Tragedy

Long long ago ...

Such a clear night with scattered stars adorns the sky of the village of Tanee. Hela Valrick, the mother of a beautiful daughter of Gilda Valrick, invited her people to spend the night together in the village field by lighting a bonfire that warmed them amid the cold of the snow that enveloped the surroundings.

"No, no. You don't have to bring any food. I have prepared enough meat for all of us. My husband brought six wild boars from the game this afternoon. So we're roasting together, ok?!" said Hela.

"Ah, you've always been like this to us. We don't know how to repay your kindness to Mrs. Valrick. After all, Mr. Emmett seemed tired after hunting. We became increasingly worried about his health," said one of the residents.

"We're all a family. No need to feel uncomfortable. My husband is such a tough guy that you don't have to worry about him."

The smiles emanating from the villagers described the peace at that time. The kids are having fun too. They run around freely and joke with each other without worrying about their parents.

Boom

A banging sound from a distance made all residents silent from their activities, and the atmosphere fell silent instantly.

"Emmett, what's that sound?" panicked began to Hela felt when she heard the unusual voice.

"It seems to be coming from a northerly direction, Hela. I'll take a look."

Some residents ignored the voice. They then continued their activities. Finally, however, Hela saw that her daughter was paying attention to something that made her amazed.

"Gilda, what are you looking at, dear?" asked Hela to the child on her lap.

"Eyes...," Gilda pointed towards the back of the house of one of the residents. At that time, Gilda was not very fluent in speaking. However, the girl is very good at expressing something she feels or sees. Hela wrinkled her forehead in confusion at what Gilda meant. She didn't see anything her daughter was aiming at.

"Mom, the eyes are yellow. It's there..."

Residents who heard Gilda's words were also curious about what she saw. So they told one of the residents, Apsel, to check that strange thing.

"It's safe, madam. There's nothing here!" shouted Apsel from a distance, looking in the direction Gilda pointed out.

"Ah, thank goodness," Hela replied, sighing.

Relieved to hear this, when Apsel and other citizens turned over at the same time, suddenly, they saw a creature shrouded in darkness, yellowish eyes with hands ready to pounce, standing directly behind Hela, who was holding Gilda.

"AAAAAARGGHH!! MADAM! WATCH OUT!" shouted Apsel in surprise.

"Arghhh!" the citizens shouted in unison.

All the people ran around in the fog looking for their children. They rushed to get inside their homes for shelter. The atmosphere became chaotic as they freaked out and collided with each other until food and drink were trampled on by their hasty steps of fear.

Hela, who heard Apsel's scream, then turned her body and gasped at the creature's sight. She put his deck on Gilda and tried to avoid the monster by running. However, due to the panic and slippery ground surface frozen into ice, Hela fell flat, and she tried to drag her body away from the monster because her leg was injured. Gilda, still in his mother's arms, couldn't help but cry at the sight of the incident.

"Who-who are you?! What kind of creature are you?!" quipped Hela panicked.

The monster just smiled and strolled towards the mother and daughter with a hand ready to catch them.

"Please, don't hurt us. I give you whatever you want, as long as you don't hurt the people here," Hela said, which was already limp.

The sound of the wind sighing mixed with whirring sounded. From the direction behind the monster, an arrow was stuck in his back, making him jerk his body and scream.

"Argh!" the echoing roaring voice signified overwhelming anger.

"Get out of here, disgusting creature!" said Emmett from a distance, still holding the bow whose arrows had been released.

The monster went on a rampage, ravaging the village to divert the arrow shots that came at him and sharpened from various directions.

The residents and Emmett, who focused on attacking the creature, did not realize that the lives of his wife and child were under threat. But, it didn't stop there, and the monster was not alone. He brought one similar to him to help distract the villagers.

"Emmett! Help me!" shouted Hela.

Gilda kept crying incessantly.

"Hela!!" Emmett immediately ran to his wife and child, realizing that the monster was tricking him. The thick snow made it difficult for him to dash. The fire burning in the center of the village was getting bigger, and more blocked his sight to save his wife's child.

Time seemed to stand still as the man saw his daughter already sitting lying on the icy ground with a wailing cry as he threw his hand in a direction.

"Gilda! Where's your mother?!" said Emmett rushing to hold Gilda.

"Mother...," Gilda pointed out.

The man looked in the direction his daughter was pointing. His eyes widened to see his wife slumped limply on the lap of a monster fleeing in the direction of the dark forest. With teary eyes and mounting anger, he also shouted,

"HELAAA!!"

He then entrusted Mia to nearby residents and ran fast, hoping to save his wife. The thick snow was not an obstacle for Emmeth, and he continued running until he entered the cursed forest of Darkus. Not having time to join the core of the forest, suddenly something long, sharp, and branched hit Emmeth's body, making him thrown out of the woods.

With a faint look and a weakened body condition, from a distance, he saw the monster slowly lost by the darkness of the Hela forest. His half-quivering, wound-filled hand was unable to save his wife.

"He-Hela...," Emmett said, then unconscious.

****

It was the darkest night for the villagers of Tanee. Children were constantly crying, destroyed houses, white snow partly stained with blood, and lost one of the leaders they had respected so much all along.

"Mr. Emmett, thank goodness you've come to your senses...," said Apsel's wife, who was guarding Gilda after the incident that night.

"Hela! Gilda! Arrghh ...."

The man spontaneously woke up and held his head while groaning in pain.

"Relax, Sir. Gilda was fine. She was sleeping in her room. It's just that, Mrs. Hela...."

"Yes, I know, Apsel. She won't come back. This is the act of the monster Jotun!"

"Jotun's monster?" said Apsel and his wife, staring at each other in surprise.

"The monster is Jotun. I'm sure once it's them. My mother once told me that a long time ago, in the southern mountain, it was said that there was a family that was cursed to be Jotun, whose characteristics were the same as that of the monster. And it likes to abduct children and women out of spite on the gods who alienated it."

"So, why did they come and disturb our village this time, sir? But before Tanee's village was safe," Apsel asked.

"I don't know, and I don't understand. At first, I thought it was just a fairy tale...."

Since then, Emmett has no longer been seen crying. Various ways he did to find his wife, but he always failed and did not find any clues. Also, the difficulty accessing humans through the dark forest makes him even more desperate. Until finally, he gave up and stopped the search.