The rain on my back felt like millions of daggers, plunging into me. My head hung low, my eyes full of sadness, my ears drooping by the sides of my face. I squinted my eyelids together, trying to stop the tears from flowing. But I couldn't. My salty tears mixed with the rain droplets as they ran down my face, dripping onto the moist grass below.
I couldn't beleive it, he was dead....
My old friend lay on the floor in front of me. He was resting in his usual place, on the platform, next to the ruins. The rain droplets were covering his grey matted fur and ran down onto the gashes in his side. He didn't die a painful death, just passed away in his sleep. I found him here this morning.
Serenity and Latte had decided to go home to give me some time on my own. I thought back to the last time we spoke. A shudder ran down my spine; he must have known it was coming, his death I mean. What he had said was this:
'Young deer, please take care of yourself. The forest is darkening...'
I backed away from his body and went to wander around the forest. The forest seemed to share my emotions, the sun was hiding, the birds weren't singing and the deer weren't prancing around. They sat under trees, their heads bowed. The words seemed to echo in my head
" The forest is darkening, the forest is darkening.. "

I trudged a whole circle of the forest and then found myself at the ruins again. I dumped myself next to my friend's body and cried myself to sleep.

My dreams were dark and haunting. I was running through the forest..except it was different. The branches of the trees had no leaves, mist clouded my vision and the ground was dirt. My hoofbeats rang out loudly as I ran across it. Then out of the mist came millions of deer, surrounding me, blocking me in. I recognised them as my friends. Their fur had been torn off in places leaving bloody gaping wounds. They had no eyes, only two hollow circles that stared at me, haunting me. They closed in fullly. I kicked my legs out and couldn't breathe. My voice seemed small and it echoed " Nooo! "
Then my eyes shot open. Someone really was screaming " Noo! " . It took me a while to realise it was me screaming. I closed my mouth. The rain had stopped and now it was replaced with mist. My eyes widened - was my dream coming true?
I looked to the side where a raven was tearing flesh off my friend's rotting corpse. The smell seeped into my nostrils making me gag. The raven looked up, into the mist. Its eyes widened and it let out a horrified squak and took wing. Up it flew, up into the air, to safety. I wondered what it had seen. Then the figure appeared. It was standing over my friend and it was so horrifying i froze, my mouth wide open.
It was a deer, but it was ..different.

Its body was skeletal, the leathery black skin stretched tighlty over its bones. I could make out each bone on its front legs. On its back, concealing its body was a cloak which had been made from different deer pelts. Dark browns, orca coloured pelts, peacock pelts, butterfly coloured. Some were scarred, some were torn slightly and some had bits of flesh dangling off it and were covered in fresh, thick, blood. It turned its head towards me, its mask was a skull, but not one of a deer, one of a human, of man. The human jaws seemed to smile at me eviliy as I studied it. The deer laughed and the human jaws chattered together. The antlers of the deer were huge, the height of another fawn. Each tip was sharpened to a point, sharpened to kill. Bits of flesh hung off from some of the points, the blood dripping down over the antlers onto the skull. As I peered in closer I could see it was wearing a necklace. On that necklace were hooves of different deer, chipped, bloodied and broken.
The deer leaned over my friend and my friend's body vanished and I was relieved to see a light floating upwards, into heaven. But then I heard my friends voice loud and clear as ever,
" The forest is darkening, run little deer, run for your life! "
The deer turned towards me.
My heart skipped a beat.

To be continued...