Hodag

 

Banners swung in the breeze, hand painted letters spanning them, speaking of the most terrifying monster ever seen. People wandered forward, the mud road well traveled, arms linked and excited chatter filling the air. A tithe barn sat behind a small but well-kept home, the barn on the edge of the property near the woods. From within it, howls and snarls echoed into the early night.

Stars had just begun to twinkle as the crowd trickled in, loitering around the home. Food stalls sat, plying their trade. The air smelled of beast and manure mixed with fats and meat they cooked, selling fresh meats to the crowd. Horses snorted and danced each time a sound escaped the barn, driving them into a nervous frenzy.

Despite the ferocious snarls, the people seemed excited and enthusiastic. Smiles touched their faces as they chattered, pointing sometimes at the barn before turning back to each other. Warmed wine was given out, giving the spectators time to spend more money on the trinkets and oils the proprietor offered.

I paused near a stand where oils were offered, everything from hair loss to death could be repelled. I felt a smirk tug at my lips and swallowed, looking away from them to the pieces of wood inscribed with made up runes for protection from other creatures like what lurked in the barn.

Atop a wooden stage, a man stood, giving a stirring speech on how he found and captured the creature. It was well practiced, one he had told again and again, a story perfectly crafted to raise fear and simultaneously stimulate curiosity. I sighed and paid coin for an apple, chewing on it thoughtfully while I half-heartedly listened to the nonsense.

“A trail of broken trees, so big was the creature, led deep into the woods. I gathered supplies and a few bear catchers, knowing we would need to be clever if we were to capture it…”

A low moaning bellow echoed from the barn, filled with a sadness I understood too well. I turned my head, looking at the barn in the low light as servants moved about, igniting torches for the audience to see by. Around me people stirred, glancing at my strange clothing in polite disdain as I stepped through them to walk back on the path we had come from.

“I was there, in the mouth of the cave, listening to the mighty snarls of the creature within…” 

The man’s silver tongued voice carried on the gentle breeze, haunting me as I slipped behind the house and into the shadows. Out of the torchlight, the air was cold and the voices muffled. Another low groan came from the barn, hidden beneath a screaming growl that made my brows furrow. No natural creature made those noises simultaneously.

I pulled my hood up and walked through the shadows to the edge of the wood and moved between the trees, seeing the vague shapes in the darkness from the distant torches and waning moon. The barn’s windows glowed with low lighting, shadows dancing now and then as the growls grew.

As the snarling came closer, I paused and leaned against a tree, tilting my head as I watched two young men banging the inside of a shed and cry out into a strange contraption. My lips held back a smile. Humans were creative, if ridiculous. Anything for a coin, really.

I pulled back into the tree line and walked to the backside of the barn, stepping out into the open as I moved towards the window. Golden light shone outward and a low groaning came from within. I inhaled sharply at the smell of musk and something earthy at my approach. Shadows flickered over the light now and then as something large moved within.

My fingers gripped the window sill and pulled myself up, feet scrambling against the stone until finding placing. I grunted and moved upwards until I had managed to slide into the window, dropping down onto the floor with a soft thud.

Something nearby snorted out a gust of air. I turned my head and crouched low, staring at the creature that was chained to the middle of the barn. It was large, longer than a tall human, with thick green skin and white spikes. Its massive head was lowered, horns growing from its head and long fangs from its mouth. 

He was beautiful, striking, and dangerous. A creature of another time forgotten here, hiding deep in the wilds until a willful mortal came thundering in. I could imagine the bear catchers, poles wavering at him, fire scaring the reptilian creature. A sigh escaped my lips at the thought and I stood up, moving out of the shadows in the low light of the torches.

The creature turned, brilliant red eyes measuring my movement. He shifted so that he faced me, body behind him, long tail twitching with anger. Claws dug into the dirt floor and ripped up the straw as he snarled, low and dangerous. The pupils dilated and I knew he had been hurt, that keeping him here was everything he hated.

Chains clung to his front paws and his neck, clanging with each step he took. He winced at every sound, eyes narrowing in pain. I grimaced and crouched low, hands palm up as I inched closer. 

He snarled, back arching to threaten with the wicked spines that sprouted from his skin. The feet moved, dragging the chains, to pull himself back from me, claws swiping the air in real threat. 

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “You’re okay. I won’t hurt you.”

Those red eyes stared, examing my face and hands. A low, groaning moan tumbled from his wide toothy mouth. His foot shifted, pulling on the chain that would not give. I shifted towards him, following the chain with my eyes to where it was anchored on the wall. 

“Okay…” I trailed off, looking to the chain on his neck and to where it was attached to the floor. All of them were held with a lock that needed a key or a tool I didn’t have. 

I turned my eyes back to the beast, lips pursed. “I won’t hurt you, I promise,” I murmured and crawled close enough he could claw me if he wanted, my movements slow and gentle.

One hand raised up, very slowly, to the creature’s face. He flinched but didn’t step back, and so I moved an inch closer. “Easy,” I murmured. “You come to me if you want me to touch you, alright?”

My eyes looked into his and I nodded. We stared at each other, silence touching the barn. In the distance, I could hear the voice of the barker drawing closer, his tale heightening in tension as he began to lead the spectators to the old tithe barn. The creature heard it too, turning his head towards the window on the East, a low mournful cry rumbling out of him.

His great head turned back towards me and pressed forward, flat noose resting against my hand. A long tongue slide out, rough, and licked up my hand, leaving cold saliva in its wake. My lips pursed. “Is that what you want? They’re coming.”

The creature moved forward, head pressing against my forehead, large eyes staring in my own. Fangs and horns framed my face, making me keenly aware of the size difference between us. I leaned back, laying on the straw and dirt ground as the creature snarled, hearing the voices draw near. 

My hands touched his face, ran up his strong brow to the great horns on his head. “You’re incredible,” I murmured from beneath him. “Such a big mouth, and these teeth,” I caressed the fangs, massive, protruding out of his mouth. My fingers closed around them and pulled his head down, guiding him to my thighs.

He snuffled the air above me, one great reptilian foot clawing at my hips to rip the pants that hid my flesh from him. “Yes,” I whispered. “I want you. Show them what kind of monster you are. Show everyone. Make them watch.”

The fabric shredded beneath his claws with ease, catching the skin in his eagerness, leaving long bloody claw marks behind. I cried out, back arching, at the pain that burned my flesh. Great teeth pushed against my thighs, forcing them apart as the tongue flicked out, wide and rough over my groin.

A voice grew near, echoing around us as I cried out again when the tongue rubbed hard against me, pushing roughly and excitedly. Heat spread through my body from my center, moving up my spine to catch my breath and send a shudder through me. The creature feasted hungrily, plunging its tongue into my depths, teeth scraping my flesh with each passing moment.

“And now, dear friends, I show you the creature!” The man’s voice thundered as he threw open the barn doors and forty pairs of eyes stared at the supposed monsters whose head was buried between my thighs. 

“What th-”

Gasps filled the air as the cold night breeze blew over my monster and me. I whimpered beneath it.

“Shit! Is it…”

“Is she okay?”

“Stop it! It’s attacked her!”

As though on cue the creature reached up and ripped my shirt open, revealing my breasts and their hardened nipples to the crowd. New cries of panic came as blood welled up in the cuts the monster gave, his claws too sharp to not cut flesh. My hips bucked up against the monster’s wide mouth, twitching beneath his tongue as the pressure began to build in me. 

Two people stepped forward and then stopped as my moans ripped through the air. Hands covered mouths in offense and realization. 

“My god!” someone cried out.

“She’s… letting it…”

“What the fuck!”

“We need to stop her-”

“No, no, it’s dangerous! Don’t!”

The man who had captured the beast approached but stopped, unsure of what to do. No part of him wanted to come closer as the monster devoured me, sending chills and thrills through me until I was writing and crying beneath him, body shuddering with release. I panted, barely able to breathe before releasing the monster’s horns.

He didn’t miss a beat as I shifted backward, turning onto my stomach as though to crawl towards the audience. The monster moved over me, teeth biting into my shoulder. A woman cried out in shock as its body lowered over mine, wet slick length running over my behind. I shivered, hunger filling me. 

One hand moved upward, holding to the great horn as I pulled him forward, urging him to plunge within. “Fuck me,” I moaned at him. “Fuck me.”

My eyes looked at the people who stared, both transfixed and horrified. With one great thrust, the creature pushed inside, rough and eager. Claws shredded the ground around me as he slid in, diving deep inside so that pain mixed with pleasure at the depth he explored. 

My body shuddered, driven into the ground with each time he slammed into me. He was massive, filling me entirely and then some, forcing my opening to adapt to his girth. Roars and moans mingled together in our bloody wanton show, my own nails digging into the earth as pleasure moved through me, making my cries turn from low to high pitched as he drove his length inside.

Each thrust pushed me against the hard ground, giving me nowhere to move. I cried out as he roughly took me, the movement of his hips going faster and harder, slamming against my hips with wet slaps, a mix of my juice and his saliva creating the perfect sounds. 

The gasps and cries had stopped as they watched, the crowd slowly moving forward, an inch at a time, to get a closer look. One man came too close, eyes watching where the monster pounded into me, the great monstrous length slick with my wetness. The creature turned, taking a swipe at him while plunging deep within me.

I cried out, barely able to notice the man coming too close as the monster drove me wild. The crowd watched as the monster’s stamina kept him going, endlessly sliding in and out of me as I moaned and writhed, time passing as pleasure overtook my senses and sent me into a world where only the creature and I lived. 

With one great snarling roar, the creature shuddered atop me, twitching within and filling me with a sudden flood of hot release. I moaned, body relaxing slowly beneath him as I caught my breath, shivering at the sudden awareness of cool air. The creature leaned his head down, lapping at the blood on my skin before headbutting me affectionately.

An eerie silence filled the barn as I blinked and looked at the gathered crowd. A slow smile spread over my lips as I lifted one hand to the man in charge, palm up, waiting for nad expectant. All eyes watched us, tension slowly building. He stood, mute and uncertain, breathing shallow and body very aware of what had just happened.

Without words, he took the key from his pocket and placed it in my hand. Then he turned, not missing a beat, and held out his hat to the crowd. “What a show, ladies and gentlemen! Show your appreciation for the amazing lover of monsters gracing us with her talents here!”

Money fell into his hat. The barn doors slid closed. I smirked, playing with the key. “Now they’ll hunt you for entirely different reasons.”