No one was there to recognize the creature, even if the shadows did not distort and disguise its current form. Hours had passed since Devis the slave had fallen into the hidden pond, and now the moon shone down, playing eerily over the murky forest. The creature slavered and snarled, confused at its own existence or purpose, but filled with frustrated fury, at what it could not tell.
Crackle.
Triangular ears twitched. There, in the distance, a sound. And perhaps only at a level a beast would notice, a glimmer of light. And a possible target for the pent up rage.
However, the creature did not blindly barrel its way forward. Rather, it was intelligent enough to slink through the shadows, its padded feet shrouding the sound of footsteps through the rotting leaves. Eventually, it found the source of the gleam.
"How much longer do we have to search for that wench? She's probably fertilizer by now," the guard grumbled as he poked at his provisions.
"As long as it takes," the gruff voice of his companion snapped back. "And don't let the steward hear you. You know it's the lord's order."
Both of them looked up from the fire as one of their horses stamped the ground, the other shaking its head.
"What is it?" the gruff guard stood up and looked over to where their horses were tied to a tree, scanning the surroundings.
"Probably just the wind," the disgruntled guard frowned. "You know nothing in this place will come in range of the fire."
Not noticing anything else, both turned back to their campfire and sat down. Before they could hear the horses scream, an enormous shadow had already streaked past the guards, separating their heads from their shoulders. A few seconds later, the horses too went silent. The only noise left was that of the crunching of bones and the tearing of meat.
Devis slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight barely dappling through the leaves overhead. Squinting, she finally focused her eyes. Am I dead? she wondered. The last thing she remembered clearly was falling...that's right, falling into water. She was bleeding...and being chased...but she felt so peaceful now. And there was no pain. "I must be dead, I guess."
Sitting up, she looked at herself, realizing suddenly that her clothes were missing. However, that was not her main concern. Although there was quite a bit of dried blood splashed on her, the deep wounds she suffered in her flight seemed to have closed and scarred over. There was no way she could have survived such a bloodletting...yes, she must be dead.
Surprisingly nonplussed by her new situation, Devis stood up and started walking forward through the quiet, seemingly peaceful forest. What she failed to realize was that not fifty feet behind her was the scene of a bloody massacre. A massacre she herself had perpetrated.