Persecution

Disclaimer: Castlevania belongs to Konami not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic, it is written purely because I have a burning need to create. Although I would like to own Alucard . . . then he'd be mine.

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 1 of 4

Setting: Post SOTN.

Italics = thoughts and flashbacks

Chapter One

The Silent Forest was always dark. Maria glanced up at the thick canopy and wondered about it, the trees lower down looked dead, thin, pale and wiry. But at their peak they suddenly erupted into life, spreading thin, leafy branches wide, covering the ground in a blanket of shade. Even when the sun was at it's strongest it struggled to breach the dense canopy.

The constant shade made the forest cold, and plant life on the ground was slim. Maria shivered as she headed deeper wondering to herself if it was some kind of magic that made the trees grow in such a strange way. If they had been designed that way by some deranged botanist.

A rabbit skittered across her path, pausing for a moment to stare at her, blinking black eyes at her in pure bewilderment at her presence. She almost said hello to it, but a harpy shriek cut her off and the tiny rabbit met a grizzly fate under the monster's claws. Without thinking Maria lashed out sending a small silver dagger at the creature. The silver grazed the monster and embedded itself in a tree, the attack enough to make the creature launch itself into the air and flee with its prize.

"Awful beast," Maria muttered retrieving her dagger. She was well aware of the laws of predator and prey, but it didn't sit right with her when the predator was a monster. If a fox had caught the rabbit she'd still have been sad for the poor things death but somehow the fact that the creature that had killed the rabbit was a monster made up of man and bird made the poor things death all the worse.

Very little natural wildlife lived in this forest; no natural birds lived in its trees, no fish in its streams and ponds and only a few small creatures on its soil. Those that did live here were small and unobtrusive; they survived by hiding from the larger inhabitants of the forest. Monsters called this place home, refugees from the fallen castle.

But despite the danger men, and sometimes women braved the Silent Forest. Men came for the honor and for the gold, there was much coin to be had should you present a fully grown werewolf pelt to the local tanner and everyone loved a hero. A man who could truthfully say he'd braved the haunted forest and brought back a prize would rarely be lonely.

The woman usually came for the herbs. Rare and useful plants grew in this forest, among the other less rare and far more dangerous blooms. These herbs could heal the sick, mend wounds and enhance virility. A woman who could boast owning these herbs and knowing how to use them would never be without a husband for long. These were dangerous times and men were often hurt. If your wife could heal then you had a much higher chance of reaching your mature years. Maria knew that this was not always so, centuries ago women with healing prowess were often confused for witches. She had heard the tale of Dracula's wife, a kind woman who had burned for her craft and her marriage to the monster.

Every now and then Maria would that the risk a venture into the Silent Forest. She cared not for attracting a husband, but she did care about her family and Richter Belmont, her brother in law, had a remarkable talent for injuring himself on a regular basis. He had been known to exhaust her supply which would last normal men months in mere days. Yesterday he had come to her with a cut on his arm that was starting to look like it may inconvenience him, it was starting to darken at the edges and the smell wasn't right. But when she had turned to her cupboard she had found it bare. So today she had come to the wood despite the rain that was threatening to turn to snow and ice.

Her small leather bag was slowly filling with plant matter that encouraged healing and longevity. She was considering turning back, the sky, what she could occasionally see of it, was growing darker. She knew all too well that the darkness brought the worst of the monsters. The creatures that would be only too happy to tear the flesh from her bones and suck out the marrow. A few had already tried their luck but Maria had survived the castle and was not a small helpless girl. She was capable of protecting herself from many of the monsters and was apt at staying out of the way of those she could not fight.

But for the last few minutes, she had felt eyes on her and something in her gut was telling her that these eyes were dangerous, more dangerous than she could handle alone. Listening to her instincts she turned and headed back to the village, her ears straining for sounds and her heart starting to beat faster as her feeling of anxiety grew. She was coming close to the village when she noticed the footsteps, the slow heavy gait of one of the larger monsters, possibly an ogre, or one of the knights. She took a deep breath and quickened her pace; most of the larger monsters were slow and not particularly dangerous if they could be avoided. She was fast and trusted herself to be able to outmaneuver most of the larger creatures. But she didn't want to run to soon, any monster no matter the breed would chase if you ran, she needed to be closer to the edge of the forest before she risked running.

A sudden screech from close behind her made her blood run ice cold in her veins. Her legs felt suddenly weak at the realization of what was behind her. A warg, an Alpha from the sound of it. She cursed and started to run. She was small and light, quick on her feet when she needed to be and she ran like the wind. The footsteps kept pace with her, she could hear the heavy breathing of an alpha warg, she could smell its stink and every now and then she caught a glimpse of grey skin and wiry fur.

It was getting close to her and when she was sure she would have to turn and face the beast a new set of footsteps joined those chasing her. These steps were fast and pounded the earth but were quieter than those of the beast following her. Maria knew forest life well and these new footsteps sounded like a dog or wolf. She would have cursed again had she not needed every breath to keep her running. She could not fight two creatures; she would have been pressing her luck with the alpha warg alone. She started running harder, the forest edge was in sight. If she could clear the forest the beasts wouldn't follow her, they rarely left the forest during the daylight hours. She could make it back to the village before night.

She had only a few yards to go when a great white wolf bolted out from the bushes in front of her and leaped clean over her. She yelped in surprise and hit the ground in a roll, coming to her feet again with her dagger in hand and her magic pulled tight around her. The wolf landed out of sight in the foliage. The sounds that followed made her grip her dagger tighter and try to control her breathing, Richter had taught her not to panic in a fight, and he had taught her well. She felt faint as the stink of blood came heavy on the wind, but she realized that the creatures were fighting, probably over who would win her as a prize. But she did not wait to see which would win the battle, she ran.

When she cleared the edge of the forest she stopped to catch her breath, the sounds of the fight were silent now and she strained desperately to hear something. She took a breath to call for help but she couldn't get the air into her lungs for it. She watched the edge of the forest, waiting to see which monster would emerge, and wondering if it would follow her. She was still gathering her breath when the wolf stepped out, blood covering its white fur and dripping from its muzzle. It made no attempt to leave the forest, it simply watched as if waiting to see what she would do. She watched the creature for a few minutes before she straightened and started moving slowly back towards the village, never taking her eyes off the wolf. The wolf continued to watch her, occasionally shaking its ruff of fur around its neck and yawning as if bored by her slow progress towards the safety of her village. She was slow, but she made it and smiled when she felt herself bump into a building. She glanced behind her and saw that she had walked into the public-house. She glanced back to the forest and blinked in surprise when she saw not a wolf but a man watching her from the forest edge. Alucard made a small bow in her direction and turned back into the forest.

"Wait!" She called but he had retreated into the darkness, "thank you," she breathed softly before turning and walking home.

End Chapter One

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