Barghest

 

Darkness swallowed the wetlands. Rain poured down from the heavens and made the world glisten in the night. The once well-traveled road sat abandoned, only months old tracks lining the muddy path towards civilization. Here and there goods sat, deserted in the quest for safety. They were the garments of travelers and nobles alike, and often not the things one would easily relinquish.

I sat on an old stump, a smattering of belongings around me. Gold weighed my pocket down. It had been easy to get payment for retrieving the plethora of lost items at the bequest of the locals. Once word had spread I would dare go down the road, they had come and sent their hopes with me. My horse snorted, ears flickering forward to listen to the night around us.

“You’ll be fine,” I said softly. She knickered and then snorted, foot thudding against the muddy earth. She hated the rain.

From the stump I arranged the lost goods, counting their memories as if they were coins. The mare’s ears perked up and she fell silent, staring into the night away from my tiny lantern’s light. Her eyes didn’t close or glance away, instead, she stared, her skin twitching as her senses picked up what humans could not.

Finally, the mare nickered and looked at me, before tossing her mane back and pointing her nose towards the road. 

“Yes. I know.”

Her foot stomped and she did it again. 

“I told you, I know,” I said with a bit of irritation. “We’re not really here for this shit.”

My hand tossed down the contraption I had been trying to fix. Whoever had dropped it hadn’t taken care with its treatment. It was impossible to fix but I knew nobles and their general cruelty whenever life offered obstacles to their pleasure. 

The mare shifted, stepping back from the lantern’s glow, ready to bolt back the way we had come. I finally stood, grabbing hold of her reigns and patting her neck. “Do not be afraid, girl. Everything and everyone is afraid of it. And so it’s lonely.”

An eerie, soul-shattering howl broke the night and echoed around the wooded road, sending chills through my bones. A shaky breath escaped me as I steeled myself against the tales of woe and despair that followed that howl. My horse shuddered beside me, skin twitching as she tried to stay with me, instinct fighting training. 

I grabbed the sorted bags from the ground and added them to her saddlebags. She stared into the night, endlessly watching down the road. I heard the beast’s panting breaths and knew she heard it far before I did. Another twitch went through her body while I pulled the reigns from her, releasing her from the tack. 

“Go. I know you want to. Head back to the village.”

She turned her head, looking at me. I patted her neck and then pushed on her face, urging her to turn around. The horse obeyed, paused, and glanced back at me. She cared for me more than any mortal did. I gave her rump a light slap and sent her trotting down the path.

I watched her go, grimace on my lips. 

A low, deep growl echoed behind me, crawling over my skin and striking fear into my core. I swallowed, contemplating turning to glance at the beast that was behind me. My instincts told me to run. 

“Hello,” I said, exhaling the tension in my body. 

Silence replied. 

I pursed my lips, turning to face whatever lurked in the night. Nothing was there. The darkness looked back at me, empty, though I knew it lied. 

The growl hissed from the woods, drawing my eyes away from the road and into the trees. I plucked the lantern from the ground and took a few steps forward. 

“Why don’t you come out so that I can see you? When’s the last time someone didn’t run from you?”

The growl stopped. I glanced between the trees, stopping a few feet short of them. Slowly I squatted down, setting the lantern on the muddy earth. Another piercing howl split the night and sent shivers down my back, raising gooseflesh on my arms. My brows furrowed at my body’s response and I shifted, showing my empty hands to the woods.

“Come here,” I beckoned, motioning with my hands for the lonesome creature to venture closer.

“I won’t hurt you. I didn’t come here to kill you.”

The night shifted in the dark, a black on a blacker black, as the thing moved through the shadows. He sniffed the air, snout short in his thick broad head. He stood as tall as a pony, broader, and body built for war. Shadows dripped off of him as the night moved in and out of his being, infusing him with all that the night was: death and discovery, mystery and magic.

His great paws padded invisibly on the earth, leaving behind no tracks with each step. I watched carefully as he approached, fiery-red eyes the color of blood that glowed with his own power. I wondered if those eyes could truly see the future or if he simply was an omen of death because of the inherent fear of all things dark in this world.

I reached a hand out but dared not come closer. The giant dog stopped, sniffed the air, and perked his floppy ears. 

“Well hello,” I said softly. “You know, from what I know of beasts like you, you howl because you are lonely. Seeking another. Pack animals that are alone are always unsettled.”

The barghest huffed, blowing air out of his lips and bowed his head, eyes the sudden likeness of any sad dog I had seen before. Yet the power of him oozed out, chilling the air that surrounded him. The rain that hit his skin sizzled and hissed before dripping through him onto the earth below. 

His head moved forward, tip of the cold wet nose nuzzling my hand. The beast paused, holding still, waiting to see how I responded to the briefest of touches. The black skin stung my hand, prickling the skin as the shadows enveloped it and crawled over the flesh. I wiggled my fingers, touching the ghostly beast in a gentle caress as the wisps flowed over and in me. 

“There,” I whispered. “There you go. Good boy.”

The barghest growled briefly before stepping closer, eyes sliding closed as he leaned into my hand. I smiled, faintly, at the sight of a creature so long without affection. My other hand rose, touching the hound’s ear and gently rubbing. Every touch and caress stung, visions of my own demise riding in my mind as the beast’s powers gently caressed mine.

I knelt, moving closer to the canine and stroking down his back and over the powerful haunches. There was no fur, only the fine wisps of shadow that he was made of. There had been so many stories–a dog, a headless man, a cat, even a rabbit–about what the creature was. Its shadowy nature made its body ever shifting, no doubt transforming him into whatever needs suited him.

Massive teeth jutted out of the mouth, poking out from behind the jowls. Terrifying claws were on each large paw, out of place on the beast’s otherwise canine appearance. They should have dug furrows into the ground below, instead, they rested atop, entirely supernatural. 

I leaned my head against the dog’s, smelling the strange soot and magically scent that hung on his skin. He turned his head, licking at my face and temples, suddenly affection as trust between us grew. 

“What is it you want, hm? What do you seek in these hills?”

My fingers wandered over him. He shifted, leaning into the touch as his licks grew more desperate. No form he could take would ever be one that spoke, though his actions bespoke the keen intelligence he had. His body communicated what his words could not, eyes watching mine to ensure that I met him in his affection. 

With one step he pushed me, forcing me to fall onto my back into the mud beneath him. I opened my mouth to his, kissing the soft flesh of his muzzle and touching the tips of his teeth. He lapped at my face, tongue rolling over mine and leaving behind a shadowy trail of saliva. The intense need of him, the hunger for a pack, pulsed through him and danced through the shadows of my mind.

I slid a hand down his belly and towards the hidden shaft. His hips rocked, immediately meeting my stroke with a sliding, thin tipped length of his species. I whimpered, want growing within me as he stepped back, pulling away from my hand to sniff at my groin, teeth pulling at the fabric that stood in his way. 

Before I could unlatch the belt he bit in, ripping the cloth and pulling it away from my skin. The thick tongue lapped at my center, shadows dancing over the glistening flesh. Rain slid over me, drenching me to the core while the beast explored every crevice of my exposed skin. Moans began to rise from me with each passing lap of his tongue.

I writhed in the mud on the ground, fingers gripping at the shadow figure only to barely be able to touch anything so insubstantial was his body. Instead, I gripped the grass and mud, holding on as the stinging pleasure rose through my body and send howls out of my mouth, mimicking his sounds from earlier that had called me to him.

He pulled back, keeping me from the moment of release. I whimpered, but moved, knowing too well what he craved as much as I did. My body twisted, turning so that I was on all fours beneath the massive canine, body waiting for his inevitable mounting. Great paws wrapped around my hips, dewclaws digging into my skin as he aligned his hips with mine.

A growling and snarling broke the rainy quiet as the beast thrust forward, the engorged length pushing into my slickness with ease. It was thin compared to other four legged beasts but pulsed with the magic of longing and vision, reaching new lengths with each stroke until he pushed against my inner wall sending chills of pleasure through my body.

Visions of all that the barghest had seen or felt moved through me as he did, thrusting in and beyond my wall, ghostly being invading all that I was with each hardening push. Within me, he throbbed and pulsed, wisps of inky darkness pushing into my skin as he rode me. Howls echoed from both of us, becoming less human and more animalistic with each stroke.

The sound of a pack filled the air, of the mated pair finding each other in the night. My hips moved, pushing back to meet the ghost’s strokes. The world around us faded away as the barghest invaded my body, its magic consuming and pulling at bits of my soul, trading it for the visions of death that was the power of his kind. 

We shuddered together, the magic rising in potency and filing me with each passing moment, one prolonged orgasm of release that infiltrated every part of both of us. The barghest howled one last harrowing note before his body tensed and shuddered, the final release filling me entirely with his essence.

I cried out, voice no longer human and entirely like the haunted creature that mounted me. The rain beat down around and through us, the barghest’s knot hardening within and keep him bound to me. Our souls caressed each other, entangled and entrenched, the howling cries fading into the darkness.