Chapter 4
Alexandra awoke with a start. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she shivered in the cool air. The sun barely peaked over the trees, marking the beginnings of night. She hadn't gotten much sleep for the past couple of days because of reoccurring nightmares of battle and bloodshed. Although, the nightmare wasn't what caused her to awaken. She let go of her thoughts momentarily as a strange noise ripped through the oncoming night. It sounded almost like a little boy's cry for help. Leaving her book on the bench, she rose and walked over to the edge of the forest.
It got darker the further she looked in, but Alexandra was more curious than scared as she heard the boy's cry floating through the trees again. She looked back towards the house, debating whether or not she should just go back into the house or if she should check to see if the boy was okay. She bit her lip and went inside, determined to find the owner of the voice. She strained her ears against the snapping of twigs under her feet and pushed past the tree branches which scratched her arms and face. After a few feet, a shiver ran up her spine and her hands shook uncontrollably. She wound her clammy hands in her skirt, trying to calm them down, not wanting to give up her quest on finding the child. As the voice became more distant, Alexandra ran, trying to pinpoint the voice but suddenly it evaporated into thin air. She started breathing heavily and looked around, with a sinking feeling in her chest. The pine trees all looked the same to her, the paths between them identical.
She took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the fresh air and pine trees, trying to calm herself down.
Suddenly, Alexandra heard another noise above her in the tree. The hairs raised on her arms as the voice turned from a boy's cry for help into an evil laugh, full of cunning and torture. She looked up and saw a shadowy winged figure falling fast right above her. The moon glinted slightly off of its silver feathers, while it was mostly in shadows. She could smell the rotten flesh and blood, complete with body odor not even imaginable. As it cackled its delight, she screamed and ran. Her heart beat hard and fast in her chest, her breathing shallow and heavy, her palms sweaty. She roughly pushed away tree branches as they scratched her palms and pulled at her hair.
"Yes!" it screeched, its voice like nails on a chalkboard. "Make that wonderful sound, that way it will be more of a pleasure eating you!"
Alexandra could smell its rancid, foul breath filling her nose. She turned her head and saw that it wasn't that far away from her. Just then, she tripped over a tree branch and the forest floor greeted her face. She scrambled away from the Steelback, looking around frantically for a place to hide, knowing she wouldn't be able to outrun it. Trying to pull out her dagger hidden in her boot, she looked ahead and saw a man in front of her, coverd in shadow.
"Cover your head," he said roughly.
Alexandra did as the man said, abandoning her last resort of self defense, blood pounding in her ears. She looked back just in time to see fire shooting towards the Steelback. The brightness of the flames on its steel feathers shone so bright the she had to look away. Its twisted face filled with fear and pain as it gave one last bloodcurdling scream. Alexandra jumped out of the way as its limp body fell to the ground with a thud. She walked towards it, covering her nose, attempting to block out the stench while keeping a safe distance away in case it somehow came back to life.
She could see that it was male, because of its face and chest were those of a mans. Where its neck would've been was instead white fluff, and the rest of its body was exactly like giant bird with steel feathers.
Alexandra looked back towards the where the man was supposed to be standing, but she couldn't see anything from the smoke of burning flesh and the darkness combined. Alexandra rubbed her clammy palms on her dress, trying to stop shaking and calm down so she could think clearly.
