The monster she made

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. It was a chilling omen, one that sent ripples of fear through every village in Appleton. It was an ancient prophecy that many spoke of, but many saw it as a hoax, and now, even the sky, usually clear and blue, grew shrouded in dark clouds as an unnerving quake spread through the land. The disappearance of the queen wasn’t merely a political crisis; it signalled a change so deep that even the magic of the land acted strangely.

In the heart of a small secluded village surrounded by the wild oak woods, villagers gathered at the Square, eyes wide with fear as they all felt the ripple go through the land. The Queen, who was once revered for her beauty and wisdom, had ruled Appleton for decades without a hint of the darkness that now seemed to seep from the very earth. Among the villagers stood Arin, she remembered all the tales and legends growing up about the Queen’s mystical reign. She had long questioned how someone could live so long without aging, but she knew that when nature defies itself, something sinister lies beneath.

Many seemed to ignore the miracle of the queen's age and beauty and non seemed to question it, they saw her as a kind leader, and yet Arin knew better. Years ago as she was scrounging for food, she saw the queen in a hooded cloak heading towards a small ramshackled pub at the edge of the village. It was strange that the queen was there and she would have likely not noticed if she hadn't been trying to pickpocket the mysterious figure. She was creeping upon the hooded figure, pockets in sight ready to grab what ever was there, when a boy flew around the corner in a hurry and knocked the hooded figure down, as she fell, the hood came off and Arin saw clearly who it was. Looking astonished and directly into Arin's eyes, the Queen put her finger to her lips to keep her secret, she then handed a couple silver coins to Arin and headed into the pub.

The coins were great as she knew she wasn't to starve that day, but the curiosity now created a greater hunger and she had to know why the queen was there. Sneaking around the back of the tavern, she began climbing on the different barrels to find a window that might give away what was happening. After climbing some barrels and a couple of window ledges, she managed to get onto a small roof which covered the small porchway, from there, there was a small window with a crack in the corner which allowed her to see into a small dirty room. Looking in, there was a young man chained to a table, his face bruised and arm bent at a weird angle. He was well built and was barely past the age of 17. The Queen was standing opposite of him, smiling wickedly. The Queen then approached him, grabbed hold of his chin and brought her lips to his mouth, as she did, the very life in the young prisoner started flowing out of him and into the Queen. You could see the light force, passing from him to the Queen as she glowed more, and he became more and more of a grey husk. After a couple of minutes, she let go of the boy and surveyed her hands, looking at them closely like she was seeing them for the first time. She glowed and looked younger now and it occurred to Arin that this was how she was staying young.

Arin's heart pounded at the horror she had just witnessed. The Queen of Appleton had lied to her people- the self-proclaimed goddess was not god gifted but was in fact nothing more than a predator, feeding off the youth of her subjects to maintain her own vitality and youth. The truth felt heavy in Arin's chest, a secret too dangerous to carry or to tell to anyone else. Her mind swirlled and jumped from thought to thought as she tried to process what just happened and all the information she knew about the Queen. She knew that telling anyone would risk not just her life, but potentially the lives of anyone who listened. Suspicion alone might condemn her to the same fate as the boy she had seen.

Arin became consumed by what she had seen and the knowledge she couldn't share, she withdrew from day-to-day life, haunted by the memory of the Queen's lies. She tried to piece together the tales she grew up with, and of the legends of the Queen's history she had heard as a child, seeking connections in folklore and myths that might hold an explanation. One night when she could finally sleep, her dreams told her a story of a hidden obsidian mirror. The dream showed her of people looking into the mirror and losing all sense of self, one look into it would also change the person, they could become a monster on the outside based on the corruptness on the inside, or they could become the most beautiful person in existence. The mirror seemed to call to her, and in that moment, she knew what she had to do.

Fuelled by desperation and determination, Arin resolved to find the mirror. Getting up in the middle of the night. she packed provisions, and set out into the woods. The journey through the oak woods was difficult, with trees standing like sentinels, like they were watching her and knew what she had to do. As Arin pushed deeper, guided by instinct and memory, she felt a presence in the air, a sensation of life both alien and welcoming. Time seemed to stop here, or not exist at all, like she had walked into another realm, days melded into nights as she hunted for the mirror in this strange place, there was no animal sounds here, or wind. Her footsteps echoed and even her breathing seemed louder in all the quiet,

She came across an old temple ruin, bathed in a light that seemed to pulse with its own rhythm. The air here was different, rich with the soulful scent of ancient growth and blossoms. In the center stood an old altar, it had roots wrapping around it and into its cracks. On top of the altar sat a figure of the three header mother, and in her hands sat a black obsidian mirror, its very essence drawing her in.

She reached out and grabbed the mirror, not wanting to waste too much time in this place, it felt heavy and old and it wasn't a place for mortals. She secured the mirror in her satchel and exited the way she had come in. She seemed to make her way back quicker this time. Once out of that realm, she headed straight for the castle, she didn't know why and she hadn't really come up with much of a plan, but something forced her that way.

It took two days to reach the castle, and another half day to find a small gap in the wall that she could squeeze through, this part of the castle wasn't guarded well at all, and despite never visiting this place before, she knew exactly where she was going. She could feel a push and a pull to something or someone in the castle and kept on walking forward. She walked through the castle straight into the servant chambers and quickly undressed. She wiped the dirt off her face from her travels and stole some of the servant's clothing to blend in. Grabbing a tray, she slid the mirror on it and covered it with a large lace towel and went in search of the queen. No one stopped her even as she passed servants, I suppose the castle didn't really get break-ins so no one thought she was a threat, after all, she was just a small girl and now looked like a servant herself. After walking for a while, she came across a bathing chamber, in the middle of the large pool bath built into the floor, the queen lay on her back. She was naked and didn't have a mark or imperfection on her. Noticing someone enter the room, the queen looked at Arin, and then the tray in her hand. "Bring me the towel", the queen said. Arin approached the edge of the pool and held out the towel as the queen began walking up the steps and out of the bathing pool. She grabbed the towel and as she lifted it, she saw the mirror, not knowing what it was, she grabbed the mirror and looked into it.

Arin held her breath, at first nothing happened, the queen looked happy and then she felt the hairs on her arms stand up, she heard the echoes of screams and all the lives the queen had consumed. The longer the queen looked, the more she began changing, her beauty was disappearing as she became the monstrous truth hidden within. Her reflection changed into a as she saw the lives she had consumed. She tried letting go of the mirror as she let out a soundless scream, but couldn't seem to let go. Each minute looking into the glass further unmasked her and her appearance changed into an ugliness born from a heart that harbored greed. He skin turned a dark black colour, like the depths of a bottomless lake, her canines turned into elongnated fangs, her long lushious hair falling out and eyes turning dark. Her size increased until the only thing left that stood infront of her was nothing more than a thing of nightmares. Finally she let go of the mirror and let out a blood curdling roar that shook the castle, and all Arin could see in her eyes was anger and hate, a monster of all the horrid the queen was now stood in her place and Arin knew she was screwed. She had unleashed a monster with no way to undo, or destroy it. The queen flew past her and out of the doors and disappeared.

That was a couple of years ago, the river started going backwards on that day and the queen disappeared, but no one knew why except her. She remembers it well each days and every time she comes across a new body, not sucked of life but ripped to shreds, it's been like this for two years, the villages think it's an open, a punishment of the gods, she knows it for what it is and what she unleashed, now she tried to track the monster she made.