The Elementum

"It's okay, you can tell us. Please, just try to breathe,” Jane said warmly as she put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. The woman breathed deeply, and gave a backwards glance towards the caves.

“It was ghastly," she began. "It had horns on its head like-like a demon, and eyes filled with hatred and and evil! He had four arms, and feet muscular enough to rival those of a horse! It it lunged itself after me when he-it saw me walking along the water. I panicked! I ran as fast as I could! I-it was right behind me...but then there was this light. So bright... so...big. And the beast was gone..." the woman frantically explained not believing that she had really experienced any of this herself. The friends watched with incredulity. Surely, this woman was crazy.

"A light?" asked Jane with disbelief. The woman nodded.

"I just want to go home...I just... I was so afraid...” the woman began to cry.

"Do you want us to accompany you home?" asked Sean half hoping she would say no, after all, this lady seemed like a real piece of work.

"No, I'm just, I'm gonna go,” The woman walked away without another moment's thought. Her eyes were frozen with terror as she stared absent mindedly at the beach in front of her. The friends watched her walk away.

"Well, she's crazy alright," mocked Shana as soon as the woman was out of earshot.

"I don't know, something in her eyes told me she had really been scared out of her wits," said Jane looking at the woman's back with a worried look on her face. "Maybe we should take a look. Just to be safe..."

"You don't seriously believe her Jane," Sean mused.

"Let's just take a look. What do we have to lose?" and with that Jane was off towards the caves. The others looked at each other. Tristen shrugged and went after her; Shana and Jason followed too.

Sean groaned, but gave in after he saw everyone leave. They walked through the big boulders and rocks that littered the shore and mountain base until they came upon the first of several caves that resided there.

"Hey, we never asked that lady where she had seen the "beast." We could spend our whole lives looking for it," Shana said as she peeked inside the dark cave.

"If “it” even exists," mumbled Sean.

"They're right; we can't look around blindly for something that might not be real," Tristen said looking at Jane.

"I suppose you’re right," Jane sighed. She gave another quick glance towards the cave as she began to head back. Then she saw two small red lights coming from deep within. "Wait! There's something there," Jane yelled to her friends, who were already heading back to the beach. They ran back to her. "In there," Jane pointed at the cave.

"I don't see anything J," Shana said as she walked inside. "I think you're starting to see thiiii-" Shana couldn't finish her sentence, and instead gave a piercing scream as she ran out.

"Shana? What did you s-" Tristen didn't need to finish his question because as he turned toward the cave he saw a monster that matched the woman's description of her attacker. He walked back cautiously not taking his eyes off of the monster. Shana was hiding behind Sean, who was too shocked to even think. Jane felt her breathing come to a halt as the beast emerged from the cave's opening.

Jane gasped as she took in the true hideousness of the creature before her. She felt a hand pull her back and away from the beast. She turned to see Jason’s hand on her shoulder while his eyes were glaring at the creature. She could sense that he too was scared, but didn't want to show it. All five of them retreated slowly to the shore walking backwards, and not taking their eyes off the beast. The monster sneered at them.

Suddenly, the creature gave a terrifying growl, and lunged itself at them. Its two legs carried its enormous body, and his four hands were extended in front of him getting ready to tear a body apart. It went straight at Jane, who was positioned in the middle of the group. She covered her face with her arms, and her heart stopped; her forehead drenched itself in sweat that clung to her bangs. The moment seemed to last an eternity as the other four watched helplessly as the beast got ready to rip Jane to pieces. Its claws were inches away from her face, his face filled with a desire to kill, when suddenly a bright white light exploded before their eyes. The brightness of it forced them to cover their eyes. The light disappeared as fast as it had arrived. Slowly, they uncovered their faces, but their eyes still hadn't recovered from the sudden burst of light. Jane felt her body relax as she realized the beast hadn’t completed its goal. She blinked several times before she was able to see clearly again. When she had completely recovered she realized that the beast was gone. She quickly glanced at her friends who were staring around in confusion and disbelief.

"Jane!" Tristen yelled as he ran towards her. "Are you okay?" Jane looked at him, her eyes wide with fear, and tried to speak but no sound came out. The shock had left her speechless, so instead she simply nodded. Tristen put one arm on the back of her head and the other on the small of her back, and pulled her in. She stood there tense still recovering from what had happened. The others gathered around her to see if she was alright. Tristen let her go and let Shana hug her next.

“Oh, Jane! I was so scared! I thought for sure you were done for," Shana wept as she held her friend in her arms. Jane too began to cry as she hugged Shana back.

“What the hell was that?" asked Sean with exasperation. His voice was weak from fright.

"The better question is where did it go?" Jason said as he looked at the space where the beast had once stood. Not a trace of it was left.

"Perhaps, I can answer those questions,"

All five snapped their heads in the direction of the anonymous voice. From within the cave an elderly man emerged. His hair was short and completely white. He was wearing a long white tunic with white pants underneath. In his hand he had a cane on which he rested most of his weight.

"Who are you?”Jane asked as the curiosity brought back her voice. The man smiled warmly as he walked slowly towards them. Tristen stiffened next to her as he looked warily at the man before them. Jane put a hand on his lower arm to try to calm him down.

"We asked you a question old man," Jason said to the man in a threatening tone. He was clearly not intimidated by the old man, but he was still worried that the man might somehow bring the beast back. The elderly man stopped a few feet in front of them. He smiled.

"My name is Legatus, and that thing you just saw is a Valens. Unfortunately, he's nothing compared to the others that are coming soon. Come with me; we need to talk," The man said calmly, and then turned around to return to the cave once more. The five friends stood confused on the shore unable to decide what to do or even think...

"Let's go," Jane said with determination. She walked in after the mysterious Legatus.