Anya was playing by the well when the screaming started.
The square smelled of dirt and bread. The sun was bright, and looking at the stones for too long hurt her eyes. Chickens scratched near the grain shed. The bell tower's shadow stretched across the ground in the afternoon.
Anya sat close to the well where the stone stayed cool. Her doll leaned against the wooden bucket.
"They are real," Anya said, pushing her doll closer to the well. "They live down deep, on the other side of the mountains."
Sophie wrinkled her nose. "If they were real, Mama would've told me."
Mister Garrett walked by, pulling his cart. The wheels squeaked the same way they did every day. He gave them each a turnip with dirt still on the skin.
"Don't tell your mothers," he said.
Anya bit into hers. It tasted crunchy and sweet.
The scream came while she was chewing.
It was too loud and went on too long. It sounded like a pig being killed for winter, only louder.
Anya looked up.
The sky looked wrong.
It was no longer blue. It looked torn. Something black came out of it, falling fast and growing larger in a way that did not make sense.
It hit the ground past the square.
Anya fell forward and scraped her knees on the dirt. She did not notice right away. Her ears rang, and everything went quiet for a moment.
The thing opened its mouth straight down the middle.
Then it screamed.
The sound hurt Anya's head.
People ran.
Mister Roland came out of the smithy holding his hammer. He shouted, but Anya could not hear the words. He ran at the monster and lifted the hammer.
Before he could throw it, the monster's tail moved.
Mister Roland flew into the wall of his shop. He slid down and stayed still.
Anya thought he was tired.
Sophie did not move.
Her doll hung from her hand and dragged on the ground.
The monster turned its head and looked at Sophie.
Sophie screamed and ran. Her feet slipped on the stones.
The smithy wall cracked and collapsed as Sophie ran past.
When the dust settled, Sophie was gone.
Only her hand stuck out. Her fingers held the doll.
Anya waited for Sophie to pull it free.
She did not.
"Anya!"
Mama and Papa ran toward her.
Mama grabbed Anya's hand.
"We need to run," Mama said.
They ran.
---------------------------------------------------
After a while, Anya saw their house.
They almost reached the door.
A shadow fell over them.
Papa pushed Anya and Mama toward the house.
"Get inside!"
Papa turned around.
He ran at the monster.
The tail hit him.
Papa bent in the air and landed on the ground the wrong way. His eyes were open, but he did not blink.
Anya thought he was pretending. Papa liked games.
Mama stopped.
She looked at Papa. Then the monster. Then Anya.
Her face changed in a way Anya did not understand.
The monster swung its tail toward Anya.
Mama pushed Anya away.
The tail swept through. It touched Anya's right arm — just touched it — and hit Mama.
Mama hit the wall. Blood spread across the white plaster. She slid down and stayed still.
Anya tried to stand and go to Mama.
That was when she saw her right arm was gone.
Blood poured out. It did not hurt yet. It felt cold.
Anya crawled toward Mama as the monster leaned over her.
It was larger than the house. It blocked the sky above her.
Pain came from where her arm used to be.
The monster looked at Anya again.
It grabbed her and lifted her up.
It forced her mouth open. Thick black liquid dripped inside.
It burned.
Anya tried to spit, but could not. The liquid kept pouring in.
Her stomach burned. Her chest burned. Everything burned.
The monster dropped her.
It spread its wings and flew away.
The monster was gone.
The burning stayed.
It moved through her body. Her heart beat too fast. She heard the fire, breaking wood, and small movements under the stones. Smells filled her head until it hurt.
A shadow fell over her.
It was not the monster.
A woman stood there. Her eyes were kind, but cold underneath.
"Hello, little one," the woman said softly. "Can you hear me?"
Anya looked at Mama on the ground. Papa lying wrong. Sophie's hand holding the doll.
"You poor thing," the woman said. "My name is Cyra. You're safe now. I promise."
Safe was a word Mama used.
It did not work here.
Anya's stomach burned. Something inside her felt empty and loud.
Darkness came.
Anya let it take her.
She did not want to see anymore.