Tarasque

 

The water moved swiftly, pulling the odd boat with its current and tugging on the weeds below the surface. Sunlight glittered on the flowing surface, giving a sense of peace to the river. Though once it had been a thoroughfare from town to town, it now sat silent. A solid mud trail led from the nearest village towards the water. It stopped far away, far enough that whatever they feared was in the water couldn’t reach them.

A broken boat sat on the bank. Its wooden planks had been shattered by something with fierce teeth and jaws. There were no remains of whoever had owned the boat. I approached slowly, walking through the morning mist. The footprints I followed went towards the boat and river then vanished, somehow likely lost to the steep water. 

I approached the shore, squatting down to look at the muddy prints. My fingertips brushed the edge to check how dry they were. They were still wet meaning their owner hadn’t been here too long ago. My head tilted as I turned my eyes to the boat, standing to walk around it and flip it over so it was right side up.

Great claw and teeth marks were in what intact wood remained. There was no blood, but the small fishing boat had clearly been destroyed. My eyes glanced at the running water, bubbles coming to the surface now and then in mocking mystery of what lied within the depths. I sighed and glanced around, knowing the water held the truth.

Despite knowing I needed to enter the water, I tarried, leaning against the side of the boat while watching the surface. A large bubble rose up, bigger than anything that would come out of a human’s mouth and popped on the surface. I pulled a piece of wood from the shattered remains of the boat and tossed it into the water.

It floated where the bubble had been for a brief moment before the water erupted in a flurry of motion. Teeth gnashed the wood, splintering it into a thousand pieces as a mighty creature rose to the surface, twice the length of a horse and with a great shell that covered its back. Long jagged teeth glinted in the sunlight, claws dug into the shore, and frightening red eyes turned towards me set in a large draconic and feline head.

“Easy,” I said softly, raising my hands to show they were empty. 

The beast thrashed its tail and many legs, stirring the water and sending mud flying. Its teeth gnashed against the wood, small splinters falling onto the water only to disappear downriver as they floated away. It hoisted its body towards the edge of the river closer to me, feet digging into the mud to pull its frame upward. 

I couldn’t step back. The broken boat pressed against my calves, as immovable as a wall despite its shattered size. Water slid down the monster’s carapace in a cascading effect as it rose fully out of the water, all eight legs scrambling to pull itself onto the shore. Its long neck moved the head forward until it lowered down to glare at me, a long serpentine tongue flicking out to taste the air.

My eyes stared into the monster’s, noting the massive girth of the creature. It seemed frenzied, and its head struck out towards me. I barely had time to slip out of the way, sliding to the ground in the mud to duck beneath the head. It grabbed onto the old boat and pulled it upward, breaking the rest of the pieces as though it were paper easy to tear.

I rolled and looked up at it, mud streaking my pants and cloak. “I’m not going to hurt you!” I called, staying low to try to show I wasn’t there to harm it.

It tilted its head, pausing at the sound of my voice. As soon as I stopped speaking, the beast crawled forward again, closing the gap between us. 

“You’re alright. You’re safe,” I murmured, pulling myself to my knees. “Nothing here will harm you.”

Each time I spoke, it paused, stopping so that the water quieted and it could properly hear my voice. Once I stopped, it regained its rage and began to walk closer. 

I took in a shaky breath. “I’ll sing you a song then, master of the river. Would you like that? I’m no great singer but I think it would calm your anger to hear someone sing for you. You must be lonely, here, by yourself… these villagers daring to find ways to harm you and terrorize you.”

With each word the beast stilled and calmed, tail slowly lashing back and forth in the water until it was a soft and gentle movement. I stood, humming softly an old tune I had not thought of for a time. The words whispered past my lips, soft and nearly quiet, forcing the creature to hold still to be able to hear me over the sound of its own splashing in the stream. 

“Captain Jack was a young man when he went to sea

All the young ladies go and kiss him goodbye

He was barely a child of twenty and three

Oh, tell him, young ladies, go and tell him for me

He can marry the mermaid that lives in the sea.”

My hands touched the wide snout of the beast as I sang. The giant red eyes watched me, its body trembling with eagerness I had not noticed. The claws dug into the earth and it heaved itself forward, pushing its head against my stomach and knocking me to the ground while cuddling into my skin. A long tongue lapped at my face and neck, tasting my lips and flesh while I continued the song, refusing to end it for fear the beast’s anger would return.

One great paw of many rose, pressing into the mud beside me and creating a thick soupy ground. The tongue flicked over my clothes and retreated, offended by the strange material that tasted nothing like what my face had. Teeth sunk into the fabric and it pulled, a foot pushing down on me so that the clothing tore, biting into my skin.

Its weight pushed me into the mud, coating me in the thick brown filth. I turned, rolling so that I faced down, ready to be able to push up and run if I needed to. My singing paused as I turned, catching my breath. The claws bit into the skin of my thigh, holding me down as the trembling returned and a low growl echoed behind me. 

“Now I love Captain Jack and his bride I would be

All the young ladies go and kiss him goodbye

We were soon to be wedded, my Jacky and me.

Oh, tell him, young ladies, go and tell him for me

He can marry the mermaid that lives in the sea.”

Each lyrical utterance from my lips brought a growling murmuring from the creature that clambered atop me, body pressing me down into the earth beneath it. It shuddered, rubbing against me with a bulging thick length that pressed against my backside and slid upwards. The claws of all eight legs dug deep into the earth as it cried out, a strange gurgling hissing noise that spoke of excitement and sudden eagerness.

I lifted up, climbing onto my hands and knees, only slipping sometimes as the beast shuddered around me. Its massive length pressed against my opening, a hardened bit of flesh that would penetrate too far if it didn’t remain under the spell of my song. I sang louder, raising my voice to match the discordant growling sounds escaping the beast.

The giant body swung back and then pushed forward again, the wide tip of its length sliding over my bare skin and getting smeared with mud. I turned to glance behind me, seeing the gaping mouth of the wide appendage that crawled of its own accord, sliding down my backside to the flesh between my thighs.

A new gurgling noise erupted as the mouth of its length opened and closed again, pushing the thick opening against my flesh and contracting so it slid inwards. Even contracted, it was large and invasive. Rather than thrusting forward, the length slowly crawled inward, expanding and shrinking as it explored within me.

My song faltered for a moment as a strange moan escaped me, a mixture of the unfamiliar and deep pleasure as it pushed further within. The silence of my throat brought a quiet to the beast who waited a moment before slamming forward, grinding me into the mud and pushing itself as far in as it could reach. 

I cried out, my scream half pleasure and pain, as it thrust upward and filled me beyond my capacity, causing my stomach and pelvis to bulge outward with each penetrative plunge. My moans didn’t calm the creature. I tried to remember the song, lost in the throws of the creature’s lust as it rode atop me, driving me deeper and deeper into the mud with each powerful ram.

Its gurgling cries began again, vicious and hungry as it balanced on the edge of the river and claimed my body. I began to sing again, voice shaken and husky with lust. Each word brought the creature to heightened pleasure, a quivering tremble in its body betraying its enjoyment. 

“But his ship it had need of a captain one day

All the young ladies go and kiss him goodbye

He took charge of the rigging and soon sailed away.

Oh, tell him, young ladies, go and tell him for me

He can marry the mermaid that lives in the sea.

When three years had passed and his ship had returned

All the young ladies go and kiss him goodbye

I went down to the sea for the man I had earned.

Oh, tell him, young ladies, go and tell him for me

He can marry the mermaid that lives in the sea.”

The song carried out over the river and through the creature’s mind. As my song continued, its rhythm picked up to match the merry beat of the song. We grunted and groaned between lyrics, my body shuddering from the size of its hammering length. The song grew higher pitched, mingling with the sounds of my pleasure as the creature drove itself harder, until I was in a mud hole, covered in thick black muck, from the power of its strokes.

Its body shuddered and quivered as I finished the verse and I felt it twitch and spasm within. Thick ropey release spilled into me, coating my insides with its seed. It held still, pinning me there as it slowly released all it had been carrying until it began to ooze out of me and combine with the muck I was laying in.

Then just as suddenly as it erupted from the water, the tarasque slid away and out of me, returning to the wet environment that it lived in. I laid in the groove in the puddle of its release and mud, panting as the song finished in the air.

“But my Jack was not there when I went to see

All the young ladies go and kiss him goodbye

And this is the tale the crew told to me.”