Oh, and here's the picture that started it all(slightly creepy, no?).
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The Lady Elsereth had retired to her quarters after a tiring day in the court of King Johnlin. He was her husband and was as handsome as she was fair with his shoulder-length chocolate brown hair and laughing almond eyes. Lady Elsereth, on the other hand, had long locks of golden silk hair that sparkled like a thousand suns when light shown upon it. Her eyes were morning mist blue but flashed like chips of ice when she was angry.
She had fallen into an uneasy sleep when she drifted off and now was having nightmares. She thrashed about wildly, covers ensnaring he like vines on a tree, and cried out once or twice before she lay still. She raised a hand as if to ward off invisible attackers and once again cried out, "Leave me! You cannot touch me here!"
Then, suddenly, melting out of the shadows, came a livid looking Gnar, the Bringer of Death. Following him came the Mayre, the Bringer of Darkness and dreams. The Bringer of Death crouched, like an unseemly child, then sprang up on the bed and onto the Lady Elsereth. The Mayre stayed woven in the shadows, misty white eyes glinting eerily in the light of the lamp Elsereth had forgotten to put out. They stayed like that for some time, frozen in the moment of a dream, a nightmare. Just as the Bringer of Death reached out a clawed hand to touch the Lady, footsteps rang in the corridor outside. They belonged to Ranth, the Captain of the Palace Guard who, tonight, watched the Lady's door, and had heard her cry out.
The Gnar let his arm drop and said in a deep, gravely hiss, "Time to go. We can do better than the likes of her." And so they went, just as silently, melting into the shadows as if they had never been.
Barely a moment later, Ranth opened the door and pushed aside the red velvet curtain saying, "My Lady? Are you all right?"
Elsereth sat up slowly, opening her misty eyes, and answered, "Yes. I am fine. You have no cause to worry. Go back and do your watch, Captain." He hesitated, then turned on his heel and went out of the room. The Lady Elsereth laid awake for a little while longer before falling back into the realms of sleep. After that night, no nightmares like the one that had been brought to her ever troubled her again.
The next morning, though, her handmaiden was found dead in her quarters. No one knew who had killed her; inch deep claw marks were imbedded into her milk-white neck and no human had ever been seen with claws such as those…[/list]
