Whispers in the Water - Dark Ending -
Story by Cederwyn Whitefurr on SoFurry
Eamon sought to control the Fae, but finds out the Fae are much more cunning than he gave them credit for, the Kelpie drops her mask and ensnares him, as she has done for countless centuries, another mortal dragged into the depths of her Loch, never to be seen again.
Whispers of the Water
Dark Ending
© Cederwyn Whitefurr
4th October, 2024
All Rights Reserved.
Eamon's fingers closed around the bridle, slick with weed and slime, as his heart pounded with terror and hope. The mare stirred behind him, the rhythmic rise and fall of her breath faltering slightly. He moved faster, too fast. His hand slipped against the cold bridle, and his frantic movement rippled through the surface of the loch.
In that moment, everything changed.
A shudder ran through the mare's body, her muscles tightening. The air grew cold and still, the warmth between them vanishing in an instant as a low, guttural snort rolled from her throat. Her eyes snapped open, glowing with a predatory fire. She lifted her head slowly, her gaze locking onto him.
“What do you think you're doing... Eamon?”
The sweetness in her voice, that sultry undertone that once enticed him, was gone. Now, it was laced with venom. Eamon froze, his grip still tenuously holding the bridle. He could feel her watching, waiting, as if daring him to make a move.
A violent surge rippled through the loch, mirroring the rising tension.
“I—“ His voice was dry, his heart hammering in his chest. The ghost's voice echoed in his mind, urging him to act, to bind her before it was too late, but fear paralysed him. His mind screamed at him to run, but his body refused to obey.
The Kelpie rose to her feet, her legs trembling with the aftershocks of their unnatural union. Her form shifted in the moonlight, from the alluring Friesian mare to something far darker. Her mane dripped with fetid water, her skin rippling from the decay of the deep. Slowly, she circled him, her eyes gleaming with cruel amusement.
“You thought you could trap me? Foolish mortal...” Her rotting lips curled back, revealing sharp, jagged teeth that gleamed in the moonlight. “You were always mine. From the moment you laid eyes on me, your fate was sealed.”
Eamon's breath came in short, panicked gasps. He stumbled backward, but the Kelpie was already upon him, her hooves silent against the damp earth. In a flash, she lunged, her teeth sinking into the back of his neck. He screamed, a choking cry, as white-hot pain shot down his spine.
Her grip tightened, her powerful jaws locking around his throat. With a vicious yank, she dragged him towards the loch, his feet scraping uselessly against the ground. The bridle slipped from his fingers, sinking into the dark water as if it'd never existed.
“No! Please!” Eamon's voice cracked, his breath coming in ragged gulps as the cold loch water rushed up to meet him. He clawed at the ground, fingers digging into the mud and grass, but it was futile. The Kelpie's strength was overwhelming, her ferocity unrelenting.
The loch's icy embrace swallowed him as she dragged him beneath the surface. His vision blurred as the frigid water filled his lungs, his body thrashing against the Kelpie's iron grip. She pulled him deeper, her teeth still locked around his neck, her form shifting completely into that of the monstrous creature of legend.
Under the water, her true self revealed, her eyes glowed a sickly green, her rotting flesh hanging in strips, tendrils of weed coiling around him like serpents. His lungs burned, and his chest heaved in silent screams, as precious bubbles spiralled up towards the loch's surface. Yet no sound escaped as the icy water choked the life from him.
You will not die yet, my prey... Come the chilling thoughts of the Kelpie, as she dragged him even deeper, down into the stygian depths of the loch. You will wish for death for months, your lungs filling with water, that terrible, painful burning, unending...
Above, the surface of the loch rippled, disturbed by his frantic struggles. The moonlight shimmered on the water, casting silvered beams through the murky depths. His desperate attempts only sent more bubbles rising to the surface, his life escaping him, breath by previous breath.
His limbs grew heavy, his strength failing, but the Kelpie was tireless. She dragged him down, down into the depths, her grip unyielding, her hunger insatiable. His will to die filled him, his lungs flooded, the agony driving him into madness... yet through her magicks, did he linger. Did he suffer.
*
The ripples slowly smoothed out, the loch returning to its placid calm. The turbulent water stilled, and the moon's reflection shimmered once more on the glass-like surface. Silence fell over the loch, save for the gentle lapping of water against the shore.
*
No sign remained of Eamon's struggle, no trace of his life now lost to the depths. The Kelpie, satisfied and triumphant, sank back into the deepest part of the loch, her task complete. The loch, serene and untouched by the violence beneath, lay quiet once more, a witness to countless drownings, with no end in sight.
The silvery moon hung high in the sky, indifferent to the suffering below, casting its pale light on the still, dark waters of the loch—a graveyard for those who dared tempt the Fae...
END