The Fear
You can’t shake that feeling. That feeling that there’s something in the shadows, waiting for you. Just eager for your guard to be let down long enough for it to make you its victim, to desecrate your body in the most unholy of ways. A seed of fear has sprouted in your gut, ever since Gerod had left to go hunting. You try to guess how much time has passed since he left.
You drag a paw through the dirt, having accepted what has happened as strange happenstance. You always had an open mind, but now it is being fully pushed to its limit with dealing with these events.
A bush rustles to your left, and your heart begins to frantically beat in your chest. You feel blood rush to every fatigued part of your body, preparing for a fight, or to flee for your very life from whatever creature may be lurking in the woods. You look around frantically, trying to spot something in the bushes to put your mind at rest.
“G-gerod?” You call out, trying to push the fear out of your voice and out of your mind as you hope to whatever gods may look over this world that your one friend and ally had returned, and not some predator or foe who may wish harm unto you. “Gerod! Is that you?! Come out!” You scream into the bush, leaping to your feet when another bush rustles, this one much closer to where you lay. A soft growl splits through the air, and no amount of thought or courage stops you from freezing in place, every fiber of your being begging you to scream and fly away from whatever produces these sounds.
“I...I’m not afraid of you...!” You try to growl, your feminine voice coming across as fearful, betraying the front you try to put forward. The growl stops...the rustling continues.
“GEROD!” You scream again.
“Alex!” A familiar voice beckons, and you turn to see that griffon coming out of the bush from behind you, a deer at his feet, its wide eyes and bloody neck telling you all you need to know of its fate, but you pay it no heed as you rush forward and nuzzle the griffon affectionately, your whole body trembling against his. “Alex, what troubles you?” The male voice, a voice that would have projected more confidence than your own, asks.
“There...there was something here.” You explain, looking back to where the bushes had rustled just moments ago. You look back at the griffon, tears welling up in your eyes. “I...I’ll be safe with you, right, Gerod?” You dare to whisper, the vestiges of terror ebbing away as you gaze upon your mentor and friend.
“Of course, Alex.” Gerod whispers, his wing wrapping around you in a cushiony veil of feathers and muscle. “I will allow no harm to come to you. You mustn’t worry, these woods are safe. You are safe.” He affirms.
And yet you fear.
Written by Czar Lawrence III on 01 April 2013