The puppy wagged her tail, apparently finding nothing amiss when it meant she could eat as many table scraps as she liked. The trees or the land or maybe some hidden singer continued the melody. And the skeletons still did not move. Even the one that had now maintained its empty gaze in the direction its skull had turned.<br/><br/>But something rustled around that clearing. Whereas the dog had moved with unnatural grace and disturbed not a leaf, this something shoved through the plants in passing. The song itself changed to admonishment at such brutal treatment of the surrounding forest.<br/><br/>A face was the first thing to emerge. A head crested with stags horns, or possibly a dragonâ€™s, on the end of a serpentine neck. The man â€“ the beast â€“ smiled, relief clear as he scanned the place and saw only the dead, a small dog, and a girl. The rest of him followed; the wingless, almost feline, almost lizard body, the cloven hooves making no sound on the soft ground.<br/><br/>It â€“ he â€“ seemed to ignore Kala altogether and approached the table instead, the long tail wrapping around a red apple so he could inspect it closer. â€œHello there, young lady. Wasnâ€™t there someone else here a moment ago?â€ His tone was thick and sweet as poisoned honey, and he fearlessly took a bite from the apple, circling the table, paying more attention, it appeared, to the long dead men than the living woman.