Varia: Tale Of The Scarlet Path

A Story by Titania

Read it for yourself if you want to but warning it is a little dark.

17/04/1769

Dear diary, the attacks are becoming more frequent as it nears our village,

everyone is starting to panic as news reaches their ears about its path of

destruction, a hunting party led by my father left for the forest at sunset

some men from Varia and other nearby villages vowed to slay the beast or die

honourably facing it in battle. They kept their promise, the next village up

discovered their bodies in the morning and all were accounted for, not one of

them ran away, or if they did they could not out run the beast.

Mother says a man’s pride will always cloud his sense of judgement, that is

what honour means to them. Neither of us will mourn Father, we have far

more important things to do now. Remembering the kind of man he was

certainly helps us contain our grief, if we ever had any towards his death

I would say it was a blessing in disguise if not for all the kind men who also

perished, at least now Mother’s wounds can heal.

Sincerely, Scarlet Capero Equites.

I close my diary and sneak downstairs, my mother is talking to another woman who just lost her husband, Diana I think her name is. “Helena, we need to get out of here, the crazy old bats left in charge want us to stay and fight, they are going to get us all killed” she says.

“Calm down Diana. The elders have old-fashioned values, they were born here and as such wish to die here, do you really think everyone else wishes to die with them?” Mother asks.

“No, but you know a lot of the others share their beliefs and will stay, we need to convince everyone to at least evacuate the children to safety” Diana says.

“Agreed. But should others wish to leave I would like to warn them of the impending threat”

“Scarlet” Mother calls.

She knows I am here. I can hear it in the tone of her voice. “Yes Mother” I greet tentatively.

“Eavesdropping again?” She asks rhetorically

“That is a very serious accusation, however it is false. Evidently I just got here after logging recent events into my journal” I say pompously.

“Exactly how long ago did you ‘just get here’?” Mother says in a falsely inquisitive tone.

Before I can retort Diana interrupts “Never mind your mother-daughter comedic routine we have work to do!” She says.

“Indeed.” Mother agrees.

“We? You want me to help as well?” I ask.

“Yes.” Mother confirms.

“Scarlet I need you to travel to the next village over, to my mother’s house, tell her what is happening and alert the other villagers as well. Stay with her, Diana and I will meet you there once we have evacuated all the children”

“Can you do this?” She asks, very serious now.

“Yes, I will” I say.

“Good. Just know that your grandmother has been very sick of late, do not push her too hard, and behave yourself” She says.

“Of course, now shall I make haste towards Gévaudan?” I say.

She rushes to the kitchen and brings out a basket full of food and medicine in one hand, a white hooded cloak in the other as well as a purse full of coins. “What is this?” I inquire.

“Food for the journey and medicine for your grandmother. The road is full of dangerous animals and people, if you stick to the path the animals should not bother you and hopefully this hood will keep you hidden from bandits and I need you to take our money, it is all we have to live on once we leave this area for good” She explains.

I put the cloak on, stuff the purse in my pocket and grab the basket, I must leave now if I want to get there by nightfall so I kiss my mother goodbye and set off. I have been to my grandmother’s place in Gévaudan many times but never alone, as I walk through the forest pass I notice how quiet it is; it is unnerving and eerie and reminds me that I am alone. After an hour of walking I come across a clearing, it is the lake where we always stop to eat, so for the sake of nostalgia this will be where I stop for afternoon tea. Being here is so calming but I see the sun’s position in the sky and realise that it is time to leave, shoving the last piece of bread in my mouth, I continue southward.

It is almost dark but I have finally found my way to the mountain village of Gévaudan! It seems pretty quiet though almost like… the feeling in the woods. Before going to Grandmother’s house on the edge of the village I decide to look around, Gévaudan is usually a very lively village despite its dark surroundings but it is not like that today, no one is answering their door… “Is anyone here?” I shout, my call piercing the silence.

I need to find Grandma. It repeats over and over in my head as I race to her house. “Grandma! Grandma? Please open up!” I shout as my fists pound against her door.

“Grandma, open the door it’s me Scarlet!” I continue desperate for an answer.

“Why are you the only one in the village who keeps her door locked?” I curse.

I check all the windows frantically; it feels like the surrounding forest is closing in on me, trapping me just waiting to strike. Terrified and panicking I throw a rock through the window nearest to me and jump through cutting my hand on the broken shards of glass. Paranoia has gotten the better of me. I think to myself, trying to sustain a rational thought. I clean out the wounds with some medicine and look for bandages, after the cuts are dressed I wander about the house Grandma must be asleep. I decide. I should wake her. Mother will be here soon. Upstairs the door to Grandma’s room is ajar; I creep in and am immediately confronted by a rotting corpse. I scream. Everything goes black.

When I wake again it is night time, I cannot see but that is alright I do not want to see her corpse again I can still smell it though like the smell of rank meat and hear the sound of swarming flies buzzing around the room, beetles burrowing into her now flesh-less corpse and maggots wriggling over blood and bone consuming everything in their path. Even if I cannot actually see it I can still picture it in my mind clear as day, it makes me sick but I will not black out again I must find the other villagers. I head back to the streets still trying to understand what has happened and how I should feel when a sudden thought hits me The villagers are probably all dead as well. No I cannot think like that.

I look up to the sky it is a clear night, the crescent moon shines brightly against the endless black of the night like a shining beacon of hope, it angers me, I want to go home, I want my Mother. Why should I care about the nameless, faceless people of this village? I should be protecting the only person I love in this world. I head to the west side of the village no longer caring about its inhabitants, when I reach the guard tower, the door is open, after slipping through the entry way it is apparent that the guards are all dead. It seems I am quite fortunate. I steal the sword from the nearest guard unflinching at the state of his remains and quickly leave again, as I start walking towards the forest path I hesitate “Never go near that forest at night” My mother’s voice echoes through my mind.

That does not matter now; Mother could be in serious trouble. I think to myself whilst running through the woods, I have never been so afraid in my life. I just need to make it through this forest and I can go back home and be with my Mother, we can go back to how things were and that man is not here anymore, he is dead, Father is dead! Tears of joy stream through my eyes, I can see it, my future is right before my eyes I just need to keep running.

I do not know how long I have been running for; I block out all pain and exhaustion and only think about making it through this forest alive. I finally reach the clearing where I ate lunch and I can see a shadowy figure standing by the lake, it moves into the moonlight and I freeze. A wolf stands larger than even the Spaniards bulls with matted black fur and eyes that glow gold. I try to slow my breathing but I have been running for hours I am exhausted and panting. I will have to go around. I start to back away when a deep, chilling voice resounds through the forest “I am a nocturnal beast I can see you little one, I can hear you breathing, every step you make, I can smell the sweat pouring from your body and the blood from the wound on your hand, I can feel your heart racing and your body shaking and I can taste your fear in the air, so do you really think you can avoid me?”

I move forward into the light, if I am going to die I am not going without a fight, he sees my sword and smiles “A little girl wishes to challenge me!” He exclaims.

“You killed my Grandmother and her entire village!” I shout, anger welling up inside of me.

I feel sick, a mixture of anger, fear and exhaustion. I hate this beast for what it has done and I hate myself for being too afraid and too weak to fight it I am so tired. I do not want to die. “I did not touch Gévaudan, Scarlet” The beast says.

I falter What did he say? He did not kill them? My name, he said my name. “There is no point in lying to me, I am just a weak little girl am I not?” I goad.

“You are not” He says plainly.

“Excuse me?” I ask.

“You are right I have no need to lie and therefore never have” He says.

“Do not dodge the question!” I exclaim mustering as much courage as I can.

“Indeed, may I amend my earlier statement to this: a little witch wishes to challenge me?” He taunts.

Witch? I pause. Why am I talking to this beast? He is clearly taunting me. “Did you not wish to ask how is it that I know your name?” He continues.

“Stop taunting me!” I shout in frustration.

“Of course, I shall skip to the point then”

“Your Grandmother, Melpomene, as I know her was the very witch who summoned me here, for some selfish purpose I suppose, I would not know, she was a secretive woman”

He pauses, waiting for a reaction “Good. No foolish outbursts this time?” He teases.

“She sacrificed the lives of her fellow villagers and used her remaining life force to bring me here through magic; I did not just suddenly appear out of nowhere, I was sealed away in darkness for years by the hunters of old…”

“I do not care!” I interrupt.

“I do not want to hear what bad things you have to say about my Grandmother and I certainly do not want to hear your life story!” I shout.

Blinded by rage I charge at the beast swinging my sword around clumsily, I strike, which he dodges easily, he counterattacks swiping at me with his huge claws, he knocks the sword out of my hand with one arm and sends me flying towards a tree with the other. What was I thinking? He walks over to me with his hand raised; I know what is coming. The finishing blow. I cower hunched under the tree, my white cloak like a blanket surrounding and comforting me. I do not want to die. I am afraid. I want to go home. My eyes are close shut now. I do not want to be here. I wish I was a witch so I could get away from here. What was that? It is night-time but I swear I just saw a light, I could feel it to, like a golden flame. I hear the sound of the beast’s arm bearing down until it suddenly stops I hear a slashing sound and I feel like warm water is being poured on me, I hear it again two more slashing sounds shortly followed by a loud thud that shakes the ground. I open my eyes and stand up I am drenched in blood, my pure white cloak now stained with the blood of a wolf, the beast was stabbed three times in the back of his chest and now lies dead in a pool of blood. I look around but there is no one in sight “Hello is anyone there?” I ask searching for my saviour

The sword is still in the beast’s back I manage to roll him over and pull the sword out, it is warm like the golden flame I could see when my eyes were closed. Did I do it? Was the beast right? Am I a witch? I remove my cloak and slice the beast’s head off wrapping it up in the blood stained coat to show the villagers that the beast is dead I then go to the lake to wash the blood off my body and the sword.

Continuing along the path carrying a sword and the beast’s head with no longer the strength to run I eventually reach Varia, I can see corpses around the edge of the forest and smoke billowing from the town square The beast was here. As I walk toward town square I can see the cause of the smoke, it appears to be a bonfire with all the towns’ people gathered around it, I get close enough to see everything clearly, and shock fills my body. Mother. “Mother!” I scream

Everyone turns towards me as I drop everything, the beast’s head tumbles out of my cloak and rolls around, spinning to face the townspeople, the sword just falls to the ground with a resounding clank. I can see the golden flames again. I scream again and this time several people’s heads explode, raining blood, skull fragments and pieces of brain on the remaining members of the crowd. Serves them right. “She was protecting you and you killed her!” I scream at them.

“Daughter of the witch” Someone from the crowd shouts.

“She is a witch” Says another.

“She is a murderer” Says a woman.

“Kill her, burn her at the stake” A man shouts.

I put my red cloak on again and see the fire ignite in the palm of my hand, it is warm but it does not hurt. Seething with anger I ignite the first row of antagonists who wish to harm me, they scream like newborn babies whilst they burn alive. I am done talking to these people; humans are worthless and pathetic creatures all they do is take, I can end this cycle of greed by taking their lives. I am used to the smell of corpses now, the burning flesh does not bother me at all but the villagers are cowering, they just stand there watching their neighbours die, not one of them try to help.

The next row of antagonists gets ready to attack and I decide to finish this all at once, I connect with the blood flowing throughout their bodies and free it from the prison of flesh, a symphony of red geysers rain blood from the sky as the sun rises and I set all the houses on fire but my own. I enter my house and look around there is a note on the table from Grandmother.

Dear Helena, by the time you are reading this I will be dead, just know that I love you more than anything else in this world despite the things I have done in the past.

I summoned the beast known as The Wolf of Chazes to kill your husband. When I arranged your marriage to him I had no idea he was so brutal, the truth is I sold you for money, I was desperate and we probably would have died without it but I was still wrong, so now I will take my life to give you your freedom.

The beast was right after all, but there is nothing left for me here now, I set the place on fire and leave for the woods passing more corpses on the way, one of them I recognize as Diana, maybe she would have stood up for Mother. In the years that have passed since then I built my new home in the forest where I can live undisturbed, mostly. Eventually rumours of my brutality spread, scaring would be travellers from visiting the forest road now dubbed ‘Scarlet’s Path’. But long has it been since even brave warriors have journeyed here to challenge me, my legend has faded over time to become just a myth and eventually nothing but a fable to frighten young children.