Hello lowlies

The forest was filled with all sorts of creatures and insects that humans could imagine. It lay deep inside the mountains and humans were wary of it so much so that they even avoided glancing in its direction.

They called it the Forbidden forest and no one in their right minds even came near the perimeter. The humans went about their business eating dinner and getting ready for sleep; oblivious to what went on inside the large canopy of the dense trees.

Deep inside the forest, the scent of blood hung thick in the air. The night had gone eerily quiet as the five creatures were standing in a loose circle. They were oddly shaped- a cross between an orc and a goblin with limbs sprouting from their bodies at odd angles. Their eyes were mere sockets, lidless and black orbs and a slit for a mouth with a set of crisscrossed pincers and a long nose to complete their look.

They were the hycwens, a blood-thirsty race of wild and untamed creatures that killed for sport and ate anything that moved.

They peered at the one figure in the center with curiosity as if they were kittens amused at the sight of a mouse.

One of the hycwens leered, "I hope it isn't chewy. The last one took forever to cook."

The figure in the center smiled, the long cloak covering its entire body. It crouched on the soil, peering through its hood at a short distance.

A pair of werewolves was busy silently transporting a bunch of cubs away from the large tree that had hid them from the hycwens' site. But they had to hurry- it wouldn't take them long to figure out what or rather who was under the hood.

The person in the center took one last look at the retreating figures of the werewolves and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been easy to distract the hycwens with a sudden appearance, yet the hycwens were a notorious breed known for their bloodlust, though they were a bit dim-witted.

20 feet above the ground, the hycwens' mouths continued to bicker, "Is it dead? I wanted to play with it a bit.."

The person whirled around and stood on their feet in one swift move, discarding the hood.

"So, who wants to play?"

The voice seemed to disturb the hycwens and they all turned to the person now standing in front of them. They were shocked to see a young girl standing in front of them. She was athletic, well-built, and looked barely in her early twenties, though she was 200 years old. Her tall frame complimented her piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair that came free of its clasp when she threw the hood to the ground.

She smiled at them sweetly, "What are we waiting for? Introductions?"

"Oh, no. It's a small rabbit. I prefer a healthy lion, lots of meat", said one of the hycwen as the others stepped back at the sight of the woman standing in front of them. She lunged at one of them, twenty feet in the air, and kicked at its neck that crunched like a twig. The hycwen's eyes rounded in surprise as if he was shocked to die so suddenly before he collapsed into a heap on the ground in a sickening thud.

The others took one more step back and she sounded indignant, "A rabbit? It’s the Archon alpha and I won't repeat."

The hycwens only blinked at her and peered at the ground to get a better look. One of them squealed delightedly and pointed at the girl, "Looks fresh enough to eat. And, I'm starving."

A fine line appeared between the brows of the girl who tried to fake being unaffected by the insult.

She pouted her lips and said, "But, I wanna play too" as she tugged at the sleeve of a hycwen before swinging herself upon its arm and saying, "Catch me".

The other hycwen thrashed his club in the open palm of the one holding her. The hycwen that got hit, howled in pain as it proceeded to kick its friend by swinging its foot but falling down when it lost balance. "Stupid creatures" muttered the girl as her fingers curled around the large blade that she retrieved from the pockets of the hycwen that held the club. She pierced the blade through its neck as the remaining two-eyed her with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

A voice rang out from the ground as the girl peered below, standing on the shoulder of the hycwen that was beginning to lose its balance, its arms flailing around its neck as if it had been stung by a poisonous bee.

A timid-looking boy ran to the ground and put his palms around his mouth to shout something. "What?" She asked in frustration. Her senses were sharp but she was busy scrunching her face to keep the putrid smell of the creatures from entering her nose. She gracefully jumped down from the hycwen's shoulder as it joined the other one in increasing the mass of the heap on the land.

She looked at the heap and then the boy, "Goodness, the stink is overpowering. You saw that?"

The boy cowered and didn't dare look at her while nodding furiously.

She looked behind to see the remaining two hycwens running for their lives. She called out, "Hey, we aren't done yet" and then shrugged watching the boy stare at the ground below. She growled, "What is it?"

The boy stuttered, "Archon Alpha Valencia...we have rescued all the cubs."

"Great."

She yawned lazily and dusted off her clothes as the boy didn't move an inch. She raised an eyebrow, "Are you waiting for me to congratulate you on your job, Sam?"

Sam only shook his head more furiously and the girl felt it would come off of his shoulders. "Then what?"

The boy spoke hurriedly, "D...Alpha Dominic has requested your time for a meeting tonight" before running away.

The girl cursed under her breath. "Here we go again."