The night was dark and frosty. A thick freezing fog was hanging in the air, and the damp cold smell of winter was prominent. There was a putrid, musty smell of age and decomposition in the forest that night. The place was a large forest in the middle of England; the time was long, long ago before the earth was fully formed. Silence echoed in the stillness of the black impenetrable night, nothing stirred, not a man, or a mouse’(Copywrite Nicola Mooney 2010)
Then a hunched silhouette pierced the stillness as it moved at the edge of the forest. It advanced quickly and stealthily under cover of the huge oaks, moving with surprising agility and grace as its form was bent over and hunched. It was completely naked, the stringy sinewy muscles of its limbs visible through its thin greenish skin. It moved noiselessly through the trees, the thin hunched skeletal form moved effortlessly into the forest.
The creature did not seem to feel the sharp scratch of the thorns in the undergrowth, or the extreme cold. The trees appeared to part as the creature came near, not wanting to touch the evil looking thing.
The strangest thing about this creature was that it glowed – a warm orange light emanated from two large orbs at the front of its head. Its thin bony face wore an expression of contempt. It stopped and sniffed the air with it long wolf like snout. Its long sharp teeth were visible at the side of its thin lips, which oozed a thick green saliva.
The ugly, Goblin like creature suddenly stopped as if disturbed from its nightly prowling. It glanced around and fixed its fiery gaze onto a tree to its right. Then a spark flew from the creature and the tree was set alight. The creature gave a smug look as if pleased with itself.
As it emerged from the forest the fire creature moved quickly, leaving a scene of devastation behind it, as by now most of the plants in the forest were burning and would perish in the roar of the red-hot flames.
The fire creature uttered a horrible sound that could be heard for miles, but the earth lay new and dormant and there were no other living beings around to hear the sound. The earth where the fire creature stood warped and convulsed and the creature changed shape and disappeared into the black hole, which seemed to penetrate to the very bowels of the earth.
Centuries past and the new world burnt in the form of volcanoes, their hot molten lather creating new landscapes as they destroyed and deformed everything in their path. The earth perished and smouldered under the bubbling all powerful lather , which burnt and decayed all in its path. The deformed bent and shadowy form of the fire creature appeared from underground all over the now sparse blackened planet. Not a sound was heard except the wind playing amongst the trees with icy finger whispering,“beware, beware.“
Decades later the earth once again lay peaceful and quiet, as if expectant of the sunshine to come. Trees and vegetation once more covered the barren land making it lush and green. It seemed that a new force came into being asif the earth had rid itself of degradation and destruction. Beautiful flowers and animals relished the earth
Animals went about their business of finding food, hunting other of the now many species, or foraging amongst the lush green vegetation for insects and roots. Sounds of birds filled the air and in the blue sky the sun gentle warmed the fields and crops below.
Man evolved into this new and vibrant world, and after thousands of years began to settle down in villages. Millennia passed and they learnt how to farm animals – and grow crops. They formed family and community units and learnt how to make tools and most importantly fire to keep warm and cook. Little did they realise that this had stirred a dark and brooding force deep within the earth. His awakening had kindled a desire so rank and horrible that the power within it surged and grew.