Since the world has seen the day,
A rising evil came its way.
In the form of a fur ball cute,
Has it exercised its strength brute.
Lust for blood is the only guide,
To this creature, who lurks in its hide,
Pacing, waiting, preparing to strike
On innocent people and animals alike.
With its force, magic and powerful smell,
No one has lived for the tale to tell.
The outside is luring, addictive and nice,
But for trusting it, many have paid the price.
Now their souls are in chains, bonded in every way,
Not once has a spirit gone free and astray.
Only caring for blood, death, torment and screams,
It makes the victims descend into helpless dreams.
So for those who see the crimson eyes go past,
Those next few days will be their last.
-The Legend of the Swift Slayer
"And to think, it's talking about me!" a tall figure giggled as they rolled up the parchment scroll they were reading and swiveled their chair round to face a holographic computer. A young adult wearing a grey suit with a white top underneath was leaning on the wall next to it, waiting patiently for his boss to skim through the list on the screen.
His gaze drifted to the other side of the meeting room, where he saw the usual skeleton, neck in a hanging rope. A few of the bones had fallen to the floor and showed several clear chewing marks. The dimly lit room, despite the fact that it was almost empty, was filled with the hubbub of the gambling room downstairs.
Someone screamed "HA! I told you I'd win!"
Someone else replied "Shut up, Pitch."
"Aww, is little sheep mayor jealous?"
"I AM NOT!"
The next minute, a loud argument could be heard from downstairs. The aforementioned tall figure raked their paws through their scrawny, black fur and bellowed:
"QUIIIEEEEEEET!!!"
The entire building fell silent.
"Good," they said, "now I can find my next target. How about..." they paused for a moment, scrolling down the enormous list, until they stopped at a certain ID and finished "... the Blue Kangaroo?"
The young man hesitated. "But Sportacus is harmless. All he does is jump around and tell kids to eat their fruit and vegetables."
"Yeah yeah, I know. He's helpful and teaches good lessons. But he isn't the kangaroo I meant..." the stranger smirked evilly, baring a few of their canine-sharp teeth. "He's the friend of someone who escaped."
"Escaped what?"
"Escaped my trap. You know, about 4 and a half months ago?"
"You mean that teenage girl?"
"OF COURSE TITIUS JR, YOU BIG DUMMY!!!" the stranger yelled in frustration, giving the poor guy a huge bash on the head. "I never finished with her. So I'm going to chase Romeo instead. And perhaps get the pest as well."
"Romeo? Is that really his name, or are you just teasing him?"
A sharp glare from his boss was a deadpan giveaway of the truth. Titius nodded timidly, before returning his gaze to the screen in front of them both.
"Watch out, boy," the stranger cackled, "you and your friend are about to encounter the worst nightmare of your lives."
---
A small lizard was just going about its day, not giving a care about anything.
That is, until it peeked into the window of the base.
And it saw everything.
Without even thinking, it scuttled away to its friends, where it told them the whole story.
"What?! We have to warn him! Does anyone know the way to where he lives?"
"A bird that lives nearby keeps talking about some guy with the same name. I'll ask him to tell the animals there."
"Thank you so much! You literally just saved a life. Well, you will if your plan works."
"Thanks. Wish me luck!"
And with that, a slightly smaller one rushed off, soon disappearing into the night mist.
After a while, it came up to a tall tree on the outskirts of the forest. The lizard, not wanting to have another death on its tiny hands, scrambled up the tree and reached a nest where a luminous red bird was sleeping.
He shook the bird, trying its best to wake his friend up. It whispered "Hey Wulfstan? Wake up. Wulf? WULFY!"
The firebird snapped awake, its head rapidly cocking from side to side, attempting to figure out what was going on, but it relaxed itself a bit after seeing its favourite lizard shaking out of his slumber.
"Well hello, Scamper." the bird cawed, "what brings you here in such a hurry?"
Scamper briefly told his friend the story he had heard from the other lizard. Wulfstan gasped in shock and screeched "I'll tell the other animals at the dome island right away! Thanks for the news!"
"You're welcome!" the lizard chattered. "Good luck!"
Wulfstand stood up and spread his huge, fiery wings and took off, his feathers glowing redder and redder by the second as he picked up speed. After a few seconds, his body emitted a tremendous heat wave as he jumped to hyperspeed and zoomed through space.
I have to get there fast, he thought to himself as he blitzed past the stars.
Eventually, he reached the correct planet and tore through the atmosphere, seeming like an asteroid. He was several miles off, so once he reached the Pacific Ocean, he swiftly skimmed it and, slowing down slightly, reached his so-called "dome island".
And he was right to call it so. In the middle, next to a cliff, a huge dome proudly stood, emitting soft neon lights from its sides. The full moon gazed down upon the sea, which slowly made its waves crash into the sandy shores of the island.
Wulfstan scanned the island for any creatures that may still be awake, and to his great relief, found some ghost crabs wandering around the shore, having the time of their lives. He swooped down and his great claws tenderly made contact with the beach.
"I have some very grave news to tell you, that you must spread across the whole island..." he began. He then explained every little detail of the danger to them, being as precise as possible.
The crabs looked at each other, looking as if they were about to laugh, but the serious look on the firebird's face turned their smiles upside down. One of the crabs, the most energetic of them all, stepped forward, and bowing solemnly to Wulfstan, stated:
"I shall not hesitate to spread this story which you have disclosed to us. We must protect our friend. I will make sure that every known creature on this island knows about this."
"I just wonder," Wulfstan thought aloud, "how will we get the humans to understand and prepare themselves?"
To that, the crab scoffed and replied "We have a link between them. A wolf, who speaks this dialect as well as the language of the humans. We just have to convince her, and then everything's sorted."
"Thank you, sirs and madams." Wulfstan whispered before turning round and taking off again, glowing brighter by the second, then disappearing with the usual heatwave.
The crabs all scattered and told all the nocturnal animals the entire story: hedgehogs, fish, snails, you name it. Soon, the whole night island knew the coming danger. As the sun started to rise and the common birds started singing, the energetic nocturnals recounted the event to them and ordered them to spread the news.
Nobody wanted to lose the island's ball of excitement.
And that's the prologue! I'm really excited to continue work on this, my second "longer" fanfiction! Now, can you guys guess who this "resident in danger" is? And where the "dome island" is as well? (I think it'll be quite easy, really.)
I hope you enjoyed, and I shall see you in chapter 1!
-December Winterwolf
P.S. The name Wulfstan was from the earliest known English epic poem, "Beowulf".
P.P.S. I will quote parts of the legend where relevant because why not?