Tall Tales: From The Woods

Book I: An Endless Hunger

Water dripped from the icicles forming on the roof of the cabin. The thin layer of snow glistened under the rising sun as the crack of wood being chopped echoed through the forest of vibrant elms and maples. A burly huntsman swung an ax splitting a log into two. His face was covered in a thick brown beard with a scar running down his cheek, and a shaved head.  He took a deep sigh as he looked at the pile next to him. Content with the number of logs, he went back inside to prepare his breakfast. As he entered his home he felt warm but empty.

"Damn it all", he looked at the silver necklace that was laying above the hearth. Struggling to stifle his resulting rage he sat down before making himself something to eat for breakfast. The food helped for when he was done eating he felt himself calm down.

"Now it's time to make a living", he grabbed his hide coat and leather boots wrapped in fur and donned them before he found his powder rifle and various small snares. He also took his hunting knife before leaving the cabin and entering the dense wood. It was a sort of good luck charm for him. The snow barely crunched under his feet as he gracefully walked in search of prey. After a brief amount of searching he found the hoof print of a caribou. Despite the find he he seemed indifferent. He followed the tracks deeper into the woods as a darkening fog began to settle over it. His vision dwindling as he got further and further. 

Suddenly the crack of a branch echoed through the trees. He instantly froze in response. The air felt still as he looked around for the origin of the sound. The fog made spotting it difficult but he managed to see the shadow of a large caribou amidst the fog. He guessed it was standing a mere fifteen feet away with a crown of antlers reaching far above it's head that seemed to cradle the sun as it cut through the dense fog. It was not aware of his presence. 

He quietly loaded the powder and shot into his rifle as the caribou dug around the snow for lichen. He then slowly cocked the flint back. The click of the flint caused the caribou to freeze but it didn't run away, so he lined up the rifles cross-hairs with it's heart and slowly exhaled letting loose a billow of mist. 

As he began to apply pressure to the trigger he was interrupted by an ear-splitting shriek. He covered his ears as the caribou panicked and disappeared into the fog. The shriek then stopped but quickly gave way to a terrible amalgamation of screaming and the sound of flesh being ripped apart. The man trained his rifle in the direction of the sound.

"Don't make me do it", he whispered, "don't make me kill you". Suddenly the caribou's severed head flew from the fog and landed a few feet from him. Unfazed he kept his gun pointed in the same direction. First he could hear the sound of stomping feet drawing closer. Then he could see the monster's black outline in the fog. It was half as tall as the tallest Elm and walked on two legs with arms reaching well below it's knees and hooves for feet. It's red eyes pierced through the fog like a pair of searchlights and it's claws were the length of butcher knives. The top of it's head was crowned with a pair of antlers.

The creature stepped out of the fog revealing a visage of terror. It's lips were chewed off revealing enormous fangs, and it's face was human but lifeless as if it were a mask. It's body was covered in the thick fur of a white wolf and blood dripped down it's hands and from it's eviscerated lips. Despite it's large appearance it looked emaciated and thin. The monster's red eyes looked between the man and the caribou's head as if it were deciding between two bread crumbs.

As the creature began to pick the head clean, the huntsman stepped back slowly. He got a few feet away but when he turned away he felt a crunch under his foot and a crack echoed through the woods. The monster looked up from the head and at his back. 

"Damn it", he gracefully twisted around and aimed his rifle as it lurched forward. A loud BOOM traveled for miles around when he pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped through the creature's throat causing It to wail as it collapsed to the ground. He immediately bolted away towards his cabin knowing the creature wasn't done yet. As he ran through the woods he noticed the sun was setting which caused him to hurry even more.