Cetus

 

Water lapped against the red shore as I watched the sun dip towards the horizon. The blue water turned hazy red as the sand drifted into its depths, creating the mirage of blood in its murky fluid. Rocky crags rose out of the water, projecting from the sea with an eerie might. A single stone pillar sat, chains dangling from its zenith atop one. By the shore, a simple wooden boat waited for me. 

I stood on the edge of the water, small waves lapping at my feet and dragging sand across my flesh. A simple shift covered my body, thin and translucent. Warm wind blew back my hair, tangling the ends. In the city, they watched, waiting for my ultimate sacrifice. Nobles gazed down from the royal home, a mix of fascination and terror on their faces. 

Men stood beside me, spears in hand. Curiosity and confusion crossed their eyes as I gave a solemn nod and we began to walk to the boat. No one spoke. The ritualistic sacrifice meant freedom, and thus nothing could be risked. Even as I paused in my movements to look behind me, catching the eyes of my companion, I dared not speak.

The men stabilized the boat as I approached, water pushing against my shins. Clouds swirled above, creeping against the crimson sunset and threatening rain. A hand was held out to me, a strange expression on the owner’s face.

I touched his hand, holding it to balance as I stepped into the little boat. In strange silence one climbed in with me, leaving the other to push the boat into the sea. I watched my soldier’s face as we were sent into the water, once pity now clouded with fear.  

“Do you sacrifice women often?” I asked, breaking the sacred silence once we were out of earshot of the soldier on the shore.

The water bobbed our boat, delaying the efforts made with his rowing as he paused and watched me, debating speaking. Finally, he nodded then turned his head to watch where he was rowing.

“How often?”

A sigh escaped his lips. “As the gods demand.”

I shifted and raised a brow. “Who speaks for the gods?”

“The oracle.”

“Fancy.” My eyes watched him as he tried to look anywhere but at me.

“So this oracle, she demands a girl be given to the sea. It takes her. And what? The sea doesn’t rise up to destroy you?”

“He reads the signs, lets us know if the gods are angry. Then offers ways to appease them.”

“Of course. How were the gods angered this time?”

“Our Queen claimed herself more beautiful than the sea nymphs.”

I blinked. “And so their father got angry?”

The guard nodded. “Hence the sacrifice.”

“Of the princess?”

Another nod. 

I narrowed my eyes. “The oracle. What was he like around the princess?”

A hard look touched his face. “He is a priest, be it a lecherous one.”

Slowly I sighed, looking at the water instead of his face. “So she refused him. He punished her.”

He nearly dropped his oars. “He wouldn’t-”

“Wouldn’t he? Would you bet your life on it?”

There was a pause before he nodded. “Yes.”

“What about my life?”

A hint of pain crossed his face. Silence stung the air as we neared the rocky outcrop. He steadied the boat and clambered out, moving with the grace of a trained warrior. Hands reached out for me, gently guiding me onto the rock. Our eyes met and he stood still, hands on my shoulders, gazing into me. “Why offer yourself then?”

I wet my lips and saw him flush. “Because there are no such things as monsters.”

He grimaced and finally stepped to the side, placing a warm palm at the small of my back to guide me towards the sacrificial altar. 

My head tilted. “Could we skip the chains? Unless, of course, you like them.”

The flush deepened. “It’s tradition.”

I smirked, “I’m sure it is.”

My bare feet carried me forward to the stone pillar. As my back pressed against the stone, I looked out to the sea, where their dark fate awaited me. He approached, knife slipping against the rope that bound my wrists together to cut them free. I watched his face as he stood close, seeing the struggle of his task in his trembling hands and averted gaze.

I reached out and caressed his hand. “What’s your name?”

“Why?” he sighed, a sense of defeat in his voice. His hands wrapped around my wrists as he looked at his skin against mine.

“A dying woman’s last wish?” I raised my brows.

“Asher,” he replied and lifted one of my arms to the chains above. They were so cold it burned against my skin and slick with ocean mist. The sea air had eroded them over time so that they were dark and covered in rust. 

I raised my other arm for him as he clicked the cuff around the first. “Am I the first sacrifice you’ve offered?”

The brown eyes looked into mine again. “Yes.”

His hardened hands closed my second wrist into the manacle. Slowly his hands lowered as he gazed at me, hands above my hair, ocean spray causing the shift to become stuck to my body. A grimace touched his lips as another sigh snuck out of him.

“Don’t leave,” I said to him as he began to build the resolution to walk away. “Stay in the boat. Not far.”

Brows knit together. “You believe you’ll survive?”

“I told you. There’s no such thing as monsters.”

Asher shook his head and stepped to the side, letting me get a full view of the hungry ocean. “I will wait but I will not come to your aid.”

“I won’t need your help.”

He blinked then made a waving motion as he walked away, muttering a word under his breath I couldn’t quite catch. His footsteps receded and I heard him push off of the rocks with the oar, leaving me alone in the cool wet wind of dusk. 

Stars began to twinkle in the Eastern horizon. Water lapped against the rock, gently spraying me with each wave. The sky turned rosy and darkened as the sun continued to dip lower. Long moments passed as I waited, arms becoming sore, and yet nothing came. I turned my head, trying to glance behind me to where I heard the water hitting the rowboat, but Asher was out of sight.

The waves picked up and the sun threatened to cast me into darkness when something shifted. Bright blue waves turned dark, filled with a strange red, almost like blood, as something swam beneath the surface. Each time it moved by, waves followed and hit the rocks hard. My shift clung to me as the spray soaked me to the bone.

A shiver ran down my spine as I tried to shift, eyes glancing in the water to dare see what awaited. My foot slipped, knocking me to my knees on the hard rock with a sharp gasp of pain. My arms tugged at the chains, rust leaving long copper smears on my wrists. Hair fell in my face as I grimaced, trying to flick it back with a movement of my neck.

I turned my head, managing to get the hair on my shoulder when I saw the eyes staring at me from beneath the ocean’s surface, lost between waves. Every muscle in my body froze as we looked at each other, its great head holding perfectly still as it stared, looking at me the way any predator of its size would.

Slowly I stood, pulling on the chains to help myself up and stabilize on the craggy rocks. It watched me, tilting its head upwards so that its snout broke the water’s surface followed shortly by its eyes. Orange spines ran along either side of its head, contrasting with the beautiful blue of its rubbery skin.

The head was vaguely draconic with long teeth poking out from its narrow jaws. Its head tilted and then rose from the water, long agile neck rising eight feet or more to tower above me. I stood, eyes watching its majestic beauty while becoming increasingly aware of its gigantic might. 

From behind me, a voice called, filled with mirth, “Don’t believe in monsters still?”

I sucked in a breath as the wind played over my wet body. “It’s not a monster,” I said, voice caught in the wind. Clouds rolled in as rain began to fall, framing the beast in its terrible beauty. Clawed hands pulled out of the water and rested on the edge of the rock as its head slowly lowered down to me.

“Well, hello,” I said softly. My instinct to reach for it made the chains rattle. I grimaced, glancing at my bound wrists before back to the sea monster.

Its head tilted and it pushed its nose towards me, great nostrils flaring as it inhaled my scent. Cold slick skin touched my legs as its snout explored, pushing me back against the stone pillar. I shuddered as its mouth opened and the tongue trailed along my leg, over my hips and stomach, to stop at my face and neck, leaving a long trail of saliva in its wake.

My hands shifted, gently touching the rough spines and flesh of the head as it rested near my face. Its large eyes closed and it leaned into my hands. I heard the boat hit the rock and the sound of Asher scrambling onto the rocky shore. Yet I never let my hands leave the creature’s skin.

“There you go,” I murmured, stroking between its spines. They shuddered and fanned out like dorsal fins as I pet the skin. My head turned, catching Asher’s eyes and shaking my head before I glanced back at the sea creature.

It shifted, pulling itself up onto the land, eyes open and staring down at me. The mouth gaped, tongue lolling out to dance over my face and down my shoulders to my breasts. Its great meaty muscle played over my skin, pulling a soft moan from me as it flicked over my nipples and wandered lower, half entangled in the simple shift the had given me.

A rough snout pushed between my legs as its whale-like tail flicked in the water, helping it balance its large bull-like body on the rocky shore. Claw-tipped webbed feet drew it closer to me as it pushed its massive body against me, pinning me against the pillar. I whimpered against it, spines softening as it pressed against me.

Water dripped off of it as it turned, moving its body to face me straight on. The long serpentine tongue flicked out again, sliding against my ankle and pulling upward, bringing the shift with it as it went. A moan escaped me as the muscle separated my thighs and pushed up against my opening, tasting my wetness before sliding away into its mouth again.

The muzzle pushed in, following where its tongue had been. Sharp teeth nipped my thigh, scraping the skin and drawing blood to the surface before it settled its mouth between my legs. The tongue invaded, pushing past my skin to dive deep within, lapping at the juices that had moistened my thighs.

Nearby, Asher made a sound of surprise. My back arched as I held onto the chains, pulling myself up to ride the monster’s face while it drank me. Moans and whimpers escaped me as the creature licked and nipped, bringing a cry of ecstasy from my lips as I bucked against it, shuddering as the pressure building exploded within.

Yet its tongue didn’t stop. My moans became whimpering cries as sensation overwhelmed me. My legs shifted, trying to pull away from the tongue that delved deep and constant, thick within me. Asher stumbled as he dared to take a step forward, caught between entrancement and uncertainty. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes drawn to where the creature’s hungry mouth continued to devour.

I shook my head again and moved my foot, pushing off of its large leg to pull myself from its mouth. It lifted its head, tongue licking its teeth and lips as I turned, resting my hands and forehead against the stone pillar to catch my breath. 

Its body pressed against me, great clawed hands climbing up the pillar. The tail thrashed as it pushed against me, a long thick appendage sliding against my leg. I shifted, pushing back against the beast’s heavy body, and leaned over, keeping my hands against the pillar that held my chains.

It growled and snarled, biting the pillar as it adjusted itself before it gave one large thrust. I cried out as it pushed inside me, stretching me without mercy or patience as its great length found its target. Pain spread through me and my pelvis ached from the power of its rutting. The chains bit into my wrists as I held to them, anchoring myself as it pulled up on the pillar, making the stone tremble so it could thrust into me again.

The creature began to pump itself in and out, pushing deeper each time with its immense body. Tears slid down my cheeks as both pleasure and pain ripped through me, sending cries out of my lips that filled the night air as the storm flashed lightning, illuminating us in the dark. The monster cried out, breaking pieces of the stone pillar off with each thrust.

I was pushed against the stone, my shoulder and arms bracing me against where women had been sacrificed before. My body began to adjust, the chills dissipating into a sense of hunger and need as the pain became a dull ache instead of burning and the pounding became a renewed pleasure.

My moans joined with its howling hunger. The sea roared her might, splashing our united forms with waves of intensity. The stones beneath its body cracked as it moved, infused with the power of the sea itself. With a final crushing push, it broke the pillar, launching both of us to the ground. 

I landed face up, arms still bound to a great hunk of rock. Above me Cetus lay, still nestled within me, only a fraction of its immensity able to fit within. The clawed hands anchored on either side of me as it began its thrusting once more, pushing me up the rocks with each movement. 

Teeth gnashed the air in front of my face, jaw snapping as its claws ripped up the stone from beneath us. My body quaked and shuddered, overwhelmed by the thundering sensation of it pounding in and out of me. Wild eyes stared into mine, pressure building before it let its head fall back into an endless sky sundering roar.

The lightning cracked, meeting its hunger in crescendo as thick milky fluid filled me. The creature shifted, pulling itself out as it sprayed me in its release. Panting, I glanced up as it moved, tongue lapping at its own fluid on my face before it turned, looking at Asher’s shaken form.

His eyes were wild as he stared, spear on the ground where it had been dropped. Cetus stared at him, danger flashing in his eyes. The two watched each other, one a god of the sea, the other a frightened man. With a rumble of snarls and thunder, the sea monster clambered its way into the sea, disappearing beneath the waves.

I groaned as my body rode the waves of pleasure still echoing within. Asher paused, turning his head from where the creature had disappeared to my splayed body. Slowly he approached, hands outstretched in uncertainty.

“That… that…” he babbled, head turning to look at the water and then back to me, mouth agape. 

“Isn’t a monster,” I said, my voice husky from moaning. “But was one hell of a lover. Could you unchain me, Asher? I believe I have given a suitable sacrifice.”