Within the depths of the forest, all was quiet. The moon was hardly a sliver ripping into the night sky. All around, the murmur of wind through gnarled oak branches hissed and whispered ominously and made the shadows dance across the ground. No crickets chirped. No night fowl sang. It was deathly still aside from that foreboding breeze. But the Heart of the Wood pulsed with life. Crawled with skulking shadow-beings that flitted through the undergrowth... unseen wraiths just out of reach. I can hear the blood coursing through their veins; feel the throbbing tempo of hundreds of frightened, skittering hearts. The creatures of the forest know something wicked lurks within their midst. Something sinister, preternatural. Those that have not sought shelter are stringing their own noose.

Titanic physique is already a smattered canvas of crimson Life-Blood, staining my muzzle and drizzling my chest like war paint. Ivory scalpels cut deep scores through fur and flesh, jaws crushing through bone as tongue laps out the marrow and capillaries burst against the palette of my mouth. Visceral appetite ensured quick work of my latest kill, carving through the cadaver with expert care to extract the juiciest organs first; including the Brain, Heart, and Lungs of the elk calf who'd so foolishly strayed too far from its mother's side.

The late night air was brisk, mists rolling betwixt the timbers in wisping tendrils that contrasted silver against the lush evergreen fauna. It would be many hours yet before the sun made its appearance over the rim of the eastern horizon, and the whole of the forest was dowsed in blue-purple shadows. This would not be the last Life taken this night. But it would be the first to be devoured. The rest will be for simple pleasure. A killing spree for the sheer enjoyment of the chase, and the elation my dark Soul feels upon hearing the death rattle whining from the throats of my victims. The unadulterated pleasure I glean from watching the life evicted from the vacuous portals of their eyes.

It is only an added bonus, that their corpse remains, and I might take it back to the Grotto for the droves to feed upon. Little did I know, that there just well may be a dinner date in store...

_{Furian Bastard + Brindle + 16Y + 45", 195lbs + Stalks Stella + Sired Zildjian, Bellatrix, Izarra & Asterian}