ALMH Chapter 0: Before the Arrival

Running through a forest, a large beast approached a convoy escorting a carriage. Its thick talons dug into the ground and kicked up dirt as it hunted its quarry. As the sun set over the horizon the beast disappeared into a thick cloud of white fog.

The curtain of the window in the carriage slowly pulled aside as a man peers out into the forest surround. The trees offer little coverage as their branches are bare, their roots replete with rot. A thick fog crept across the road, its tendrils reaching out like skeletal fingers, filling the air with an eerie silence. Even the birds have gone quiet, and the only sound to be heard is the creaking of the carriage as it slowly lurched forward.

As the convoy crested a hill, the fog began to clear, but not before a large, black, hulking shape comes into view. The beast is enormous, its body covered in dozens of razor-sharp spikes that glisten in the dim light. Its eyes burn with an uncanny, almost human intelligence.

The horses wailed in terror as the creature approached from the front of the group. The guard in the front of the group screamed and was silenced as she was dragged underneath the thick layer of fog.

"Secure the carriage! Form up!" The captain of the guard commanded.

Several dozen female guards in silver armor directed their horses into a circular formation around the carriage. Their breast plates were covered in dents and gashes from previous battles. At the center of their breast plate was the sigil of the royal family, a phoenix surrounded by swirls of blue flame.

"Swords at the ready!" the captain of the guard ordered.

Each of the guards unsheathed their swords from their scabbards and held them at an angle ready to strike. The thick white fog swirled around the ankles of the horses and surrounded the carriage. A moment of silence was shattered by another muffled scream and a puff of fog moving into the air.

"Where is it?" one of the guards called out searching aimlessly.

She too suddenly vanished underneath the fog and left a small hole in the blanket of white cloud.

"Keep your formation!" the captain of the guard barked, trying to keep them from panicking.

One by one the guards were dragged under the fog and vanished from sight. Eventually only the captain and two other guards remained. One of the guards climbed on top of the carriage and stood in her battle stance. She leaned forward and peered down into the ceaseless river of fog.

Leaping through the fog the large black beast appeared with its mouth open. Its tainted maw dripping with the blood of the fallen guards. The guard took a single step forward to lunge the blade into the roof of the mouth. But one of the poison tipped teeth snagged her shoulder and ripped off the pauldron. Searing pain raced through her body as the razor sharp tooth pierced into the shoulder blade and dug deep into the bone. Before anyone could react the screaming guard was pushed off the roof of the carriage and vanished beneath the fog.

"By the gods!" the captain of the guard shouted as she squeezed the grip of her sword so tight that her fingers bled.

The king inside the carriage was shaking in terror. He held his sword tightly against his chest and frantically whipped his head left and right as he watched his guards vanish. He closed his eyes and breathed rapidly as his heart pounded. For a few brief moments no one screamed, not a single sound was heard outside the carriage.

The king opened his eyes and looked around him. All was still, the very air chilled by the sight of the horror beneath the carriage. The king leaned forward to peer out of the carriage and was met with blood pouring down the window.

"Help! Help! Somebody help!" the king cried out in vain.

The king desperately awaited a sign of movement or the sound of a familar voice. Instead the eerie silence returned and his heart pounded in his chest so hard he could physically feel it through his thick robes.

The floor of the carriage exploded as the beast tore through it and grabbed the king from his seat. Shards of wood flew through the air and pierced through his neck. His lifeless corpse was dragged under the ground into a deep cave that had been dug by the beast.

The carriage remained on the road, silent, bloody, and hollow.