In Search of Auria by Alexis Rojas Page B

said, "This book has knowledge and
illustrations of monsters all throughout the land. At first, I
thought it was the creation of some artist with too much
imagination, but soon enough I found the knowledge in it to be
true.”
    As Richard passed the pages, I saw images of
trolls, gargoyles, exotic birds, and new beasts I had never laid
eyes before. I have encountered creatures that could easily be in
this book. For example, the ogre that I set free on the balorian
outpost, the Devita fairy of the Riverways, the flying Corvus, and
of course, the Daystars.
    After a tedious search, Richard finally
reached the page he was looking for. There was an illustration
similar to the miniature carving; a half-woman half-snake called
Lamia. The illustration showed its upper body was human until
beneath the waist. The rest was the body of a snake; wide as a
barrel and as long as the ceiling. When Richard told me it was the
snake woman, I had imagined a scary lady holding a snake or
something, not a monstrous thing like this.
    “Kid, are you sure this is what you are
dealing with?”
    "You want proof?" he raised his voice. I
raised my shoulders and tilted my head. He twisted his face in
anger and went to the shelf on the wall. He grabbed four figurines
of children, returned and slammed them on the table one by one,
"Bruno, Mathieu, Claire and Sophie! The four of them taken by the
Lamia. The four of them dead!"
    "They disappeared?" I asked.
    "They didn't disappear; they were taken by
the monster. She takes and devours children, just like the book
says."
    "Kid, how can you be so sure it's the--"
    "Because I saw it with my own eyes, damn
it!" he revealed his temper. "Its dark scales go from the tip of
the tail to the middle of its human torso. Draping from the
shoulders it wears the torn clothes of its victims. Its face is
hidden under a leather shroud. We have tried to get away, but it
knows where we are all the time. The only moments we are safe is
during the mornings, but when the sun starts to fall, she
comes.
    “Inside the house we are out of harm's way,
but I don’t know why. Maybe the hunter that used to live here beat
her in a fight or scared her. When the kids go out to search for
food, I tell them to come back inside before it gets dark. But,
some wander too far to make it back. Last time, I tried to save
Sophie. I could hear her scream, but I couldn’t find her. I ran in
the dark… I couldn’t see her…"
    Richard lowered his head, fighting back
tears.
    "That is why I stole your sword and shield.
When I saw you sleeping under the tree early this morning, I took
the chance and stole your weapons. I thought I could wield your
blade, but I lack the skill.”
    He knelt on the floor and bowed to me,
“Please, help us. I beg you to rid us from this evil." The other
children followed suit.
    Now there was no way that I could turn my
back on them. I was their only hope.
    "I will help you, I said lifting Richard by
the shoulder, “but we're going to need a heck of a plan to get rid
of her. If you say that she knows where you are all the time, by
now she probably knows I'm here, too."
    “Well, what do you think we should do?”
    I crossed my arms and put my veteran mind to
work. After some thinking, I had an idea. A dangerous one.
    “Richard, you said that the monster only
comes for children, Right?
    “Right.”
    “So if I go out there to find her, she won’t
show herself to me because I’m an adult.”
    “I guess. But, how will you confront her if
she won’t come for you?”
    I stretched my arms and rubbed my hands
together, “Well, for that, I’m going to need a volunteer; the kind
that is young and meaty, and has the ability to not faint in the
face of danger.”
    “Why do you need a volunteer?” asked
Richard.
    “…It’s part of the plan…”
    Suddenly, all the children slowly stepped
away from me.
    ###
    The sun was about to set, and the chill of
the coming night had already crept in. The moisture in the air
clogged