Into the Deep Chapter One

“We really shouldn’t be here!” Renild’s voice sounded even higher in a whisper, betraying his age.

“It’ll only be fer a bit, now hush up and follow me.” Atlas’s whisper was barely that as he found it difficult to lower his baritone as much as his twin brother. The two boys were hiding behind a squat fur trees some 50 yards behind the border fence that marked the end of Rowen Forest and the beginning of the Ӓlder Wood. The only people to regularly cross this line were the Woodsmen who supplied their trade further within. Most normal folk were wise enough to give the Ӓlder Wood and its unnatural inhabitants a wide berth. But Atlas was rarely concerned with what was wise and instead was far more interested in what was forbidden and dangerous, and traversing The Deep was both.

This fascination with breaking the rules, and indeed with the Ӓlder Wood itself, began the moment Atlas first learned to walk. When he would try to escape the watchful eye of his uncle and follow his father on his excursions. Failing in this he would set about harassing the local townsfolk by letting the chickens out of their pens or loosening the wheels on the merchant’s carts. And always behind him, following and whispering doubt, was Renild.

Renild had been the opposite of his brother from the day he was born. While Atlas would always eagerly gulp down the milk from the midwife's breast, Renild had to be gently coaxed. He only learned to walk after Atlas became too mobile to be followed on all fours. When he was older he always hung in the shadow of whoever was in charge, his uncle in his father’s absence and Atlas in uncle’s. Fourteen years later not a thing had changed.

Atlas surged forwards ducking from tree to tree pausing only slightly to peer around each trunk. Renild hurried behind, head swiveling watching for anyone, or anything, that might take an interest in them. The two boys kept up this awkward advance for almost ten minutes when Atlas came to sudden halt, causing his brother, who was too busy being observant to notice this new development, to run into his back. Atlas barely shook from the impact, too focused on what he had seen to care. Renild peeked out from behind his brothers back. Standing not 10 yards away, snuffeling at the base of a tree, was a wolf. Well not exactly a wolf, it’s rear legs were far longer and more muscular than its front and it was far larger than any wolf had any business being. Even more than this Renild noticed that the longer he looked the more strange details he could make out, the beast's fur was not fur but rather rough interlocking scales, not unlike bark. Its scales rippled rhythmically almost as if they were breathing. None of these details made Renild any more comfortable with the situation, quite the opposite in fact. An aura of primal ferocity and wildness wafted of the beasts presences, suffocating the air around it, causing every nerve ending in Renild’s skin to twitch as if to pull him in the opposite direction.

Of course Atlas could care less about instinctual self preservation and began slowly sneaking towards the creature.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” Renild whispered urgently “WE SHOULD GO!”

“Hush! I just want to see it’s face, haven't you ever wanted to see what an Ӓlder Beast looks like close up?” Renild couldn’t think of anything he had ever wanted less but the only thing stronger than his desire to get out the wood was his desire to stay by his brother’s side. He started to step after his brother, who was now moving sidelong to get around the beast's flank. The two continued for an agonizing minute creeping on the outskirts of the creature’s field of vision. The closer they got to its front the more unsettled Renild became, the more he saw the more he realized that nothing about the creature's appearance was as it should be. It had some kind of main but the hair, for it was hair and not fur, was long and silky and hung down nearly to the ground. Its snout wasn’t long enough and looked pale and soft, almost like skin. When they were about to round the point to see it face Atlas froze, Renild too focused on paying attention, for the second time in as many minutes collided with his brother. This time Atlas, who upon seeing the face of the creature had become unsteady, stumbled forward, rustling through the dead leaves and sticks of the forest floor. The Beast’s head snapped in their direction and Renild saw the face that would haunt his dreams for years to come.

The face of a young woman gazed back at them, but it wasn’t quite a woman, the eyes were large pale disks with beady pupils and its features were gaunt and twisted in an unnatural way. As the face stared them down, it began to smile. Its mouth split open, extending almost halfway down the beasts neck, thick sinus of muscle criss crossing its cheeks. And then it laughed. A perverted amalgamation of a girlish giggle and an inhuman warble.

This was about as far as Renild could remember. All he knew was that he ran, he ran further and faster than he ever had in his life and he didn’t stop until he was trembling in his Uncles arms. For weeks after he was have dreams of the beasts face, its corrupted mockery of laughter filling his ears. The nightmares were of course terrible, but he would come to cherish them, as they were the only place he could see his brother. For years he avoided the edge of the Ӓlder Wood, for the fear that if he looked into its depths, he would see the face of a young woman staring back from between the the shadows.