Xenosyra

Skye- meet the beast.

At first the sound was faint, like the dull cracking of ice beneath your step, but the intensity grew to that of the very same ice shattering all around you, a demonic roar. Skye lunges from the bed, fear stricken by the sound he cannot identify, but it was there. And he felt it. Oh how he felt it, heard it, knew it could see him. Cowering at the foot of the bed he peeks up at Phsy, had he cried out or moved more violently she would have awoken, but he had not, and she still slept. With sickness roving within him he looks away, eyes jammed shut.

            The source of his fear sat on its haunches nearly ten yards from the house- naturally at the edge of the forest. Six luminous eyes stare intently on that small wooden structure, all belonging to the creature. It was built in a manner almost wolf-like - long fur, elegant and white, decorating its immense form. As its blue-green eyes gazed, its smooth black lips curve upward into perfect spirals -one could assume it was a smile- showing its ivory rows of razored teeth. Set upon its limbs, in a manner much like bones jutting from the skin, the beast’s claws shine diamond-like in moonlit glows.

             Shifting it backs into the forest and passes from view. Skye remains frozen in place, opening his eyes just once to shiver as it finally disappears altogether. After the dawn begins to color the fringe of the sky red, he stands stiffly and rushes to the window. Heart pounding, he draws the curtain praying Phsy would never hear it or see it, and that the thin fabric would somehow block it from her. The child's imagination runs wild now and it became visible in every lighted path of the forest, multiplying by the millions. Its presence still hung in the air like the albatross ...he wanted to go after it. And then he gives in, as he always does.

            Skye races to get his coat, and sprints headlong off the rickety porch, into the forest after the creature. He wanted to know it was real, and to finally see what it was that haunted his dreams; the fear of it was nothing compared to the desire to discover. His willowy, little elven form sails through the forest with ease, driven by his fixated desire to find what everyone called unreal. No sound came from his feet against the soil and wild plants; he dared not let them make one. Through the icy dawn he ran, ever in pursuit of the beast. Glancing once at the sky he spies the red lessening into a pinkish hue and knew time was short. He continued on until the pressure of the creature left him- he had reached the river.

            Stumbling to a stop, gasping as dead fish, sending up little clouded spirals into the morning light, he adds to the silent fog gracing the river's edge. He leans his hands on his knees and looks around, wondering where such a large beast could ever hide. The forest floor was wet, and to a degree frozen as well, it was starting to seep up his pant-legs. Still breathless, he glances at his bare feet and curls his toes, then nervously scans the area for anything to signify where the white beast went, yet again. Openly disturbed of his failure, he paces, kicking at pebbles as he comes across them- he knew it was still watching him, but after dawn it was impossible to detect. A few more turns of pacing and Skye finally surrenders his pursuit. This venture would have to be cut much shorter than the others; Phsy would know he was gone.

            An otherworldly air wraps around him, and he stiffens in horrified agony. Glancing beyond his shoulder, the white lupine beast gazes at him, its large face taking up his entire plane of sight. Mindless shivers wrack his body- it was immense, at least three times the size of any horse he'd ever seen, and its mouth- long as he was tall. It never evoked a sound, only standing behind the miniscule child, staring. Skye's pupils shrink to pinpoints, his skin roiling about him; awe filled him despite it all and he can barely contain himself. It existed.

            Without warning, the six-eyed creature swings its head to the side, scrutinizing the forest beyond the river, as if something were there. Feathery ears rise to absorb a chime somewhere in the distance, and it seems to sigh. As it breathes the air around its mouth twists and bends inward by some unnatural pull. Fascinating. Skye shifts to face the beast, and chances a glance where it was staring; he saw, and heard, nothing save for the sounds of the forest at dawn...it was quieter, though, and lacking. Hollow. He snaps his attention back to the animal, its eyes meet his and the spirals twist at the edges of its mouth. “Humans,” it whispers through the fractured light. Skye's brow furrows.

            The beast snorts, a horse-like noise, and twitches its whip-like, fox tail for a matter of seconds before wading out into the river. “Humans,” he hears it mutter again, as it starts to submerge itself. Black hair whipping in a wind, not there moments ago, the elf boy remains paralyzed, watching the white-furred beast sink into the depths of the river, and vanish entirely. He remains there, appalled, waiting for it to return, until the sun has crawled over top of him.

Author's Note

Phsy Loire is Skye's much older sister. This may become a chapter in Phantasmagoria- at the moment, it's a short story. Feel free to tear the grammar up.