The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Shadows and Light
by A.F. Stewart

Dark dreams and sunlight orbs, buried deep within the Brackmore Woods.

Every child in the village knew those words, every bedtime story contained their echo. Don’t stray off the path, don’t wander too far into the forest. Something wicked lives deep within the woodland.

I learned that and I obeyed. Until today. After the rules changed. After… well, things got desperate. I went past the boundaries, past the whispers, into the shadowed forest. Where the only light came from the wicked. There, in the dirt, I sketched a rune and said a dark, sacred name.

For a moment, I waited. Afraid they wouldn’t come, and afraid they would. Then came a growl, then two, and three, then a thousand. And the eyes, so many pairs of yellow eyes. I trembled, but I found my voice and…