Kelpie

 The farmer stared at me as I watched the mist roll in off of the loch, scenting the air with tranquility and mystery. His grey eyes narrowed, piercing the haze with years of experience. Yet nothing wandered forward. An eerie song note hung in the air before disappearing, leaving goosebumps on my arms and a look of confidence on his face.

“See!” he gestured to the misty lake. 

I shrugged. “A maid could be singing on the other side. Don’t the locals do their washing here?” 

He grimaced then set his jaw with determination. “No one comes. Not now. It’s killed too many.”

“How?”

A look of sorrow touched his features but I kept my eyes on the mist, waiting to see some movement or proof of this creature’s haunting beauty. “He lures you in. You touch him, he drowns you. Devours you, maybe alive. We find bits on the shore.”

I tilted my head. “What else is in the water?”

“Well, this and that. People used to fish. But not in a long time. Not now.”

“No other creature lurks? It’s a deep lake, friend.”

His greying beard complimented the aged skin and skeptical eyes, making the farmer seem more reasonable than perhaps he was. I turned from looking at the water and finally truly looked at him. He wore clothes befitting a man who worked with cattle, old and dirty. Yet a delicate silver chain hung at his neck.

“Perhaps, Guardian. But none that I have seen. This,” he stabbed his finger passionately towards the softly lapping waters of the lake, “I have seen and heard. He destroys my farm! Chases me from the water! Torments anyone who goes near! Kills you if you get too close!”

I tried not to sigh and grimaced. “What you describe is how any animal would act if their home was invaded, especially if they had young. Your cattle are much the same.”

“Nay. He talks.” 

“Oh. That’ll make things much easier.” I leaned over to pick up the gear bag I carried with me everywhere. The farmer touched my shoulder as I stood, his eyes just a touch wilder than they had been before.

“You aren’t listening to me, girl.” 

I inhaled slowly. “That necklace. Where did you get it?”

He blinked, thrown off guard. “Years ago.”

“From?”

“My daughter. She brought it home one day.”

“Did she say where she got it?” I pulled gloves onto my hands as we stood, talking.

He stroked the necklace and shook his head. “Nay. Said she found it.”

“When did this creature start harassing you and yours?” 

He blinked, considering. “Maybe a year later.”

“And your daughter?”

The farmer sighed. “Married a young man from away. I haven’t seen her for a time. About a year ago….”

“You’re lucky she loves you so. But,” I opened my hand to take it. “I’ll need it.”

He balked. “You said you didn’t need more than the food.”

“Changed my mind. On account of the children in pieces story. Give me the necklace.”

“But my girl-”

I shrugged. “Fine. Good luck with your monster.” I turned and began to walk down to the worn path, letting the mist start to engulf me.

“Fine!” he called, huffing as he ran up to me, hand outstretched with the necklace. 

My fingers closed around it before shoving it in my pocket. “Thank you. I’ll deal with your monster. Don’t follow me. Don’t come to see what happens. Simply stay here. If I need to come back, I will.” 

Before he could reply I wandered into the mist, heading towards the lake’s shoreline. Not a sound could be heard as I walked, eyes watching the water. A haunting note touched the air, then another, filling the mist with an ethereal calling I had never heard before.

Sunlight didn’t dare pierce the fog, leaving me entrenched in grey mist. I stopped whenever the song began, listening to which direction it came from. As I neared the music, the odd bone and skull lined the path, a warning to any who wandered near. 

The soft sound of a horse snorting touched the air. He stood at the edge of the water, ebony body dripping. His black eyes turned, looking at me as my steps slowed. Ears perked, curiosity showing in his raised head.

I stopped walking, several feet away from the horse. His eyes watched me for several long moments before he finally walked forward, nostrils flaring. The horse lowered his head, stretching out his neck so his nose came towards me.

My lips pulled into a bit of a smile before I stepped backward, just enough to stay away from his face. “I hear you can talk,” I said softly. “Or else the farmer has been touched.”

He stopped and stamped his hoof, as though indignant at being sold out. The nostrils flared once more before he tossed his head to the side and took several steps forward, hair still dripping, his body leaving a trail of water behind. 

“I can,” he finally said, prancing behind me in mock dancing.

I tilted my head to look at him and stepped away. “Well met, horse.”

“Dŵr,” he corrected and stepped towards me again. “I long for a rider. Won’t you come with me? Ride the waves.”

I smirked. “I mean, I would love to ride you, but perhaps not your back.” 

The horse snorted and then chuckled. “Would that I could, girl. But that has long since left me.”

I watched him prance towards me again, sweet horse noises coming from him as I shied away. It was almost strange to watch a horse move to seduce. His coat gleamed, even in the grim light, as he moved about me, coming closer each time I stepped away.

“Is that why you attack those who come near? Drown them?”

He paused in his flirtation to stop and look at me. “Something was stolen from me. They have it.”

“And if I were to return to you…”

“Then perhaps you could ride me. But it is long since gone. Without it, I will...” He trailed off and looked to the road, a strange stillness in his beauty. 

I grimaced. “What?”

“Perish. Without… this trinket, we fade. Tis been a year. I will soon be just a memory to you, woman.” 

I sighed and finally stepped towards him, stroking his forehead with my gloved hand. He stilled beneath my touch. “You are a striking horse, Dŵr,” I murmured to him. My fingers gently massaged the skin of his head. 

Slowly he turned so that his back aligned with my body. “Please,” he asked, almost pained in his need. I exhaled a slow breath, dropping my bag on the ground. Quietly I slid a knife to my boot before I returned to the horse and pulled myself atop his back.

“As you wish, Dŵr.” I leaned down to caress the mane, my gloves instantly soaked from the water of his body. 

He snorted a thank you and turned suddenly, body shimmering with liquid instead of black fur. The water clung to me, wrapping my hand in its liquid mane and sticking my clothing to his back. I tried lifting my leg to find I couldn’t, the beast’s river water coat had trapped me. 

The river greeted its child with cold water and high splashes. Musical notes emitted from the kelpie as he danced in the water, spraying us both in his joy. He reared, trying to force me to grab him with both hands.

“Dŵr!” I shouted at him above the sound of waves and splashing. “No deeper.”

“Just a bit more!” he said with joy, rearing again before running across the water’s surface, body composed of water and mist. His muscles thundered beneath me, spraying me with each stride. I pulled back on his hair to slow him, to get him to hear me. 

“I can’t! We have to go back! Stop!” 

My words echoed across the lake and the creature stopped, body vanishing from beneath me. I plunged into the cold lake, shivering instantly as the water swallowed me. His strange music vibrated through the lake, echoing in the water as I gathered my bearings and began to swim for the surface.

Red glowing eyes appeared in the darkness as he ran beneath the surface towards me, pounding into my body with the force of a wave. Instantly my body stuck to him again, dragging me along the surface as I coughed and sputtered. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice barely audible in the water’s thundering noise before he dove below the surface once more. 

I reached into my pocket and grabbed the silver chain before reaching for my knife. Slowly I pulled myself closer to his neck, using one hand to inch my way up his body, cutting the clothing sticking to him free. The fiery eyes looked into mine with a mixture of excitement and sorrow, fear and hate, before he turned to bite my hand that held the blade. My hand moved out, looping the chain around his neck and let it go.

My body was instantly free from the kelpie’s skin. I kicked to the surface, coughing up water and spinning to look around me, trying to find the horse. The water lapped quietly against me, leaving me alone in the mist.

Black hair broke the surface followed by dark eyes and a dangerous smirk. My arms tread water as I watched him turn and look at me, hunger and knowing on his striking face. The silver chain glimmered around his neck, highlighting the tattoos that lined his bare chest. 

He swam to me, moving as quickly as a shadow, body slamming into mine. Lips closed around my own, tongue playing with mine as our bodies pressed together. Held against him, I stayed afloat. A moan escaped my lips as he trailed a kiss down my neck to my throat, tasting the river water as he went.

“Thank you,” he breathed against me before finding my lips once more. “Do you,” he murmured, nipping my bottom lip, “still wish to ride me?” The kelpie kissed me hard, strong arms holding me against him in the water. 

“I do,” I moaned against him. His fingers slipped over my naked skin, before taking the knife from my one hand.

“You were very brave.” The knife slid over my chest and thigh to the material of my undergarment. With ease, he slit it open and pulled it from my body. The knife was tossed to the shore, leaving me naked and exposed.

He slipped into the water, teeth biting the inside of my thigh before trailing upwards. I wrapped my legs around his shoulder, crying out as his mouth found my center and devoured me. My hips bucked against him as I held to his long hair, pushing his face into my body with each wave of pleasure.  

My cries echoed over the water as my fingers tangled in his hair, mounting to a pinnacle as he lapped and sucked at every tender part of me. I shuddered in his arms and tried to pull away as I bucked wildly, sensations overwhelming me. 

His head broke the surface again as he met my mouth and swallowed me in a passionate kiss. I moaned into him, whimpering as his fingers slid inside me, feeling my slickness even in the lake.  A grin showed on his lips as we parted, fingers sliding upward to my breasts to tease and pinch the hardened nipples.

“I can’t hold my breath like that,” I said, half moaning when he pulled harder.

“So then ride me, girl. As you said you wanted. Show me how you ride a beast.”

I turned, pushing my back against his chest. His hands ran up my spine to hold my shoulders, steadying me in the water. One hand slid around my hip,  guiding me downward atop him. His thick, engorged length pushed upwards and inside, parting me with ease. Wee booth moaned, holding to another as he settled inside of me. 

His hand wrapped around my waist and upwards, grabbing my breast hard enough bruises would form. I cried out, arching my back as he thrust again, and again, building a rough steady rhythm as the water rocked us. 

My hand went behind me, touching his cheek before sliding down to his neck. I fingered the silver chain, tugging at it playfully. He moaned and kissed my neck, nipping my ear lobe. “Careful, girl. That beast is wild.”

I pulled harder, snapping it off of his neck. Water rushed around us, filling him as he grew, liquid replacing flesh and size engorging. I cried out, the horse above me, hips still wildly thrusting as his expansive length thundered into me. 

His front legs clung to my side, sticking to me and ensuring I stayed as I needed to be for him to thrust. My cries heightened and the horse whinnied, mixing our sounds with water sloshing across the surface. The waves carried us as the kelpie thrust, pushing himself in further and further with each stroke, stretching me to make room for his massive length. 

Each thrust brought us closer to shore until his hooves hit land, giving him more strength to mount and buck within me. I held to his legs, mane tangling with my hands as we rutted, pain from his size and pleasure pulsing within my body. 

The kelpie cried out, his noises echoing across the lake. With a few more deep grunts he shuddered, holding me steady on his hardness as he twitched and released. Seed spilled within me, dripping out of my small opening to the waster below and leaking down my leg. 

His head lowered to my cheek, pressing against me with affection before I slid the chain back over his neck and we collapsed on the beach together, his length still nestled inside amongst his release. 

Behind me, he panted softly before laughing as he kissed my shoulder and tweaked a cold erect nipple. “I can’t say I’ve done that before. You are quite the woman.”

I leaned my head back to gaze at him briefly. His fingers played with the necklace, body impervious to the icy water that lapped at our mingled legs. “So. Now that you won’t perish, will you stop terrifying the farmers?”

Dŵr shifted, letting me lay flat against the sand as he knelt between my thighs. “I will, on a promise from you.” 

My eyes watched him as he leaned forward, tip of his length teasing my stretched opening. A small moan escaped my lips. “What do you want, kelpie?”

He smirked. “Take me with you.”

I pursed my lips and smirked before crying out as he thrust inside, hard and eager. My whole body responded, shuddering against him. 

“Well?” his teeth nipped my earlobe.

“As you wish,” I finally replied after he thrust again. 

His mouth buried mine with his own, our hunger for each other overriding the cold that tugged at my body as he pounded into me, mixing human and equine seed within me. Our moans filled the air, playing in the mist as the lake released her monster to me.