The Forsaken Girl

Prologue

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     A shrill scream cut throughout the dense woods surrounding her, followed by the sound of metal striking against something soft.  The screams stopped just as soon as they had begun.

    Jaclyn felt a tremor of fear crawl up along her spine as undiluted terror caused her to dart quickly behind a clump of bushes, pushing herself as far down into the leaves as she could manage. More shouts and screams echoed loudly throughout the woods, silencing the local wildlife that sought refuge elsewhere.

Despite the sudden sense of foreboding she felt, Jaclyn slowly crept out from the bushes and crawled along the muddy ground towards the area where the commotion was coming from. Nearing a small opening in the trees, her eyes widened with despair, and an overwhelming flood of loss as what she saw would forever be burned into her tender young mind.

Living in a remote village far away from the rest of civilization with her family, they had been lulled into a false sense of safety from the rest of the world. Making what she bore witness all the more traumatizing, as though her security blanket was brutally ripped off, forcing her to grow up faster than anyone should expect of someone at such a tender age.

     There had been whispers amongst her parents and some of the neighbors of a demonic uprising in the more civilized world, but never once did she think that she'd bare witness to that war.

Bodies lay scattered throughout the field that flanked the once serene lake, which now turned crimson as blood flowed freely into it. Gritting her teeth to keep from crying out, Jaci watched as her neighbors John had his stomach sliced wide open by a hulking creature. Intestines and blood poured out from the gaping wound, mixing in with pieces of flesh and limbs that were sprawled across the ground.

The creature pulled the sword from John's body and drew it towards its mouth, which so happened to be lined with razor-sharp fangs. Jaci cringed as the creatures forked tongue darted out and tasted the blood that coated the swords tip. His bright crimson eyes glowed with immense pleasure. The creature was a terrifying sight with coal black scales that covered a majority of its body, a pair of massive black wings sprouting from a break in the golden armor that plated its upper body.

Demons and other dark malicious creatures were scattered around the field, aiding in the slaughter of the few people who remained standing. A sudden cry of despair escaped from her lips as she watched her brother Nathan was drug forward from the small crowd of remaining people, blood red claws encircling his entire neck as another demon jerked him forward.

     Jaci sprung out from behind the brush she'd been hiding amongst, fear causing her to lose all sense of self-preservation.  The only thoughts that rang across her mind were to save Nathan. Reaching down she grabbed onto the hilt of a double edged sword that lay carelessly strewn amongst the dead, fighting her way her across the battlefield towards Nate and that disgusting creature that threatened to rip her world apart.

  The muscles in her small arms burned intensely with the immense effort it took for her to haul such a large sword, and she struggled forward towards where Nate struggled wildly. Never once did she sense the pair of eyes that watched her every movement with avid interest.

Nate clutched desperately at the claws that encircled his throat, a futile attempt to dislodge the demons vice like grasp. The demon drug Nate towards a small clearing amongst the mangled dead bodies, licking its lips with anticipation, and she felt the bile rise up in the back of her throat at the scene before her. Opening its mouth wide, revealing blood tinged fangs, the demon brought Nathan's neck to mouth, ripping into his soft flesh. Moaning in pleasure, the demon tightened its jaws around Nate's throat as blood flowed freely into his mouth. Nate's sharp scream of agony soon became garbled as the demon roughly bit down again, this time crushing his trachea, completely cutting off his airway.