The Earth Died Screaming

[Calla Bryn Sturgis]

There was thunder
There was lightning
Then the stars went out
And the moon feel from the sky.

- Tom Waits, "Earth Died Screaming"

The boy knew the wolf was there. Neither his parents nor the other kids would believe him, but he knew the wolf was there. They thought he lied, and were scared of wolves, but the boy wasn’t. The wolf killed the bad things that chased the boy in his dreams. He never thought to ask why bad things chased him in his dreams, or why the wolf killed them. But the wolf did it anyway, for he was one of the Hell Hounds. And these humans should have known better.

A roar brings death upon the winds, and even the greatest of predators scatter. The monster leans back, standing on a rock, slick and red, and howls in exaltation. Blood and saliva mix in its maw and flow down over its torn fur, dripping upon the shattered carcass of what used to be a man.

Lightning flashes, splitting the bole of an ancient tree, and the rash of thunder shatters the ominous silence of the night. Prey animals scatter, their hearts hammering, and even otherwise brave predators panic and flee. And those who reckon themselves above both predator and prey freeze in unaccustomed terror, not knowing what’s coming. They don’t yet recognize the signs of displeasure lord of the forest.

The howls in the night reminded the children of the tales their parents told. Stories of young men and women who foolishly wandered out into the dark woods at night, into the Empire of the Horde never to be seen again. Before the war, folks would laugh at such “superstition,” but not now. Not here. The howls reminded the humans of lessons about staying in their place. Of the fiery eyes that too many of them had seen from afar. Of the Loup-Garou. Of the Guardians of the Forest.