Member-only story
And the Trees Were Bleeding Red
Welcome to the land of Fable.
The forest never gave without taking away.
As the winds howled through the trees on a blood-moon night, Kalypsa knew there were only so many brushes with the forest before something precious of hers became another stolen artifact gone to the whims of the Elder Folk. She cradled her little sister Mortania close while the woods whispered their oath-liked promises in a language lost to earlier times.
The branches rattled against the bedroom window, and Kalypsa closed her eyes in the hope that the wild night was just a premonition of simply a bad storm to come.
But then she began to hear the scratching — like little paws at the wooden door — and put a finger to her lips to keep Mortania from crying out.
Slowly, slinking down until she was almost crawling, Kalypsa took hold of a cane from its resting place at the foot of the bed. Then she moved just quietly enough to make it to the front door. All the while, the scratching persisted as if a creature were trying to burrow its way into a warm hovel in the dead of winter.
Grabbing the doorknob and loosing the bar that usually sufficed to deny intruders entry, Kalypsa shut her eyes and braced herself to see a monster ready to attack on the other side.
