The sun was beginning to set in the forest, the light leaving a pink tinge on the horizon poking through the trees. A group of men stopped, five of them were dirty scraggly bandits, the sixth was their captive, bound up with rope to prevent his escape. With their horses nearby.
Drustan was having a pretty awful day. That morning his carriage had been attacked by these men, his escort killed and he was trussed up after the bandits correctly assumed he was of noble birth. Taking him with them so they could ransom him back to his family. His tall lean body carelessly knocked to the forest floor, hands bound behind him and feet tied together while his mouth was gagged with a filthy rag. The bandits chatted amongst themselves.
"I don't like these woods, I've heard tales. Some kind of man-eater lives here, preys on folk in the dark. We should keep moving." One said, worry filling his face.
"What a load of horse shit, Alec. Probably just wolves or a bear, people making up stories to scare themselves. Few things survive a shot to the head. Stop yer chatterin' yer big girl's blouse." Chastised another, getting a chuckle from the group.
"How much do you think we'll get for the pretty boy ponce?" One more asked. Referring to Drustan.
"Not sure, Toombs a decent amount for sure. We need to work out which family he's from, and gauge our price accordingly."
"It's not a load of horse shit." Interjected Alec, "the legend says it targets men with wicked black hearts, it's not just a wolf or a bear. We should move, Mccabe. Get out of the trees."
The first warned trying to instil urgency in the others.
"There's five of us and we all have guns. It doesn't stand a chance but camping out in the open will get us spotted and bring the law on us if they see the noble tied up like a prize. So quit yer whining and help with the campfire." McCabe, the one who was clearly in charge, ordered and the others set about to make camp.
He strutted up to Drustan and pulled the gag out of his mouth. Drustan rolled his jaw and his tongue, feeling relief at the constriction being removed. The relief was only temporary as the bandit clamped his hand around Drustan's jaw forcing him to look up. His green eyes meeting the bandit's face.
"What's yer name?" McCabe growled.
"Drustan Everlight." He answered, his soft voice coming out clearly. Trying to keep the tremble out of his tone.
"Oh," McCabe grinned. "You'll fetch an almighty pile of gold, elf." He flicked the tip of Drustan's pointed ear. Causing Drustan to flinch.
He put the gag back in Drustan's mouth and went to help the others set up camp. Drustan had his doubts about his future well being. His dark hair whilst pulled back was stuck with leaves and other forest debris and his pale skin was covered in cuts and bruises. He had not been treated gently, and could only assume it would continue until he was liberated or killed.
Night fell, the campfire was lit and a spit of meat was roasting over it. The bandits passed a flask of strong booze between them.
One got up and left the light of the fire to go and take a piss. Walking behind a tree for a hint of privacy. Once he finished and was shaking himself off, he let out a shriek. A sound like the snap of teeth was heard, along him collapsing to the ground.
The bandits, alarmed stood up drawing their weapons.
"Toombs?" McCabe called out, hoping for a response and getting nothing but silence.
A hissing growl came from the darkness. Setting them all further on edge.
"It's just a beast lads, if it bleeds it can die!" McCabe yelled, saying it to himself as much as his men.
As if to prove him wrong, a rock came whistling out of the darkness and struck one of them in the side of the head, sending him stumbling towards the edge of the firelight. Lunging out so fast, a beast snapped its jaws around him and yanked him into the inky black outside their perimeter. They heard him keep screaming until a sickening snap, then no more.
The three bandits left were panicking, whilst Drustan contemplated the inevitable. Once it had killed the remaining three, he was next. He couldn't run, bound up as he was. He sat there and tried to make his peace. He could see in the dark better than the humans, and could make out the outline of the beast. As large as a dire wolf but definitely not one. It had several bushy tails and a more elegant outline; he lost sight of it when it jumped up into the tree canopy.
The bandits had clubbed together, all three with their backs pressed up. There was nowhere on the ground it could approach from that they wouldn't see. Problem was as Drustan knew, it wasn't going to strike from the forest floor. With the gag in his mouth there was no way to easily alert them. He threw his head up, flicking his eyes to the canopy. If they died, so did he. But they ignored him. He sighed, idiot humans. But since he was their captive what did that make him?
Soon to be dead was the obvious answer. As he had thought it would, the beast descended from the trees. The bandits didn't notice until the last second, while they all fired their guns not a single shot hit its mark before it landed on them. In a flurry of teeth and claws the bandits ceased to make any further noise.
Now it was fully in the firelight Drustan could see it clearly, a giant fox. Nine tails waving behind it, covered in a thick fluffy white coat, now stained with blood. It turned to look at him with a pair of large golden eyes. It was no beast, he saw the intelligence behind them. It sized him up as it pawed over, putting its teeth away and giving him a sniff. It seemed to like what it smelled, pulling back from him for a moment.
Drustan found this interaction curious. The fox then sat on its hind legs, its form beginning to shift. Morphing into a humanoid female shape with long white hair and skin as luminescent as the full moon. The gold boring into him through large slanted eyes set into a beautiful heart shaped face. Her form was elegant, ethereal and completely uncovered. Her most intimate of parts fully exposed to his view. She had a lean, muscular body with generous hindquarters and nicely sized breasts with pale nipples. Wide hips leading to a narrow waist and a triangle of white fur sat between.
She crawled over to him, studying his face up close before giving him a lick, Drustan flinched as he felt her rough tongue run along his cheek. She smirked before shifting back into her fox form. She lay on her belly next to him and pulled him onto her back lightly using her jaw. She then stood up and carried him into the darkness. Drustan was now somewhat perturbed at this turn of events. What did this mean? Was she still going to kill him? Just carrying him to her den to snack on later?
