My feet touched damp earth as I walked between trees towards the haunted landscape he called home. The night barely stirred, the odd cricket made a noise only to sharply stop at my passing. A full moon hung low in the sky, illuminating the woods and casting shadows between branches. Mist rolled in, covering the valley in a soft mysterious haze.
Light flickered between the trees, casting an eerie glow. I stopped, resting one hand on the branch to watch the dancing illumination playing in the mist. The strange orbs moved with preternatural speed, flickering in and out of existence, lighting the world around them in a strange glow.
A shriek arose from the mist-filled woods, echoing the sound of a woman's cry and something more ancient and primordial. Gooseflesh rose over my arms as I turned to look away from the lights towards the sound. Nothing but shadows waited, staring back at me in my stupidity.
Dead leaves crushed underfoot as I made my way towards the screech, path easily illuminated by the dancing lights above the mist. With a final screech, the lights disappeared. Darkness swallowed the land. I paused, stopping to listen for another sound. Yet nothing came.
Instead, a pair of great crimson eyes, taking in the last of the light and throwing it back out again, stared at me from the branches above. The moonlight caught his silhouette, the great lumbering body atop the tree, short rounded head on vast shoulders. He watched me watching him, head tilted in quiet consideration.
I forged ahead, coming to the foot of the tree he perched in. Hands touched the rough bark as I looked up once more. "Please come down," I spoke to the darkness, my lips not moving, but my thoughts whispering to him. Before I could complete them he rose into the sky, straight up, massive leathery wings beating.
He circled above before veering West. I followed, running after a shadow in the sky whose luminous red eyes watched me constantly, pulling me away from safety into the deeper darkness. Just as I was about to give up, to let him fly away, he swerved and headed towards me with unprecedented speed.