Krowe

Krowe

Chapter warning(s): Human Blood/Flesh Consumption, Implications of Incest, Gore, Blood, Death, Language

 

 

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Chapter 16: Sutkah

The small town of Mosa was silent for most of the night.

A handful of men stood guard at all times in two tall watch towers. One was located in the north of the town while the other was in the south of it. Each tower consisted of about two men armed with some kind of weapon that was a scythe, sickle, or a machete.

None of these men that stood guard could even be considered skilled or seasoned warriors. They were nothing but frightened farmers wielding farming tools as weapons.

Even though these simple men were afraid beyond wit and measure, they still stood their ground. They felt obligated to protect their town and families even if it resulted in their own imminent, gruesome deaths.

To the west of the town there was a large, spacious graveyard that was fenced in as if to separate the living from the dead. There seemed to be countless rows of tombstones that ranged up to a few thousand graves. There were about twenty graves or so that had fresh, loose soil which indicated that some of the dead had been recently buried or possibly dug up.

The sad truth about the town of Mosa was that it had only been established about forty years ago or so.  It was still relatively new and barely had a past, which in turn was riddled with fear and death. 

That fact meant that death was quite common in the town of Mosa and explained why men stood guard at all times during the day and night.

In the language of the people of that town, Mosa had two meanings which meant new start and life.

Ironically enough, in the old language of the Originals, Mosa roughly translated to sacrifice.

 

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Something of immense size with huge bat-like wings flapped nosily over to the men and infant Makabre. It landed fifteen feet away from them on its long hind legs.

It looked to be at least ten feet tall in height with an impressive wing span. Said wings were attached to a long, grey skinned skeletal-like body that looked horribly emaciated. Leather-like skin was stretched tight over protruding bones that gave the creature the look of a starved thing that was on the verge of death.

It had hollow, shrunken in dark eyes that bore a strong resemblance to the eye sockets of a skull. Its grey skin stretched over its skull and face as tightly as it did to its entire body. Attached to its head was extremely scraggly grey-black hair that looked very greasy and unkempt. Its mouth was thin, yet wide with sets of sharp teeth showing. It had rows and rows of teeth that were similar to the rows of a shark, yet the teeth bore a stronger resemblance to the teeth of felines and canines. Along with the teeth, the creature had long-fingered hands and toes that had long black talons instead of nails.

A lengthy tail swayed back and forth behind the creature. On the end of the tail it looked like it fan-like spikes that appeared as if it helped the creature fly and attack prey.

The creature was humanoid enough in form with long limbs attached to a long body. It didn’t appear to have a specific gender since its chest was flat and there were no visible genitals. In some ways it looked like a dead, starved corpse of a Makabre.

In short, this grey-skinned, gaunt creature looked like it had ripped its own way out of a horror book.

“What the hell is that thing?” Annej inquired in an exasperated voice. He didn’t look too thrilled, yet he didn’t cower, either. The white-haired man stepped protectively out in front of Varka and the Makabre in an effort to shield them from the gruesome beast.

Varka wasn’t too happy with the human’s actions. He gently laid the sleeping baby down and gingerly stood up to his full height of 6’4”. He was taller and bigger than the other two men and whenever he stood up to his full height, he looked all the more imposing.

The silver-haired man came to stand directly in front of Annej like some sort of guardian angel.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” the human growled and walked around to stand beside Varka. He glared at him and crossed his arms defiantly in his way of showing the other male that he wasn’t about to budge from his spot.

“Get back, Annej. I will have nothing happen to you,” Varka commanded with narrowed crimson eyes.

The stormy-eyed man rolled his eyes and spat in annoyance, “Like hell I will.”

Krowe was highly amused by their little interaction in spite of the hissing thing that was starting to stomp over to them in careful, level, yet bold steps.

The taller man didn’t say anything more. He merely grasped Annej by his upper arm and forced him back a few feet like an overprotective father would to his disobedient child.

Annej growled again and once again stepped to stand beside the Original.

“Don’t try me, Annej,” the silver-haired man warned as he pushed the human back once more.

“I’m not a child. Stop treating me like one,” griped the obviously peeved man who stepped forward once again, his fists balled at his sides.

“You’re acting like one right now. I can’t protect you if you leap in the way of danger,” argued the silver-haired man. Even though his face looked angry and cold, there was a hint of concern in his monotonous-sounding voice if someone knew enough to listen for it.

Annej opened his mouth to say something more, but he was interrupted by the Reborn.

 “As hot as this is to hear you both bickering and shoving around like women, I’m going to need you both to shut up. We have more pressing matters at hand,” snapped Krowe in his best firm and commanding voice in spite of part of him being humored by them. There were times when he had to take the initiative, and this was clearly one of those times. The dark-haired man wasn’t the bossy type or even someone that liked to be in control of anything; however, there were times he had to take charge especially when everyone else failed to do so.

The Original didn’t say anything to that, but it was obvious from the almost subtle clench of his jaw that he was itching to speak his mind. He was no idiot and knew that whatever that thing was that there really was no time to fight amongst themselves. The red-eyed man didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t like the look of it and knew that if something had canines and claws that it was not friendly.

The young man with the tanned skin blushed bright crimson in the face due to the fact that he was embarrassed. He stared at the ground and muttered a quiet “sorry.”

It was then at that moment that the baby Makabre woke up from his slumber. He sat up on his haunches and blinked slowly. Something ominous hung in the air like a putrid stench and he didn’t like it at all. The infant was immediately alert as he flapped his wings and chirped in what sounded like distress.

The other creature stiffened and hissed again. It wasn’t looking at Krowe. Or Varka. Or even Annej.

It was looking directly at the baby Makabre.

 

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At precisely the same moment, in the town of Mosa, terrified and agonized screams ripped throughout the air like lightning and thunder.

The strong scent of blood, burnt flesh and wood hung heavily in the air like the worse smelling incense. The combination of all those smells was truly horrid and vomit inducing.

Many houses were burnt down already while others were in the process of being eaten away by the hungry flames of the consuming fire. Smoke billowed up into the dark sky which easily blended and disappeared as if the sky inhaled it.

Several humans screamed in terror while they ran away from the source of their fear. Some of them tripped over charred and massacred bodies. Some just tripped and fell because they were so afraid.

Some of the men were armed with their farming tools and were attempting to bring down the source of all the destruction of chaos.

It was just one person.

The figure was about 5’10” in total height. It looked human enough. The person was very skinny and wore a two-piece outfit that consisted of a tank top and pants. No shoes. The tank top only went down to just above the person’s navel. The top clung tightly around two small breasts and revealed a taut, muscled abdomen. The pants were tight as well and disturbingly enough revealed a noticeable bulge in the front.

Whatever it was, this person was no man or woman.

It was both male and female, yet mentally the he-she favored the male side more than the female side. Even though this odd creature had both sexual organs, the hermaphrodite’s testosterone level was stronger than the estrogen level. It was obvious that the he-she’s masculine side was more dominant and he preferred to refer to himself as male rather than female or even both. In spite of the obvious female parts, the hermaphrodite had more of a masculine, lean body with sharper angles like a man.

He had very stark skin that seemed to accentuate the dark circles that were over and under his wide, maniac-looking pale green eyes. Thin lips spread wide in a fanatical grin that exposed fanged teeth that revealed this was by no means a human.

 His hair was dark, uneven, and wild. The hair seemed to be just as chaotic as the person’s persona was. Tufts of black hair stuck out here and there as if he had been electrocuted. The hair haphazardly flowed down over thin shoulders and down his back. The total length reached down to the he-she’s mid back in uneven layers.

Blood was splattered all over the hermaphrodite’s face and body in such a way that implied that he was the one on the killing spree. The dark-haired he-she brought his clawed, blood-soaked hand to his mouth and licked some of the blood away in perverted pleasure.

“What the hell are you?!” Demanded one of the enraged farmers that held a pitch fork. He was freaked out by what he saw before him, but more than that, he was angry. The thing had murdered his wife and son.

The dark-haired freak paused his licking for a moment to mumble in a neutral, low voice that sounded neither male nor female, “Sutkah.”

One of the other men further questioned, “What the hell is a Sutkah?”

“Name,” the hermaphrodite grunted as the he continued to lick away the blood from his filthy hands.

“We didn’t ask you what your damn name is! What the hell are you and why are you doing this?” Shouted the first farmer who had lost his family to the crazy thing.

Sutkah stopped licking his hands and tilted his head to the side and answered lewdly, “I am a hermaphrodite. I have both a penis and a vagina. You want to taste some?”

The men that surrounded Sutkah with their raised weapons grimaced in mutual feelings of revulsion. It speaking gave them some small hope that maybe it could be killed. Adrenaline rushing and blood pumping furiously, each man jumped forth to hack away at the hermaphrodite monster.

“This is for my family, you bitch!” The first farmer bellowed and then took his pitchfork and attempted to stab the vile creature in the chest.

Sutkah screeched his banshee/harpy-like shriek and held his arms out with fingers spread apart. There was nothing angry or fearful about the scream. It sounded more insane and delighted than anything else.

It happened faster than any of the humans could see.

The hermaphrodite disappeared and seemingly quicker in the blink of the eye, Sutkah had lopped off each of their heads with his bare hands.

Blood spurted everywhere in indiscriminate directions as Sutkah stood there being bathed in the glorious blood. He opened her mouth so that some of the hurtling blood would land in it. Purring in depraved delight, the hermaphrodite enjoyed the taste for a few moments.

A yelp shook Sutkah out of his reverie. The hermaphrodite spotted a girl of about twelve or thirteen paralyzed in fear.

Smiling his toothy, crazy grin, Sutkah appeared before the girl. The he-she grabbed the girl by the hair and rudely yanked her over. Sutkah savored the girl’s agonized screaming as he brutally tore into her neck while Sutkah shoved one of his hands into the girl’s chest, ripping away skin, flesh, and breaking bone to get to the heart. Blood splashed all over Sutkah as the mad hermaphrodite devoured copious amounts of both the flesh and blood of the dying and crying weak human girl.

Sutkah closed his hand around the human’s weakly pumping heart and squeezed it gently before the he-she ferociously tore it out. The hermaphrodite let the freshly dead human fall down to the ground as he bit into the heart, swallowing blood along with chunks of flesh.

The half-eaten heart was tossed down on the ground forgotten as the monstrous being dashed forward to kill more of the fleeing humans.

Sutkah screeched his insane, war-like cry into the air as the hermaphrodite continued to destroy the town of Mosa.

 

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A little human girl that was about eight years old of age darted quickly through the woods as she fled the town of Mosa. She could hear the screams of the monster and of her town, but that didn’t stop her.  She pumped her small legs as hard and as fast as she could go. The dark trees and the glittering snow were nothing more than a blur to her as she ran.

The girl did exactly what her mother had told her to do.

 She ran.

The girl sprinted as fast as she possibly could.

Away from the madness and away from the terror. But no matter how far away she got from Mosa, it never felt far away enough.

It didn’t feel like she could escape it.

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Nexis stood by himself in a dark room lined with numerous book shelves. Most of the books were sheeted in dust and hadn’t been touched in many years.

He walked over and skimmed the spines of the books with the tips of his fingers. He was fond of most of these books and knew every single word in every single book. He could quote any line, any passage, and any page at will.

“Well, hello, little brother,” spoke an unwelcome, yet not unexpected voice.

The white-haired priest didn’t turn around to face the person who had entered the room. He felt utter repulsion fill his being at the sound of that voice. The scent of the person slithered into his nostrils like a snake and he cringed. “You are not welcome here. You know that better than anyone else. If you want the girl then all you have to do is send one of your so-called men to fetch her.”

Valeficent strode over to him, but did not dare touch him even though she was sorely tempted to drag her red painted nails across his back. She sniffed him as she passed him and the ends of her lips curled into what could be described as a sick and twisted smile.

As soon as the female Original was facing him, she stopped and said, “Seffera is not here. She scampered away to go find that silly little slut boy of yours.”

“Hold your snaked tongue, woman. If you speak of Varka in such a vile way as that again, I will rip your tongue out and feed it to the Kerberos. They do so enjoy eating the wicked, forked tongues of wretched women,” Nexis hissed as he glared at her with his own narrowed, ice blue eyes. Before she could utter a word, he added slyly, “Besides, if any of my children are sluts, it would be Seffera. Unlike her, Varka has only had one lover in his entire life.”

The dark-haired woman continued to adorn her malevolent, shit-eating smile. In truth, she was mostly unfazed by his words, yet somewhere inside her being she felt deep-rooted anger and hatred. She would not dare show it in front of him or anyone else. Instead, she just smiled her trademark lipsticked smile.

“What in the name of the one god are you smiling about, woman?” Nexis asked impatiently. It sickened him to no end to look at her, but he knew it wasn’t wise to take his eyes off of the despicable female vampire for any amount of time.

“I can smell him on you,” Valeficent jeered as she reached out to touch one of the books. She dragged her fingernails along the spine in such a way that was neither gentle nor rough. It was clear that if she pressed any harder she would damage the tome.

The white-haired Original knew exactly what she meant, but he ignored it. He would not fall prey to her baiting. He knew the wench too well. The pale-eyed man drove straight to the point by asking, “If you are not here for Seffera, why are you here then?”

“It’s about time that the two of you finally fucked. Really, I was growing dreadfully impatient and sick of you and Najja’s game of cat and mouse. All that denial and pent up sexual energy was grating on my nerves. It was amusing at first and had its moments, but it soon became tiresome. I’ll say that…it only took you…oh, I don’t know…a few thousand years to give into your base desires? I wonder what that precious boy of yours would say if he only knew what his beloved daddy had been doing with his uncle? I’m sure he would be crushed. Betrayed.  You’ve betrayed your prized son, Nexis. Will you continue this little affair and tell Varka? Or will you end it and lie to him? Or perhaps you will not end it and lie to the boy anyway just so you won’t have to see him cry? I am so very curious about what is going on in your mind right now. Varka or Najja? Which one will you choose? Both? How greedy of you, but how fitting. Whatever are you to do now? ,” Valeficent monologued sweetly as if she were talking to herself.

“Valeficent, quit fucking the bloody bush and just tell me what it is you came here for. I know you enough to know that you didn’t come all this way to taunt me.”

The inky black-haired woman smiled at her brother in what could only be described as a truly and utterly malicious smile.  She loved it how he always started to curse whenever he lost his patience. She then crooned, “Aw, you finally said my name. How sweet.”

“Valeficent, I am warning you…” Nexis growled and was tempted to run his hand through her face. He would have smiled at that thought if he had been alone and not faced with his bitch of a sister.

“You really want to know?”

“Yes. Just tell me, dammit.”

Valeficent stared her younger brother in the eyes as she replied in a cruelly bittersweet voice, “Varka is going to die soon…and so is Annej.”

 

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