Anthology of the Realms, The Werewolf King

It Begins with a Secret...

•~⚜️~•

The sun watches what I do, but the moon knows all my secrets.
---JM Wonderland---

"What is it doing here?"

"Kill it now!"

A shrill cry was heard throughout The Realm of the Fae.

The black ink sky, barely lit by the waning moon, was mottled with screeching birds and other flying creatures soaring overhead.   They were forced to leave the sanctuary of their sheltered nests and coves in a panicked haste.

All manner of land dwelling beast great and small, retreated from the wail that pierced the sleepy hours just before dawn.  Bustling and bumping into one another as they fled through the crowded woods in a terror-stricken stampede to escape.  
Snorts, grunts and growls joined in the chaotic symphony as the wing-ed creatures shrieked and weaved through the spindly tree-tops overhead.   The once perfectly hushed timberland, now ruptured by a deafening roar from the myriad of terrified, fleeing creatures.

A figure, cloaked in black emerged from the deepest part of the forest.  The concealed apparition moved silently above waves of rolling fog.

The Realm of the Fae was a dense forest, a rich tapestry of trees and foliage.   Magnificent canopies of towering timber sheltered fertile and lush grounds...but be warned, this was not a welcoming or kind forest, while mysterious and inviting, this woodland was sick....ill-boding and cold.

Evil residing within its breast.

At its centre, the forest gathered the thickest, tallest and gnarliest of trees, while the outer rim was thinned out and worn, mirroring the shadowy figure's cloak.   The fringe was scattered with wilted shrubs and a carpet of decaying leaves.

The haunting figure wore a camouflage of layered cloth, old and faded.   The robe, all ripped and ragged, had been invaded by mosses and lichens growing over the shoulders and across the back.   Twigs and tuffs of rotting grasses sprouted out from the holes in the fabric, forming the nests for the ravens that encircled the shadowy creature. 

The figure moved silently towards the distinctive noise, a noise that has never breached the air of The Fae Realm until this morn, a noise that was unquestionably Human.   Never before has the foul tenor of a Human's voice been heard in these lands...the sacred mystical Realm of the Fae.

Critters, creatures and beasts swiftly moved to the side as the ominous figure advanced forward on an unobstructed path.

The silhouette appeared to be floating above the mist covered ground, ghost-like, as it slowly drifted between the gangly limbs of trees and the prickly thickets of low-lying shrubs.

Hushed voices could be heard in the distance as the figure drew closer, murmuring of what should be done, what needed to be done and yet, no volunteers came forth to execute what everyone was thinking.

Through a break in the tree-line, a clearing emerged, containing a small pond surrounded by lush ferns and a grassy glade.  Soft mosses and rotting fungi covered the stones enclosing the crisp water of the turquoise pool.

It was within the confines of this veiled clearing that housed the source of the wretched sound, the screaming that disturbed the peaceful night.