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A blacksmith with a gentle soul. A forbidden forest hiding centuries of secrets. One bite that changed everything.
When a simple man ventures into the Thornwood chasing wounded prey, he encounters something that shouldn't exist. Now marked by an ancient curse, he has only one lunar cycle to find a cure before he loses his humanity forever.
But the herbalist's daughter who secretly loved him refuses to let him face this alone. Together, they must journey into the heart of darkness, confront the original source of the curse, and discover whether love can truly tame the beast within.
This is a tale of transformation, sacrifice, and the eternal battle between our darkest instincts and our deepest humanity.
⚠️ Will he control the monster... or become one?
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💬 Comment: Would you risk everything to save someone you love from a curse?
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📚 STORY THEMES:
• Ancient curses and forbidden knowledge
• Transformation and identity
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
In a village where no one walks after
0:02
sundown, a mother clutches her child and
0:05
whispers a prayer to gods who stopped
0:08
listening generations ago. Tonight, the
0:11
moon rises full and red. Tonight, the
0:15
old curse awakens again. But this story
0:18
doesn't begin with the beast. It begins
0:20
with the man who would become one. His
0:23
name doesn't matter anymore. The
0:25
villagers have already forgotten it.
0:28
They call him only the marked one now. A
0:31
broad shouldered blacksmith with gentle
0:33
hands and haunted eyes. For 28 years, he
0:37
lived an ordinary life. He forged tools,
0:40
mended gates, and dreamed of nothing
0:42
more than a quiet existence with the
0:44
herbalist's daughter who smiled at him
0:47
across the market square. That was
0:49
before the attack, before the teeth
0:51
found his flesh, before everything he
0:54
was began to die and something else
0:56
started to grow in its place. 3 weeks
0:59
ago, he ventured into the thornwood
1:02
after a wounded deer. The villagers
1:04
warned him, "Never follow prey into the
1:07
deep forest. Never cross the river where
1:10
the water runs black. But hunger makes
1:13
fools of careful men, and the winter had
1:15
been brutal. He found the deer. what
1:18
remained of it. And standing over the
1:21
carcass, illuminated by shafts of pale
1:23
moonlight, was something that shouldn't
1:26
exist. It moved faster than thought. One
1:29
moment, distance separated them. The
1:33
next he felt jaws close around his
1:35
shoulder, felt bones crack, felt
1:38
something ancient and terrible enter his
1:40
bloodstream like liquid fire. He should
1:43
have died. Instead, he woke 3 days later
1:46
at the forest's edge, his wound already
1:49
scarring over, his senses sharper than
1:52
any blade he'd ever forged. But
1:54
survival, he would soon learn, is
1:57
sometimes worse than death. The changes
1:59
came slowly at first. Food lost its
2:02
taste unless the meat was raw. Sleep
2:06
became impossible without nightmares, of
2:08
running on four legs through endless
2:10
darkness. His hearing grew so acute he
2:14
could detect heartbeats through wooden
2:15
walls. And the rage, a burning, constant
2:19
fury that clawed at his sanity whenever
2:22
the moon began to swell. The herbalist's
2:25
daughter noticed first. She brought him
2:28
healing savves for his shoulder, her
2:30
fingers gentle against his skin, but
2:33
when she touched him, his hand seized
2:35
her wrist with crushing force he didn't
2:37
intend. She saw his eyes change just for
2:41
a moment, and the scream that left her
2:43
throat echoed through the village like a
2:46
death nail. The priest was ancient, his
2:49
back bent by decades and secrets. He
2:52
alone remembered the old texts, the
2:54
forbidden histories the village council
2:57
had ordered burned a century ago. He
2:59
alone knew what the marked one was
3:01
becoming. The curse passes through blood
3:04
and bite, the priest whispered to the
3:07
gathered council.
3:08
Once marked, there is no cure, only
3:11
containment, only destruction. But the
3:15
blacksmith had all eyes, too. His
3:17
brother, a former soldier with a missing
3:19
arm and nothing left to lose, refused to
3:23
abandon him. He's still human, the
3:25
soldier argued. He hasn't hurt anyone.
3:28
The thing that bit him, that's the
3:31
monster, not him. Sometimes loyalty is
3:34
the heaviest chain we forge. They tried
3:37
containment first, iron chains, stone
3:40
walls. The blacksmith begged them to
3:43
make the restraint stronger, to use more
3:45
locks, to break up the windows entirely.
3:48
"I can feel it," he whispered to his
3:51
brother through the door. "Every night
3:53
it gets closer to the surface. It wants
3:55
out. It wants to hunt." The first full
3:59
moon after the attack, the chains held
4:02
barely. The blacksmith's screams echoed
4:05
until dawn. And when his brother opened
4:07
the door, he found the man curled in a
4:10
corner, weeping, surrounded by deep
4:13
gouges in the stone floor that no human
4:15
nails could have made. The second full
4:18
moon, he broke one chain. His brother
4:21
found him standing at the window,
4:23
staring at the village below with eyes
4:25
that held nothing human. "Run!" the
4:28
blacksmith growled through a throat that
4:31
was already changing. Run and don't look
4:34
back. His brother ran. Behind him, the
4:37
screaming began and then stopped,
4:40
replaced by something far worse. A howl
4:43
that shook the foundations of every home
4:45
in the valley. The creature that emerged
4:47
from the forge was neither wolf nor man,
4:50
but something in between. A nightmare
4:53
given form and hunger. It stood 8 ft
4:56
tall, covered in fur the color of storm
4:59
clouds, muscles rippling beneath skin
5:02
that still bore the fading scars of the
5:04
blacksmith's human life. It killed three
5:07
people that night, a farmer who tried to
5:10
fight it with a pitchfork, a woman who
5:12
couldn't run fast enough, a child who
5:15
simply froze at the sight of it, and
5:18
somewhere, buried beneath layers of
5:20
animal instinct and blood lust, the
5:22
blacksmith watched it happen. felt every
5:25
death, tasted every drop of blood. When
5:28
sunrise finally came, the creature
5:31
collapsed in the thornwood, and the man
5:33
woke in its place. He remembered
5:35
everything, the faces, the screams, the
5:39
way the child's heart had stuttered and
5:42
stopped beneath his claws. He didn't
5:44
return to the village. He couldn't.
5:48
Instead, he found a cave deep in the
5:50
mountains and began to prepare for the
5:52
only choice left to him. But the
5:54
herbalist's daughter had other plans.
5:57
Her name was as forgotten as his now,
6:00
erased by tragedy and fear. But she'd
6:04
spent her life studying plants, poisons,
6:06
and the old remedies that walked the
6:08
line between medicine and magic. She'd
6:11
also spent years watching the blacksmith
6:13
from afar, building a love neither of
6:16
them had ever spoken aloud. She didn't
6:19
believe in curses without cures. Every
6:22
poison had an antidote. Every disease
6:24
had a treatment. If this affliction
6:27
traveled through blood, then blood might
6:29
also hold the answer. She tracked him
6:32
for 3 days, following broken branches
6:34
and claw marks in Mark. She found him at
6:37
the cave's entrance sharpening a silver
6:40
blade. "That won't work," she said,
6:43
stepping into his line of sight. "Silver
6:46
slows the healing, but it won't kill
6:48
you." "Not permanently." His eyes met
6:51
hers. Human now, full of pain and
6:54
terrible hope. How do you know? Because
6:57
I've been reading everything our priest
6:59
tried to hide. It was a hunter two
7:02
centuries ago. He was bitten, too. He
7:05
tried silver fire drowning. Nothing
7:08
worked. The curse always brought him
7:11
back. Then there's no escape. I didn't
7:14
say that. She opened her satchel and
7:16
withdrew a war leather journal. The
7:19
hunter found another way. A ritual. It
7:22
doesn't cure the curse. It binds. It
7:25
gives the human mind control over the
7:28
beast. The ritual required three things.
7:31
The blood of the one who passed the
7:33
curse, which meant tracking the original
7:35
beast that had bitten the blacksmith.
7:38
The blessing of someone who loved the
7:39
afflicted, given freely during the
7:42
transformation itself, and the sacred
7:44
water from a spring deep beneath the
7:46
thornwood, where the curse was said to
7:48
have originated. Three impossible tasks.
7:52
One lunar cycle to complete them before
7:54
the next full moon. The beast that bit
7:57
me is still out there, the blacksmith
8:00
said slowly. It's older, faster,
8:03
stronger. Finding it would be suicide.
8:06
Then we better start immediately. Some
8:09
journeys begin with a single step.
8:11
Others begin with a leap into certain
8:14
darkness. The thornwood was older than
8:17
the village, older than recorded
8:19
history. The trees here grew in twisted
8:22
spirals, their bark black and rough,
8:24
their branches clawing at a sky
8:27
perpetually shrouded in crimson tinged
8:29
clouds. No birds sang, no insects
8:33
hummed. The only sound was the crunch of
8:35
dead leaves beneath their boots and the
8:38
distant rhythmic dripping of water from
8:40
somewhere far below. The herbalist's
8:43
daughter had prepared protective charms,
8:46
bundles of wool spain and mountain sage
8:48
wrapped in silver thread. They wouldn't
8:51
stop an attack, but they might mask
8:53
their scent long enough to find the
8:55
sacred spring. The blacksmith's senses
8:57
had grown sharper since the curse took
9:00
hold. He could smell decay 3 mi away,
9:03
track heartbeats through stone walls,
9:05
and see clearly in near total darkness.
9:08
These gifts would either save them or
9:11
doom them. He couldn't yet tell which.
9:14
On the second day, they found the first
9:16
body. It was another one like him,
9:19
another victim of the curse, but one who
9:22
hadn't survived the transformation. The
9:24
body was weeks old, preserved by the
9:27
forest's unnatural cold. Its face caught
9:30
between human and beast in an expression
9:32
of absolute terror. "There are more of
9:35
us," the blacksmith whispered. More
9:37
people it's bitten. More people it's
9:40
cursed. Most don't survive the first
9:42
change. The herbalist's daughter
9:45
confirmed quietly. Their bodies reject
9:47
the curse. Their hearts give out. You're
9:50
stronger than you realize. That's why
9:52
you lived. Is that supposed to comfort
9:55
me? She met his eyes steadily. It's
9:58
supposed to give you hope. If you're
10:00
strong enough to survive the curse,
10:02
you're strong enough to control it. They
10:05
found the spring on the third day,
10:07
hidden beneath a collapsed temple that
10:09
predated every structure in the region.
10:11
The water glowed with an inner light,
10:14
cold enough to burn when the blacksmith
10:16
touched it. "The curse was born here,"
10:19
the herbalist's daughter explained,
10:21
filling a crystal vial with a sacred
10:23
water. "Centuries ago, a woman made a
10:26
bargain with something ancient. She
10:29
wanted the power to protect her family
10:31
from raiders. She received strength,
10:34
speed, senses beyond human
10:36
understanding. But the price was her
10:38
humanity. And the humanity of everyone
10:41
her blood would touch for generations.
10:44
The original cursed one. Yes. And every
10:47
beast that carries the curse now is
10:49
descended from her bloodline, including
10:52
the one that bit you. The past is never
10:54
truly dead. It simply waits for the
10:57
right moment to devour the future.
10:59
Tracking the original beast took them
11:01
into the mountains where the air grew
11:03
thin and the snow fell red. The creature
11:07
was ancient. The herbalist's daughter
11:09
estimated at least 200 years old and
11:13
cunning beyond measure. It had evaded
11:15
hunters, armies, and entire generations
11:18
of terrified villagers. But it had never
11:21
faced one of its own offspring with
11:23
murder in his heart. The blacksmith left
11:26
the herbalist's daughter at a fortified
11:28
cabin near the peak. What came next
11:31
would require him to embrace the very
11:33
monster he'd been fighting. I don't know
11:36
if I'll come back as myself, he told her
11:39
at the door. If the beast wins, if I
11:42
lose control, dot dot dot, she pressed
11:46
something into his hand. A silver
11:48
pendant in the shape of a forge hammer.
11:50
the symbol of his trade, his old life.
11:53
Everything human he still clung to.
11:56
"This is my blessing," she said, freely
11:58
given. "Now come back to me." The fight
12:02
that followed shattered the mountain.
12:04
The blacksmith had surrendered to the
12:06
transformation for the first time,
12:08
letting the beast rise willingly,
12:10
channeling his rage and grief into
12:12
focused violence. The original creature
12:15
was larger, more experienced, its body
12:18
scarred from centuries of combat. But it
12:21
was also tired, lonely, weary of an
12:24
existence that had long since lost all
12:26
meaning. Their battle carved trenches in
12:29
frozen stone, sent avalanches cascading
12:32
into valleys below, filled the night
12:35
with howls that would haunt the region's
12:36
folklore for centuries. The blacksmith
12:39
fought with everything, human cunning
12:41
and bestial strength. the techniques of
12:44
a trained warrior and the instincts of a
12:46
born predator. When dawn approached, he
12:49
stood over the creature's broken form,
12:52
jaws locked around its throat, victory
12:55
within reach. But killing it would mean
12:57
absorbing more of the curse. Becoming
13:00
more beast than man. Losing himself
13:03
forever. In the space between
13:05
heartbeats, monsters can sometimes find
13:08
mercy. He released his grip. The
13:11
original creature lay gasping, its
13:13
transformation slowly reversing,
13:16
revealing the withered frame of what had
13:18
once been an old woman. Her eyes human
13:21
now for the first time in centuries,
13:24
held something that might have been
13:25
gratitude. "You're different," she
13:28
whispered, voice cracked from
13:30
generations of disuse. "The others I've
13:32
cursed, they all tried to kill me. All
13:36
wanted the power for themselves. I don't
13:38
want power. I want freedom. Then take
13:42
what you need. She extended a trembling
13:44
hand. My blood, my blessing. End this
13:48
cycle. The ritual was agony. Every bone
13:51
in his body broke and reformed. Every
13:54
nerve screamed as the curse was pulled,
13:57
stretched, compressed into a shape he
13:59
could contain. The beast roared inside
14:02
his mind, fighting for dominance,
14:05
clawing at the walls of his
14:06
consciousness. But the herbalist's
14:08
daughter's pendant burned against his
14:10
chest, and her blessing freely given,
14:13
spoken with love, created a cage of
14:16
golden light around the monster within.
14:19
Not destroyed, not cured, but bound.
14:23
When it was over, the blacksmith
14:25
collapsed in the snow, human once more.
14:28
The original creature was gone, finally
14:31
mercifully dead. Her curse passed and
14:34
contained in a vessel strong enough to
14:36
hold it. He descended the mountain as
14:38
the sun rose and found the herbalist's
14:41
daughter waiting at the cabin door,
14:43
tears freezing on her cheeks. They
14:46
returned to the village, though they
14:48
could never truly return to their old
14:50
lives. The blacksmith carried the beast
14:53
within him now. Always present, always
14:56
hungry, but finally under his control.
14:59
On full moon nights, he would lock
15:01
himself away, and the herbalist's
15:03
daughter would sit outside the door,
15:06
singing old lullabibies until dawn. The
15:09
villagers never fully trusted him again.
15:12
Some whispered that he should be killed,
15:14
that no chain could hold a monster
15:16
forever. Others remembered the gentle
15:18
blacksmith he'd been, the farmer he
15:21
defended, the gates he'd mended without
15:23
charge. The priest burned his
15:25
forbiddance books at last, declaring the
15:28
curse broken. He was wrong, of course.
15:31
The curse would never truly break. It
15:33
would simply wait, coiled in the blood,
15:36
passed perhaps to children or
15:38
grandchildren generations hence. But for
15:41
now, one man had found something rarer
15:43
than a cure. He had found balance,
15:47
peace, a way to carry his monster
15:49
without becoming one. And in the shadow
15:52
of the thornwood, where crimson mists
15:54
still gathered on moonless nights,
15:57
something ancient stirred and smiled.
15:59
The curse was patient. It had all the
16:02
time in the world. Some battles are won
16:05
in a single night. Others are fought
16:08
every day for the rest of your life. The
16:10
question isn't whether monsters exist.
16:13
The question is whether we can live with
16:15
the ones inside us.