The dark closed around me, my feet choosing their steps lightly. The woods shrouded in shadows danced in my mind. I had no idea where I was, or where I was going but I followed the light ahead. It had to be civilization; it had to be people. The thuds grew louder, like a drum or a bass. Rumbles, like voices, sort off, grew with the drumming. I was lost in the beat of it, like a heart beat for the woods. Through the bushes I could see the figures, they danced around a fire, chanting and drumming. The forest floor clawed at my feet, I stumbled closer to the ritual, the dance. From the edge of the small clearing I saw the figures.

They were not human. They were not civilization. Great horns sprouted from their heads. One covered in fur, another in feathers. Their mouths agape to reveal rows of sharp gnashing teeth, yellow and black from rot. The biggest threw his head back and howled into the air. His eyes, all four of them, landed on the fire, making them glow like embers. His claws as long as my arm, atop three gnarled fingers, twitched with the music. His tail ended in a spear, razor, and menacing.

I held back a scream, though it fought up my throat. My mind reeled, thrown into something impossible. The creature’s voices joined high into the darkening night. They flew from the fire, to the edge of the clearing. I fell back in surprise, cracking and rustling the leaves beneath me. The drum stopped. They looked at each other. The dancing stopped. They turned in my direction. My mind stopped. His eyes fell on me. I ran, as fast as I could through the darkness, limbs shredding my arms, the trees swayed. The roar behind me was deafening, the battle cry rang into the night. My mind let go; I fell to the ground, lost in my subconscious.