The monster of Swan Lake

Chaper 1 : Hitting the target

Our story goes on.

The accident with Darius was ten years ago. The castle, and it's in habitants had moved on, for he and his father weren't the only ones gone missing in the past years. Since the arival of the monster more then a dozen had gone missing, none had come home. Everyone knew that once you were taken all hope of surviving was lost. Most people tried to stay away, but for some it wasn't as easy. The kingdom lay in the end of a valley, the only way out was to go around the lake. There another village could be found. every day brave men would bring suplies to the village, most were cast in armor for if the chance arrised that they would have to face the beast. The soldiers were brave but not invisable. Even they had created widows, with their disapearing.

Thought it had been a while ago that a normal citizen was the one that died. Some called the baker a fool, others 'the bravest man they ever knew'. But it didn't help with the initial lost.

The baker would travel between the two villages bringing fresh baked bread every morning to the people who wished for it. So every morning, the village main street would smell of fresh made cookies and pastry.

Now it only smelled of flowers from the florist or coal from the smith.

The upbeat mood was gone and the feeling of absent was felt even more due the lack of a certain princess that would make every cleaners life hell. Before she used to run around playing hopscotch over the newly cut hedge or play hide and seek with anyone that had time to spear. This day, the streets were empty, a few children playing in the corner with their dolls or a stand of two of the locale shop keepers, but not the festive ambiance that used to cover the region like before.

Even princess Eleanor herself would wonder why, but every time she did the memory of the guard telling her he was gone, came back. Instead she tried to focus on her studies like her mother wanted. Not necessarily for herself, but to push away the regret and sadness she felt.

She Worked from sun rise till sun set. Talking only breaks for eating. But every so often her eyes would dwell from her book to the forest tree line and further. Bringing with it an array of day dreams she used to play out. In one of such, she was a gallant knight saving a dog from a tiger, in the other she would travel the land and become friends with a magical space squid.

Her mind would sometimes be so lost, that it took a strong shout from her tutor to bring her mind back to his lessons. The boring never got away, no matter how much she wanted to distract herself in work.

After a while even her favourite dance class wouldn't keep her focused. Bringing with it, the danger of her loss. She had to find something beter and quick. That's when she had asked the second lieutenant to start teaching her some more exiting classes, well, more exciting than dancing anyway.

At first her mother, like with everything, was against it, but after seeing her smile for the first time in a while made her rethink her schedule and class subjects. However, the princess hadn't counted on her mother going overboard. Well maybe she did, after al it was the same woman who could plan the trip for the ambassador all in one day.

The classes had started small, mostly given by the lieutenant himself. Focusing on self-defence or basic manoeuvres. By the time it was the fifth lesson, she was asking for something more challenging. Knowing her mother, she had suggested to stop and stay with how the lessens were. The Lieutenant however liked the idea and after some discussion with the King himself he was given permission to turn it up a notch.

Bringing us to today.

One arrow has already hit its mark; the audience is holding its breath while the princess biases her next one. With a smooth motion it is released, and flies through the air like bird diving for its prey. Time seemed to stop, waiting for the result of her shot. One moment the arrow was in her hand and the other, it is being pinned in the hay, hitting her mark of by two centimetres. The onlookers all clapped their hands. The princess made a small bow to her fans before aiming again for a following shot. Before she released, she cast a glance side way to her friend and study companion, and with a cocky voice she said, "Hey Huebert, what will you do if I hit an even harder mark than the last one?"