The Black Shining Gem

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a small village on the outskirts of a dreadful forest. This village was only one of the villages around the area but it held a special bond to the forest. In this village, mist surrounded the area at night leaving the hunters that stalked the night to be blinded by the damp wet dark mist. A young girl was walking threw the town with her eyes darting left to right as if looking or suspecting something to happen. While the girl was walking now on the wet rocky pebbled road that was weaved around the houses to the town square, a shadow rushed past behind her tapping her side; making the girl spin around with a fright.

The girls breathing started to deepen as she did not see a soul in sight, only a flicker of light from a cracked open shutter that was a few houses away. The girl turned back around feeling something breathing down her neck; she kept her eyes closed tightly, fingers going numb and legs shaking. Once the girl was facing what ever she thought it was; was only air as she opened her eyes seeing just a light breeze flowing threw the mist, a light sigh escaped her lips as she held her chest to stop her heart from beating so hard. Within a few moments of catching her breath; it was taken away within seconds as a jagged knife raged threw her back and threw her heart, the girl going limp slowly as she could only gasp before her body was snatched up into the night and blood spraying across the pebbles on the rocky trail.

The Patrol guard with a big pike in his hand that was a bit taller then him; he was rather a short man to wield a pike but he held it with pride, with his light green eyes and wavy brown hair which was a little spiked and wet from the fog. The young man was looking around the area where he heard the gasp but didn't see anything, looking from left to right and not seeing nobody in sight; well as far as he could see which was only a good 10 feet ahead of him. As the young man looked down to rub his hands, he saw the splash of blood being washed away by the misty fog.

Looking and expecting the blood on the rocks he groaned with a sad sigh and stood up; he pulled his hand up to his lips and blew, making a loud whistle sound then suddenly shouted "It has struck again! It has struck again!" he turned around almost slipping on the rocks and ran to the village square as fast as he could to the guard tower which laid directly in the center of the village to over look all of the village. As he approached the guard tower, there were already a good number of people standing and waiting for the report; one man was in the middle of this small crowd that was still forming, speaking out loud for all to hear.

"This monstrosity cannot go on any longer! We can't let our children and are men and women go out at night or else they are snatched away from our grasps by the clutches of that fiend! I will not stand for it any longer, this must come to an end and I shall personally find and slaughter this fiend with my bare hands!" he roared his voice over the crowd for them all to nod and groan with the thought of facing a demon like the fiend. The guard that found the blood stepped forward slowly, the villagers moving to the side for him to pass, the one that was speaking out loud said directed towards the guard "You, boy… Come here and report what you saw!" as the guy spoke it was obvious he was in charge of the guards.

Two older people started to come from there home holding each others hands tightly and trying hard not to cry as they approached, they stopped by the young guard and looked at him. He could not muster a look at them so he lowered his head and shook it silently before walking up to the Commander. "I have to report the young Lisa was snatched from the fiend and headed east towards the forest of the dead, blood trailed in that direction but is now probably washed away by the mist." His voice was tough but had a softened touch to it for the lost of one of his friends, but it was not the first.

The commander lowered his head and placed his hand on the young guards shoulder and spoke so only he could hear "Go get some rest Trave, and we will hunt this beast down together…" Trave looked up at his commander and gave him a nod before turning around and walking back to the parents who were now crying and holding each other tightly.

He stopped in front of them and looked them in the eyes and whispered in a soft hurt tone "I'm sorry, for our loss…" and gave them both a hug before his eyes begun to water, taking his pike in his hand and let the end flop on the ground as he walked and drugged the sharp edge on the rocks. As Trave got to an old looking house that looked a bit beat up and had a few holes in the wooden rooftop, he stepped inside moving around a crack on the floor near the door with tears dripping down his wet cheeks.

He threw his pike down and some of the other weapons from his belt onto the ground, a dagger skittering underneath his bed and falling into a hole. Trave cursed and groaned "Dammit! I'm going to burn this retched house to the ground!" with that he walked over to the bed and got onto the floor, hearing the creeks and cracks as he walked and lowered him self down. Reaching under his bed he felt the hole; it was not far under so he could stick his hand down into the hole, the hole was not deep as he felt around the hard mud and rocky wall that was beneath the wooden floors feeling the tip of his dagger on his finger as he kept feeling around.

After a few moments of not being able to reach it he shuffled more under the bed to get more of his arm into the hole, finally able to grab the knifes blade and pull it up; feeling it drag something else with it. With a few moments he pulled the knife half way out of the hole but it felt a little heavier, he tightening his grip on the blade as he kept trying to pull it loose. Again and again he kept and started to grow more frustrated; a loud growl came from him as he yanked his hand up trying to pull the dagger up but he sliced his palm open and blood dripped down the blade; he yelped and pulled his hand out of the hole as he slowly sat up with a groan of pain, looking at his cut hand "Damn it all to hell!" he roared his voice so it echoed threw his small home.

Blood dripping to the wooden floor now staining it with crimson dots, Trave wrapped his shirt around his wound leaving his upper body uncovered from the cold that lurked around his home and all the other villagers. He shook his head and thought to him self I'll get my dagger tomorrow, I will just sleep… I have a big day of hunting tomorrow. Trave got up from the floor and crawled into bed with his eyes shut tight, wrapping up in a wool blanket as the blood soaked his shirt, only to fall asleep when his hand went numb and stopped bothering him so much.