Crys ran back into the shack.  The shack was connected to a small shed which housed Sharl the great shaggy beast they used to pull the wagon to the village on market days.

For some strange reason Crys remembered a game Father used to play with her sometimes.  He would pretend to transform into a monster and chase her around the shack.  She knew that he was teasing but she would still get afraid.  Once he had chased her to the back of the root cellar under the floor.  She had squirmed between a couple of rocks and he could not reach her.

Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound and the wooden door began to splinter.  A second blow and the door was shattered as a great black claw like a curved sword cut through the door.  Quickly Crys opened the trap door and went into the root cellar.  She was still thin but she had grown.  She could barely squeeze through the cracks between the rocks.

Once she got past the opening there was actually a little more space.  Crys peeked through the opening between the rocks.  There was another crash as the hut above was demolished, the trap door thrown aside and an eerie light filled the basement.  The black creature lowered itself into the basement.  It seemed to be searching for  something, for her?

Crys shrank back into the crevasse further and found that instead of hitting a back wall she actually stumbled backwards and fell with a splash into a cold pool.  Instantly a long black claw began tearing at the crack, extending into the cave, trying to reach her.  But the granite wall was too strong.  It could not break through.