SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, by ERULISSE (one L)
Mar. 2nd, 2019 09:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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b2memB2MeM Prompt, Card and Number:N42: Sad (34-Blue), Slavery (51-Darkness, Darkness), Horror crossover (103-Horror)
Format:ficlet
Genre:gen
Rating:PG
Warnings:None
Characters:The Watcher in the Water
Pairings:None
Creator’s Notes (optional):Is the Watcher in the Water an early version of what became immortalized as Cthulhu? Why not?
Summary:Even monsters get lonely.
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
It had lurked in the dark places of mountains and caves for long Ages, its name forgotten by all, even the elves. It followed the waterways, moving from den to den over millennia, searching for others of its kind, hunting and eating. The foundation of its deep despair was the final knowledge that it was the only one of its kind, abandoned by the Creator of All and doomed to live in eternal solitude.
Following another crack in the deep bones of the earth, it emerged in a deep mountain lake formed by a dam across a rushing river. It settled there, comfortable. It fed on deer approaching too close to the water’s edge for a drink, and also on fish.
After long years it started to occasionally see hairy creatures issuing from silvered doors. Hairy or not, the creatures were a tasty snack. It spit their metal coverings back onto the shore and continued to lurk in the dark depths of the lake.
One cold and gloomy day it became aware of a rhythmic sound. It rose from the water cautiously, but no weapons were raised against it. It was mystified. The drums of the dwarves ceased and an ornamented dwarf stepped forward with care.
“Oh Watcher,” he said loudly. “Hear us and join us in alliance – you guard this entrance for us, and we will bring you food. We have orcs, goblins and uruks a-plenty if you will help keep our entrance secure against our foes.”
It didn’t understand the words, but when the group offered the trussed bodies of several orcs to it as food, it was happy to feast. While the dwarves congratulated each other on their new alliance, the Watcher cared not. The affairs of the short-lived could not penetrate its solitary sorrow. It lurked, it ate, and it survived.
Still, it was no slave. When Moria was under siege, Oin wandered too closely to water’s edge. His death was written in the Book of Mazarbul: “The Watcher in the Water took Oin. We cannot get out.”
Format:ficlet
Genre:gen
Rating:PG
Warnings:None
Characters:The Watcher in the Water
Pairings:None
Creator’s Notes (optional):Is the Watcher in the Water an early version of what became immortalized as Cthulhu? Why not?
Summary:Even monsters get lonely.
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
It had lurked in the dark places of mountains and caves for long Ages, its name forgotten by all, even the elves. It followed the waterways, moving from den to den over millennia, searching for others of its kind, hunting and eating. The foundation of its deep despair was the final knowledge that it was the only one of its kind, abandoned by the Creator of All and doomed to live in eternal solitude.
Following another crack in the deep bones of the earth, it emerged in a deep mountain lake formed by a dam across a rushing river. It settled there, comfortable. It fed on deer approaching too close to the water’s edge for a drink, and also on fish.
After long years it started to occasionally see hairy creatures issuing from silvered doors. Hairy or not, the creatures were a tasty snack. It spit their metal coverings back onto the shore and continued to lurk in the dark depths of the lake.
One cold and gloomy day it became aware of a rhythmic sound. It rose from the water cautiously, but no weapons were raised against it. It was mystified. The drums of the dwarves ceased and an ornamented dwarf stepped forward with care.
“Oh Watcher,” he said loudly. “Hear us and join us in alliance – you guard this entrance for us, and we will bring you food. We have orcs, goblins and uruks a-plenty if you will help keep our entrance secure against our foes.”
It didn’t understand the words, but when the group offered the trussed bodies of several orcs to it as food, it was happy to feast. While the dwarves congratulated each other on their new alliance, the Watcher cared not. The affairs of the short-lived could not penetrate its solitary sorrow. It lurked, it ate, and it survived.
Still, it was no slave. When Moria was under siege, Oin wandered too closely to water’s edge. His death was written in the Book of Mazarbul: “The Watcher in the Water took Oin. We cannot get out.”
no subject
Date: 2019-03-03 03:12 am (UTC)I like this--excellently creepy and horrifying.