A vividly white full moon looms large over a quiet town, consisting of two-story buildings made of trees from the surrounding woods, nestled up against a cliff.
The buildings are of creative designs, as though from the minds of children. Many left branches and roots of the trees they used, and worked it into a fanciful look. Some buildings also feature vibrant paints, of varying colors. The painted buildings primarily have equally eye-catching signs, indicating they are businesses.
Most of the residents are indoors, many of them asleep. But, one tall female, with ample curvature, clad in armor hugging those curves is outside for patrol.
There is a bellowing noise echoing through the town from unknown origin. It's an eery, bestial noise.
The woman on night watch takes notice, and begins quickly walking in the direction she suspects is the source.
The creature is large, and difficult to make out in the dark. Each time the small woman draped in black from head-to-toe, her head hidden within hood of her cloak, gets near enough to it, she can only see it's hairless, white backside, before it escapes the light of her inflamed blade.
The two are running through a city shrouded in darkness. The beast making noises in attempt to scare off it's pursuer, which reverberate clearly through the cave the city is within.
"I did not survive three great wars to die in my sleep to a noisy hunter-beast!" She whispers in a quiet shout at the creature. "You are supposed to eat bats and fish! Do I look like either one!?"
The armored woman reaches the back of the town, and stands still and proper, as she slowly gazes over the area.
The buildings here encircle and face where the river exits the mountain.
The river briefly diverges in two, surrounding an island, and comes back together towards the buildings, before continuing on through the middle of the town. Their water supply.
Looking beyond the flowering tree on the island, she looks to the barred entrance of the cave from whence the river comes.
"It cannot be..." Her eyes narrow in speculation, as she contemplates whether the bellows are indeed coming from the cave.
The beast jumps into the river, as it comes to end of the city grounds. It's swimming is quite noisy, splashing as it goes.
The pursuer leaps into a gondola, and cuts the rope that moored it. Relying upon the flow of the river to give it a start towards the creature, as she grabs the oar and begins directing the small boat.
The beast swims headlong into the bars, between which bright light shines into the entrance of the cave.
"You blind fool!" She shouts more loudly at it, after hearing it hit the metal.
The tall woman, now standing ten feet from the opening to the cave, stares in disbelief from a river bank. Her mouth opens slightly, as her jaw lowers. Something very big hit hard on the bars, and a voice followed it. "Goo bind ghoul?"
As she hears the thing start splashing back away from the bars, another noise catches her attention.
In the distance, back towards other side of the town, a horn is being blown.
"Full moons..." She looks in direction of the horn for a moment, then slowly back to the cave. "Are we under attack from these things?"
She takes the bow from her back, pulls an arrow from her sling, and takes aim between the bars, in case they are rammed again.
The creature climbs back on shore, but the dark clothed woman beat it to it. "Prepare to die!"
Suddenly, something shifts inside it, and it begins growling, as it slowly steps into the light of the fiery short sword. It is even bigger than she expected, much larger than herself.
The four-legged thing's fang-like teeth are barred, looking perfect for tearing flesh from bone. It's eyelids are narrowed over it's milky white eyes. The great muscles throughout it's body are flexed, looking solid.
She waves the fire in front of it, noisily, and it still approaches, unmoved by the gesture.
"Back to this then..." She whispers.
As lights within buildings come to life over the horn, the armored woman keeps her aim at the cave, listening to what is audible of the on-goings within. "Are the two things..."
There is an explosion on other side of the town.
"...Fighting...?" She slowly lowers her bow, and turns to face the other way, witnessing the bright blast of the explosion over the rooftops. "Fire...?"
After a moment staring, as others rush out their doors, still putting on their armor and weaponry as they go, it dawns on her. "Humans fight with fire, don't they?"
She replaces the arrow, and runs back the way from whence she came, along the river that runs through middle of the town. "Full moons!" She shouts, as she comes to understand the two unusual on-goings of the night are unrelated.
The beast rushes at the woman in black, but she dives off to the sides, out of the way. The creature barely stops itself in a skid, short of slamming into a cave wall.
As it turns around to charge again, she throws mushrooms into it's open, snarling mouth. "There's plenty of mushrooms! We're in caves! Why eat Gokludy when you can eat...!?"
It's eyes instantly widen, and it begins spitting them out, with some coughing, clearly disgusted by the fungus, as if it were dung or vomit.
"There is nothing wrong with those, you meat-eating idiot!" The woman is quite blatantly outraged by the insult to her diet, and runs at the beast, prepared to strike it with her blade.
It was so busy wiping remnants of mushrooms from it's tongue with left paw, that it almost did not respond in time. But, respond it did, by running away again, the fire barely singeing it's rear end.
"How can something so big dodge attack from a Gokludy!?" She returns to pursuing it through the empty city.
As the tall, armored woman reaches the front gate of the town, she is in disbelief.
The gate is on fire, with the other soldiers, all of which younger than herself, despite she is herself young, more focused on trying to put it out, than on the ladders about to touch top of the wall. "The ladders!" She yells to them. "The Humans are coming! Knock over the ladders!" She picks back up into a run, towards a nearby staircase against the wall. "Archers, attack the enemy! Foot-soldiers, get the ladders!"
*******
Fact: This is a remake, and continuation of "Dindae." It is no longer based off British corruptions of the lore of my ancestors, which means it is no longer called "Dindae," as that is from Tolkien. The main character has retained the personal name Hamika, but no longer has an alternative name of Dindae.
