Flames in the Night©A. Richardson

There is something unnatural about a misty evening. Silence is everywhere, even when a muffled sound can be heard.The world, so full of people and buildings , suddenly becomes empty of both, leaving only the foggy night, swirling witches round the cauldron of life, moaning in hushed tones of misty deeds. Gareth is just about to go home after checking on his flock of sheep, when the mist descends. He has lived on the farm all his life, but tonight he senses that things are not as they should be.As he follows the trail towards home, he realises that he is becoming lost. Yet how can he get lost on a path he has trod for many years? Darkness has fallen, with no sound to be heard, and for once he has not thought to bring Meg, his faithful sheep dog, mostly because she’s getting old ,and too tired to bother getting up when he left the farmhouse. So he let  her lie there. After all, it doesn’t take long to count the sheep, nor to walk to the fields, then home again.

Men like Gareth do not become afraid walking the fields on dark , misty nights. They do it so often that it is like a Sunday stroll to them.Gareth certainly wasn’t afraid on this occasion, even though the mist was now so thick that he couldn’t see more than a foot ahead of where he walked. His hand brushed away a light feeling of web from his face....or was it web? In fact,  it didn’t feel quite like a spiders web at all, now he came to think of it. There it was again, as his hand flicked it away.Something was irritating his skin, but he couldn’t quite catch it with his fingers. The hairs on his neck rose; he shivered. “Don’t be daft,”he told himself, as his imagination began to work overtime.The trouble was, he really was beginning to feel edgy. He turned a full circle to see if he could make out what was causing the feeling, putting his hands out to catch whatever it was. Nothing.Well, nothing as far as he could see or feel, but Gareth was sure that there was something close by him, and whatever it was, it gave him a very uneasy feeling indeed.

He began walking that little bit faster, just enough to finish his nights' work quickly, but not enough to show his inner disquiet, he thought. Knowing he was near his destination, he put his hand out, and felt the cold , somehow reassurring gate. Swinging it open he called his sheep with a low whistling sound. They usually came to his call, thinking they would be fed. He began counting, muttering quietly to himself as he did. Finally he was pretty sure he'd accounted for them all, and he turned to return home, closing the gate carefully. As he moved from the field back onto the path , he felt once again a light touch on his skin, just below his cheek. He reached up his hand to brush whatever it was away, just as a whisper filled his mind , coming from somewhere near his ear, and a warmth of breath swirling like the mist itself , seemed to cover his face. " Who's there", he called. A shiver ran through him, but noone answered.

He walked as fast a possible back to his cottage , reaching the door and a welcome tail wag from Meg, as soon as she saw him. Reassurred by the light, as well as the warmth of his fire, Gareth made a cup of tea which he took to his chair by the fire. Whilst Meg dozed at his feet , the warmth relaxed him and his head began to nod. Sleep gently beckoned, warm and cosy. From that faraway land of almost dreams he became aware of Megs'deep-throated growl. He was dragging himself awake when the cottage door flew open, Meg shot to her feet , teeth bared, hackles up, and stood by his side. All Gareth could distinguish as the mist swirled into the room was a dark shape looming towards him. He couldn't tell what it was, but Meg was now snarling, and Gareth could feel again that unearthly touch on his skin. A touch which was becoming increasingly threatening. He felt like he was being scratched, rather than the previous feeling of lightness, with the scratching getting ever more painful the closer the dark shape came to him. Meg retreated back towards the wall, with her master following suit. The windows had flown open too and the mist seemed to have invaded every part of the house. Hardly able to see at all, Gareth cried out as his face was seared by a pain running from his right eye down to his neck. He put his hand to the painful area and felt the dampness of blood.

Old though she was, Meg loved her master and wanted to protect him. She flew into the air , teeth bared, to launch her attack on whatever had made Gareth cry out. The last thing which Gareth heard of her was her scream as she buried her teeth into that all-pervading black shape.Then there was silence ; Meg lay once again at Gareths' feet , but this time she did not stir. He bent down to touch her, fearing she was hurt, his fingers gently moving down her spine . His hand made an awkward turn where her back had been broken .He gasped as he realised the fate which had befallen his favourite dog. A tear slipped from his eyes for all the years of friendship they had shared.

Then he, too , was fighting for his very life. Fighting a foe which he could barely see, and which he could not quite grasp. His fists seemed to fly into thick air, rather than the body he expected to make contact with. Suddenly his head was being squeezed, and he could feel himself being lifted from the floor. Higher and higher he seemed to go, through the door, and into the now black night. He wondered if his body was still with him, or had it been left behind when his head began its flight through the dark, misty, woods. That was , perhaps, his last fully conscious thought.The rest was pure nightmare.

On , and on past mountains, seas, and towns, Gareths' tortured body darted through the air, until , totally surrounded by thick , black, demonic presence, he was hurtled to the ground. The mist of unconsciousness cleared slightly, so that he was vaguely aware of being dragged now .Dragged through thorny bushes, which tore at his already tattered flesh, causing even more wounds to open and bleed.Groaning with pain he tried to open his eyes , but the blood clogged his eyelashes , and he could see very little. However, he felt the coldness of stone below him, and was just able to make out the opening of a cave as the moonlight shone upon it, before he felt himself being thrown downwards. His body landed with a terrifying crunch. Surely such a noise would have broken bones? It had. Three of Gareths ribs had cracked on landing, as well as two of his fingers which had caught on a rock just before he hit the floor of the cave.

He lost consciousness once again. Mercifully. For at least he couldn't see the creature now standing over him.

Larger than ostrich , it had no visible wings. It's face had three red eyes , but one of them moved independenly of the others. The talons which it had used to carry Gareth to this place were now gripping his head once again. Only this time it seemed to be trying to communicate with Gareth, for it kept making strange noises, then nodding furiously. It shook his body violently. Gareth might have been a rag having dust shaken out of it, judging by the way his body flopped about with each shake. The beast shook him again as it screamed a deep echoing sound which filled the entire cave , bouncing from wall to wall , until it pervaded the poor mans' mind. Gareth groaned as his eyes once again tried to open. He tried to move, but as soon as his arms showed signs of life, the creature grabbed them with it talons and lifted him high into the air, above its head.

It pressed its head against Gareth forehead. The man felt his thoughts changing, then he became aware of sights he had never dreamed of before. He saw worlds where violence was normal, creatures destroyed all they came into contact with. Beasts roamed the universe seeking innocent worlds where they could become the conquerors. All that they touched was theirs. All life forms bowed to their forces of darkness.Now he knew what he had been draged here for, his mind and body were changing. His torturer was within him.

Before he finally merged with his captor, Gareth felt his own life force turn from light into an oozing sludge of darkness. Then he was one with the creature.

The body of the man lay still. The creatures body was also at rest. The time for renewal over, the time for change was yet to come.The questions mankind would ask are ," How did it get here? Was it brought to earth in a UFO? How can it be killed?"

As a snake sheds its skin, so did Gareth shed his mind and body, while his captor squeezed them from him to complete its chosen task. The last sound Gareth ever made was a long sigh as he gave up his thoughts forever to the creatures' evil mind, its world, and in that sigh he spoke the name of his destroyer, breathed from its mind to reach his lips,"Dizarg ", a name which would bring fear to the earth before very long......