The Huntress
London can be a dangerous place to wander alone at night, but never was there as large a fright as what would soon come into sight. Four teenagers walked the streets safe with one another. One of them held within a hand a camera to tape the others. A gasp from one of the girls in the group caught the rests attention. The camera wielder turned around and aimed the lens into an alley. A gasp emitted from just off screen, as golden feline eyes emerged to stare out at the trembling teens. The four were greeted with rumbling sounds, like the purr of an oversized cat.
"What creatures are these that stalk the night, like fire upon golden wings; that creep and crawl through unseen dreams to bring demise to mortal beings?"
The camera man turned and looked to his friends all as bewildered as he.
"A riddle?" said one, seeming at last to comprehend.
"Indeed my pet, that's what it is, though I bet you can not answer it," the creature replied in rhythm and rhyme.
The four teens looked to one another still with confusion fogging their minds as they tried to deduce the riddle in time. Something within, an inherent sense, told them this was not the time to be acting dense.
Again they looked to one another hoping one knew what the others did not. From inside the alley the sound now shifted. Silence fell upon them all and then once more a sound was lifted. A rolling growl of deadly warning, the creature's patience wearing thin.
The teens all trembled where they stood, unsure if running would be good. How to run from something unseen, is but a feeble mortal dream.
The first one to have courage fail turned to run, to get away, perhaps he should have tried to pray.
She leapt with a roar and another growl. Salvation now was to no avail. The first to run was the first to die with life slowly drifting from his eyes. The other three stood transfixed and bewitched by the beauty of the Sphinx. She turned to them with a wicked grin that seemed so sweet, yet full of sin. An ebony mane of satin hair spilling behind a human face, tanned flesh to golden fur with wings unfurled and claws revealed, a predator of myth and legend. What set this creature far apart was wisdom beyond its counterparts, 'twas neither human nor prowling cat that had made the city its habitat.
She had both sides within her mind, a cunningness quite sublime. She turned to them with sparkling eyes, the fresh slain corpse beneath her claws now painting crimson across her paws.
The three still alive were now in shock, too scared to think or even talk; they were heading toward the chopping block. Slashing claws and snapping jaws put an end to all the screams, a splash of blood a thread of cloth, little more than broken dreams to hint at what just had been the grisly sight of such a scene. She had her fill and left behind nothing but a simple rhyme.
"To those who dream of distant things of mythical tales on dragons wings, remember well that what you seek could make your life turn very bleak. We're not as friendly don't you see as stories make us out to be."