The Cerberus

A dark, deep night. A horse, as golden as the sun, crossed through
the fields like a blaze of light, stampeding the livestock in these
fields, so the livestock went berserk, and smashed through fences, and
destroyed crops, and orchards in their frenzy to escape the
beast.

People in the farmhouses turned on lights, and went to their windows,
looking out, to see what the matter was. When they saw the blazing
horse, a magnificent, perfect specimen, a little Arabic in appearance,
they slammed their windows and shutters, locked their doors, crying
about demons, and praying to their Christian god. This all amused the
creature very much, and when it finally gave the rampaging a rest to
take a drink from the stream, she was soon joined by a little orb of
light, colors shifting like the rainbows of a soap bubble. The orb
spoke, it's voice like the echoing wind in the mountains,

"Enjoy yourself?" The horse-creature stamped a hoof, and took human
form, that of a young woman, golden blonde hair, wavy and wind-tousled,
and eyes like jade. She laughed merrily,

"Llewelyn, I have never had so much fun, in such a long time. These
people over in the colonies are even easier to fright then my own."
They were Llewelyn O'Wisp, a will o' wisp of some distinction, and
Metaphistes Darken, a Pooka. The pair had traveled together by ship
into this colony, in search of something new and interesting, even
though they had been forbidden by their own people to do so. The Fae
were afraid of this land, and what it may contain. They were an
insecure people, afraid of those stronger then them. When they found
out that they were leaving, they sent a kraken after the ship, some
merpeople, a siren, and some selkie. Nothing stopped the pair from
reaching land. Metaphistes looked over the green land, and breathed in
the breeze with a contented sigh. Llewelyn grumbled,

"I haven't found a decent swamp yet to be drowning anyone in, I am not
having any fun at all." Metaphistes skipped away, shouting over her
shoulder,

"Oh cheer up. You already violated Will O'Wisp tradition by renaming
yourself Llewelyn, so change your method of death too." The light
bobbed along, keeping pace, glowing an angry shade of red. Llewelyn
wanted to go home. Metaphistes didn't. Not when things were going to
get very interesting, very soon. Metaphistes didn't like war, the loss
of life was a terrible thing. But chasing soldiers on the march through
some nice spooky woods, and driving them like cattle the wrong way
appealed to her. Metaphistes began to hum. The orb bobbed especially
near her head, and said,

"It is not about killing people, it is merely the desire to lure them."
Metaphistes shrugged, stopping, her head tilting, as if listening for
something,

"Llewelyn? Do you hear that?" The orb hovered, the color draining as it
concentrated on sound,

"Sounds like very heavy, running paws." He said softly, and bobbed down
to Metaphistes shoulder. Metaphistes said, her voice thoughtful, not
the least afraid,

"What do you suppose that it is?" Llewelyn flickered a violet color,
his color of uncertainly. Metaphistes answered herself, "The Sidhe
Executioner." The orb seemed to disappear entirely for a moment, then
faded back into existence,

"The Cerberus Dog?" Metaphistes nodded. Her eyes grew darker with
thought. The orb asked, "Shouldn't we run?" Metaphistes shook her
head,

"I want to see what it looks like." She said and darted forward,
swiftly becoming the Pooka. The hooves thundered against the ground, as
she went in search for this Beast that few of the Fae got to see, and
if you didn't, it wasn't a lucky thing. The father of the Black Dogs of
Death, the First Executioner, the Cerberus was an ancient creature with
a violent temper, and a massive hunger for enchanted flesh.

Llewelyn stayed close to Metaphistes side, although he figured that it
went against his better judgment. After all, he was making himself a
meal along with her. He was mildly shocked to know that the Cerberus
was after them, and he had know doubt it was, as they were the only Fae
beings on this continent as of yet.

They started up the rise of a hill, and when they reached the top,
Metaphistes stopped, and looked down, in awe.

The Cerberus stopped his running and looked up at them with glowing
eyes a mellow gold. He was enormous, about twice the size of
Metaphistes, and heavy, black as night. He had three heads, two with
the golden eyes, one with red eyes, like a demon. He looked faintly
mastiff, and Llewelyn wondered irrelevantly if he had anything to do
with the creation of that breed. Then he decided he did not want to
know. He started floating backwards, hissing at Metaphistes to follow.
She didn't, instead she stamped a hoof defiantly at the Cerberus, which
let out a deep, angry rumble. Then she whinnied and turned around
flicked her tail at him, and trotted back down the other side. There
was the roar of a thousand tidal waves, and Llewelyn shot forward,
moving at a blurring pace, leaving Metaphistes to fend for herself. He
felt bad about that, but then, she brought it on herself. Provoking him
on purpose like that.

He dared a glance backward to see the Cerberus chasing after them,
close enough to make Llewelyn worry. He could feel his hot breath
burning away at him, and Llewelyn put an extra burst of speed into his
fleeing. He could see the outline of a town and a harbor ahead of them,
and hoped that the Cerberus didn't like buildings, or people.

Metaphistes suddenly passed Llewelyn up, her ears laid back, and
Llewelyn knew that that wasn't a good sign. They came into town,
galloping down the cobbled streets, the Cerberus still going. A few
late night people were still in the streets, and they froze when they
saw what was coming toward them. The Cerberus barely spared them a
glance though, keeping his eyes on the pair ahead of him. He slid going
around the corner and smashed into the side of a building, going
through the side, and finding himself stuck, half in, half out, and
struggling madly to right himself. Bricks already littered everything,
and a fine dust was settling, and as the Cerberus struggled, terrified
people watching in wonder, afraid to come near him, more and more
brinks worked themselves loose, and straw from the thatch of the roof
started floating down like snow. With a final roar of anger, the
Cerberus pulled himself loose, destroying half the building, and
steadied himself on his feet, shaking his three heads free of the dust.
He looked head, to see that the arrogant Pooka was watching him from
down the street, and he knew that she was laughing. He roared and
started running again, and the Pooka set chase, twisting and winding
around the streets.

Metaphistes was heading for the docks, and was gratified to see the
masts of ships looming up ahead of her. The turned another corner, and
the docks were strait ahead. She galloped for them, full speed, her
hooves clattering noisily on the plank of the docks, and she stopped at
the edge, looking down into the brackish green water. She looked up
again, and at the Cerberus, who seemed to hesitate a moment.
Metaphistes stretched her neck out and nickered, which had the effect
of waggling her fingers off her nose and saying 'Nah-na-na-nah-nah'. He
roared again, and charged full on, his wait making the dock bow beneath
them. Just as he got to her, his jaws nearly around her neck, she
wasn't there, and he skidded off the dock into the water. He roared,
the water burning like acid against him.

Metaphistes watched the beast sink into the water with a look of sad
resignation on his face, and seemed to sigh. Llewelyn appeared at her
shoulder.

"Is he gone? Did we get rid of him?" Metaphistes shifted to girl form a
moment, and snorted, her eyes glimmering,

"We? You abandoned me, remember?" Llewelyn seemed to think about
this,

"But I knew you would do something." Metaphistes gave him an I-give-up
look,

"He'll be back eventually, the water won't kill him." Torches and angry
voices were approaching the docks. A mob against the vicious black
beast. Metaphistes said,

"We need to get out of here, Llewelyn." Llewelyn nodded. He flickered
invisible, and Metaphistes steered herself into the role of Poor
Helpless Girl Who Witnessed Everything.