Chapter 12: Brother and Sister

The brute's words struck Bob dumb. He offered no further argument, standing coldly to the side as the two burly men led the delicate girls away. Even as his daughter's eyes fixed on him, filled with silent pleading. Even as the lingering, hollow notion that he was still her father persisted somewhere within him.

"Bonnie, I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have brought you here..." Layla choked out the apology between sobs, seeing her father refuse to intervene. Regret washed over her in a suffocating wave. If she'd known this awaited them, she never would have asked her friend to come... Whether Bonnie heard the whispered words was impossible to tell. She gave no answer, only trembling violently, her cries muffled against Layla's shoulder.

Grrrrr... A low, guttural snarl, like that of a monstrous hound, ripped through the air. All five figures froze instantly. The two thugs whipped their heads around instinctively. What they saw drained the color from their faces – a sight that filled them with primal, bone-deep terror. Their grip on the girls slackened completely, allowing Layla and Bonnie to tear themselves free. From the murky depths of the woods, the immense, terrifying silhouette of a beast emerged with chilling clarity. A single, malevolent eye glowed with unnatural light, fixed unwaveringly on the two men. The low, rumbling growl confirmed its hostile intent. Though hardened criminals, men who had spilled blood and heard whispers of monstrous creatures lurking in the shadows, facing the reality was utterly different. The terrifying sensation of their lives hanging by a thread, utterly beyond their control, made their knees tremble. Bob saw the beast too. His lips quivered uncontrollably, and a dark stain spread across the front of his trousers. Then, a strangled scream tore from his throat. "My God! Stay back!" The shout shattered the horrified paralysis. Bob turned and fled blindly. The two thugs, jolted into action, sprinted after him without a single backward glance, abandoning their original targets entirely.

From the moment they broke free, Layla and Bonnie had clung desperately to each other, eyes squeezed shut, refusing to look around. They only heard the men's terrified shouts fading into the distance. They knew something monstrous had frightened their captors away, but they dared not lift their heads to confirm it. Several long seconds crawled by. Finally, Layla summoned her courage and slowly lifted her gaze. They were alone. She cautiously scanned the direction from which the snarl had come. Nothing seemed amiss there now.

"We... we need to go, Bonnie. Get up." She hauled her paralyzed friend upright, brushing the dirt from Bonnie's dress with trembling hands, then doing the same to her own. Only then did they set off towards Dud Town, every rustle in the undergrowth making them flinch.

Inside his cottage, Glen was packing supplies. He planned to take the beast hunting deep within the forests surrounding Biyek Town, then sell the game in Dud Town. This was the temporary source of income he'd settled on. He'd just finished bundling his tools when a faint scuffling sound came from outside. Glen set his things down and opened the door. The beast's fearsome visage filled the doorway, its single eye fixed intently on him, thick strands of viscous drool dripping rhythmically onto the ground. "What is it?" Glen raised an eyebrow. The beast licked its wet nose, then parted its massive jaws slightly, emitting a series of low whines, whimpers, and grunts. It was strangely expressive, almost human-like, yet utterly absurd looking. Anyone else would have been completely baffled. Glen, however, understood. "You mean... those two girls encountered three men outside... the men intended to harm them... and you scared the men off?" Glen tentatively translated the guttural symphony. He paused, eyes narrowing slightly as he murmured under his breath, "People don't generally come out this way... and they just happened to corner Layla and Bonnie... Hmph. Targeting one of them, no doubt. Doesn't matter now. They're unharmed." He looked up to see the beast still rooted to the spot, staring at him intently. Glen wasn't sure why, but noticing the unmistakable gleam of expectation in its single eye, he added, "You did well." The effect was instantaneous. Praised, the beast exploded into a frenzy of unrestrained joy. Like an enormous, over-excited dog, it began bouncing, spinning, and cavorting wildly around Glen's small front yard. The sudden transformation caught Glen completely off guard. "Hey! Stop that! You'll trample everything!" he commanded sharply, lunging forward to grab the creature's thick fur, trying to halt its destructive dance. So this is what you're really like beneath the terror... Glen thought, utterly bemused as he wrestled the excited beast to a standstill. The commotion had likely drawn unwanted attention; Glen could feel the weight of several gazes settling on his yard from neighbouring houses. He glanced casually towards one particular window – the source of the most palpable stare – then instructed the beast to wait for him outside the town limits. Once the beast bounded off, he went back inside to retrieve his packed tools.

Behind the curtained window of a two-story house, a puppet dressed in a faded blue vest let the fabric fall back into place. The room plunged back into near darkness, illuminated only by the weak, flickering flame of a single candle on a wooden table. "That new neighbour is intolerably noisy," the puppet stated in a strange, utterly flat voice devoid of inflection. "He will disturb Elena." "Parendis, you are being overly cautious," countered another voice, equally monotone but possessing a lighter, distinctly feminine quality. "This place is deathly dull. A little noise is welcome!" The blue-vested puppet, Parendis, walked stiffly towards the table, its wooden joints emitting sharp creaks and squeaks. "I care for your wellbeing, my sister. The thought of anyone causing you harm again... it is unacceptable." A second puppet moved closer to the candlelight. Elena, unlike Parendis, was crafted with startling realism. Her features were delicate and finely carved, topped with smooth waves of golden hair. She wore a beautifully detailed gown, resembling a princess stepped out of a forgotten fairy tale – a clear testament to the immense care and affection poured into her creation by their Mistress. "Elena, I know the years confined here have worn on you," Parendis continued, its voice attempting a semblance of earnestness despite its unnatural lack of tone. "But until we receive word from our Mistress, it is wisest to remain hidden from the eyes of outsiders." "Locked away in this forgotten tomb, how could we possibly receive word of her?" Elena retorted sharply, her voice still flat but the words carrying clear frustration. "Even if news of her spread across the lands, how would it ever reach us in here? You wooden-headed fool!" Parendis fell silent. No counter-argument came. Seeing her brother rendered speechless, Elena's tone softened slightly. "Dearest brother," she murmured, leaning closer, the candlelight catching the gilt details on her gown. "The Mistress might be searching for us even now. Even if we cannot actively seek her, we must venture out, if only nearby, to listen for whispers! Staying perpetually cooped up here... why, my very joints might grow fungi..." Parendis's jaw might have opened slightly, perhaps to point out the biological impossibility of fungi growing on their enchanted wooden bodies, but it recognized the futility. It yielded. "Very well. But we go only nearby. We venture no farther than the edge of the woods." "I love you, Brother!" Elena declared. Her wooden lips met Parendis's cheek with a distinct, audible smack.

Beyond the town limits, Glen rode atop the beast as it navigated the dense, shadowed forest. He'd noted the abundance of animal tracks and droppings soon after arriving in this world; sourcing game shouldn't pose much difficulty. His enhanced senses, a legacy of his lycanthropic nature, effortlessly parsed the complex tapestry of scents carried on the damp forest air. He was currently focused on the potent, musky trail of a sounder of wild boar – a scent he'd committed to memory from a previous encounter. Tracking them now felt almost effortless.