Royalty of Darkness

Prologue

It's so cold... 

My memory has been a little dysfunctional for the last couple of days, yet I can remember, that it wasn't so cold until now.  I'm freezing, and I felt my knees and hands tremble from the cool wind, which got stronger and stronger with each step I took. If I wouldn't know better, I would seriously believe this place was cursed... This forest. Ever since I have set a foot in here, I felt like something was watching me, and opposed to the way nature usually acts, here the leaves were not soft to lay on, the branches did nothing but cut my arm occasionally, and ruin my clothes, and overall even the sun avoided this area. Every little living thing in here wanted me dead, or at least it felt like that. 

"How cute..." I heard a deep groan from behind me, so I spun around to see the cause, but... nothing stood there. Not an animal, nor one of the people that forced me to run in here in the first place. I shouldn't get all worked up, my mind is probably playing games with me after all this stupid fantasizing about a cursed forest. There is no such thing. 

I needed to find a place where I could treat my wounds, and rest until I figure out where to go next. I can't stay in here, though I could probably hunt for myself, without a bow my choices are limited. I held onto my small bag, the only thing that I had the chance to bring with me, but it didn't contain much more than the dark memories that I was escaping from in the first place. 

As I kept walking, I noticed that it was starting to get foggy, to the point where I could barely see anything further than a few feet. I straightened up, now feeling the urgency of finding a hole or a cave to rest in. I couldn't sleep much these past days, and I was starting to lose my strength completely, it was hard to stay on my feet.

"How silly..." I heard the same deep, animalistic groan again, yet when I turned around, nothing again. A deep chuckle echoed around me as if this strange thing was standing in the fog somewhere, quite close to me, yet far enough to hide. 

"Whose there?" I demanded, but as I spoke up, I found that my voice was not at all threatening. It was sore, and dry from the lack of water and the fact that I haven't spoken for a while. It sounded more like a whimper than anything. 

The strange voice kept giggling and laughing at me for some reason, so I stopped, and searched the fog with my eyes, hoping to find whatever was playing with me. 

"How calm... How odd... Tell me, little girl, what happened to your soul?" I assume, he, spoke up again, now speaking even more nonsense than before. 

I swallowed trying to concentrate on where the words could've come from. 

"Answer me" He growled suddenly, and I shivered a bit, my face still betraying no emotion whatsoever. Maybe this is the thing people are so afraid of. Probably a crazy, old man. Some lunatic who lives in here, or something along these lines. 

"I don't understand what you want to know" I replied at the demand, hoping he would come closer and show himself. My hands sunk into my bag, and my fingers found the handle of my knife, as I still steadily waited for him to go on. 

"Your soul. It's so very strange...Unlikely for such a young human" now I could clearly tell that he stood somewhere on my left, but I still had no visual sign of him, and I started to get uneasy regardless of the fact that I was sure I could take a man down... or well, an old person like I assumed he was from his raspy voice. Also, it was obvious that he has gone out of his mind, so I didn't bother to question his stupid statements.

"Show yourself, so we can talk..."

Silence came, and for the longest time I held my breath, waiting for him to make a move in the leaves, so I could hear where he is, or just estimate his position.

"Boo" as the husky voice now appeared right next to my ears, I found myself spinning around so fast that I fell down. I hit my butt quite a bit, but I couldn't care less as I was staring up at a monstrous thing. A wolf perhaps? It was huge and pitch black, his teeth showing. They were unnaturally sharp, and if I didn't know better I would've thought the ugly creature is grinning at me.

My body moved on its own, as I got up and started to run aimlessly in the opposite direction of the wolf, as I prepared to use the knife on it if necessary. I ran and ran, but I could hear it catching up to me. I didn't look back though, I just raised my speed, letting my lungs burn from the sudden and intense use of them. It got closer and closer and just as I was about to turn and pull the knife out, the silhouette of a huge black gate appeared in front of me. It was open slightly so I slipped inside, but didn't have time to close it before the beast got there so I kept running through the garden. My legs were about to give in, but my eyes were on the front door, just fixating on the fact that I won't fall until I get inside. I ran up the black stairs, which lead to the entrance, and grabbed the doorknob so violently, I thought it would fall off, but to my utter surprise, the door allowed me to push it in quite easily, which lead to me falling into the mansion, quite literally. I didn't have time to waste, as I turned from my stomach to back, I kicked the door from inside as hard as I could with both of my feet, and it closed just in time for the wolf to be locked out. 

I was panting heavily, trying to make sense of the past minutes, and regain my senses. I was too exhausted to get up from the floor, and so I just sat there, staring at my torn up dress, and breathing quickly in and out, feeling my heart slowly finding it's normal pace, only to be disturbed once again, by a deep, booming voice:

"Knocking is not one of your strengths, is it?"