Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-29108472-20160717103504/@comment-29108472-20160719214038

Thank you for taking the time to read through my story and giving me much needed critiques. I hope the updated verison I made is of much better quality.

An epoch awaited me this night. An epoch that I know could unveil knowledge that could change how the world was viewed. I sat alone with my camera in the center of the Nox Forest. The sounds of crickets and the light from the full Moon kept me company as I waited. I looked at my phone as I yawned from the boredom of waiting. It read one thirty Thursday August eighteenth. That was the usually time the ritual to worship a the Moon Goddess began.

The sound of crickets began to fade away. The silence that filled the night was disturbed now by the  reverberation of sticks and leaves snapping. Orange lights grew around the forest as the Shangoliers walked into view. They carried logs, drums, and stones with them as they entered the center of the forest. I got up to set up my camera, while the Shangoliers set up their primitive alter.

“Shangoliers C’ai F’fhalama.” They chirped in their raspy voices. It brought back the memories of when I first encountered them on August twenty nineteenth two thousand fifteen. I was study why the Yellow Billed Sapsucker refused to nest around this area despite it being perfect for their habits. What I found instead by accident was the Shangoliers, when they tripped one of the sensors I had placed in the woods. I thought of them as no more than strange people who were practicing a dance routines. They waved around a bonfire in elegant black robes, with deer bone mask, and a gold medallion around their necks. It was an enthralling site, one that kept me interested until I saw it.

It was a repulsive sight to be sure and sounded like a very painful process. They abandoned human form in favor of more animalistic features. Their knees bent backwards, while their ankles expended outward. Their arms became more elongated and their outfits almost fused with their flesh. Their cries of anguish shook me to my soul. I never heard anyone make screams like those. I ran the moment that happened, hoping it was a nightmare I would soon forget in the morning.

When the morning did come, I found claw marks outside my wooden cabin along with a note. It read Shangoliers Sll’ha. I immediately explored any and all forms of a search engine for what a Shangolier was. They all turned up with nothing, somewhat to my dismay. Going into unknown was the greatest fear I had. Yet the question the bothered me most was why didn’t they kill me? I had scene their ritual and they had followed me home, why not end me? I decided at that time to study them.

The second time I encountered them was September twenty seventh of two thousand fifteen. I noted that the two times they appeared a full moon was present. On this night I walked closer to them and they allowed me to watch the dance in peace. I tried to get closer to the alter they built next to the bonfire, only to be hissed at. Fearing they would do more than hiss at me, I retreated from it.

As time went on, I learned more from their dances. Apparently the God of light descended from the heavens to answer the calls of mortal men. It allowed them to become more bestial in return for their worship. At some point in time, the God of fire tricked the God of light into trapping itself in the Moon. The worshipers dance and play music to weaken the bindings containing the God of light in the Moon. The more they worship, the faster the God of light is released. How this happened, I hoped to discover in time since they also let me get closer to the alter.

On this night, August eighteenth, they seemed to be more excited. Dancing wilder than normal and drummed louder. I finished setting my camera up to record the dance. Some of the Shangoliers approached me, encouraging me to dance with them. I tried to decline, only for them to hiss violently at me. Seeing no other choice I danced with them. The dance itself felt unnatural, as if I was partaking in something not meant for a human to contort to. It made me feel... dirty and unclean for some reason. I pushed the thoughts aside, trying to dance as best I could. I noticed they didn’t bother with my camera, which gave me a modicum of relief.

The dancing and music stopped when a larger Shangolier appeared from the forest. Instead of the deer standard outfit, he wore a large moose skull and brown robes. His medallion was silver and also seemed larger. As it approached, the others fell down to their knees. The large Shangolier pointed at the camera, wanting me to record it the event. I did as instructed, if it wanted to be documented that was fine by me.

“Ee Mh'idrr'ruh Manahn’Ron!” Its voice echoed with power through out the forest. “Ya Hafh’drn Hai Iyaa Mh’idrr’ruh Geb! K’yarnak Gof’nn’bthnk Ph’Phlegeth! Yanyth Mh’idrr’uh Vulgtlagln Mh’idrr’uh! Y’hah!” It spoke the last word with a priestly reverence, lifting its hands to the Moon.

“Y’hah!” The others all spoke in perfect unison to the priest Shangolier. I kept filming it all. The priest Shangolier motioned for two others to bring it something. A large bag that had a crying sound coming from within it. The priest Shangolier reached in and retrieved a baby, which now fell silent. It held it up to the sky. I wanted to move to it, but was hissed at by the Shangoliers. The priest Shangolier put the infant on the alter, slowly moving back. It fell to the ground on it’s knees, slowly changing into a large abomination. All of them bowed to the alter, morphed as well. I kept recording, too afraid to lose this chance and more afraid they do something to me.

A light began to materialize. Not from the moon or from the fire, but from nowhere. The fire’s light dimmed, as this new pure white light appeared. It blocked out all other light and just formed in thin air. Its mountainous body finished forming. Its torso was hourglass like, its legs and arms were nothing more than tendrils made of pure light. Its head appeared to be mix of a spider and a crocodile, with an ostrich neck. Its body moved like a wave, almost colliding within itself. It moved its tendrils down to the child and slowly lifted it to its head. It opened the mandibles that made up its jaw structure. Placing the wailing child within it’s mouth, it proceeded swallowed the infant in one massive gulp.

My mind seemed to be burning as I tried to contemplate it all. The beast let out a massive roar, that brought me to my knees, and caused me to knock over the camera to cover my ears. When the roaring stopped, I picked up the camera and looked to the beast. It’s hourglass figure grew outward. Expanding around the waist. I saw movement in what I guessed to be its belly. Slowly the movement went down. It seemed to be giving... birth to something. I saw beams of light emerge from the lower parts of its torso.

The beast raised a new formation in its tendrils to the sky. The thing it raised looked like a white ball of light. The ball slowly grew out it’s own tendrils and flew into the night sky. The beast let out a loud gasp of air and began to fade away back into the nothingness. It made perfect sense. The God of light was forever trapped in the Moon, yet it could cast out parts of itself by using human children as vessels... or that is how my mind interpreted what had happened.

Slowly the Shangoliers rose from the ground, converting back to their more humanoid forms. They gathered their supplies and back into the forest. The priest Shangolier stayed however. It looked at me and spoke. “Ya Sll’ha.”

The priest moved to me, with a golden medallion of the Moon outstretched in its hand. It also left robes and a deer skull at my feet. “Ron S’uhn. Shtunggli Shugg.” With those last words, it to moved back into the forest. I looked at my camera, the footage captured everything that had transpired. I looked down at the robes and back to the camera.

The Moon goddess they worshiped was real, which meant the God of fire was real. I had to wonder other things could possibly be real. I smashed the camera into the ground. I doubt that any person could believe what had been recorded. Even if they did see it, I would just be credited as having good animation skills. The truth that such creatures existed would be lost, because mankind would refuse to see the truth. I chose to join the Shangoliers, that way I could learn more. Another thought entered my mind, one that made me shudder. If the Moon goddess could turn humans into beast and babies into balls of light, what could the God of fire do?