Friday, December 17, 2021

Sneak Preview: The Swamp

 

Happy Holidays, monster fuckers! We're excited to announce that the first anthology, Tales of Voracious: Stories of Monstrous Passions, is nearing its first draft of completion. Orders will be coming in early 2022, and we're so excited to share our first book with you!

In an effort to finish the final stories of the anthology and to take some much needed time off, Monster Fucking Friday will return in January with a new year of monster erotica! But before we stuff our stockings, wrap our presents, and prepare for a very happy solstice, we're giving a sneak preview of the Anthology exclusive story, the Swamp... 

So tuck in, monster fuckers, and let your mind run wild with the vine filled world of the Swamp!


Laughter touched the air as we walked out of the town towards the muddy road that led through the swamplands. The sun warmed everything, making the stench stronger as we explored the wood-planked road. Now and then we paused, stopping to look at the estranged flowers we had never seen before or touch a tree whose exposed roots housed amphibians below the water.

I paused in the walk where a path led off from the plank road and into the swamp. No footprints showed, yet the path seemed clear. Further down a branch was broken and mud hanging off of a tree. 


Raumi turned, looking back at me. “Have you found something?”


“I don’t know.” I stepped onto the small path and walked to the tree, touching its broken limb and examining the mud. “Didn't one of those villagers say it was made of mud?”


Further up the path, a large splash resounded. Raumi caught up with me, standing at my back as we both looked ahead. A low, unsettling rumble that could have been a growl followed the splash. I shifted and moved around the tree, being careful not to step in the water that encroached the tiny walkway.


“Didn’t one of them say it had scales?” Raumi murmured to me as I kept going, pausing only when another large splash broke the quiet. He touched my shoulder and nodded towards where the water moved beneath the sagging vines atop a tree.


Within the water something stirred, sending large ripples as it moved beneath the surface. The green water revealed nothing amongst the floating algae and lily pads. Frogs jumped as it cut the water near their resting places, making small splashes as they landed. Along the water’s edge various animal and human prints lay, all of them coming to the water’s edge where great claw marks ran in the mud.


I tilted my head to look at Raumi as the water stilled. We glanced at each other before I began to walk towards the claw marks, taking care not to fall into the water. As I knelt, fingers touching the long gouges, Raumi pulled a dead stick from the ground and flicked the end in the water, creating a series of splashing noises.


A grunting growl came from the water as whatever haunted its depths moved quickly, tail flicking on the water’s surface. Olive scales and rides betrayed the creature’s nature. I raised a brow and gingerly backed away from the water as it stilled once more, ripples stopping a few inches away from Raumi’s stick.


“I don’t know that it’s an actual monster, Raumi,” I murmured, taking another step back. My foot landed on something thick and ropey. I shifted, glancing down in time to see a great vine lift and slide away from my foot. “Shit.”


“What?” he asked, turning his eyes away from the water to look at me. 


I turned, glancing at the great vines and human sized flowers that covered an ancient tree. The green limbs came to life, one instantly wrapping around my leg. I blinked and held still, hoping my lack of resistance would calm the plant. A strange, pungent odor filled the air as it lifted me and pulled me towards the flower’s open fuschia petals.


The water erupted as a creature lunged at Raumi, great jaws snapping in a distinctive nearly wooden sound. “Watch o-” I tried to call only to be jerked to the side, body pressed into an open flower. It began to close, lowering petal soft jaws around me as I glanced towards Raumi.


He was on the ground, covered in mud. A humanoid alligator wrestled with him, their scaly arms entangled. The two grunted, inhuman sounds coming from both. The creature's jaw bit down onto Raumi’s shoulder and the sound of teeth scratching on stone filled the air. 


A strange, sweet smell filled my senses as the plant encircled me, vines pushing me inside only to slither out as the flower closed. I whimpered, feeling drowsiness settle in my eyes as the smell intensified. Warm darkness slowly enclosed me. The sound of fighting grew more distant, turning into a dull hum in the background. I pushed my hands against the flower’s inside, only to feel it close faster until I was swallowed entirely.


Within its entrapment, it was warm and humid. I began to sweat as the heat swelled. Lifting a hand, I caressed the inside of the flower and leaned my head back against its speckled green and pink surface. 


“I won’t hurt you,” I murmured sleepily. My hand shifted along its insides, stroking the petals softly. 


One petal trembled, pushing inward to meet my fingers. I inhaled shallow breaths to stay awake, trying to avoid drinking in the pollen it was feeding me. Slowly I calmed myself and turned my head, planting a soft kiss on the vegetation’s fibrous flesh. It shivered, quaking softly. 


My hand pulled back as I stared in slight surprise. As I touched it again, stroking the inside of the petal softly, a new fragrance hit the air. It was sweet and tempting, almost delicious in its way. A sense of joy and tenderness spread through me. My hands both worked, stroking the plant from within.


The scent caused my muscles to relax and chased the fear from my body. A shiver ran down my spine from the sensation of the petals pressing inward against me as I stroked them. I hummed an old song, singing to the flower that held me captive. Its body quaked and pressed tight against me, causing a soft moan to escape at the pressure.


Light broke through the petals as long green vines slunk in as a snake would. They were thick and ropy, made of multiple small vines wrapped together. I shifted, glancing down to them as one slowly wrapped around my ankle while the other pushed up my pant sleeve and crept along the skin of my leg before wrapping firmly around my thigh...

Friday, December 10, 2021

Mermaid

 

The party raged on until the wee hours of the morning. They laughed and jeered, told stories of the rubes, voices a rough melody on exhausted air. Just moments before they had begun their nightly frivolity, their home had been invaded by the starving masses who saw them as freaks, creatures to be stared at, fetishized, and when convenient, murdered.


I sat amongst them, sipping the moonshine they handed out. Greasy food had sat on plates for a glimmering few minutes before it disappeared, devoured by the workers of the small carnival. We ate as stories were shared. They spoke of who had been fated that night. The woman who had been unconvinced about the strong man’s ability and how he proved her wrong. The child who saw the lord in the mentalist’s vision. The human who fell in love with the snake dancer. 


Every night was the same. They moved to a new home, set it up, and tore it down once the show was over. It had taken me months to find them, following behind dust trails and broken dreams. Whispers of what was here had run down the road and passed from drunken lips to eager ear, over and over until I sat and heard the story, eyes just a little wide.


My eyes moved over each of the people at the tables. They were many things, but none of them were unnatural. And while I didn’t believe in monsters, they weren’t what the average person would’ve called monstrous. Even all the hate in the world wouldn’t convince a mortal that another human was a creature of darkness. That took glamors or tricks. 


This place was full of both. From the manager to the tear down crew, each human here had enough slight of hands to make my head spin. Every second is an opportunity, a potential deal that could be struck. Even better, an idiot to swindle. 


Laughter spilled through the night as the magician finished her joke. Not a glimmer of magic showed around her, but her ability to draw the eye and move unseen was phenomenal. I waited until heads were down, mouths open in bright laughter before I slipped from where I was sitting to walk the grounds alone.


Muddy pathways ran between the tents, once grassy just a day before. I held the tin cup in my hand, sipping the booze between moments of quiet reflection. Their conversation and laughter still echoed about the closed down fairgrounds. A few workers stirred in tents, getting ready for sleep. 


It was just an hour or two before dawn. The time when people who worked the show would finally fall asleep. Lights were extinguished, just a few illuminated tents remained. I walked until I hit the final tent on the path, the one that the rubes would walk into last, and walk out pale and frightened.


The tent was blue, with white bubbles painted over the canvas. A messy hand painted sign hung above in fabric, the creature from the sea in bright teal letters. I sucked in a breath and then pulled open the tent flap, stepping into the low light of a lantern. 


Blue light bounced around the tent, glittering from where the lantern’s glow hit the great tank. It was large, but not as large as I had thought it would be. Metal, wood, and glass poorly bound together. The sides were greenish, algae coating the inside of the glass. Bits of fish and blood floated on the water. 


I sucked in a breath, grimacing at the smell of rot that floated out of the tank. It was on wheels, with a giant rope lashed to the end. I fingered the thread. There was nothing magical about it. I supposed the strongman carried the tank, used as a beast of burden when it suited the carnival. The cord fell back to the wet ground and I gazed into the murky water. 


Between the debris and the perilously dirty water, it was impossible to see the creature within. I raised a tentative hand before touching the glass. It was cold, sending a chill through my body. I shivered involuntarily, as though the confinement of what was inside was translated through that caress. 


From the swirling turquoise a face appeared, eyes black as a shark’s. We stared at each other through the misty water. Her hand came out of the grime, fingers touching the glass where mine were, scaled and long, with a greenish blue skin that glimmered pearlescent in the low light. Her face was flat, eyes terrifyingly empty, lips teal. 


A smile spread over her face, displaying pointed sharp teeth. My brows rose in surprise. Her fingers slid upward, then crept higher until she was headed towards the top of the tank. I followed her up, then stood back, watching as she broke the surface.


Ebony hair flowed down her back, glimmering like an oil stain. Blue and green streaks caught the light, beautiful and alluring even plastered and wet against her shoulders. Gills graced her neck below the ear, opening and closing as she tried to acclimate to the air. 


“Welcome,” she purred finally, voice wet. “What brings you to me so late?”


I tilted my head. “I’m looking for you.”


Her smile was stunning and terrifying. “Of course you are.”


My eyes glanced at the blood and bits of flesh in the water. Some of it was fish. Some of it wasn’t.


“Come here.” Her long fingers gestured to me, beckoning me forward. 


“How’d you end up here?”


Brows raised and she shrugged, a beautiful movement that made the water ripple around her. I sucked in a breath, feeling the allure of her before I could stop myself. “You’re very curious.”


“It’s been said.”


“I fled the sea for a man I loved.”


“Did he love you back?”


She shrugged again. “Do they ever?”


A pain touched my heart. “I’m sorry.”


The mermaid laughed, twitching in the water so that her tail flicked the surface. It was a momentary view of her magnificence. “Don’t be. You’re not here for a story.”


“I am, though. I’ve seen your kind before. But never like this.”


She smirked. “Why don’t you come closer, hm? Come inside.” Her head nodded, chin nodding towards a step ladder to the right. 


“So you can eat me?”


Her grin made me flush. “I know my way around a woman’s body.”


“That’s not what I meant.”


“Isn’t it? I’ve seen how you look at me.” 


“You’re very beautiful.” 


“Come see how beautiful I am…”


“Is that what you want?” My tone shifted to serious, the playfulness dropping. I looked at her eyes and took a step forward. 


“So serious. Is that how you are with everyone?” 


“When I’m asking what they want. Yes.”


The smirking lips straightened. “Then yes. That is what I want. And I promise you to only eat you if ask.” Her sharp teeth showed again. 


I shrugged and pulled my dirty dress over my head, letting it puddle on the filthy ground. My boots sat beside it. Mud squished between my toes with every step I took until I climbed the wooden stairs to the top of her tank. Fingers touched the wood and metal, the same beautiful sensation of her powers flooded through me.


Heat rose within, stoking the flame she had already ignited. The mermaid disappeared beneath the water and then appeared before me, hands reaching out to caress my fingers and slid up to my wrists. Her skin was scaly and rough, yet held a hint of slime from the fetid water clung to her. 


“Are you sure?” I asked one last time, looking from her hair in the water to her eyes.


“Get in the tank if you want to see.” 


I pursed my lips to hide my smile and moved, letting my feet rest within the water. It was as slimy as she was, with bits of floating waste that clung to my skin and toes. A shudder went through me as the water went over my calves and thighs. The tank was deep enough I couldn’t touch the bottom without going under.


We floated, her watching me grapple the disgusting water. 


“Doesn’t this bother you?” I asked, pushing away bits of dead fish, the smell overwhelming.


“The ocean smells bad too, you know. Things die and rot in there all the time. Just like here.”


“I’ve been to the ocean. It doesn’t seem this fresh.”


Her laughter was musical and yet wet. I kept thinking she would begin coughing. 


“It’s not so bad once you’re used to it,” she whispered, slipping closer to me and then behind me. Lips touched my shoulder, teeth grazing the skin as she trailed upward to the back of my ear. 


I touched her hair, leaning back into her body as her tongue flicked over my muscles, sending chills of delight up my spine. My body quivered against hers, the back of my thighs and legs touching a long, strong scaled tail that flicked in the water, sending currents against my skin. 


We floated in the water, turning to meet each other’s lips and swirling in the embrace of one another. Her kiss was cold and wet, that same slime clinging to her. She tasted of seaweed and salt, with something deeper beneath the surface that reminded me of the depths of the ocean where frightening things lurked and hunted. 


Webbed fingers made their way over my skin, touching my arms and sliding to skim over the flesh of my stomach and breasts to rest near my neck, holding me against her. I snaked a hand down between us, pushing between our bodies. My legs opened, rising up to close over her hips, pushing us closer together. 


The mermaid flicked her tail and pulled us beneath the water and into the heart of the tank. Within the dingy fluid, it was easy to see out. I imagine the people who came to stare at her, children tapping the glass, people throwing food inside and garbage, some succumbing to her alluring eyes and wandering just a touch too close…


Her hand touched my cheek, turning my face back to hers. The black eyes stared into mine before she found my mouth again, filling me with life giving air before her teeth bit down on my lip, tasting blood that made her eyes grow wide with hunger and neeck. Small bites went down my neck and to my breasts, clammy hands cupping them to massage and pinch with each tiny nip she gave.


My lips parted, bubbles moving up towards the surface of the tank as a moan escaped me. It echoed through the water, bumping against the sides and then dying around us. Her mouth wandered deeper, making me twist and whimper at each bloody bite she left along my stomach and hips until she wandered over my inner thigh. 


Fingers tangled with her hair, pulling her closer to me, hips moving. I saw her grin, her knowing look as she waited, mouth hovering over me where I wanted her most. 


“Please,” I moaned in the water, releasing more air so that I had little left. Her smirk told me she knew that and she lowered her mouth to my slit. 


It instantly brought a cry from me as her bony and hard mouth explored, teeth teasing and weirdly solid tongue flicking over the sensitive flesh. I wrapped my legs around her shoulders, keeping her pulled against me as she played my body as an instrument, each sound deliberately curated and brought forth with skilled and expert movement. 


My sound moved through her tank, her mouth drawing from me the symphony of pleasure I had not heard in decades. Pressure built within me, rising in waves, mimicking the ocean that lived and breathed within her. As water breaking on the shore, I screamed, twisted and shattering beneath her mouth, pulse racing with the rush of release.


I tasted myself on her lips when she embraced me again, giving me the essence of air as only her people could. My fingers moved over her body, sliding down to the opening tucked within her scales. She nodded, whimpering in the water, a musical sound I barely heard but understood within my soul.


The mermaid began to cry, or perhaps it was singing, beautiful music of tiny whispered moans and great screaming groans of joy and delight as I plunged my fingers into her, thrusting forward to match her bucking hips that pushed her tail wildly against me. I slowed, circling the opening teasingly, smirking as I watched the desperation in her eyes.


My fingers moved in, first two and then three, pushing more and more as she opened me, revealing the pearl within that brought ecstasy with every caress. I didn’t notice the crowd that had gathered around us, or the shadows moving around the tank. She smirked, arching back against me, nails raking over my skin to make deep cuts. Blood slipped from my wounds and into the water, continuing the frenzy she felt. A final melodious scream echoed through the tank and seemed to erupt outward so that those outside could hear her cry of release.


She trembled against me, quivering in my arms as we floated. I kissed her throat, trailing up to her jaw. A hint of movement caught my eyes, drawing me back to the present where the carnival had gathered. My eyes blinked, surprise showing. Gently I released her and kicked up towards the surface of the water.


The manager of the carnival smiled at me. “I knew it.”


I flushed, the mermaid rising beside me. “Can we keep her?” Her chin rested on my shoulder, hands holding my upper arms.


“I… came to free you,” I said, turning my head to look at her.


Her brows furrowed. “I don’t want to be free.”


The manager laughed, lifting my dress from the ground and setting it on the stairs for me. “We can keep her.”


“Wait… I’m not…”


The group laughed. “What do you think that besides a show?”


I blinked at the amusement on his face, at the laughter coming from the mermaid. She kissed my cheek. “I’m so glad you came for me, Guardian. We’re going to have so much fun.” 


Friday, December 3, 2021

Sluagh

 


We sat inside the house as its walls shook and the windows rattled. A cacophony of voices, blades hitting each other, shields being bashed, and wild sounds that were incomprehensible filled our senses. It dominated our minds until it felt as though all that there was and would be was the sound of the wild hunt outside. 


Every window danced with shadows, the frenzied forces outside flitting from place to place. My companion hid beneath a table, body trembling, cheeks wet with tears. Her hands shook as she pushed her hair away from her face, eyes looking from her knees to mine. 


“What do they want?” she whispered, a sound swallowed by the howls of ecstatic agony from outside. 


I scooted closer to her, kneeling down beside the table. “What do you think they want?”


“What do you mean?”


“They weren’t chasing me. They were chasing you. You came to my home and hid.”


She looked around the old stone space, noting the strange assortment of tables and equipment. The fire had gone out in the hearth while a strange smell of ozone and magic filtered in from the fireplace. A darkness threatened to grow in the shadows, a sign the hunt would seep in if we didn’t rise to meet it.


“What is this place?” she asked, voice trembling.


“My home.”


Her brows furrowed, eyes taking in the implements of pleasure and pain that were resting around, here and there, a casual display of sensuality. Though to the uninformed eye, they would appear as torture devices, strange and terrifying. 


I smirked and shrugged. The wild hunt thundered on, creating a rhythm of fear that burrowed inside of us. It sent shivers through my skin and made the woman whimper, uncertainty of the future digging into her core. She had a right to be afraid. The world outside my door would swallow her. 


“Who are you?”


“It doesn’t matter. This is a safe place. But they’re not going anywhere. So what did you do?”


The eyes grew wider, a deer about to be shot. “What do you mean? I didn’t-”


“Don’t lie to me. You brought a wild hunt to my door and you, a human, are going to tell me you didn’t steal something or cause a curse or anger a fae king?” I raised a brow. 


She stared and then lowered her face back down to her knees, a sob racking her body. “I swear I didn’t know. I just thought-”


“Don’t. Just tell me what happened. They’re a trap for you. All fae, no matter how beautiful or horrible, are just designed to lure you in.”


“But we were in love.” More tears.


I sighed. “You were in love. I’m sure you thought it was the most phenomenal love you’ve ever felt. And then she asked you to what?”


Her dark eyes looked at me, red from crying. A hand slipped from her face to her oversized coat that belonged to a fae matriarch. From within the folds of fabric, a glowing orb of memories was pulled out, beating its knowing heartbeat against her skin. She offered it to me.


I pulled my hand back, the magic of it a promise of pain. “No thank you. You best get up, walk yourself out there, and give it back.”


“That’ll stop them?”


“No. But it’s better than what they’ll do if you don’t.”


“What’ll they do to me?”


I glanced out the window, rising to walk from her to the glass. “Tear your soul out, but they might destroy your body first. The sluagh take souls of the dying and weak. But I’ve heard they can take them from the living as well.”


Outside their twisted forms shuddered and moved as one, a flock of harrowing birds heralding the end of times. Sounds of hellish exultation came from their teethed beaks, skin hanging from their skin and swaying in the breeze. Long claws scratched on the stones, seeking any fault they could tear apart and pull my home asunder. 


“So now what?” she asked, setting the bauble on the floor. The house reverberated with the beating of its immortal heart.

“You face the consequences of your choices.”


“But she asked me.”


“And you decided. I’m sorry a cruel creature held you in her web, and I’m sorry you will suffer for all the cruelty she is. The only way out is through.”


Tears slid down her cheeks. I sighed, watching her quake. With a grim sense of knowing, I walked over, plucking the ball from the ground. It thudded into me, linking with my mind. A hiss escaped my lips before I slid it in my pocket and broke the bond.


“Stay inside.”


“But you just said…”


“I know what I said. I’m going to go out and negotiate on your behalf. If we’re both very lucky, they’ll take my deal and you’ll be free. I have a condition for this, though.”


She scooted from under the table, peering up at me. “What’s that?” Skepticism was in her voice. It was the sound of someone who had been taken advantage of too often and was used to bad deals.


“When this is over, you walk away from the fae and you never return. You break any deals, you sever contact, you never ever look back. Change your name, forget your family… whatever you need to do to ensure you cannot be found.”


Her eyes looked into mine, the sudden depth of her understanding deepening until nothing but a haunting sorrow remained. With one sharp inhale, she nodded. “I understand.”


“Good,” I murmured, pulling the key from my pocket. “Lock the door behind me.”


The woman stood and the world outside erupted. The walls barely held as they frenzied, swooping against the windows but never daring to break them. Their shrieks nearly brought me to my knees, but I knew I needed to stand tall and show this woman she could endure. My jaw tightened, the prospect of death gnashing its teeth against my door bringing a dour peace to my heart.


I gave her a nod and then pulled the door, unlatching it. The world outside held perfectly still, their inane minds thinking they could surprise me if they just didn’t move, grey bodies blending into the night sky. I closed the door behind me with a loud thud, letting them know I was here.


“I see you up there,” I said, loud enough they perhaps wouldn’t hear the door locking behind me. From the window she looked at me, curiosity getting the best of her.


Above me, the sky stirred. There were dozens of them clambering atop my house, clawed hands clinging to every nook they could find. Long nailed feet clambered and slipped, finding grip and falling against as they all slowly crawled towards where I stood, looking down at me with hollowed eyes. 


I pulled the orb from my pocket. “She’s sorry. She presents this as penance and claims asylum with me. I…” I paused, sighing. “I will stand in her sted.”


A clacking chuckle passed through all of the creatures, bony jaws slack and knocking awkwardly together in their laughter. Bones rattled, a weird thunder in the inky sky. One slid down the side of my house, nails gouging the rock until it hung off of the edge of a window. The empty eyes settled on me, wings twitching in known anticipation.


Another alighted behind me, dropping to the earth with a frightening thud. I turned, staring at it. In the darkness, it rose slowly, hulking form a mixture of hanging skin, exposed bones, and immense size. The grey skin, long necrotic and yet not fully dead, hung from the bones below. Within, it was hollow, yet even in the empty eyes, I could see its hunger.


I held my ground even as I felt fear crawl within and expand outward, chilling my veins. “Do you accept?”


Something flew through the air and landed beside me. The air was filled with them, their bodies blotting out the moon before they fell to the earth, landing around me until I was surrounded. I sucked in a deep breath and then held out my empty hands. “Shall we begin?”


One tilted its head before I felt an oddly light and yet incredibly powerful being slam into me. Its claws raked down my back, yet didn’t touch the flesh. An ice cold pain shot through me. My soul cried, speaking through my lips. The claws scratched its surface, distorting it with the simplest of touches.


The creature crawled off of me, leaving me on the ground in a small ball of existential pain. My physical body was fine, yet within me, I felt that things were wrong. I gasped a breath, eyes opening. My hand was clutching my chest and though my heart felt like it was pounding, I knew it was a soft steady beat.


I breathed into the pain. It was oddly comforting and familiar. Another claw played along my thigh, shredding a piece of my humanity as I cried out, animalistic. The claws came faster, each taking a shattered piece of my inward being. With each swipe and scratch, each caress, the creatures pulled my humanity from me.


My body shifted, kneeling before them as they swarmed above, diving to steal bits of my soul. Teeth touched my shoulder, biting into the energy I had and missing the flesh entirely. Clawed wings wrapped around me, pulling and tugging on the being within. Each splitting moment of tearing brought a cascade of pain, stinging my spirit more than my flesh. The tug pulled within me, rhythmical and steady.


Tears slid down my cheeks, my breath came in great gasps when I was lifted, pulled from the earth to the air above. My cries became louder, each one losing its human tone with every part of me that had been torn. Each piece sent ephemeral pain, drawing me closer to some edge I had never known before.


They didn’t relent, pushing me closer and closer. I could see the precipice and feel it approaching. Every piece of me felt hollow, an eerie peace that was left in its stead after each sharp and searing pain that the sluagh gave me, a gift of understanding. There was serenity in the void, that precipice promised eternity.


The sounds I made weren’t quite moans or cries, but groaning whimpers of understanding. My skin vibrated, sending encompassing sensations through me. I knew I was being carried on the winds of the earth. I knew that claws and teeth and wings and skin and hollowed bones were pressed against me, passing me from one creature to the next, each taking a drink of who I had become and who I was going to be.


I knew that there would be a pause, and then the sweet sensation of being torn apart and rebuilt would begin once more. Their wild hunt carried on in the night, chasing every part of me as it ran from them and succumbed. I began to anticipate the next taste, leaning against them, wishing for their unholy reach to push inside me and pull a part of me out.


The void came ever closer until the first creature I had seen grasped, teeth closing over my throat where the sounds of delight and agony were pouring out of. I couldn’t hear myself though I knew I was making noise. My mind wandered from the physical in the sublime below, skin shaking without my notice. 


Teeth pierced flesh, pulling the last of my soul from my center with one fell swoop. The guttural sound of release filled my mouth mixing with the sound of gargling and blood. A harrowing cry ripped from the soul’s shreds and I slipped into the darkness of the precipice, tumbling down into the subversive space below where I had no more control or fear, where I trusted the rhythmical pain and fell into its beauty.


I gasped, eyes opening suddenly to the night sky above. My hand flew to my throat, touching where I knew had been torn apart only to find the skin whole. The moon sat low, touching the edge of the trees in the clearing around my home. There were no more clacking bones or haunted howls, just the quiet whimpering of a woman’s cries. 


It took me long moments to realize it was I who was crying. Bereft of what I had been and what had been taken, I curled into a ball on the ground, body trembling. I didn’t hear the creature land behind me, but I felt its leathery wing curl around me, pulling me against its sagging skin on bones, frightening face pressed against my cheek. 


I leaned into it, letting it hold me as the quiet sobs wracked my body until I quieted, still trembling, in its embrace. The dawn threatened the horizon, stirring the bony creature from our respite. Dozens of eyeless faces stared at me from the trees, faces changing and shifting as I stared at them. 


They rose in unison, bodies shedding feathers instead of skin, their cackling caws filling the morning sky. My companion joined them, flying from me in a fury of down and feathers, skin forgotten and shed. We were all of us transformed. 


Bocuk

  “Bocuk,” I murmured the name into the night. “I come to worship at your altar. To bear witness to your grace. To welcome you home this nig...