the one to tell your father you died.”

Sarien looked to Ben who shrugged and gave him a weak smile. The three brothers remained silent, and the young lady was picking at her nails.

"I'll do it," Sarien said. Sarien was terrified but didn't want to show it. He opened the front door of the inn and stepped outside.

Lamplight shone through the inn windows. The light only reached a few steps, before darkness overwhelmed the village. It wasn’t just dark. It was pitch black. Sarien turned away from the inn, putting the light behind him, and waited for his eyes to adjust. He gripped the makeshift spear until his knuckles whitened from the pressure.

Without thinking, he moved in the direction of the tugging inside his chest. The sensation soothed him. A sound brought him out of the daze. He blinked. It sounded like someone stepping on the dirt path and came from the other side of the house that stood directly in front of him. He heard it again.

He stepped back slowly and turned to face the comforting sight of the inn. He was about to break into a run when a single word broke the silence around him.

“Help.”

Sarien spun on his heels, his breath caught in his throat. Now he knew that whatever was out in the night wasn’t a bear. Unless it was an exceptionally clever one that could speak.

“Hello?” he called out softly.

“Help.”

A woman’s voice, but rough and flat. There was no fear in the voice. No emotion at all.

A cold shiver ran down his spine, but he shook it off and took a step toward where he thought he heard the voice last.

“Help.”

Sarien did not call out again, but he stepped forward. All he wanted was to run and get the others, but what if there was someone under attack? There were no sounds of struggle, but the person might be trapped.

With the spear held out in front of him, Sarien rounded the corner and peered into the darkness. He cursed himself for not bringing a lantern. He learned when he was younger that he possessed the ability to see better than others in the dark, on account of his large eyes his father said, but he struggled to make out the form before him.

Sarien squinted and saw the silhouette of someone crouching on the path. “Are you well?”

The person stood up and barely reached his waist. A child? Sarien took a step forward but stopped abruptly. Something was wrong with the child’s shape. Its arms dragged on the ground. Sarien took a hasty step back.

The creature’s strangely long, tapered fingers reached out to him. “Help.”

It followed as Sarien backed out of the narrow passageway between the houses and toward the inn. As they rounded the corner, light glinted off the creature’s fingers. Not fingers. Claws.

Sarien screamed and pulled back. He tripped and fell, then flipped onto his stomach and pushed himself up and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. A sudden sharp pain seared into his arm and he cried out, dropping his spear.

Sarien looked over his shoulder to find the creature standing next to a covered well.

Smooth, rounded face with no holes for eyes. A small mouth with lips curled back to reveal sharp, pin-like teeth. In one hand, it held the severed head of a young woman with her eyes rolled back, showing the whites against the monstrous pitch-black skin of the creature. The woman’s mouth bobbed up and down as if jerked on a string and said, “Help.”

Sarien screamed.

He turned to run the last few steps to the inn and almost cried tears of happiness when Trillian barged out of the front door with his friends close behind him. All four had their swords dawn. Ben followed with his spear while Lady Trishan peered out from the doorway.

“What?” Trillian barked, scanning the surrounding area. “Did you see it?”

Sarien almost fell as he turned to point at the creature. All he saw was the empty road. “It was right there!”

“What was it?” Ben asked, his eyes wide and his mouth set in a nervous half-smile, as if he didn’t know if he should be frightened or excited.

“I don’t know. A monster!” Sarien stammered.

Lady Trishan’s voice sounded shrill from inside the inn. “We’re going right now, Trillian. Do you hear me?”

Trillian waved at her. “In a moment, dear,” then pointed his sword at Sarien. “Are you sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“Yes!” Sarien yelled. “It was right there!” He pointed again, a flash of movement caught his eye off to his right. “There! Did you see it?”

Trillian turned in the direction he’d indicated. “I can’t see a damned thing.”

“It’s out there,” Sarien whispered. “About the size of a child. It has claws, sharp teeth.” Sarien pointed at his own face. “No eyes!”

“I swear if this is a trick,” Trillian said, his eyes scanning the darkness. His pale expression said that he wished Sarien was trying to scare him.

Sarien held up his injured arm. The cloth of his sleeve was torn and a bright red line marked his skin. The creature had only grazed him. “I’m not!”

“I saw something!” Perti exclaimed, pointing one thick finger into the night.

Trillian took a deep breath then let it out in a harsh shudder. “Here’s what we do. If the stable boy isn’t lying, we need to get Lady Trishan to safety. Let’s get the horses.”

The horses. They’d left them in the inn’s stable, a small structure beside the main building. What had they been thinking, leaving the defenseless animals all by themselves? Sarien ran back a few steps and grabbed his spear laying in the grass. They moved as one to the stable with Lady Trishan walking in the middle of their group. Her head swiveled back and forth like a bird’s trying to see in every direction at the same time.

Sarien breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw that the stable doors were intact and the horses unharmed.

“Are we all going to leave?” Ben asked.

Trillian shook his head as he backed into the stable. “No. We came here with a job to do. We’re not leaving until it’s done.”

“You’re not going to have me leave by myself, are you?” Lady Trishan shrieked.

The question seemed to stump Trillian for a moment, but then he settled on a decision. “No, of course not. My trusted friend Perti here will ride with you back to the estate. The rest of us will return once this beast is dealt with.” He turned to Sarien and Ben. “You two, saddle the lady’s horse and Perti’s.”

Sarien didn’t want to relinquish his spear. He knew it was the only weapon standing between him and a terrible death, so he saddled the horse quickly without complaint.

Sarien and Ben led the horses out of the stables. Trillian exchanged a few words with Lady Trishan and then smacked the horse’s rump, causing it to bolt forward. “Be safe!”

Sarien watched anxiously as Lady Trishan and Perti rode straight through the village. As they passed the first house, a shadow flew at the two riders, latching onto Perti’s horse. Perti’s body stiffened before slumping forward. Lady Trishan’s screams filled the air as Perti’s head slid free from the rest of his body and rolled into the dirt.

Sarien watched in horror as dark blood pumped from the decapitated body, soaking Lady Trishan as she grabbed the reins and veered her horse sharply away from the carnage. It looked like the creature was drinking from what remained of Perti’s neck, but it was difficult to tell in the dark.

Lady Trishan’s screams faded as she rode off into the night.

“Now!” Trillian shouted, drawing his sword. The five of them ran to intercept Perti’s terrified horse. It cried out, bucking erratically to shake off Perti’s body whose feet were still strapped into the stirrups. The creature held on tightly, focused only on its meal.

Sarien reached the horse and its riders first and thrust out his spear at the creature. He missed, the attack slow and clumsy, and struck the ground. He fell, the momentum too swift for him to stop.

Thankfully, Trillian and Ben fared a little better. Neither of them struck it, but at least they didn’t fall and embarrass themselves.

The eyeless monster slashed with its clawed hand and hopped off Perti’s body. It backed away warily. Trillian and Ben closed in and swung for its arms, but the creature darted away. None of them had even come close to hitting it when it fled behind the nearest building.

“What in Eld’s name was that?” Trillian asked, panting hard.

“I told you, didn’t I? It’s a monster!” Sarien said, forcing himself to stand. “Do we follow?

Trillian nodded, his face pale and his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. “You and Ben go left, Hein, Ola, and I’ll go right. We’ll corner it.” As he spoke, he pushed Ben, almost throwing in the direction he wanted the young man to run. Sarien followed and tried to ignore whatever was happening inside his chest. Something was building in there, calling to him alongside the thrumming and the pulling. He felt certain that it had to do with the creature.

They rounded the corner and found nothing, not even Trillian and his friends. A flickering movement in the dark disappeared behind a building across the street.

“Over there!” Sarien shouted.