Frightening Magical Beast

Trudging through the wintry Eldwood Forest, Selene pulled her fur cloak around herself tightly to help prevent the cold chill of the shaded forest from seeping through.

"Why is father so cautious of this place? There is nothing here!"

By this point, she had started to become frustrated. Her originally spirited attitude was replaced with the miserable feeling of being stuck out in the cold for too long.

The only thing that kept her going was the shame she felt at the idea of returning to her father with nothing to show.

After walking for over two hours, though, Selene was starting to feel worried. The sun in the sky was nearing the horizon again, and she likely only had a few more hours of daylight.

Finally, after another hour, Selene finally stopped and turned around. By now, it was late afternoon, and Selene knew that her father most certainly would have noticed her disappearance. In the end, she couldn't even find a magical beast to try to fight against.

However, even though that was the case, her father's stern warnings still made her feel cautious against traveling too far into Eldwood Forest.

When she was little, her father would tell her of how the forest stretched on into the frozen northlands, housing terrifying beasts like dragons or greatwurms within the deep snow and caves. If terrifying creatures like that were rumored to be in the forest, then the number of magical beasts in the forest could be imagined. While frustrated and immature, Selene wasn't stupid enough to force her way deep into the forest and risk encountering those kinds of frightening magical beasts.

She followed her footsteps through the dirt and snow as she made the journey back to Bluewater Town. The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach had abated somewhat, but it was only because she was too anxious about making it back to the town before dark to think about her miserable circumstances.

As Selene was walking, though, she failed to notice a misty fog forming among the trees. She was focusing on the snow in front of her, with her eyes on the footprints left behind.

Gradually, the white mist began to wrap around her from behind, eventually fully enclosing her. As though it were stalking its prey, though, the mist allowed enough room in front of Selene for her to continue walking without noticing it.

"Hm? What happened, where are my footprints?"

Selene finally stopped and looked around, not out of an abundance of caution, but because the trail of her footprints she had been following was gone.

It wasn't snowing at all, and there was next to no wind in the forest, so where could her trail have gone?

The pit in her stomach returned in a flash, but this time it was out of fear that she wouldn't be able to make it home before night fell.

Finally, when she began to look around her, she noticed the dense white mist surrounding her. Almost at the same time she realized the mist was around her, it began to converge, no longer leaving her room to see. The mist rolled closer, and before Selene could react, it had already completely wrapped around her body. By this point, she couldn't even see the ground when she looked down, let alone what was in front of her.

"What is this? How can there be fog? It's still the cold season and I'm so far from the lake!"

Panicking, Selene stumbled for a moment before catching her balance.

It was remarkably difficult to keep her footing when she couldn't see the ground or elevation changes. Finally, Selene stumbled into a tree, nearly headbutting it due to a lack of visibility, but she was thankfully able to catch herself just in time.

"Crack!"

Using the tree as a support to lean on, Selene jumped when she heard the sound of a branch snap.

"Hello? I-Is there anyone here?"

Nervously, she called out to the surrounding mist, but there was no response.

Suddenly, she felt the mist distort slightly in front of her when all of a sudden a burning pain erupted in her arm.

"Ahhh!"

She couldn't help but cry out in agony. Hot tears began to form in her eyes, but when she looked toward her arm to see what had happened, she felt her heart freeze.

Right above the elbow, a hole could be seen in the sleeves of the shirt she was wearing. The part of her arm that was supposed to be there... was missing. A chunk of flesh and muscle from her arm had been ripped out, making it impossible for her to bend her elbow.

Warm red blood gushed from her arm, the sight of it making her feel faint.

"Ahh! Father, please help me! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run into the forest!"

The sight of a chunk of her flesh missing caused Selene to feel sick, and she began to cry out for her father.

Slumping down, she sat with her back against the tree, cradling the wound when all of a sudden, the mist distorted again, and before Selene could even react, the same burning pain erupted in her right leg.

"No! Please, stop it! It hurts!"

Tears were flowing from Selene's eyes, and when she looked towards her leg, she saw a chunk of it missing, right above the knee, rendering her leg immobile. The white of her bone appeared for a brief moment but was then instantly flooded by a pool of blood.

"What the hell is out there!? Just show yourself already!"

Selene couldn't take the trauma that was coming from being toyed with like this by whatever was in the mist.

Then, to her shock, the mist began to recede. Gulping, Selene didn't understand what was happening, but she quickly ripped a piece of her fur cloak off using her good arm and her teeth and tightly tied it around her leg.

"Crunch! Crunch!"

The sound of the snow crunching under the weight of footsteps startled Selene, and she snapped her head upwards to look at the noise.

Instantly, her heart felt like it skipped a beat. In front of her was a snow-white beast that resembled a mix between a panther and a bobcat. Its white fur was stained with blood, and to Selene's horror, there was a chunk of flesh dangling from its mouth. Her flesh. Looking into the beast's eyes, Selene could see a glimmer of intelligence, cruelty, and perversion. It was the look of a predator toying with its prey.

Selene felt a kind of fear she didn't understand. It was different from when she got lost in town or was caught disobeying her father. Those types of childish fears couldn't compare at all to the primal terror she felt as she watched this creature slowly devour a chunk of her own body.

In her heart, the golden light seemed to shiver, almost like it felt the same fear Selene did.