1. In_Darkness_Dwells


    Date: 3/11/2024, Categories: Fiction Horror, Non-Erotic, Author: Sage_of_the_Forlorn_Path

    ... Everyone here knows what we're doing. Anyway, there is something the two of you should know." He pulled them aside, out of earshot of everyone attending the funeral. "I went back to the church and looked around all the other places this monster has been. The tracks he left behind last night aren't like what he left behind the night before. They were larger, farther apart, and it looked like he was dragging something with him, like a big sack."
    
    Volker sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Danut, no, Rathodor must be undergoing some kind of growth cycle. He was barely human the last time we saw him, and with all the brains he's eaten, God knows what he looks like now."
    
    Sorine seemed less perturbed. "This doesn't change anything. We're going to kill him and end this madness." Her voice was full of bloodlust, causing Sam and Volker to exchange glances.
    
    That night, everyone prepared for battle once more. The corral was ready, with an open-ended pen leading straight to the buried soldiers in the town center. This time, no fires were burning, and everyone lay in hiding. The whole place was quiet as a grave. They could hear Danut working his way around their position, searching the village for graves. He was certainly taking his sweet time, but eventually, they heard movement beyond the perimeter. All the men with their weapons tensed, waiting for their foe to reveal himself.
    
    Then, when the clouds parted and the moonlight bathed the town, the demon arrived, to everyone's ...
    ... horror. What was a twisted human two nights ago had grown into a hulking monstrosity. It stood a solid ten feet tall with a body like an obese gorilla. Its disproportionately small legs supported its huge bloated body, and its arms had transformed, becoming two massive tusks, like tree trunks sharpened into points, with its forearms branching off. A mat of gnarled spikes grew out of its upper back, resembling branches. Its head was still vaguely humanoid, and the four segments quivered as it growled.
    
    The unholy behemoth entered the pen, with all those watching unable to believe their eyes. They weren't supposed to attack until given the signal, but it wasn't discipline and patience keeping them still. They were too terrified to move. Rathodor reached the buried soldiers, dug one of its arm spikes into the soft soil, and then pulled out a skewered corpse. Its ribcage split open like its skull, becoming a second mouth full of jagged teeth, and it stuffed the corpse into its fat gullet.
    
    "You’re going to need a bigger cage," Sam whispered beside Volker.
    
    Sam now understood how the monster had carried away so many bodies and why he left those marks on the ground. It had loaded its stomach with corpses until it dragged through the soil. Everyone was gripped by fear, but it was now or never.
    
    "Now!" Sam shouted.
    
    At that moment, torches lit around the pen, and everyone with a gun opened fire. Buckshot, dear slugs, and rifle rounds riddled the monster's body, drawing a howl of ...
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