They were screaming now.
Frantic cries smothered by the brutal obstruction with gags.
Mica froze as she stared owlishly at the hovering beast moving from the darkness slowly into the light. Its form seemed like a large mass with sharp edges and brutal curves. There was something vicious and deadly about it.
The full moon could not illuminate just the height and breadth of it.
Those claws which dug into the ground, its mouth split wide like a scythe revealing rows and rows of teeth sharpened to a keen edge. Ropes of saliva hung from its mouth and dripped onto the ground.
The girls cried.
Mica blinked water away from her eyes. The sight of it made her stomach lurch as nausea rose.
She felt something warm and wet trickle down her thighs.
The beast lunged without preamble, tearing at flesh and ripping out throats.
Blood. So much blood.
Mica watched numbly as it rose onto its haunches and hooked a claw onto the girl's intestines, lifting it to the sky as its head tilted far back and mouth yawned wide. It slurped down the innards with ease, a low rumble of pleasure rising from its furry chest.
She was crying now.
She could taste the tears and feel the pressure of bonds wrapped around her wrists as she fought to twist and turn frantically trying to get herself out of it.
The beast was on to the second girl. Its paw closed around her face and squeezed. Brain and matter burst from her crushed skull which turned to putty in its grip. The beast's serpentine tongue flicked out and lapped at its palm, it hummed, pleased.
One girl had her head back, eyes searching the sky for a god to save her. To have mercy on her. She died with her mouth still open, those wide eyes pressed out of her skull and swallowed whole by the only ancient deity before her.
Slowly the voices and cries died off, snuffed out like a candle in a sharp wind.
By the time he had swallowed the sixth girl's head whole beside her, Mica's face was stained with blood drops that had splattered across the air and she was shivering and still.
She kept her head low, her lips parted as voiceless words muttered across.
"Please god… please god… please god…" she felt its movement before its long horrid shadow fell upon her blotting out the moonlight.
The beast loomed over her, its imposing figure followed by the horrid stench of death and rotted flesh.
She shut her eyes and held her breath, cringing away from its extended claw like a wounded puppy. The tip of its sharp nail touched her chin, and tilted her head up.
Mica's breath caught as a puff of hot air crossed her face.
She tried to keep her eyes shut but it was hard when blood dripped from its face onto hers, saliva glistening on her chin and chest from where it fell on its muzzle.
… little lamb…
There it was. That voice that had been a quiet whisper in the recesses of her mind now audible and pressing hot along the shell of her ear.
Mica swallowed hard but did not open her eyes; please god please god please god.
The claw pressed into her skin with just enough pressure to draw a bead of blood.
… micaaa… the voice purred.
Her name; reminiscent of the same voice that called her while in the carriage. Mica's eyes slowly peeled open, squinting up at the very mouth of hell.
She cringed back. "Please…"
… my little lamb…
The claw moved to her cheek, stroking an awkward rough path down to the delicate stem of her neck lingering right where her pulse beat erratic.
The putrid stench of her urine rose between them.
Despite her circumstance, a flush stained her cheeks as the beast's eyes flicked down to her crotch where a patch of urine had darkened. Something passed in its eyes – humor? Pleasure?
Curiosity.
… where have you been…
Mica thought she was hallucinating until the claw rose to her ear and traced the shell of it. It tapped her earlobe.
… do not doubt that you hear my voice…
"I-I don't–" but then the beast stepped back as if repelled by something.
Its eyes roamed her body one more time in consideration before tilting its head as though it could hear something. A breadth of silence crossed before it lowered onto all fours and disappeared back into the woods.
Mica stared for only so long at the empty space where it once filled before she snapped out of it and began to tug at the restraints until her shoulders ached.
"Come on… come on come on…" the fear of knowing it might be returning for her only propelled her to pull harder until she felt something dislocate in her shoulder just as the ropes loosened and fell to her feet.
She bit her lip to stifle to scream of pain before breaking out into a run in the supposed direction of her kingdom.
The rain had mellowed out and her steps fell in tandem to her racing heartbeat and the forest all around her had taken on a sinister edge in the moonlight. She didn't stop running until her toes grew numb to the sticks and thorns which pierced the flesh of her soles.
Her lungs burned and her muscles pumped with adrenaline until the trees began to space out and the forest receded in her periphery.
That's when she saw the great wall of her kingdom and the flashing torch lights of guards patrolling at the top. They spotted her as she reached the clearing.
"Hey!" Her arms waved frantically in the air back and forth. She dared risk a glance over her shoulder but there was nothing at her heels.
… follow me…
"Help! Open the gates!" Her small fists banged at the large iron gate hard. "Open the gates! Uncle! Aunty!"
"You! Mica?"
Mica stepped back and craned her neck far back to look at the guards staring down at her from the wall. Their eyes were wide with something akin to terror. From the blood on her face to the red beneath her soles, she looked like she had just escaped a massacre.
"How the hell did you get back?"
"Please! Please open the gates! Its coming–"
But none moved. Her pleading gaze flicked between the conflicted expressions on the men; some were guarded, others fearful of… her.
A moment of silence passed before the commander spoke. "Get outta here girl."
"What."
"Go on and get outta here," he turned his head and spat onto the ground, "the beast asked for seven sacrifices and we gave it seven. Now go back to where we put you."
Suddenly the ache in her shoulder and head seemed muted in the face of his words. "... but… but I need help…"
Mica stepped back as the guards raised their bows and arrows pointed at her. A threat. A warning.
"Go back, Mica. If you know what's best for yourself."
And that's when she heard the voice, mellow and comforting, directly behind her.
… return to me…