By Hannah Carter
“You know, you’ve got this all wrong.” Aloysia glared at her unwanted visitor, who’d just burst into her tiny cabin in the heart of Germany’s Black Forest and announced his intention to “rescue” her.
The knight in shining armor stood in front of the twelve-year-old girl, his jaw slack, eyes bulging.
Honestly. She didn’t have time for nincompoops.
Aloysia returned to her violin and began playing a soft minor concerto while the fireplace crackled behind her. “I really do appreciate you braving the perils of the Black Forest to—ahem—rescue me, but, as you can see, I’m quite fine.”
The knight made a few incomprehensible noises before he finally sputtered out, “Your father—he said you’d been kidnapped!”
“If my father is concerned about my so-called kidnapping, I assure you, it is only because he either misses having me as a readily marriable bargaining chip for political gain or because he is afraid this will reflect badly upon him.” Aloysia glanced up at her would-be rescuer and then returned to watching her fingers play. “I care about neither. Believe it or not, I am happy here.”
“You cannot possibly. Lady Aloysia, there are sentient vines in the Black Forest who strangle any intruders—”
“I’ve made friends with them.”
“Nymphs who will drown anyone that gets close to their river boundaries—”
“We go swimming every Tuesday after a nice girls’ chat.”
“Ghosts who wander here and lead travelers off the paths—”
“I’ve found they’re just trying to invite the living to a nice soiree. I’m not prejudiced against dead people.” She lowered her bow, cutting the music off abruptly. “If you really have nothing pertinent to add to the conversation, I would advise you to head home quickly. Night will fall soon, and I can’t guarantee your safety. As you’ve so eloquently pointed out, there are all manner of ghouls here. And if you find them so frightening, you will not want to meet them in the dark.” The heels of her black boots clicked against the wooden floor as she crossed to her savior. “If you want to know the truth, though, the real monster lives in the castle and calls himself my father.” Any of the scars on her body could tell the tale.
The knight swallowed. Inhaled deeply. Straightened his shoulders. “Lady Aloysia, I have tried to be patient with your childish whims, but I really must insist you come with me. You don’t want the nachtkrapp to find you.”
Aloysia raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Why? Do tell me more.”
The knight inched closer, casting a furtive glance out the cabin’s window. “I’m surprised your father hasn’t told you about it. The nachtkrapp is a terrifying creature, his body woven from strands of darkness.” The knight wiggled his fingers toward her. “He swoops in and snatches naughty children out past bedtime to take them to his nest in the heart of the Black Forest.”
“What a coincidence. That’s where we are.” Aloysia tucked the violin back under her chin. “You may continue. I think some haunting background music might add to the ambience.”
The knight glared at her but then must have remembered that his reward money depended on luring her home. His expression switched to the wide-eyed naivety that adults often wore to trick imbecilic children into listening. “The nachtkrapp looks like a giant raven—except it’s got no eyes. Just dark, bare sockets that’ll kill you if you look right into them.” He squinted one eye at her as his voice took on a more menacing tone. “And he’s got holes in his wings—the wounds from when people have tried to shoot him down in the past.”
“Hmm.”
“When he gives those wings a rattle—watch out. It’ll sound like the bones of a thousand skeletons banging together, and anyone who hears it will soon come down with a fatal illness.”
Aloysia clucked her tongue. “Forgive me for poking holes in your story—holes unrelated to those in its wings, I mean—but I doubt it’s anyone who hears the rattle of his wings, or whatever you called it. If that were so, wouldn’t the nachtkrapp need to be deaf as well, or else he’d make himself eternally ill? No, I think the far more rational answer is that he can make anyone he wishes ill with a rattle of his wings. There you go. I’ve fixed your story for you.”
The knight’s eyes narrowed into slits, but only for a second. “Yes, yes, whatever. Anyway—he swoops in for those naughty children out past dark and snatches them right up!” He made a catching gesture right in front of Aloysia’s face. She didn’t flinch. “Then he takes them back to his nest and eats them, limb by limb.”
“Oh, dear. Is there any warning of his coming?”
“Only two. You’ll hear the shake of those dreaded wings, and then the scrape of his claws as he moves toward you.” The knight shuffled forward with arms outstretched.
“Really?” Aloysia wrinkled her forehead. “How odd, then.”
The knight paused. “What’s odd?”
“Oh, nothing really.” Aloysia cut off her melody with one sharp dissonant chord. “It’s just, the nachtkrapp is behind you, and I didn’t hear the flapping of the wings or claws scraping against the floor.”
The knight paled. His knees quivered as he turned around—and found himself face-to-beak with the seven-foot-tall creature of nightmares he’d described.
A scream ripped from his throat. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed to the floor—dead or unconscious, Aloysia couldn’t tell.
The nachtkrapp glanced at the lump on their floor and stepped over the prone man. “Hmph. Another one of your father’s guards, I see. No matter. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
“I know you won’t, Guter Nachtkrapp.” Aloysia started playing again—this time, Vivaldi’s Winter suite. She smiled up at the creature of nightmares that had snatched her from her nursery one beloved night. “Welcome home.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
That was an interesting take on the now popular “I’m a strong female who don’t need no rescuing” trope. I would love to see this as a short animation.
Thank you so much, Joseph!! 😊🎻 And ooh, I’d love to see this as a short animation! That’d be so cool! 😊🎻
Great spooky story! I loved all the nightmarish legends the knight mentioned. Makes you want to keep the lights on at night!
Thank you so much, Arlan!! 😊🎻 And, right? I really enjoyed thinking of those legends and how a girl like Aloysia would respond. Glad you enjoyed it—and hopefully you don’t have nightmares tonight! 😉🎻
I love the dialogue and her steady demeanor.
Thank you so much, Vanessa!! 😊🎻 I really enjoyed writing this snappy dialogue. I love quick paced dialogue! Glad you enjoyed it as well. 😊🎻
Ohhhh I LOVED this! Would love to see these characters again ;-)
Thank you so much, Beka!! 😊🎻 I would love to write some more about Aloysia and the Nachtkrapp…I think the concept leans itself to some very intriguing ideas… 😊🎻
I love this story!! Love that she’s gotta have the violin to set the tone of the knight’s story. 🤣🤣 A shame for the knight that he didn’t quite know what he was talking about, but I wasn’t rooting for the knight anyway!! Phenomenal job, Hannah!! ☺️☺️
Thank you so much, Andrew!! 😊🎻 And absolutely; she had to add to that ambiance, you know. xD Glad you enjoyed the story! 😊🎻
Lol of course they’re friends. Great story!
Thank you so much, RJ!! 😊🎻 I imagine Aloysia is the type of girl that would more readily make friends with ghouls than other humans, anyway… 😉🎻
Great story. The King being the monster and the monster the rescuer is a nice subversion.
Thank you so much, Alex!! 😊🎻 I loved toying with this idea, because in most stories, Nachtkrapp is usually depicted as evil…but in one piece of folklore, he’s a giant raven that enters nurseries and befriends kids. So it was fun to kind of reference both portrayals here. And I assume Aloysia is behind the one legend that portrays Nachtkrapp as the good guy! 😊🎻
I laughed so hard at the end of this!!! What a funny twist.
Nachtkrapp’s are cool. Great tie-in to the German culture.
Nice take on the “He’s right behind you” trope!