Rawhead & Bloody Bones

 

The wind blew over the hills, rustling the trees and whistling through the dark houses below. In some windows, worried faces watched the darkness, awaiting the rattles of bones. Every night an ear-splitting scream had shaken the valley, leaving the residents to cower inside, afraid of the red-eyed creature that haunted their homes.

I stood over a blood-soaked wooden floor, pretending to see some truth in the splatters. Not a piece of the man whose bed was a disheveled mess had been found. A crimson path started at the fireplace, leading towards where the man had been sleeping. Deep claw marks showed where the creature had walked, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

Blood was everywhere. The small floor was covered, with rich stains in the wood showing where blood had gushed out. Bits of bone and viscera were scattered on the floor. Light scratch marks lined the floor. I grimaced and traced a gloved finger over them. The man had been alive as his body had been consumed.

On every wall in the home, an animal head or trophy sat. Hunters like this were rarely humbled, and almost always took more from the land than they gave. I eyed the stag, whose rack was the biggest I had seen in a natural animal, and wondered just how many creatures the man had hunted. 

My boots guided me around the room, yet there was nothing else in the home that whispered of what had happened, save the tracks leading from the bed to the chimney. The creature had come from the roof, crawled down the heated chimney, and clawed its way across the floor, leaving strange footprints in its wake. Each print was hoofed, broader than a deer, and bloody.

The wooden cover over the window blew open, slamming against the wall. I turned my head, looking out at the wilderness beyond the edge of the village. Darkness swallowed the trees, letting the night be pitch under a new moon. Yet within the darkness, something stirred. Coal-red eyes stared back at me, piercing and frightening.

I swallowed, finding myself frozen at the sight of the haunted eyes. They never blinked, never wavered. Moments passed as I watched it watching me, waiting for one of us to move. 

A scream of fear rang out from the house nearest, horror etched on the owner’s face as they gazed at the angry eyes,  one hand raised with a pointed finger. The fear I  had felt broke as the creature looked towards the screamer. I pushed open the wooden door and stumbled onto the village street, looking towards the darkness where the eyes had been.

Hurried steps carried me forward to the edge of the path, gazing into the shadows of the trees and seeing nothing. People stepped out of their homes, daring to walk behind me but never further.

“You see!” 

“We told you! A great haunted thing!”

“It’s come to eat us!”

“Like those poor hunters!”

“We must hunt it!” 

“It isn’t killable! It’s a demon!”

I sighed and turned to look at the humans, watching them grow in fear and inaction. My hand took a torch from the man who kept suggesting they hunt it. “Leave it. I’ll find it,” I finally said. 

They turned in unison and in silence to stare at me.

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

“But you have no bow… or sword…”

“I don’t need one.”

Another tense silence followed before one man shrugged and gestured. “By all means, die like all the other hunters.”

“Yes. About that. Perhaps you ought to stop killing unless you need it to survive. Nature finds its own way of vengeance.” I looked at the villagers, waiting for them to challenge me.

Several looked ashamed before the same man shook his head. “You’re all superstitious.”

I shrugged. “I don’t have to go. You can keep your path and I shall find a new one.”

A peculiar rattling sounded from the woods, the sound of bones hitting bones as they swayed. It was likely the sound of branches in the wind, but it sent a chill of fright through everyone. 

The man shook his head. “No, no. Go. We will keep the peace if you forge it.”

My eyes wandered over each of them until they nodded their consent. I turned, facing the woods, lips pursed in uncertainty. 

I watched the earth as I stepped into the woods, looking for signs of whatever had watched me. Beneath the closest tree, blood pooled, drenching the earth in its coppery warmth. The low-hanging tree branches dripped. Whatever had stood here, it was large. Big enough to touch the branches above my head and leave its blood behind. 

Deep tracks in the muddy earth betrayed its path into the woods. Blood sprinkled the ground wherever it had walked, leaving an easy way forward. Shadows danced around me from the flickering torch, letting me see only a few feet as I wandered forward.

From within the woods, a harrowing groaning scream echoed, guttural and haunting. I stood still, my heart beating faster as the growling cry lingered. It sounded of anger and agony, the death shrill of a terrible creature.

I swallowed back my fear as I stepped further into the woods, heading towards the sound as it continued. The screaming changed to a deep grunting. Nearby, a tree shuddered as the noise grew louder, veering closer. 

My steps stopped as I peered into the darkness. Nothing but night greeted me as the sound ended just feet from where I was. Breathing lightly, I tried to hear anything. Nothing. Not a branch breaking or leaves rustling. 

Teeth bit my bottom lip as I slowly turned, glancing around in a circle to ensure the creature hadn’t snuck up on me. The torch hissed and snarled in the night, eating any sounds. Moments passed before I heard the strange dripping from the side of me. 

As I turned, the bellowing groan erupted from the darkness to my right. I gasped, stumbling backward as the brilliant red eyes bore into me. The ground quaked as it clawed the ground, chunks of earth flying into the air around it.

Massive tusks protruded from the meatless broad skull. Within the seemingly empty eye sockets, fiery-red eyes sat, filled with an unspeakable rage. Beneath its massive head, a bristled, enormous body stood, the coat resting over a bloody skeleton, meat hanging from the bones as though cleaned with a hunter’s knife.

In the torchlight it screamed, jaw descending to show the row of flat teeth coating in sinew and blood. From within its rotting corpse, bits of human bones, teeth, and muscle sat, slowly falling out. My eyes looked up from the bloody bones of its body to the raw head. 

Trembling, I raised a hand in the darkness, refusing to step back from the beast. It stood, indomitable and unflinching, eyes staring at me. Groaning and grunting noises came out of its wet throat, unfiltered by a mouth. I took another tentative step forward and moved my hand to its bony snout.

The pads of my fingers caressed the snout, moving over the smooth bone. It was dry, not a piece of muscle or sinew remained. The smell of blood and viscera caught in my nose as I inhaled. The beast didn’t stir as I moved up his face to stroke the skull between the eye sockets. His bright red eyes seemed to ignite, flaming brighter as my hand moved. 

“Easy,” I whispered. “Easy. You’re safe. No one is here to harm you.”

The pig creature snorted, head lifting slightly into my hand. I watched him as his head moved, revealing the monstrous bloody bones beneath. The faint scent of magic and power mingled with the blood and I saw hints of witchcraft in his body. 

“Whoever gave you life again, do they still live?” I stood on the tips of my toes to try to see into his eyes. The head swung down to look at me, tusk pushing into my arm and forcing me back. Another low squeal of agony escaped and I grimaced.

“I’m sorry you’re alone now.”

A roaring pain tumbled out of his throat and rage once more filled the eyes. His head lifted as the strange long claws no boar should have pulled up the earth. I stepped back as his head tilted right and left, a creature about to charge. 

“Shit,” I swore and turned, running towards the nearest tree. He let out another scream and the ground shook once more. Cursing under my breath I stepped behind the tree, only to hear the sound of splitting wood as the creature barrelled into it. The great tree and I went flying, landing in the dark.

Feet away from me the torch landed and sputtered, casting the world into darkness. I turned my head, glancing behind me as I tried to catch my breath. Red eyes stared in the dark, its strange walk bringing it ever closer. My fingers dug into the earth as I tried to stand, pulling myself up only to feel a great head strike my back and throw me into the night.

I landed on the cold earth, a groan of pain finally slipping out. “Rawhead and bloody bones,” I muttered, letting the words of power slip into the night. “Rawhead and bloody bones. Rawhead and bloody bones.” 

His spoken name made him shriek in growling rage. Claws slipped over my thigh and up to my shoulder, yet didn’t sink in. The great hulking skull leaned down, eyes peering into me, magic seeking magic. “I won’t harm you,” I breathed beneath him. “I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you. You’ve had revenge. Rest.”

The skull pushed against my face, blood dripping from the corpse beneath onto my body. I  shuddered beneath him, the rage still seething out of his body. Slowly I raised my hands, feeling the bloody bones of his form, and caressed them. “Be angry, Rawhead. Put your rage in me.” 

My head lifted to lick the side of the skull, tongue playing over bare teeth and jaw. The hog snorted and growled,  tilting his head down and towards me, forcing my torso back on the ground. He dug his tusk into my side then pushed, rolling me onto my stomach. 

I whimpered and lifted my head, only to cry out as claws dug into my shoulder, carving long furrows down my back as my dress was shredded. I shivered in the cold air, lifting onto my hands and knees to crawl forward. The great head rested on my back, blood sliding down my thighs to my calves as he moved closer.

Clawed legs moved over my sides, grabbing my shoulders and digging in. A cry of pain escaped as the great boar mounted my back, pulling his massive body over my own. I felt myself quake as the wet throat made a deep grunting growl beside my ear and his body thrust forward.

The boar’s massive engorged length pushed inside roughly, invading my depths and wetting me with the blood that leaked from his body. I cried out again, pleasure rolling into pain and returning to send chills down my spine. He gave me no time to adjust as his form heeld to me, rutting and thrusting his hips to pillage my depths.

Beneath him I shuddered and cried out as blood dripped over my body, coating my remaining shreds of clothes and bare skin. Bits of viscera swung against my back from the open cavity of his gut, rubbing against me as he moved in and out of my body. 

Each stroke penetrated deeper and was paired with a squealing grunt or groan, rage and intensity unmatched. My body could barely hold him as he thundered inside, filling me and pushing me further, slamming his length as far as he could and hitting the back of my entrance. 

Pain blossomed within as he kept pushing, forcing my body to succumb to his demands and open further within, allowing him entrance to my womb. A  scream echoed out of me as he bit into my shoulder, holding me so he could force himself still deeper. 

My fingers dug into the earth as I gasped in newfound pleasure with the constant throb of pain as he thrust within. Our screams and squeals combined, no doubt frightening villagers and terrifying anyone still awake.

I trembled, whimpering as claws dug deeper into my shoulder, my blood trickling down my arm. “Do it,” I snarled at him. “Show me your pain, Rawhead. Show me.”

The great beast picked up his pace, moving at inhuman demonic speed to hammer inside of me, tearing into my body as many ways as he could. The booming snarling continued until a prolonged guttural howl broke the night and a flush of wet seed mixed with blood exploded inside of me.

His body shuddered, holding me there until the last drop of his release filled my body before he slowly slid off, standing beside me. I collapsed onto the ground, covered in blood. My body shuddered, pain and intensity whelming my senses. 

Behind me, the boar lay down, great head resting beside mine. The red in his eyes had lessened to softly burning coals. Tiny grunts came from the exposed windpipe as I nestled against him, a mix of adrenaline and ecstasy making my body tremble as the beast finally rested.