Noah Gaytan
Hello my name is Noah Gaytan. I'm 14 and enjoy westerns, horror, sci fi, fantasy, and more. I also enjoy drawing and animation and hope to become an animator and/or designer as well as a published author. Just for the record, my favorite food is spaghetti, my favorite game is Attack on Titan, and my favorite songs are from EPIC: The Musical.
The Hydra's Son: A DND Short Story
We are a large village, relatively speaking. Our housing is constructed using simple materials found around us and inside the forest, such as stone and wood. However, despite the simplicity of our architecture and way of living, our village is bustling with life. We have many jobs and opportunities such as fishing by the river, a large tavern, many shops, as well as a few traders from around our area setting up shop in our village.
However, it may be a long wait before our village is found by travelers as we are in the middle of nowhere and are surrounded by trees that house many monsters and formidable creatures and beasts. However, inside the village it isn't too dangerous. We have charms created hundreds of years ago that create barriers that won't let any monsters from the forest interfere and cause chaos. with our day to day lives.
I am the village blacksmith, always toiling away at my forage, completing requests for the fellow villagers and always taking care of my wife and three children. I am very busy at my job, however I somehow manage to always complete all of my work and still have enough time to enjoy myself.
During my time off I often like to hang out at the tavern with my good friends Mike, John, and Joel. We've known each other for a long time all the way back since we were but we tots. Ahh yes what peaceful times those were before all the hustle and bustle of our work where we would pretend we were brave heroes on a quest to save a dragon or what not and even as we got older and had more responsibility pushed onto us we still somehow make time to be around each other and enjoy a good drink together like when we were kids.
Afterwards, I usually get my wife some nice gifts. There is a flower cart that sells the greatest flowers in this entire region and that are sold by this kind young couple who somehow always manage to find the ones with the most exquisite colorations and aromas. After I collect the flowers I usually go collect some sweets from this kind old man who runs a pastry shop down the street from the flower cart.
This shop has been here in this village as far back as I can remember and it has always been run by the same kind man. When I get home I will give the flowers and sweets to my wife and kids before heading to my quarters to sleep, seeing as I will probably find that I have much work to do in the morning.
Late at night something aroused me from my slumber. I could not determine what could have woke me so I attempted to return to my slumber, however despite my best attempts I could not return to sleep so I decided to exit my house to clear my mind.
As I left my house I began to hear something. I could not tell what it was, only that it was noticeable yet faint like a whisper or a hum. I attempted to locate where the sound originated but to no avail so I attempted to ignore it. After some time I decided to try to return to sleep and went back inside my home however for that entire night I was unable to catch a wink of sleep. When dawn broke across the horizon I reluctantly began getting ready for today's work.
After lighting the forage I began reading the day's requests: Thomas the merchant that sells rare ores requested a new wheel for his cart as his previous one broke due to the weight of his cart. Stacy, who owned the local library wished for an improved metal shelf to help hold an increasing number of books that the library had acquired, Jack a local fisherman who has always had trouble with his boat having holes in it. “ I swear, why doesn't he just get himself a new boat? Would save me a lot of trouble.” The list went on and on, the same usual requests from the same usual people.
The hours went on and on until I had finished the last request on the list. After completing the list I headed back to my house in order to clean myself up after all of the hours of work. After I cleaned myself up I walked toward the tavern however I saw John and Joel outside of the tavern looking disappointed.
“What's the matter?” I asked. “The taverns closed for the next few weeks,” Joel informed me. “Closed, for what reason?” I inquired. “Apparently there is a large rat infestation.” John explained “we'll have to find something else to entertain ourselves with for now.” Joel told us. “How about we go fishing?” I suggested. “Sure, I'll grab my pole from my house and meet you and John down by the river.” “Never like fishing. I would never catch anything when we were younger.” “they say luck improves with age. Maybe after this time you will be able to catch something other than trash, "I joked. With that I returned home and retrieved my fishing pole and headed down to the river.
When we all met up we began to cast out. We began discussing how our lives have been and what we've been up to. John apparently has been having terrible crop growth as of late and apparently all of the trees that Joel has been trying to cut down have had their bark almost completely peeled off and the wood underneath completely rotten. “I bet it’s some sort of sick joke,” he said bitterley. “ Some dumb kids probably thought it was funny too and Joel caught many fish whereas John was not able to catch anything. As our conversation continued we eventually began discussing our youth and the adventures us three would go on. “Wasn’t some other kid with us on our adventures?” John asked. I attempted to recall if there was someone else with us however I could not recall there ever being another kid in our group. “Not as far as I remember.” I replied. “Yeah, I didn't think so," John responded.
We stayed there for a couple more hours before we each said our goodbyes and began to head home. I of course stopped by the flower and pastry shop to get my wife and kids their gifts before starting the walk home, however when I was almost home I noticed something in the corner of my eye. I looked over to my left but I didn't see anything. Confused, I tried to ignore it. “Must've seen a kid or a dog cross the street.” I thought to myself as I entered my house.
The next morning was the same as the last and the same as it has always been. The same orders by the same people who want the same problems fixed. Stacy with her shelves, Jack with his boat and so on and so forth.
The tavern was still being cleared of the infestation so I decided to head over to Joel’s place to see if there was anything we could do to entertain ourselves with. As I walked to Joel’s I heard a sound. A terrible sound, a sound of fear and terror, the sound that when you hear it sends your mind racing. It was a scream from somewhere over by the river. I began to hurry over to the sound, quickly grabbing an axe from my shop before joining a few of the nearby townspeople in investigating the cause of the scream.
When we arrived at where the sound originated we saw a woman stumbling back from something on the ground. Upon closer inspection we discovered the terrifying truth.
It was a corpse.
This sent a few of the townspeople to back away in fear and i dont blame them the thing was hideous. It looked as if it had ripped apart by something that was far more vicious than any wolf or bear could possibly do to it. Its face was almost completely devoid of skin with the only thing left of its face was a single green eye hanging by a tendon. It was practically ripped in two with its torso being almost completely ripped off its upper body with only a few strands of skin connecting the two. One of its arms was missing as well as one of its legs.
Soon, the village guards came to inspect the corpse and determined that it was an outsider that must've been eaten by wolves or bears down the river and it had washed up in our village. After that it seemed like the entirety of our village was on edge with the corpse causing quite a stir in the people.
However, the day continued to go on as usual. I still went and spent time with Joel and John, still got my wife a bunch of flowers from the nice young man who owns the flower stand. When I got home I was immediately bombarded by my two children asking about the dead man by the river. “Did you see it? What did it look like daddy?” They questioned “What morbid curiosity you have,” I told them. “Calm down, stop bothering your father about such terrible things. He probably would like to forget about it for now.” My wife scolded. “Tell you what I'll see if one of the traders has any sweets for you two how does that sound?” At this the two of them jumped up and down for joy. It was a rare occasion for them to have any sweets, seeing as for some reason our village has never had a bakery or anything of the sort not as far back as I remember.
That night while I was trying to fall into my slumber I heard a strange sound coming from outside. At first I believed it was simply just some small animal running by the bushes outside our house, however the sound continued to grow in volume until I could no longer ignore it. It continued to grow in sound but strangely it seemed to only interfere with my sleep as my wife laid peacefully in her slumber as if not hearing the strange sound that was increasing in volume.
I soon had enough and exited our house to find the source of the disturbance only to find nothing outside our house that could possibly be the origin of that infernal sound. At this point I could start to hear meaning behind it, no longer was it a simple hum but now I could understand what it was: singing it was quite singing that was somehow quiet and gentle but at the same time so deafening that it refused to let me drift off into my peaceful slumber.
I continued to attempt to find the source of the quite singing but to no avail and so resorted to brewing a cup of Kaeth and began to attempt to read in hopes that the thoughts of the words of the story inside my head would drown out that deafening, silent singing, however, it was to no avail and so i was forced to lay awake and listen to that hideous singing.
As time went on the days seemed to melt into one another with each passing day feeling like a blip as the wings of time carried on with so sign of slowing. After the first corpse was discovered slowly more and more began to appear along our river each one having the same types of mutilations if not more severe. Some had one or two limbs missing, others were about to or were already ripped in half with one of the two halves occasionally being found a few meters away. However each one of the corpses always had one thing in common: each one of them had either all or most of all their skin ripped off their face with only the occasional cadaver having some resemblance of facial features such as an eye or lips.
Theories ran rampant as most believed that there was a nearby village that was ravaged by breakers or some other creature; others believed that these corpses were cursed and would become full of life once again and attempt to destroy the village once they were revived. However I did not feel the need to be threatened by these corpses as long as my wife and child were safe. I felt that it did not concern me.
As the days went on I continued my routine of helping out our quaint small village with whatever I can do to assist them however because i had so few requests i usually found myself quite lonely in my free time as there for was usually not enough requests to keep me occupied throughout the day and so I began to teach myself how to hunt. I learned how to make a simple bow from an old book from the library and began to teach myself how to hunt. At first I started with small prey such as rabbits but soon found myself becoming an adept hunter skilfully bringing down large bucks as well as learning to hunt a few small monsters near our village's border.
The days soon began to once again meld into each other with the corpses continuing to routinely appear. Eventually the mayor of our small village declared our bravest warriors go up the river and identify where the bodies had originated from. After the few knights went out from our village our tiny village seemed almost abandoned, not that it was necessarily a place of bustling activity to begin with. We never had anything fancy or spectacular in our tiny village nor were we ever planning on expanding our borders.
As the weeks went on it felt like the corpses became just another part of our lives with no one even being bothered by them anymore. Even at night when that accursed singing would grow in sound I hardly paid much mind to it as I continued to sleep quietly. As the days continued to go on something interesting occurred in our village.
Five strange travelers appeared in our midst asking about any strange activity nearby. We told them about the strange corpses that have been appearing around the river. With that they set out to investigate up the river and once again we were alone.
That night after drinking alone in the tavern I noticed something by the edge of the woods. It seemed familiar, almost like I had seen it many times before but at the same time I had never seen it before. I tried to pay no mind to it and returned home however it would not be the last time I would see this strange thing on the edge of the forest.
Over the coming days I would continue to see it at the edge of my vision, always present, always watching. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore. I could feel myself becoming more and more paranoid with each passing day. Eventually I couldn’t take it.
I had become an adept hunter, falling for large beasts such as bears and other such monsters. Whatever this thing was, it was watching me and I was going to trap and kill it. I crafted large nets and bolas as well as the finest arrows steel could make. This creature was a threat to not just me but to my wife, my child, and the rest of my small village. So after I had completed my final task I gathered what I needed and set off into the woods looking for this creature. As I thought about it more I came to the conclusion that this thing was not only the cause of the strange corpses but as well as that infernal sound!
It all makes sense now.
I first noticed the creature only a few days before the first body appeared near our river and also the day before it appeared was when that infernal singing began infesting my mind. This was it I would slay whatever monster this was and save our small village from suffering the same fate as whatever befell those poor souls who washed up at our river.
As I continued to try and find this creature it began to turn to night and thus I made my way up a tree and tied myself to its branches. However as I attempted to rest the infernal singing began again, this time louder and louder it was no longer a song it was a cry so deafening that if I was not tied to the tree I would have surely fallen off the branch.
At this I knew that I had to kill whatever this thing was tonight or else be subjected to its terrible song until it wiped out the village.
I climbed out of the tree and continued my trek through the woods pulling back my bow at the slightest movement in the bushes all while having that terrible sound reverberate inside my head.
After many hours of searching I began to realize that I would need assistance with slaying this beast. “Perhaps those five adventures would be useful in slaying this monster.” I thought to myself as I began to turn around back to the village however by then it was far too late. Something began tugging at my leg, tightening its grip until I could not move.
At this I shun my torch at it and realized what it was: it was a hand. Connected to a long spindly arm that went into the earth.
I immediately shot one of my arrows at the arm which caused its grip to loosen allowing me to escape its grasp. I began to run faster than I have ever ran past trees, rocks, and bushes trying to make it back to the village, however I knew that I was far too slow so I rid myself of my bolas and nets which were slowing me down as well as causing me to spend my energy.
I continued to run needlessly shooting arrows into the darkness around me praying that one would find itself lodged inside the monster's chest. Then I saw the houses, the library, and the tavern. I was almost safe. However it was not to be as I felt a firm grasp on my leg and realized the terrible truth.
Whatever monster that was after me wanted me to almost escape.
It had the entire situation under control and it knew exactly when to stop playing with its food. Soon more and more arms began to grab onto my leg and I knew that I wasn't escaping.
I shot a few arrows at the arms but whenever one let go two more came out of the ground. Soon I began to hear something in the distance, it sounded large and monstrous like a dragon but it was no dragon. It sounded like it was dragging itself along the forest floor.
As it got closer the cry continued to increase in volume to the point where I thought for sure my eardrums would rupture blood was already starting to pour from my nose. At last it appeared, large as tall as the trees and as wide as a dragon. Half of its body was buried under the ground with the other half sporting at least ten heads each one had black voidless eyes and dark gaping maws with saliva slowly drooling out of them, however it was not just that, that terrified me.
Each of the faces felt vaguely familiar like I had known each of them for a long time without ever seeing them before. One was of an old man, three looked like young men around my age, there was one head that resembled a young girl as well as an old woman, another looked like a middle aged man, one was completely featureless with only pale skin, black sockets and its open maw. However the most disturbing heads were the final two as they resembled two small children.
I don't know how but somehow I knew all of these people before I assumed they were devoured by this beast. Whether they were friends, fellow towns folk, or perhaps even family it did not matter because I knew that I would be joining them. I shot a few more arrows at the beast lodging themselves within its hide; however it seemed unfazed as its arms raised me up to its featureless face.
In my last moments I wondered if anyone could slay this beast or if we were all doomed to forget one another.