Please note, Night Terrors is for a mature audience only.Episodes may contain language, violent images, and extreme gore. Ah, welcome back, weary traveler.You return to my grove seeking tales.
But what I share tonight is not bound by earth and stone, but by the abyssal reach of the deep.A story of a young boy, a monstrous leviathan, and a ship's crew who dared to brave the realm of shadows.
leaning close, for the sea keeps her secrets well, and only the bold may glimpse them.The ocean was an unending expanse of shadow and mystery, a world where light dared not linger.
A young mermaid boy glided through the dark water, his emerald green scales shimmering faintly with each swift motion.His dark hair drifted in the current, framing his wide, storm-gray eyes that darted nervously behind him.
Every flick of his tail propelled him forward with a desperate urgency. Columns of kelp swayed like sentinels as he passed, their long fronds brushing against him like fingers trying to catch hold.
He pressed himself against the rough, barnacle-crusted side of a sunken pillar, listening intently. The silence was deceptive, interrupted only by the gentle shift of the current and the thud of his own heartbeat.
A deep, reverberating rumble coursed through the water, vibrating against the bones of his chest.The boy's eyes widened as he risked a glance over his shoulder.There, obscured by the shifting shadows, was a creature of immense size.
Amber eyes glowed like twin suns, and the monstrous silhouette was framed by sinewy arms bristling with spines.Tentacles trailed behind it like serpents moving with an eerie grace.
His pulse raced as he launched himself from his hiding spot, slicing through the water like a dart.The current shifted violently, announcing the creature's approach.
He darted through an outcropping of jagged rocks, squeezing into a tight crevice just as a dark, massive shadow swept overhead.The creature's eyes glided past, scanning the dark expanse, but missing him by a narrow margin.
A soft creak and groan echoed through the water, pulling his gaze upward.Above him loomed the hull of a great ship, its timbers blackened with age and encrusted with the sea life.
gilded letters, tarnished but still proud, spelled out its name, the Dauntless Widow.The ship's massive silhouette promised a moment of respite, or perhaps a distraction. The deck of the Dauntless Widow was alive with activity.
Sailors moved in a well-rehearsed dance, calling out orders as they tightened ropes and adjusted the sails that snapped and strained against the wind.The scent of salt and tar mingled with the musky odor of sweat and seawater.
Captain Alaric Moore, a broad-shouldered man with a weathered face, stood at the helm.His deep navy coat was trimmed with gold, and his tri-corn hat sat at a precise angle.He watched Old Tom at the prow, a knowing smile tugging at his lips.
Spinning your yawns again, Old Tom? Captain Moore called, his voice a mix of amusement and affection.Keeping traditions alive, I see.
Old Tom turned, tipping his hat, an old, wide-brimmed thing, with a faded feather stuck in its band, and the edges that had frayed from years of salt and sun.It was more than just a hat.
It was a relic of his tales, worn and weathered, like the man himself. Aye, Captain.The sea's got stories, and a man ought to know them before she decides to make him part of one," Tom said, his voice deep and gravelly.
A few younger sailors, Finn and Sam, gathered close, their faces a mixture of disbelief and reluctant curiosity. Sam, known for his sharp tongue and arrogance, smirked, rolling his eyes as Tom took a long contemplative sip from his flask.
I was about your age, Finn, Tom said, nodding at the young, wide-eyed sailor.A lad on me first voyage aboard the black gull.We thought ourselves invincible, kings of the sea.Then one night,
The wind fell silent, and a stench unlike any other filled the air.A briny metallic tang mixed with something primal.We heard a groan that seemed to come from the abyss itself, a sound that made the bravest men falter.
The young sailor's brows knitted as he listened, shivers running down his spine.Sam scoffed.All this over a bit of fish smell, Tom?Maybe the cook just burned your supper.Tom's eyes turned cold.Laugh all you can, boy.The smell wasn't fish.
It was the breath of some ancient, when the shadow came. It moved like a storm beneath the waves.We fired our cannons, hurled harpoons, but the creature didn't flinch.Its eyes, molten gold, watched us as it played its game.
One by one, it pulled us down until the gull was nuttin' with splinters and screams. I was the only one who lived, drifting on a piece of wreckage, until another ship found me barely breathing."Captain Moore's expression tightened.
He had heard the whispers of the black gull's demise, a story told in hushed tones.But before he could speak, a faint, sharp scent wafted through the air, catching him off guard.
It was the smell Old Tom had described, a scent that prickled the edge of reason, both alien and foreboding.The lookout in the crow's nest shouted, breaking the eerie silence.Shadow off the port bow!Eyes!Glowing eyes, Captain!
The captain's heart thudded.Battle stations, he roared, the deck erupting into action. The calm shattered as sailors rushed to their positions.The creak of the ship's timbers mingled with the crash of waves.
A monstrous shape broke the surface, water cascading from its dark, scaled form.Gergen's amber eyes glared down, cold and unyielding.The grotesque limbs of the Leviathan, spined and muscled, reached out like the arms of a demon.
Cannons roared, and the deck shuddered as iron balls struck the gherkin's hide, but they bounced off harmlessly, leaving only shallow, glistening dents.
Harpoons flew, embedding into the creature's thick scales, but they may as well have been needles in a giant's flesh.Gherkin swept his limbs across the deck, tearing mass from their bases and sending men tumbling into the foamy deep.
Sam's bravado dissolved into wide-eyed panic as he tried to scramble away, only to be caught mid-screen by a thick tentacle.His voice cut off abruptly as he was dragged into the creature's maw, disappearing behind rows of jagged teeth.
Blood sprayed across the deck, painting it in a crimson reminder of the crew's doom. Old Tom stood frozen, the scent he feared so much now stinging his nostrils as he met Finn's gaze one last time before being swept into the sea.
His hat, that weathered old relic, tumbled across the splintered deck, caught by the wind and sent spiraling into the dark waters. The dauntless widow groaned like a dying beast, her wood splintering and timbers cracking.
The sailor's battle cries turned to screams as the ship was wrenched into the waves, swallowed whole by the gurgon's monstrous strength.Finn clung to a jagged piece of wood, cold seawater seeping into his bones.
The ship was gone, taken along with every soul on board. A solitary object bobbed in the water nearby.Old Tom's hat, the faded feather now limp and salt-soaked.
Trembling, Finn reached out, grasping it as though it were tethered to sanity in a sea of madness.Far beneath the now calm sea, The mermaid boy pressed himself deeper into the cave's shadows.
His pulse thundered as the water darkened around him, every muscle tensed. The entrance filled with a vast shadow as Gergen's massive form blocked the light, the rumble of its approach vibrating through the rocks.
One of its arms, long and sinewy, began to curl inside, sliding along the cave's stone walls, trapping him with nowhere left to go.
The boy's eyes widened, his tail coiling together as the arm came closer, its scaled surface brushing the edges of the cave.
Just as he thought he would be grasped, the arm paused, a moment thick with silence before the creature's rough limb tapped his shoulder, and a deep gurgling erupted from Gurgon's mouth.
Relief and laughter bubbled up as the boy's tension melted away.You found me, Gergen, he said, a grin spreading across his face.I really thought you wouldn't this time.Gergen's eyes softened, the amber glow shifting to something warm.
The boy swam up to Gergen's massive head, playfully perching on its snout and looking into its large golden eyes.With a laugh, he hugged the creature's head.Took you long enough, though!
Gergen rumbled with deep affectionate gurgles, his smaller tentacles shifting in an almost wagging motion like a playful puppy. The boy leaned back, flicking his tail.All right, Gergen, this time you really won't find me.
With a final burst of joy, he pushed off and shot out of the cave, disappearing into the blue expanse as bubbles trailed behind him.Gergen's golden eyes crinkled with delight as he began to cover them with one long arm.
a playful gurgle echoing through the sea.One, two, three.And so the sea holds her secrets, and those who dance on her waves may yet be devoured by the mysteries beneath.
Remember, should you sail into the unknown, take heed of old tales and the whispers of those who never returned.Until we meet again, sweet traveler, may your own gurgons stay mercifully at bay.Sweet nightmares.
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