Book of Myths and Legends

Book Two - Sofia And The Creature

The evening was cold up high in the mountains of southern Germany where a girl lives, a girl named Sofia. Sofia has been living up here for almost 13 years now, she first moved here with her father when she was 6, she had no clue why her father and her moved up here, just that he seemed desperate to get away from the cities and people, Sofia suspected as a little girl that her dad just didn't like strangers, or maybe he was just crazy, she didn't know, all she knew was that 6 years ago he died when she was 12, and that ever since then, she had been struggling to live.

Sofia noticed one day, that the snow seemed to get heavier and heavier around her camp on a small ridge in the lower mountains, she thought it best to move more north where it was lower elevation and less snow, she had been scared to ever go to far north because her father told stories to her when she was little of how bad it is, and how here, high atop the mountains, is better.

Sofia started to pack up her things when she heard something behind her in the trees move, she quickly turned around after picking up the musket her dad brought and started analyzing the trees more any sign of movement. As she was standing her palms started to sweat, she was nervous about what it might have been. As she was standing there with her rifle she tried to calm herself down, she knew that sweat at this high an elevation is bad, the cold might get ahold of the sweat and freeze it to her. She couldn't control herself though, the tension of what it might have been was too much, and just as she was getting to ready to fire at the first thing that moved, the creature came out. Sofia sighed with relief, "oh it's just a rabbit" she exclaimed in relief.

She lowered the musket and stood there for a minute breathing in and out, in and out, in an attempt to calm herself. After she had called herself she put the musket back on the chest she took it from and started to collect her things again.

After she got done packing up, she started to head down the mountain. About half way down she started to feel hungry, "only if I had killed that rabbit, I could have a nice meal to eat" she thought to herself. Sofia realized that it was getting late, she decided to stop and make camp for the night in a small cave.

As she entered the cave she got a small sense of familiarity, she had no clue why, but for some reason it filled her with terror, she looked around the cave and noticed some blood on the floor, she followed the trail of blood until she got to a pile of bones, some of which, had clothes on them. She looked through the clothes and noticed that she recognized the clothes, she had no clue where from though. "Maybe it's the same reason I find the cave familiar?" she questioned. As she looked through them she noticed one had a necklace, she grabbed it with her hands and tore it off the skellington, she looked deeply into it, it also looked familiar, but this one was unlike the others, it felt special, like it meant something to her. Then she remembered, this is her father's necklace she gave to him just before they moved into the mountains.

Sofia was completely still at this realization, she had butterflies in her stomach, she was filled with emotions, of sadness, joy, anger. As she sat there weeping, a sound came from behind her, she took her knife from her pouch and turned around, it was the rabbit again. She turned back around and started weeping again. But she heard a sound from right behind her again, she ignored it because she thought it was just the rabbit but after a few seconds, she became confused with the sound, it sounded like cracking skin or bones, she didn't know what to think of it, so she turned back around and the rabbit was no longer there, instead there was this creature that looked part rabbit part human. Sofia quickly stood up picking up her musket she set next to her. As she was in a rush to aim at the creature she tripped over a rock on the ground and fell back.
The creature was now a full human, with white hair and wrinkled skin. Her body posture was slightly hunched over with a slight tilt to her head, her eyes glowed yellow. Her clothes were torn up, barely hanging on to her bony body.

Sofia reached for her gun she dropped but it was barely out of reach so she started crawling towards it. The creature floated over like mist over rocks and grabbed Sofia by her neck and pulled her up to the roof of the cave. Sofia started hitting the creature's arm as she was being choked, but the creature didn't seem to budge and just tilted its head like a dog. "Put me down!" Sofia screamed with a choked voice, "Hahahahaha, never" The creature's voice was like a demon, it echoed through the the cave and shook the mountain.

"What are you? What do you want with me? If you are going to kill me just do it!" Sofia cried out, the creature chuckled and said "The people of this land call me Gebirgstal Kreatur, but I prefer to be called Aldegund, I have been roaming these mountains for five thousand years, and have killed many wanderers, you will just be another in thousands I have killed and will kill". The creature's grasp grew tighter "So you kill for fun?" Sofia asked as she squirmed. "Hahaha, no, there is a purpose, there is always a purpose" Aldegund replied squeezing her tighter and tighter.

And just as the life was fading away from Sofia's eyes there was a sound at the entrance to the cave, Aldegund turned around and there was a eagle at the entrance "No not you" said Aldegund in fear as she released Sofia and turned around and starting quickly floating towards the eagle. As Aldegund was distracted Sofia crawled to her rifle and picked it up still disoriented by almost facing death and picked up her rifle and pointed it at the creature. Aldegund then turned around "No!" she exclaimed as Sofia pulled the trigger.

The creature went flying towards the entrance of the cave, and the eagle then jumped on it and started pecking at her eyes "Noooo stop!" Aldegund screamed. The creature then went flying off the cliff just outside the cave entrance as the eagle let it go.

Sofia then relaxed as she heard the scream of the creature fading into the distance, "Thank you little bird" she said to the eagle, the eagle then nodded it's head "What? Can you understand me?" The eagle nodded as it started turning around and flying off. "Thank you!, what is your name?" She then remembered what the creature said. "Arnbjörg? Thank you Arnbjörg" she said smiling. She then turned around and walked to the corpse she found when she walked in "So this is what happened to you" She then picked up the necklace from her father's corpse, "Tschüss, father" she said with a tear going down her face.

She got her stuff back and left the cave, "Okay back to my journey" she muttered to herself. She started going back down the mountain.

This is the legend of Sofia, and how she is the only one to have survived one of the five great monsters of Germany. And to this day they say that Sofia roams the mountains surviving and Aldegund hunts after her for revenge after barely surviving a fall of 200 meters.