Lamarck's beast

The night was motionless. The wind that had beaten with such violence down the ice-locked mountains to the east had fallen at about sunset to an uneasy murmuring in the dark pines that filled the twisting vale of Lamarck.

By midnight, even that had ceased: the snowy branches hung motionless from one end of the vale to the other, slowly furring with sleet in the cold.

A woman's breath, barely visible in the soulless tinge of the few remote and haughty stars, hangs like a diamond cloud above her face. She's also frozen in white hoarfrost to her lips.

In the deep, freezing, piercing cold, none of the supernatural creatures was present. Not even the strongest species among the dark-walking creatures, Lycans. The silence ran from cliff to lightness, an almost tangible property in the frozen and desolated world.

Yet, beneath those dark, huge, and freezing trees, Something stirred.

Marvel was sure of it. She knew her eyes weren't deceiving her. She was sure that whatever it was, lurking around the shadow was a dangerous creature. Yet, she decided to get closer.

She was a leader. A warrior. A fighter. She couldn't turn back, at least not yet. If she does that, how will the pack look at her? They will call her a coward.

“Coward,” she whispered inwardly. She hates that name. The sound of it alone pissed her.

She glanced behind her again for the sign of the unseen creature, but she found none.

How many times had she been doing this? She couldn't guess. She was sure that this was not the seventh time. It seems like fear is taking the best part of her body.

She could feel the word “Coward” creeping into her body, taking control of her soul, and spreading all over her body. It was creeping along her spine and prickling at the nape of her neck like tiny teeth.

She zoomed in on her vampire vision again. She used this to check her surroundings for strange things. Nevertheless, she saw nothing. The only thing her Alpha vampire eyes could catch was the thin sheen of starlight. It was frosting the unmarked snow.

As she ventured deeper into the forest, she looked back, deeper into the darkness of the tree. She could feel her vampire vision zooming, and scanning the whole snowy mountain forest altogether. Yet, there's nothing there.

She stood some fifty feet from the forest's edge. She could see her shadow, which was a misty blur on the old broken snow around her feet. Her breath is now becoming a tiny smear of steam against the darkness. However, she didn't turn back.

Even though she was wrapped in the thickness of her buffalo hide coat. Nonetheless, she shivered as the coldness of the night came into contact with her body.

Was it even the shiver of cold? She thought.

It's not entirely cold. It's a shiver of fear. She feared and panicked about the wild creatures out there that she hadn't seen, but she had seen their brutality.

She knew it would be warmer in the camp. Yet, she didn't attempt it.

Marvel could sense it. Even from afar, she was sure that it was perfect under the tent. The shelter there would be a more damning sight. It would be more reasonable than standing in the open and listening to the ice crystallize in her lungs.

Regardless, neither hope of heaven nor fear of hell would have induced her to seek the shelter of the tent.

The ferocious blowing wind touched her face, and she could feel the impact on her body.

It was like clammy water seeking a hand. It took all her strength not to spin back. That's because she had one thing in mind, she wanted to face the unseen foe. Moreover, she had been warned not to run.

She is doing this for her territory. She wasn't doing this for the middle land, but for Lamarck. Running back would mean her death because she's in the open ground of a still mountain night.

The cloaking spell that covered her was the only hope she had now. She depends on it, and on her skills to divert all evil and attention.

If they fail, then that's the end for her. She was sure that her vampire speed wouldn't help her. None of the night-walking creatures could think of outrunning the dark beast of Lamarck. Not even the strongest one, the Lycans.

This is stupid. She told herself. This is indeed a bad idea.

What if Hodesh was wrong? What if she was still suffering from the trauma of losing her husband to the beast of Lamarck? Or worse, what if she was lying? What if she did this just to lure her out? What if Hodesh was doing this because she couldn't protect her husband from the beast of Lamarck?

All these questions clouded her mind, and she could feel them in her head, giving her a headache.

The spell that Hodesh gave her was to hide her scent from the beast. It's also to make her invisible. Yet, Marvel was doubtful of that. What if it doesn't work against the dark beast of Lamarck? What if all this is a trap?

The unbearable terror returned. It was as if some vast, murky bug was creeping slowly toward her back. That made her spin back again.

She pierced her eyes through the dark, yet snowy, evil mountains. She allowed her vampire eyes to survey all her surroundings, starting from her current position to where she had come. Still, she couldn't see anything.

There's no movement in the stark white emptiness of the snow-covered meadow. The same goes for her vampire's ears. They couldn't hear anything. The only sounds that filled them were the hissing of her breath and the racing of her heart.

She had spent thousands of years with the elderly, training and enhancing her vitality.

If it was against another foe, Marvel was confident she would win. But against the dark beast of Lamarck, all her skills were useless. The wait in terror for an unknown danger is different.

Cold directionless winds breathed upon her again, and that made her shiver more. It was like the draft from a primordial abyss of darkness which had never seen light.

As they continued touching her body, her heart seemed to lurch, and then hammer shockingly.

She could hear her intelligence screaming at her instinct to turn back and run, but Marvel knew better. Marvel knew that even if she ran and made it a half-mile across the ice-locked drifts of the buried meadow to the windowless vault of her team, they wouldn't let her in.

Once that old witch closes the door with her magic spells, it won't open until sunrise. Even if any of her trusted wizards went against her rule, they knew the punishment. It's banishment to the underworld or death by ironic acid.

Instead, Marvel drew the veils of Hodesh's illusion more firmly and prayed that they shouldn't expose her. She also hoped that the old witch, Hodesh, was right.

She had assured her that these veils would protect and hide her from the angry dark beast of Lamarck. She was hoping that the spell was true.

Finally, Marvel could feel the dark beasts coming closer. She could sense that they were coming through the changes in the air. She knew instantly that it was her vampire sense that was helping her.

As they strode closer to her, the little skiff of snow whirled up. It was as if they were being stirred by the wind.

Marvel was sure that it wasn't the wind. That's because she couldn't feel any of it behind the collar of her shirt. That's the work of those dark beasts.

In all directions, the snowy landscape rolled like a frozen, silver sea. From the corner of her eyes, Marvel glimpsed movement. It was sudden and fast. It was so blurry that it vanished instantly. Nonetheless, she caught a glimpse of that thing. It's just that she didn't have a clearer vision.

Instead of panicking, Marvel stayed still. She surveyed the surroundings again. This time, she didn't do it in haste. She surveyed it with her professional vampire eyes. Her red eyes penetrated deep into the night, in the shadow of all the surrounding trees; and then she saw something behind the tree.

Marvel took two steps forward because she wanted to take a proper view. She wanted to be sure of what she was seeing. She was ten meters away from the trees when the thing suddenly vanished again. It was so fast and so blurry that even the branch didn't shake. Nonetheless, Marvel caught a glimpse of it. The problem is that she couldn't describe it.

With the help of her vampire sense, she could sniff and feel them. She was sure of that. They were all around her, hiding beneath the dark shadow of the snowy mountains, crawling behind those big oak trees and flashing all around her.

She knew it, but their illusion filtered them from her eyes. Once again, Marvel hoped that Hodesh's illusion spells would cover her; just like those dark beasts of Lamarck were invisible to her.

She felt their stirring. However, it was blurry, and she couldn't get a proper view. It's like a gleam of starlight on something that pulsed wetly and the sudden glitter of acid on chitinous claws.

Marvel could hear some strange buzzing and humming sensations above her head. It was so loud that it penetrated her skull and went into her brain. With the help of her vampire sense, she could feel some strange, liquid moisture on the masks that were covering her head. It smelt like a drift of wind that was filled with rotten blood.

Then suddenly, one of them was above her. It was a delirium vision of an obscene, squamous tuck. It has slobbering tentacles like those of a drooling mouth. It has huge clawed legs dangling down like the feet of a wasp or a wall spider. From them, acid dropped, and it emitted smoke as it came in contact with the snow.

Marvel shut her teeth hard, so she wouldn't scream. She had fought many wars, killed different evil entities, and defeated different species of creatures. But she hasn't fought a beast before. This will be the first time she will be facing this kind of ugly creature.

Despite the coldness of the night, sweat was forming on her face and every muscle in her body fought to remain still. It was fighting against the instinct that was urging her to run.

The revulsion of the acid that was dripping brought a nauseating, burning sensation to her throat. Before she could blink, it was gone again. The wind of its departure kicked a stinging gust of snow over her. Finally, she fell to her knees.

How long had she been there? She didn't know. She was trembling uncontrollably. Her eyes were shut as if trying to block the memory and image of the creatures out of her head. Nevertheless, it was useless.

Gathering all the strength her vampire power could offer, Marvel rose to her feet. Slowly, she started heading back to the tent. She had done it. Marvel was sure of that.

Hodesh had sent her out to test her stupid veils of alien illusion, and she succeeded. She couldn't feel the presence of those beasts again. That means all of them were gone. That means they didn't see her. Even though they could feel something, they couldn't see it.

Finally, they stood a chance against them. Marvel was sure that with this new achievement, they stood a chance against those dark beasts.

Without the cloaking spell of Hodesh, she was sure that nobody stood a chance against those ruthless beasts, not even the half-breed.

It has been two weeks now since Lord Darius was defeated. They had all thought peace would reign, but they were very wrong. Instead of the brutality decreasing, it seems to be increasing.

News of different creatures from unknown niches started surfacing. They were killing people all over the territory. Creatures of different sizes and heights started emerging from nowhere, not to mention the red-winged creatures with big bulging eyes.

She could have called the half-breed for help. But she didn't. Marvel was a leader. She was a champion. She believed in herself. That's why she didn't depend on anybody's help. She's a wrecking machine.

Lycans are indeed the strongest species in the supernatural realm. However, Marvel doesn't believe in that. She always told her people not to depend on anybody else's strength but their own. Yet, they won't believe her.

She proved this to them when she single-handedly killed a pack of rogue Lycans. They were sent by Lord Darius to invade Lamarck, kill everybody that failed to worship him, and bring him their valuable items.

The war was so heated and fierce that it lasted for several months. All the people of Lamarck had lost hope. The king himself was about to surrender.

That's what enraged Marvel.

With her bow and arrow and silver sword, she went to the front line, slew the army commander, and beat the rest back. She massacred them without mercy, all the way from Lamarck to the boundary of Isengard.

Since then, nobody has dared disturb Lamarck. Hearing her name alone sends fear down the spine of her enemy.

T. b. c