This is for the theme Scarecrows.

This one is quick, I really need to start getting in the swing of writing short things, they all feel so rushed to me. Oh well.

I don't own... I wish I did... maybe one day...


Vanir

It watched, all year, waiting for that special time when the night would belong to the Vanir. The younglings they sent were getting worse every year, but still, it would hunt them. The Vanir couldn't really explain what was wrong with the younglings recently, though, their fear was as great, and it got a thrill from the chase as they fought harder every year. Still, something was off about them, it assumed, in its own way, that the reason they were different was do to the fact that those being sent to it were not believers, they were not as pure. So each year the sacrifices were sent, and each year it consumed them, each year the trees grew weaker, and there was nothing the Vanir could do to stop it.

That was until that boy came. The minute he stepped foot inside the orchard, nay, the town the Vanir could sense that something was different about this one. He was a believer, not necessarily a true believer as those in the town were, but he suspected something. That boy might be enough to bring the crops back to what they used to be, if only for a while.

When the boy climbed the ladder, the Vanir longed to take him right there, but the rules of his binding forbade it. The sun was still out, keeping careful eye on all enchantments; the Vanir would not be released from its post until nightfall. The Vanir could only ask Odin to try and keep the boy here until its time came. Nightfall.

The wait seemed to take forever, the Vanir had felt panic creep up several times as the boy drifted away towards the edge of town several times, but when night did come he was still in town. There were two others roaming the Vanir's orchard, and it knew that the town wanted those to be the sacrifice. The Vanir knew they would do in a pinch, but it wanted the other, the boy from earlier. When the boy showed up in the chase, the Vanir was elated, Odin had answered its prayers even in this godless land so far away from Asgaard.

Salt blasts from the boy's gun enticed the Vanir's hunger; it confirmed that the boy knew that he was dealing with something more than human.

The euphoria the Vanir felt at the chase made it impatient, it drove on farther than perhaps it should have, chasing the boy and the couple to the edge of the orchard and a little bit beyond. Rock salt punching holes through borrowed flesh, but the Vanir didn't mind, the holes could be fixed once the boy was consumed.

It didn't get him that night, but it knew the town would see that the boy was given. The Vanir could feel their anger towards the boy when morning found it back at its post. Patience, the Vanir consoled itself; Odin had answered one prayer, so it wouldn't be too much more to ask that the boy be given. It knew that the boy was trapped in the town, and the folk were catching their second youngling to complete the sacrifice. She was also a believer, a true one, someone from the town.

Later, slightly disappointed, the Vanir discovered the sacrifice tied to some trees not far from where its post was. This time, there would be no chase, but two believers were better than none. There was also a possible third circling the orchard. The rules were any out on this night were fair game. The crops would do wonderfully this year.

Much to the Vanir's enjoyment, a chase did ensue. It didn't get the younglings though; the other believers came out of their homes. Trying to make sure the Vanir got the sacrifice it wanted, but preternatural creatures can be caught up within a bloodlust easily. Instead of going for the proper sacrifice, the Vanir went for the first two it came into contact with. They were far older than a sacrifice should be, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

Sated for the year, the Vanir returned to its post and tree to help with the growing season for the next year.

When the boy returned that day, bringing with him the other sacrifice and other believer, there was nothing the Vanir could do except watch as they burned its home. Not that the Vanir was too disappointed, the burning set the Vanir free, letting it return to Asgaard from this godless ground where it was too hard to make things grow.


This challenge is open for anyone, the themes can be found at http// z11. Roadtrip/ index.php? Just take out the spaces and have fun!