lamb, stag & wolf

you are led into a quiet village.

people wander around the square. they watch you from the corners of their eyes, but do not approach.

where will you go?

it is a small chapel, with not more than seven pews on either side. evening sun filters through its time-weathered windows. but where is the minister?

a short hallway leads from the bottom of the stairs. a faint light glows from a room at the end.

the room is brimming with old, dusty books. it seems they haven't been touched in a long time. save for one, which sticks partway out from its shelf.

you flip through the delicate pages. the words are handwritten and difficult to read.

it appears to be the village records. "he does not exist" has been scrawled across the upper margin of the last page. the ink is fresh.there is nothing else of note in the records.

the hall is darker now. at the foot of the stairs, you can just make out the figure of a man. he approaches you.

the minister.he wears stark black vestments, his form melting into the shadows around him."come,"

he pulls you back upstairs and sits you in one of the front pews. around you, villagers file inside and take their seats.the minister climbs the pulpit and addresses them.

you have joined the flock.

an old, moss-covered cabin sits at the edge of the forest. there is a stump with an axe sticking out from it, the day's work left half finished.

when you knock, the door creaks open. it's a quaint little place, only two rooms, and shelves of wooden animal figures line the walls. but there is no one here. the woodsman must be out.

there's a single bed and a window. on the sill, there sits alone a carved figurine of a stag. it seems familiar. it's beautiful.

despite its material, the figurine weighs heavily when you drop it in your pocket. there is nothing else for you here.

you take a last look at the other figures on the walls. they seem to be watching you.

as you step back out into the evening, you feel a strange pull on your heart, calling you deeper into the forest. do you follow?

when you return to the square, it is empty. the villagers must be in for the night.

where will you go?

the strange pull still weighs on your heart, calling you deeper into the forest. do you follow?

the remaining daylight fades, leaving the chapel dark and the shadowed pews to stand like graves before the pulpit.

it's too dark to see down here now.

you begin down the path. the pull on your heart grows stronger the further you descend. unknown animals chitter and screech, and you can't see the path ahead. do you continue?

the light filtering through the surrounding trees grows dim. the path behind you fades into the shadows. there is only forward.

the trees ahead unfurl to reveal a clearing. you see a giant, shaggy-haired man kneeling over the crumpled form of another who is adorned in a black cassock.

the large man stands slowly when you approach."it's late for you to be out."

the man grabs your arm and turns you away from it. his eyes travel your body and land on your pocket. he knows."let me take you home."

the woodsman begins to lead you out of the forest. he says nothing about the body, and you do not ask. his cabin takes materializes out of the trees. you're allowed to stay the night.

you awaken in the morning. you are safe, for now.

you duck behind the bushes before you are seen, and silently watch the pair. the large man begins to... change.

before you stands no longer a man, but a great stag, antlers branching like the trees. the forest bows to it.your hiding place is revealed.

the stag's eyes pierce through you with unnatural intelligence. it dips its head to you, then bounds away into the dark. the weight of the figurine is gone from your pocket.

you have been spared.

as you step back out into the evening, you feel a strange pull on your heart, calling you deeper into the forest. do you follow?

you hear strange noises coming from further down the rugged path. best not to go there at this dim hour.

you begin down the path. the pull on your heart grows stronger the further you descend. unknown animals chitter and screech, and you can't see the path ahead. do you continue?

the light filtering through the surrounding trees grows dim. up ahead, you can just make out the shape of two figures.

you begin to make out the details of each figure. a slim, bespectacled man adorned in a black cassock, and a giant of a man with shaggy hair talk quietly with one another. you can't make out their conversation.

you step on a branch and the pair go silent. the minister approaches you."oh, my lamb..."

you saw something you shouldn't.

you duck behind the bushes and carefully watch the pair. a slim, bespectacled man adorned in a cassock, and a giant of a man with shaggy hair talk quietly with one another. the bigger man begins to... change.

you duck behind the bushes and carefully watch the pair. the bigger man begins to... change.

you rub your eyes. when you look again, the minister lays crumpled. in place of the larger man, there is only a great stag, and all the flora and fauna of the forest bow at its feet.it looks at you.

you have been devoured by the forest.

sanctimonious, hypocritical, manipulative—shelby blackwood is a priest of the worst sort. to keep his secluded little village peaceful, he’s learned to carefully balance preaching of faith and fear. ives thatcher, the reclusive woodsman at the edge of the forest, has neither; the villagers are not pleased. but converting thatcher proves to be easier said than done when shelby discovers there is something far more unnatural about him than his pagan ways, and shelby can’t help himself from being tempted by the large man’s power and allure. worse still, there’s a newcomer in town, and her curiosity and defiant personality may not just jeopardize shelby’s secret, but the sanctity of the very system he’s worked to maintain.

lamb, stag & wolf is a folk horror/dark fantasy novella with heavy theming around cults and religious indoctrination. in addition, it includes elements or references to:- misogyny
- obsession
- int/externalized homophobia
- torture & injury by fire
- death & murder
- visions & hallucinations^{*this list is subject to change}