As the sun was swallowed by the forest, one could hear the shriek and howl of the twin monsters. The villagers new that after dusk, the only safe place was inside, for in the forest surrounding Darkened Village there lived the twin monsters of legend. The villagers knew them as Eiolu and Ulula, or Shriek and Howl. One was red, the other brown. They were covered in veins, veins that were said to puff up the instance before they attack. Although the twins didn't eat mankind, they did something much worse. Instead of feasting on flesh, they feasted on dreams and hopes. After they sucked the goodness out of humans, the person was as good as dead, knowing nothing but to wander, in search of its dreams. The priest of the village was the only one not afraid of the twins, for he knew the power of god would rival these creatures of darkness. One night, he set up a wall of crosses around the village and blessed with the protection of god, so as to protect the village from the horrible beasts. However, the next night a villager went missing after taking up a patrol around the small town. This continued for days, until the priest begged the mayor not to send any more patrols. In place of the guards, the priest offered himself to take down the beasts, once and for all. The night before his guard, he fashioned a cross with a pointed end so as to strike the monsters with a holy weapon. That night at midnight, he set out in search of the monsters. Over the night, the villagers could hear the ravage screams and howls from the monsters, but suddenly they stopped around dawn. The priest never returned, but neither did the beasts. Some say the priest used the power of god to transport himself and the monsters to the heavens, and others say he sacrificed himself to kill the monsters. Some even say he ran away from the village with the monsters chasing him, eventually running out of energy and was desouled in the mountains, with the monsters never bothering to return, feasting off of the mountain folk. This legend has been passed on, for future generations to enjoy and wonder what the truth is.

-- This has been a short story from ShadowWhirl --