Beast Part 3

Part 3
seasons passed and slowly things began to go bad. Will didn't know the specifics up in the mountains but there was a feeling of uneasiness in the air. The village burned in early fall. Will didn't know what caused it but he saw the smoke and knew it was bad. One day when he was hunting he came across the sent of people. He didn't know what had caused them to come that far into the woods but he was extra careful from then on. The animals in the woods were more skittish then before. He tried to ignore the growing sense of wrongness. Then he came across the man. He had stumbled or crawled to the edge of the stream not far from where Will usually drew water. Will had caught the smell of blood and found him. The man was barely alive. He had been cut badly and had lost a lot of blood. Will knew basic first aid but not enough to help him. The man coughed as Will leaned him up ageist a stone in the bank of the river. The ground was covered in moss so at least he wouldn't be uncomfortable. He looked up at Will with eyes that were clouded with pain and delirium.
"come to kill me beast? You're too late, I think.
Will nodded slightly. 的'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to...he trailed off. There was no message he could deliver and he didn't have anything to ease the mans pain, so there was almost nothing he could do.
The man looked at Will. "Not what I expected." he grunted ending the sentence with a raged breath. "isn't the demon of the woods supposed to be evil?"
Will shrugged, "I'm not like that." he settled down beside the man looking at him easily. "Tell me about you. Will couldn't do much but he could be witness to the mans last moments. He could lend an ear to hear a mans last words.
the man understood what will wasn't saying. "I'm just a farmer." he said. "No glory, nothing special, just my family, the land. I tried though, that's what matters right? I tried to stop them, when they went too far. We're just farmers, not fighters, but we had to try to stop them. It's our home. And the Lady Lark tried so hard. Couldn't let them kill her too. We couldn't do anything but maybe now she'll be alright. Right?" the man looked up at Will who nodded.
"she'll be alright.Will said. Don't worry, she'll be alright." And in that way the man died.   Will buried him by the river and marked the grave by planting a tree at that spot.
It was three days later that his conscience got the better of him. He took the man's cloak and packed a bag for several days. The cloak was large enough that it could almost completely disguise his form especially if he slouched. Disguised in that way he went down the mountain. His plan was to just walk along the road aways until he met someone, ask about the local situation, then go home. He didn't wan't to go to the village. At the same time, he kept thinking about what the man had said. Little Lark, the girl who had been so innocent, Killed? No he couldn't believe it. No one could harm such a sweet girl. He had to know what was going on. Will reached the road and it was there that his courage gave out. He couldn't go down to the road, instead he stayed crouched behind a tree. All the terrified looks he had ever received, all the times mothers had pushed there children out of sight, all the times he had been watched by men with their hands on their weapons, came back to him. It would be so easy for someone to lose control. It would be so easy for someone to get hurt. Will had no confidence that he could stop such a situation. Night fell as he crouched trying to gather his courage and step onto the road.
It was then that several men came up the road. They stank of cheap beer and were laughing and boasting to each other. Several of them had blades on their belts while all of them wore strips of leather armor. There was no way they were farmers and they were too sloppy to to be any of the local guards. Unless standards had dropped quite a bit since Will had retreaded to the mountains. Will listened as they passed his hiding spot but their words were slured with drink and what he could make out made no sense. The men passed on down the road and headed for the lords castle. No sense, none of it made any sense.
Will stepped onto the road. He didn't like it. Here in the village the feeling of unease was even worse then out in the woods. He couldn't let anything happen to these people even if he was no longer one of them.  He considered following the strangers, but in the end decided to go into town. Better to know what was going on then to act without thinking. The Inn was at the center of town but Will was still too nervous to go past the outskirts. He stood shifting from foot to foot at the edge of the road looking in towards the square and the market place.
"Cold night."
Will nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to face the young man who was knocking out a pipe under the eves of the nearest house.
"if you're looking for the inn it's down the road a bit, but if I were you I wouldn't stay long." the man was alert but not tense. He wasn't looking for a fight but if Will offered one he was ready.
Will shook his head wondering how to ask his questions now that there was finally someone to ask. He finally settled with just talking and hoped that the man would assume something other then the truth.
"News?" it was only slightly closer to a howl then a word.
The man looked at him with one eyebrow raised then shrugged. "Same as last week and the week before. That weasel is still in the castle. The Lady Lark is still imprisoned." the man shrugged. He had the look of a man who had been beaten but had yet to give up.      
"Tell me." Will said, hoping the man would understand him.
The man gave him another look. "You been under a rock or something?"
Will nodded.
The man shrugged, then stooped and sat down on his doorstep. "alright, it started about two months ago."
the Man told Will of how a group of thieves led my a mercenary named Devon had taken up residence in the hills. Devon had wormed his way into the Lords Favor. His men had replaced the lords by that point. All Devon needed to take the lords land and fortune was Larks hand in marriage.  He had tried to court Lark, and when she wouldn't have him he turned to threats. When he killed the Lord the villagers rose up in retaliation. It was a disaster. The Man himself still had one arm in a sling. Lark was only so strong. The only reason Lark wasn't married yet was because she was in morning. Devon found it amusing, and since he had control there was no reason to rush the wedding. The villagers would slowly be starved under the new taxes and there was little they could do about it. It would take the interference of an angel or a demon to save them. Peter, for that was the mans name, offered Will a peace of advice and told him to find another place to travel. Will nodded his thanks and retreated from the village.

The next morning would become the gossip of the town for months, eventually becoming a legend in its self.

A stranger came to the castle. He was dressed in a long brown cloak so none of his features could be seen. He knelt before the false lord of the house, offering a loaf of bread as a token and asking only that the Lady Lark go free. The False lord laughed at the humblest of gifts, and ground the bread beneath his heel. As some tell it the man then transformed. He stood drawing back his hood and letting the cape fall from his solders, revealing the beast. A terrible creature half wolf, half man, with fir as red as blood and eyes like ice. The creature howled sending the false lord and his men running to the hills in fear. Roomers quickly spread that the Lady Lark had a protector, a monster from the woods at her beck and call. But as she was the only one to witness the event, and she only rarely spoke of it, no one was certain.
No one bothered to ask about the castles new and slightly secretive cook.