Featured Creature: The Eilium

Albert was chasing a young woman in a flowing gown.

She had been walking slowly down one of the aisles of the store where he managed the lawn and garden department.  She had smiled when she saw him and waved.  He was having an uncomfortable conversation with his boss about why the ducks from the live duck display kept escaping and wandering about the store.  His boss held a duck under one arm and was quickly turning a bright shade of magenta.

After seeing the young woman, he wandered away and his boss faded into the background like a muted watercolor.  He followed the young woman into the body of the store, past automotive, past the toy department.  She was walking along leisurely and turned a corner where Albert couldn't see.  That's when he'd begun running.

Albert almost caught the young woman several times, but she always giggled and turned another corner before he could grab hold of her arm.  Soon he felt he'd lost track of her completely, until he began finding pieces of her gown strewn about the isles.  He'd picked up the first piece gently as if he'd were touching the petal of a delicate flower.  He followed the trail collecting the torn pieces of gown as he went.

The laminate floor gave way to a forest floor.  He looked up to find a piece of her gown hanging on the needled limb of a nearby pine.  In the darkness he could hear her laughing once more.  The forest was filled with pale moonlight.  He wandered further into the woods.

The trees became more and more sparse as he walked, until they were gone completely and he was standing atop the tallest of a series of rolling grassy hills.  The strong winds there buffeted him and yanked several shreds of the woman's gown free of his hands.  They drifted across the hills like ghosts.  He continued walking, even though he'd lost all site of the woman and did not hear her laughter any longer.

The full moon shown brightly, so much so that Albert was forced to cover his eyes.  As he walked, the light took on a blue cast and the terrain became increasingly rocky.  Strangely he found it easy to manage.  He let go of the strips of white cloth he carried one or two at a time, enjoying the way they danced on the harsh wind.  As the last one was claimed by the sky, he wondered why he'd been carrying them at all.

Soon he could hear a distant noise.  At first he thought the it was merely crickets, but the rocky landscape around him could not sustain such life.  It was a desolate hard place.  Still, the noise.  He altered his direction to follow it until it grew louder.  The sound took on a tinny quality, as if someone were wiping or scratching glass.  The cadence of it had begun to rise and fall.

The rocky landscape was broken up by a dark crystalline substance.  Small patches of it appeared as he traveled.  Soon the entire landscape was subsumed by the shining dark substance.  It was the source of the sound.  Each step he took caused the crystal to make the melodic echoing.  He absently thought "twinkle toes" and chuckled, continuing across the landscape of glass.

The light from the blue moon had grown even brighter than before.  Albert could no longer look directly at it.  It was as bright as the sun.  He had grown worried.  His exposed skin was tingling slightly in the harsh light and his lips were very dry.  He stumbled onward regardless.  His sporadic steps were echoed in the sounds of the singing glass.

The rolling hills had flattened into a plain that stretched all around him as far as he could see.   Suddenly, Albert felt as if he were being watched.  He whipped around, searching the horizon, but could find no movement other than his own.  still he felt eyes upon him.  He felt it strongest in the area he had just walked from.  He stopped moving and held as still as he could in the wind.  The singing of the glass faded into echo.  He huddled in the silence for a long time on the crystalline plain, staring up into the vast dark sky.  The wind elicited a faint hum from the crystalline earth.

There were stars, but they seemed muted by the strength of the moon.  He realized then that it was not the moon at all, but that sun had turned blue.  With sinking dreadful understanding, Albert realized that he was very far from home.  This only amplified his fear as the persistent feeling of surveillance came at him once more.  It rushed over him like the wind, leaving him feeling directionless and bruised.

Albert could see in the distance that the landscape had changed slightly.  The plain was not as flat and what appeared to be several structures protruded from the horizontal expanse.  He stood tentatively and moved towards the structures, the ground echoing his steps with muted chiming.  He felt observation once more, but the thought of shelter pushed him past the sinking fear.

As he approached the structures, he realized that another sound had appeared beneath the chiming of the jeweled landscape.  There was a deep pulsing hum that oscillated slowly from beneath him.  It grew louder as he drew closer to the structures.  He felt the pulse in his bowels and deep down inside his legs.  His testicles throbbed with the hum as well and he found himself getting an erection as he walked.

At last he arrived within clear sight of the structures.  They were also constructed of the same gemstone material as the landscape.  In fact, they seemed to have been grown from the land itself.  Albert quickened his pace.  His erection had not subsided, but had grown more intense.  He began having difficulty walking and had to slow again to avoid the deep ache growing in his loins.  He saw movement beneath one of the structures.  A figure was standing beneath a large wave of crystal.  As he advanced toward, his fear subsided.  The oscillating hum grew louder with each step.

His erection had become painful.  He almost stopped walking to relieve himself, but he felt compelled to get to the figure with equal measure.  He steps became jagged and difficult.  The chimes followed suite, but he could barely hear them anymore over the hum.  He trudged forward.

The figure beneath the crystal structure was clearly not human, but he did not care.  He was absorbed by the hum, the rhythm.  He reached for the entity and it reached out in return, it's black tentacles wrapping tightly around his hand and forearm.  The touch of the entity was electric.  It sent a shockwave of sensation through his arm and into his body.  He shook with pleasure.

With his free arm Albert tore open his pants and grabbed himself.  He fell to his knees.  He stroked himself with an insistent fervor until he finally felt release.  The pain burst free and he shook and shook as his fluids fell upon the crystal.  The tentacled hand gripped his arm tightly.

A bright light shown from within the crystalline landscape.  It enveloped both he and the entity, radiating out in larger and large circles.  He gave himself over to it.  It flared again, brighter than before.  He could see nothing.

~

Albert woke in his bed, covered in sweat.  Yellow sunlight glowed in the window.  Dawn.  His stomach ached and his bladder was full.  He rose too quickly and stumbled to the bathroom.  He leaned against the wall as he relieved his bladder, taking comfort in the familiar splashing sound.

The skin on his face felt tight and hot.  As he flushed the toilet, he saw himself in the mirror.  His face and arms were bright pink as though they were sunburned.  His forearm was blue with bruising.  There were three stripes across his forearm, thick and tapered, curling away from his hand.

{Sharpie and Uni-ball Vision Elite Pen with tones added in Adobe Photoshop}


Although I usually don't add recommended listening to the Featured Creature posts, occasionally I find music that is inspirational, compelling, and very appropriate to what I am presenting.  Enjoy.

Recommended Listening:
Halo Manash
In 4 Elements - Ritual 1
In 4 Elements - Ritual 2
from r.A.S.H.n.k.a-RA' LP / DVD