It's taken me forever to post this second part, and i'm not sure why. Just had some trouble sitting down and finishing the last little bit, i suppose. Still, i like the potential, and have a lot of ideas for this setting. It's very possible that more work will come forward in this setting. I hope i shall find interested readers when that time comes.
Here is part one
http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?t=190352&highlight=CTicalhu:+tickler+darkness
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“After the “Punishment” of the rest of our group, we quickly got to packing, though the four who had suffered were allowed to sleep in our tents. After all, they were quiet exhausted. However, I didn’t want to stay a moment longer and risk a return of our previous guests, fearing that we might break another of their strange laws and suffer unduly hardships again. As you can imagine, we did little traveling that day, and our guides made extra sure we were not in any places we oughtn’t be come nightfall.”
“Finally, after several more days of travel, we came to where we suspected were the coordinates on the map. Of course, it was only a rough location. We still had a good deal of exploring ahead of us in the area, but the point was, we believed we had found the area we needed to explore. I admit, as we had traveled those wastes, I found myself having trouble believing we would find anything at all. But the sheer exuberance those young people showed when we arrived…well, it rekindled a considerable amount of optimism in me, I must admit.”
“And so, we began our search. It was a long, painstakingly difficult task, but one that was enjoyed. The excitement of what we might have found drove us on. For days, we used various tools of science. High level metal detectors, examination of sand formations, and deep digging. Sadly, nothing we did produced any real results. We had time though, so we continued on. Our luck, it seemed, was about to change, though what we thought was for the better would turn out to be for the worse.”
“We left the diggers to continue in a particular area, while my wife, Vanessa, Jim, Walter, and Janice took our detector out to explore the more southern area. We explained to the diggers we’d be back in several hours.”
“Our exploration started simple enough, just like any other. But then, after about an hour, a sudden sand storm hit us. I don’t know where it came from, but I have my suspicions, and they make my spine shiver. What I do know is that it fell upon us like a lion falling upon an sleeping gazelle. We had no place to take shelter, our tents a mile away at least. We huddled together, forming a human circle, cutting away as best we could the wind that robbed us of our sight and the very air we breathed.”
“I’m not sure how long the wind ripped at us, but suddenly I heard Vanessa cry out. I dared raise my head to see what she was going on about, and following the way her head was turned, saw just that. “Look! A door!”, she cried, and indeed she was right. It seemed the wind pushed away enough sand to reveal what looked like, through the whipping sand, to be a small doorway. Our small group quickly headed for this port in the storm.”
“Once we were all inside, I suggested that we remain there until the storm was over. Vanessa, as you can imagine, wanted to explore. As far as she was concerned, there was no question that this was the entrance to the tomb she had been searching for. She wanted to start looking about us right away. I tried to dissuade her, but to every problem I proposed, she had an answer. How will we see? She had a flashlight. What if we get lost? She had lipstick she could use to mark our way. Indeed, she was determined, as were the others. I suppose I should have been wise enough to not go, but truth be told, I was almost as eager to explore as she was. It was the find of a lifetime, no doubt about it. So, finally we all began to descend into the darkness, a single flashlight.”
“I can’t explain what it was like to be in that ancient tomb. There aren’t the words. I will say that I was both exhilarated and terrified at the same time. Exhilarated because it was the find of a lifetime, and terrified because of the many paintings on the wall. It was queer, I thought, that despite the fact Pagme was a Mongolian, her tomb looked much more like that of an Egyptian. And on those walls, were the strangest of pictures. It seemed like dozens of men and women were depicted, and then there would be monsters. Monsters of all shapes and sizes, and they would be seizing these men and women in their many arms, and seeming to be tickling them. Monsters were not the only ticklers though, as men and women were also depicted as tormentors to their own kind. Tickling them without mercy, much like the Mongolian savages had tickled my young associates. Some of the pictures were very vague, though usually these ones involved multiple victims of the monsters, sometimes a dozen at a time. Other ones were highly detailed, showing in graphic nature the way in which man and women were tortured. The feathering of a women’s nipple, the brushing of a man’s scrotum, the teasing of the supple form of a female’s buttocks, and the titillating of a man’s penis. Not to mention all other forms of tickle torture. Everything from a man stretched on a rack having his ribs tickled to a woman in stocks having her feet licked by goats. The tomb itself seemed to be a macabre depiction of one torture after another.”
“Despite my revulsion of the scene, Vanessa seemed to be utterly fixated upon it. She ran her hands lightly over the pictures, smiling slightly. If I didn’t know better, I would swear she was taking a somewhat perverse pleasure in the murals. Of course, I’m sure that if she did indeed take any pleasure, it was based on the fact that the pictures only strengthened the possibility that this was indeed the tomb of Pagme.”
“Onward we continued, stopping occasionally to look at the pictures that were painted on the walls and the pots that adorned the halls of the tomb. It was interesting, in the sense that they all depicted the same thing, which was of course, people being tortured by tickling, none of them were the same. Down, down, down we went. How many stairs we traveled down I cannot say, but it seemed like hours. Eventually we came upon a grand hall. One so big, even Vanessa’s flashlight couldn’t illuminate it all. It seemed like the darkness stretched on forever. Perhaps it was the lack of light, or maybe the depth in which we had traveled, but this room gave me a particularly strong feeling of unease. I suggested that we turn around and head back. Certainly what we had discovered would be enough to at least temporarily sate Vanessa’s curiosity.”
“Then, we heard it. A moment, I need another bourbon. Ah, that’s better. One more for good measure. What you must think of me, Archer. You will see though, that I drink with good reason.”
“It was a strange sound I heard. Like that of water running down a slow moving brook. Yet, it was still a bit different, as though the water was moving at a crawl, and yet still loud enough to make a noise. I wasn’t the only one who heard it, as several of us turned in that direction, including Vanessa. With her, turned the flashlight, and then we saw it. Yes, I use the word “It” because no other word could possibly describe what I saw. It was not a creature of this world. At least, I hope not, for if this world can hold such terrors, I think I would go mad.”
“I remember in my youth, I saw my father once working on his car. It wasn’t much of a vehicle, though it “got you where you needed to go”, as my father would say. As he was working on the old truck though, he knocked over a can of motor oil. That is what I thought of when I saw the creature. It wasn’t an oil spill though, but it was the same color. But there were eyes. And tentacles. It had a body, or at least as close to what you could call a body as possible.”
“Though we only saw it for a second, it wasted no time. Its many tentacles shot out, as quick as anything I had ever seen before, and grabbed up Janice. A moment later, and Walter and Jim were scooped up. Then my wife, my lovely wife Moira, and finally Vanessa. Why it didn’t grab me, I can only guess, but I suppose it might have been because I was the furthest away from it. I instinctively ran for cover, hiding behind one of the many pillars that supported the ceiling of the great tomb. Perhaps the creature hadn’t noticed me, or maybe it ignored me. I cannot say what it was. I can say that the sight I saw next has haunted me in my dreams ever since.”
“The tentacles…no, not exactly tentacles…it’s hard to describe. It was almost like a liquid oil becoming a solid. At any rate, they stripped their captives of their clothing. In seconds they were wearing no more then what they had been born with. It was a site, I can tell you. Not a good site, but something out of a nightmare. All of them were struggling and straining, trying like mad to escape, but there was no escape for them, their bodies illuminated by the torches that they had dropped when they let go. And then, it began.”
“What began? Why, the tickling of course, lad! Oh it wasn’t like how you might be tickled by your parents as a child, or your older sister, or even a vindictive girlfriend. It wasn’t even like when the Mongols tickled them. This was much darker. Much more sadistic. The Mongols tickled them without mercy, and it was obvious that they enjoyed their work, no doubt, but there was a sense of duty behind the act. This…creature, tickled them like, well, like a starving man being tossed a steak, or a man dying of thirst being thrown a water canteen. It didn’t so much tickle them like it enjoyed the task, though I felt it all the way to my bones that it loved every second, but more like something that had been starved for god only knows how long and finally being able to feed. It didn’t just tickle them. It devoured them.”
“The boys were stretched out, as though on racks, their arms bound together at the wrists above their heads, while their legs were shoulder length apart. The tentacles found the soles of their feet, probing like warms trying to burrow into the earth. Slithering this way and that forcing howls from the two boys. It didn’t stop there, though. No, those probing tentacles ventured to other places. Two found their way to their hips, pressing inward and massaging without mercy. The back of their knees were also explored by similar appendages. And finally, a single tendril reached up and began to attack the boys scrotums, tracing along the backs of either of their balls.”
“The women, though being tickled on other parts of their bodies, got it just as bad. Their bodies were pulled out, in the shape of a giant Y. The tentacles explored their bare pits, sweeping up and down and producing the most horrible of frantic laughter. Their breasts, exposed and jiggling from their laughter and struggles, having the sides, bottoms, or nipples tickled by deft strokes of the tentacles fine tips. Their tender backsides, almost sticking out like they wanted the attention, soon found themselves being attacked by the devilish tips of the tentacles. Tracing along the soft muscles, up and down the delicate crack between either cheek.”
“I’m not sure long it went on for. It seemed to stretch forever. When I saw the…the…I’m sorry, I need another drink. Ah, bourbon. One of the greatest inventions man has ever made! And another! After all, they do say good things come in pairs. Or is that three’s? Well, I better take one more for good measure. Down the hatch!”
“Anyway, where was I? Oh…yes…that’s right, Archer…It’s hard to remember, you know. Well, not hard, but painful. Somewhat ironic, don’t you think? Something so painful, coated in laughter. Yet, it was. They were laughing so hard, and so loud, the tears streaming down their faces. You would have sworn they were tears of joy, if you hadn’t known better, and I did Archer, I did.”
“Here’s the strange part. The part that truly keeps me up at night. As the creature continued to tickle them all, it seemed like there was…almost a blue glow about them. Like, a light was behind them, surrounding them. It seemed to only grow stronger, until…until…it seemed like they were ripped from there bodies!”
“No, no, it wasn’t like their skin was peeled off. Don’t be daft, man! How could you even- yes, yes, I know. I’m sorry Archer, I’m not explaining myself very well, but please have patience. These are painful memories for me, and even though I know you mean well, it’s still difficult to explain. You must understand I was in a state of sheer panic at the time. Only immobile because of the instinct to survive, which is probably what saved me from a similar fate.”
“It was like…that monster…it pulled the very souls out of their bodies. I saw it with my own eyes. I watched as the blue forms of the people who had traveled with me, the form of Vanessa, the form of my w-wife. Their bodies fell to the ground, but the blue forms of them, their spirits, continued to laugh and squirm, being tickled endlessly by that monster. You see, free from their bodies, they could be tickled endlessly. No worries about dying from thirst or hunger or exhaustion. Now, such limitations were gone. They could be tickled until the ends of time by that beast. Or until it was killed. Not that I had any means to kill such a creature. I didn’t even have a gun, not that I think a gun would have killed it. The sheer size of the beast would make a normal gun obsolete, but that’s not why I don’t think a gun would kill him. A monster like that, well, I’m not sure anything of this earth would kill it.”
“By this point, I couldn’t stand to watch anymore, so like a coward I ran. I needed the light to see though, and managed to pick up the flashlight. I could hear it behind me. Like somebody sloshing through the water, its tentacles pulling it’s obese body forward. I didn’t look behind me. I was sure that if I did, it would grab me with one of its monstrous, obsidian tentacles. How long it chased me, I don’t know. Through doorways and over fallen pillars I ran. I ran until I thought I would die, and then ran some more. I ran as though the very hounds of hell were in pursuit, and as far as I was concerned, they might very well have been.”
“I’m not sure how I found the exit. I’m really not. It wasn’t like I was trying to find it. I was only concerned with getting away from that creature. Despite that, I found myself running into the outside. The sand storm had gone and I gasped in the air, my lungs and legs on fire for my efforts. It seemed that I had escaped the monster. But what of the others? What of Vanessa? What of my wife, Moira? I couldn’t just leave them there. But I needed weapons, and help. I had to return to the camp and gather both.”
“When I returned to the camp, I explained what had happened to my Mongolian guides. They were scared, and I swear, they exchanged a sort of look, Natasha and her husband. It was almost like they weren’t shocked. I don’t believe they expected what happened, but almost like a car accident, they didn’t seem to be surprised enough to show they thought it was beyond the realm of possibilities.”
“It took a great deal of effort, but I finally convinced them to arm themselves and come back with me to the entrance of the tomb. Just as we were about to leave though, another sand storm hit. This one was just as intense as the last, and I feared that the tomb would once again be covered. As it was, it would be difficult enough to find the entrance again, my tracks being the only real guide, having no compass or directions to guide me back. Sadly, nothing could be done until the storm was over.”
“When it finally ended, the three of us traveled into the desert, in the direction our original group had headed in. I had explained how the others were in the ruins we had found, though I had left out the details of the monster. These were superstitious people, and I was afraid that if I told them about the abomination I had seen, they would refuse to help me. In the end, we couldn’t find the tomb. Even though I moved the camp to where I thought was the tomb, there was no sign of it. The sand had buried it.”
“I redirected the diggers to begin looking in this new area. They set to work but we found no signs of the tomb. We dug and dug , changing positions every couple of days, hoping for some sign of that ancient, damned tomb, but in the end, it was all for naught.”
“I didn’t want to leave, as you can imagine. My wife was down there, along with the others. I had no choice though. The funds for the diggers had run out, and the school would have needed to have been contact for further funds. Oh, I could have called them, but what would I have said? That my wife and students had been kidnapped by a monster which was buried in a tomb, and that I need another few months to uncover the tomb? No, I can assure you, they would not have given me any extra funding based on that story. Even if I had lied, and stated I had found something of interest, they would have eventually sent somebody to investigate. Still yet, reporting to the university meant that I had to leave the site, and without any money, the diggers would leave with me. Had I been a rich man, I would have paid the diggers themselves to continue working, but sadly I am not. Most of my money was tied to material possessions. I was asset rich but money poor, if you know what I mean. No, I must I hated to admit it, I had little choice but to leave until I could accumulate the funds needed for another excavation.”
“Before I left for America, I asked Tasha if she could get me in contact with somebody who might be a local folklorist. Somebody who knew of ancient creatures that might have dwelled in the Gobi desert. Somebody who I could talk to, and might be able to gleam a bit of information from that might help me.”
“It took a day, but Tasha and her husband returned with an old woman. She looked like she was eighty, her skin wrinkled and worn by the ages, a hunch in her back as she walked, using a cane for assistance. Tasha explained to me that she was a medicine woman, and one of the oldest in the village we were staying in. If anybody could answer my questions, she would be able to. Of course, I would still need Tasha to translate, which left me in the awkward position of needing to tell her what I had seen without actually telling her. So, I chose to pretend that I had seen a picture of the creature which had attacked us in the tomb, and was simply curious about what it was.”
“When I described as best I could the swirling, ink-like blackness of the creature, and how it seemed to latch unto its victim, tickling them without mercy, Tasha raised a surprised eyebrow, but passed on my description to the elder women. When the women heard what Tasha had said, she began to chant feverishly in her own tongue, one that, when asked Tasha herself seemed to have trouble understanding.”
“The women just sat there, rocking back and forth, chanting over and over again as she made signs with her hands. Finally after several minutes, Tasha was able to calm her enough to speak. When she did, it was more like she was vomiting the words out then speaking, trying to get out as much as possible in as short a time. Once she had said her piece, she went back to chanting and rocking. Tasha set about describing to me what had been said.”
“The creature in the painting, she explained, was of an ancient evil that they did not speak of anymore. Their time had long since passed, those creatures and their fellow span. Those who had been still left on the earth had been imprisoned, but at great cost to the warriors and enchanters who set about this task. Still, it was rumored that, with the right rituals, they could be summoned back, but at a horrible cost. They were called the Mel’Noth.”
“I asked what the cost was, and again I had to wait for Tasha to convince the women to stop her chanting to answer me. Her answers were quick, rapid. I could tell she wanted to get rid of me, but I would not leave until I had all my answers. Tasha once again translated.”
“The Mel’Noth, you see, doesn’t eat food to sustain itself. No, it eats something much different. It devours the souls of humans. Another whisky, ma’am. As yes, thank you. Yes, as I was saying, it devours people’s souls. How, you might ask. You see, and I admit this might strike you as hard to believe. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself. Tell me Archer, are you ticklish? Yes, I know a strange question, but just the same, humor an old man and answer it all the same. Ah yes, so you are ticklish. Same as myself, I do admit. In fact, I remember when I was growing up I had an aunt who simply loved nothing more then to pin me down and tickle me. Sometimes they were short playful tickles, but more times then naught the tickling would draw out for so long and be so merciless, that at times I would wish I could just crawl out of my skin. Do you know that feeling Archer? The helpless feeling of being tickled half to death, unable to get away, but wishing more then anything that you could? Well, you see, this is how the Mel’Noth work. They are skilled and merciless ticklers, inflicting suffering on there captives. They tickle a person until they cannot stand it anymore and wish they could escape from the creatures torment of the flesh, and in a way, that wish is granted. You see, the Mel’Noth literally tickles their captive’s soul out of them.”
“It doesn’t end their though. You see, once a person’s soul has escaped, the creature continues to tickle their soul. This can last for weeks, if not longer, depending on the person. The body of the person enters a state of suspended animation. All the while, this tickling consumes the soul of the person, but, before the soul has fully been consumed, it is thrust by the Mel’Noth back into their human body again. By doing this, it allows the soul to replenish. The targets are still tickled though, their torment never ending. After several minutes, the soul is extracted again, and the process is repeated.”
“I’ve done the math. In fact, that was the first thing I did the moment I left the medicine women’s hut. If every time a person’s body has its soul removed they are frozen in life, for lack of a better word, and they can be tormented for weeks before they need to be returned to their bodies again, a person could live for a couple hundred years. In fact, assuming the soul is separated from the body for six hours, and returned only for five minutes, one day of a person’s life would last 72 years, all the while, being tortured. And that is the fate of my wife and Vanessa, and all of the others.”
“As you know, after I returned to the states, I had a breakdown. Who could blame me? I spent the next couple of years in the Hamark Asylum. Even once I got out, I could still not deny the truth. Yes, I know the truth, but what can I do? I cannot find the temple, nor gather the funds needed. To go on with my life…perhaps that is all I can do. That, and warn others, like yourself. Those who are intelligent and steady of spirit. Who have a thirst for knowledge and discovery. I cannot protect you from the horrors that exist in the world, but I can at the very least inform you of them. Perhaps that will in some way let me atone for my failure to rescue those I love. Or perhaps not. I know not how the scales are weighed and balanced. Let me say this Archer. I am not the man I was many years ago. I am different. If you need help…if you find yourself in a situation beyond your abilities…yes, in a situation where lives are on the line…call upon me. Perhaps I can still atone for my sins…my weakness…my failure. That is all a man can hope for.”
“I see the sparkle in your eye Archer. I have a feeling that you will do great things, which many in the world will not know of. Perhaps that is for the best. The truth is a scary thing, though I believe I have made that clear in our talks. I wish you the best, young man. May whatever deity you believe in watch over you, and give you the strength I lacked. The battle has fallen to the youth of this world, and I wish you luck, for you shall need it!”
Here is part one
http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?t=190352&highlight=CTicalhu:+tickler+darkness
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“After the “Punishment” of the rest of our group, we quickly got to packing, though the four who had suffered were allowed to sleep in our tents. After all, they were quiet exhausted. However, I didn’t want to stay a moment longer and risk a return of our previous guests, fearing that we might break another of their strange laws and suffer unduly hardships again. As you can imagine, we did little traveling that day, and our guides made extra sure we were not in any places we oughtn’t be come nightfall.”
“Finally, after several more days of travel, we came to where we suspected were the coordinates on the map. Of course, it was only a rough location. We still had a good deal of exploring ahead of us in the area, but the point was, we believed we had found the area we needed to explore. I admit, as we had traveled those wastes, I found myself having trouble believing we would find anything at all. But the sheer exuberance those young people showed when we arrived…well, it rekindled a considerable amount of optimism in me, I must admit.”
“And so, we began our search. It was a long, painstakingly difficult task, but one that was enjoyed. The excitement of what we might have found drove us on. For days, we used various tools of science. High level metal detectors, examination of sand formations, and deep digging. Sadly, nothing we did produced any real results. We had time though, so we continued on. Our luck, it seemed, was about to change, though what we thought was for the better would turn out to be for the worse.”
“We left the diggers to continue in a particular area, while my wife, Vanessa, Jim, Walter, and Janice took our detector out to explore the more southern area. We explained to the diggers we’d be back in several hours.”
“Our exploration started simple enough, just like any other. But then, after about an hour, a sudden sand storm hit us. I don’t know where it came from, but I have my suspicions, and they make my spine shiver. What I do know is that it fell upon us like a lion falling upon an sleeping gazelle. We had no place to take shelter, our tents a mile away at least. We huddled together, forming a human circle, cutting away as best we could the wind that robbed us of our sight and the very air we breathed.”
“I’m not sure how long the wind ripped at us, but suddenly I heard Vanessa cry out. I dared raise my head to see what she was going on about, and following the way her head was turned, saw just that. “Look! A door!”, she cried, and indeed she was right. It seemed the wind pushed away enough sand to reveal what looked like, through the whipping sand, to be a small doorway. Our small group quickly headed for this port in the storm.”
“Once we were all inside, I suggested that we remain there until the storm was over. Vanessa, as you can imagine, wanted to explore. As far as she was concerned, there was no question that this was the entrance to the tomb she had been searching for. She wanted to start looking about us right away. I tried to dissuade her, but to every problem I proposed, she had an answer. How will we see? She had a flashlight. What if we get lost? She had lipstick she could use to mark our way. Indeed, she was determined, as were the others. I suppose I should have been wise enough to not go, but truth be told, I was almost as eager to explore as she was. It was the find of a lifetime, no doubt about it. So, finally we all began to descend into the darkness, a single flashlight.”
“I can’t explain what it was like to be in that ancient tomb. There aren’t the words. I will say that I was both exhilarated and terrified at the same time. Exhilarated because it was the find of a lifetime, and terrified because of the many paintings on the wall. It was queer, I thought, that despite the fact Pagme was a Mongolian, her tomb looked much more like that of an Egyptian. And on those walls, were the strangest of pictures. It seemed like dozens of men and women were depicted, and then there would be monsters. Monsters of all shapes and sizes, and they would be seizing these men and women in their many arms, and seeming to be tickling them. Monsters were not the only ticklers though, as men and women were also depicted as tormentors to their own kind. Tickling them without mercy, much like the Mongolian savages had tickled my young associates. Some of the pictures were very vague, though usually these ones involved multiple victims of the monsters, sometimes a dozen at a time. Other ones were highly detailed, showing in graphic nature the way in which man and women were tortured. The feathering of a women’s nipple, the brushing of a man’s scrotum, the teasing of the supple form of a female’s buttocks, and the titillating of a man’s penis. Not to mention all other forms of tickle torture. Everything from a man stretched on a rack having his ribs tickled to a woman in stocks having her feet licked by goats. The tomb itself seemed to be a macabre depiction of one torture after another.”
“Despite my revulsion of the scene, Vanessa seemed to be utterly fixated upon it. She ran her hands lightly over the pictures, smiling slightly. If I didn’t know better, I would swear she was taking a somewhat perverse pleasure in the murals. Of course, I’m sure that if she did indeed take any pleasure, it was based on the fact that the pictures only strengthened the possibility that this was indeed the tomb of Pagme.”
“Onward we continued, stopping occasionally to look at the pictures that were painted on the walls and the pots that adorned the halls of the tomb. It was interesting, in the sense that they all depicted the same thing, which was of course, people being tortured by tickling, none of them were the same. Down, down, down we went. How many stairs we traveled down I cannot say, but it seemed like hours. Eventually we came upon a grand hall. One so big, even Vanessa’s flashlight couldn’t illuminate it all. It seemed like the darkness stretched on forever. Perhaps it was the lack of light, or maybe the depth in which we had traveled, but this room gave me a particularly strong feeling of unease. I suggested that we turn around and head back. Certainly what we had discovered would be enough to at least temporarily sate Vanessa’s curiosity.”
“Then, we heard it. A moment, I need another bourbon. Ah, that’s better. One more for good measure. What you must think of me, Archer. You will see though, that I drink with good reason.”
“It was a strange sound I heard. Like that of water running down a slow moving brook. Yet, it was still a bit different, as though the water was moving at a crawl, and yet still loud enough to make a noise. I wasn’t the only one who heard it, as several of us turned in that direction, including Vanessa. With her, turned the flashlight, and then we saw it. Yes, I use the word “It” because no other word could possibly describe what I saw. It was not a creature of this world. At least, I hope not, for if this world can hold such terrors, I think I would go mad.”
“I remember in my youth, I saw my father once working on his car. It wasn’t much of a vehicle, though it “got you where you needed to go”, as my father would say. As he was working on the old truck though, he knocked over a can of motor oil. That is what I thought of when I saw the creature. It wasn’t an oil spill though, but it was the same color. But there were eyes. And tentacles. It had a body, or at least as close to what you could call a body as possible.”
“Though we only saw it for a second, it wasted no time. Its many tentacles shot out, as quick as anything I had ever seen before, and grabbed up Janice. A moment later, and Walter and Jim were scooped up. Then my wife, my lovely wife Moira, and finally Vanessa. Why it didn’t grab me, I can only guess, but I suppose it might have been because I was the furthest away from it. I instinctively ran for cover, hiding behind one of the many pillars that supported the ceiling of the great tomb. Perhaps the creature hadn’t noticed me, or maybe it ignored me. I cannot say what it was. I can say that the sight I saw next has haunted me in my dreams ever since.”
“The tentacles…no, not exactly tentacles…it’s hard to describe. It was almost like a liquid oil becoming a solid. At any rate, they stripped their captives of their clothing. In seconds they were wearing no more then what they had been born with. It was a site, I can tell you. Not a good site, but something out of a nightmare. All of them were struggling and straining, trying like mad to escape, but there was no escape for them, their bodies illuminated by the torches that they had dropped when they let go. And then, it began.”
“What began? Why, the tickling of course, lad! Oh it wasn’t like how you might be tickled by your parents as a child, or your older sister, or even a vindictive girlfriend. It wasn’t even like when the Mongols tickled them. This was much darker. Much more sadistic. The Mongols tickled them without mercy, and it was obvious that they enjoyed their work, no doubt, but there was a sense of duty behind the act. This…creature, tickled them like, well, like a starving man being tossed a steak, or a man dying of thirst being thrown a water canteen. It didn’t so much tickle them like it enjoyed the task, though I felt it all the way to my bones that it loved every second, but more like something that had been starved for god only knows how long and finally being able to feed. It didn’t just tickle them. It devoured them.”
“The boys were stretched out, as though on racks, their arms bound together at the wrists above their heads, while their legs were shoulder length apart. The tentacles found the soles of their feet, probing like warms trying to burrow into the earth. Slithering this way and that forcing howls from the two boys. It didn’t stop there, though. No, those probing tentacles ventured to other places. Two found their way to their hips, pressing inward and massaging without mercy. The back of their knees were also explored by similar appendages. And finally, a single tendril reached up and began to attack the boys scrotums, tracing along the backs of either of their balls.”
“The women, though being tickled on other parts of their bodies, got it just as bad. Their bodies were pulled out, in the shape of a giant Y. The tentacles explored their bare pits, sweeping up and down and producing the most horrible of frantic laughter. Their breasts, exposed and jiggling from their laughter and struggles, having the sides, bottoms, or nipples tickled by deft strokes of the tentacles fine tips. Their tender backsides, almost sticking out like they wanted the attention, soon found themselves being attacked by the devilish tips of the tentacles. Tracing along the soft muscles, up and down the delicate crack between either cheek.”
“I’m not sure long it went on for. It seemed to stretch forever. When I saw the…the…I’m sorry, I need another drink. Ah, bourbon. One of the greatest inventions man has ever made! And another! After all, they do say good things come in pairs. Or is that three’s? Well, I better take one more for good measure. Down the hatch!”
“Anyway, where was I? Oh…yes…that’s right, Archer…It’s hard to remember, you know. Well, not hard, but painful. Somewhat ironic, don’t you think? Something so painful, coated in laughter. Yet, it was. They were laughing so hard, and so loud, the tears streaming down their faces. You would have sworn they were tears of joy, if you hadn’t known better, and I did Archer, I did.”
“Here’s the strange part. The part that truly keeps me up at night. As the creature continued to tickle them all, it seemed like there was…almost a blue glow about them. Like, a light was behind them, surrounding them. It seemed to only grow stronger, until…until…it seemed like they were ripped from there bodies!”
“No, no, it wasn’t like their skin was peeled off. Don’t be daft, man! How could you even- yes, yes, I know. I’m sorry Archer, I’m not explaining myself very well, but please have patience. These are painful memories for me, and even though I know you mean well, it’s still difficult to explain. You must understand I was in a state of sheer panic at the time. Only immobile because of the instinct to survive, which is probably what saved me from a similar fate.”
“It was like…that monster…it pulled the very souls out of their bodies. I saw it with my own eyes. I watched as the blue forms of the people who had traveled with me, the form of Vanessa, the form of my w-wife. Their bodies fell to the ground, but the blue forms of them, their spirits, continued to laugh and squirm, being tickled endlessly by that monster. You see, free from their bodies, they could be tickled endlessly. No worries about dying from thirst or hunger or exhaustion. Now, such limitations were gone. They could be tickled until the ends of time by that beast. Or until it was killed. Not that I had any means to kill such a creature. I didn’t even have a gun, not that I think a gun would have killed it. The sheer size of the beast would make a normal gun obsolete, but that’s not why I don’t think a gun would kill him. A monster like that, well, I’m not sure anything of this earth would kill it.”
“By this point, I couldn’t stand to watch anymore, so like a coward I ran. I needed the light to see though, and managed to pick up the flashlight. I could hear it behind me. Like somebody sloshing through the water, its tentacles pulling it’s obese body forward. I didn’t look behind me. I was sure that if I did, it would grab me with one of its monstrous, obsidian tentacles. How long it chased me, I don’t know. Through doorways and over fallen pillars I ran. I ran until I thought I would die, and then ran some more. I ran as though the very hounds of hell were in pursuit, and as far as I was concerned, they might very well have been.”
“I’m not sure how I found the exit. I’m really not. It wasn’t like I was trying to find it. I was only concerned with getting away from that creature. Despite that, I found myself running into the outside. The sand storm had gone and I gasped in the air, my lungs and legs on fire for my efforts. It seemed that I had escaped the monster. But what of the others? What of Vanessa? What of my wife, Moira? I couldn’t just leave them there. But I needed weapons, and help. I had to return to the camp and gather both.”
“When I returned to the camp, I explained what had happened to my Mongolian guides. They were scared, and I swear, they exchanged a sort of look, Natasha and her husband. It was almost like they weren’t shocked. I don’t believe they expected what happened, but almost like a car accident, they didn’t seem to be surprised enough to show they thought it was beyond the realm of possibilities.”
“It took a great deal of effort, but I finally convinced them to arm themselves and come back with me to the entrance of the tomb. Just as we were about to leave though, another sand storm hit. This one was just as intense as the last, and I feared that the tomb would once again be covered. As it was, it would be difficult enough to find the entrance again, my tracks being the only real guide, having no compass or directions to guide me back. Sadly, nothing could be done until the storm was over.”
“When it finally ended, the three of us traveled into the desert, in the direction our original group had headed in. I had explained how the others were in the ruins we had found, though I had left out the details of the monster. These were superstitious people, and I was afraid that if I told them about the abomination I had seen, they would refuse to help me. In the end, we couldn’t find the tomb. Even though I moved the camp to where I thought was the tomb, there was no sign of it. The sand had buried it.”
“I redirected the diggers to begin looking in this new area. They set to work but we found no signs of the tomb. We dug and dug , changing positions every couple of days, hoping for some sign of that ancient, damned tomb, but in the end, it was all for naught.”
“I didn’t want to leave, as you can imagine. My wife was down there, along with the others. I had no choice though. The funds for the diggers had run out, and the school would have needed to have been contact for further funds. Oh, I could have called them, but what would I have said? That my wife and students had been kidnapped by a monster which was buried in a tomb, and that I need another few months to uncover the tomb? No, I can assure you, they would not have given me any extra funding based on that story. Even if I had lied, and stated I had found something of interest, they would have eventually sent somebody to investigate. Still yet, reporting to the university meant that I had to leave the site, and without any money, the diggers would leave with me. Had I been a rich man, I would have paid the diggers themselves to continue working, but sadly I am not. Most of my money was tied to material possessions. I was asset rich but money poor, if you know what I mean. No, I must I hated to admit it, I had little choice but to leave until I could accumulate the funds needed for another excavation.”
“Before I left for America, I asked Tasha if she could get me in contact with somebody who might be a local folklorist. Somebody who knew of ancient creatures that might have dwelled in the Gobi desert. Somebody who I could talk to, and might be able to gleam a bit of information from that might help me.”
“It took a day, but Tasha and her husband returned with an old woman. She looked like she was eighty, her skin wrinkled and worn by the ages, a hunch in her back as she walked, using a cane for assistance. Tasha explained to me that she was a medicine woman, and one of the oldest in the village we were staying in. If anybody could answer my questions, she would be able to. Of course, I would still need Tasha to translate, which left me in the awkward position of needing to tell her what I had seen without actually telling her. So, I chose to pretend that I had seen a picture of the creature which had attacked us in the tomb, and was simply curious about what it was.”
“When I described as best I could the swirling, ink-like blackness of the creature, and how it seemed to latch unto its victim, tickling them without mercy, Tasha raised a surprised eyebrow, but passed on my description to the elder women. When the women heard what Tasha had said, she began to chant feverishly in her own tongue, one that, when asked Tasha herself seemed to have trouble understanding.”
“The women just sat there, rocking back and forth, chanting over and over again as she made signs with her hands. Finally after several minutes, Tasha was able to calm her enough to speak. When she did, it was more like she was vomiting the words out then speaking, trying to get out as much as possible in as short a time. Once she had said her piece, she went back to chanting and rocking. Tasha set about describing to me what had been said.”
“The creature in the painting, she explained, was of an ancient evil that they did not speak of anymore. Their time had long since passed, those creatures and their fellow span. Those who had been still left on the earth had been imprisoned, but at great cost to the warriors and enchanters who set about this task. Still, it was rumored that, with the right rituals, they could be summoned back, but at a horrible cost. They were called the Mel’Noth.”
“I asked what the cost was, and again I had to wait for Tasha to convince the women to stop her chanting to answer me. Her answers were quick, rapid. I could tell she wanted to get rid of me, but I would not leave until I had all my answers. Tasha once again translated.”
“The Mel’Noth, you see, doesn’t eat food to sustain itself. No, it eats something much different. It devours the souls of humans. Another whisky, ma’am. As yes, thank you. Yes, as I was saying, it devours people’s souls. How, you might ask. You see, and I admit this might strike you as hard to believe. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself. Tell me Archer, are you ticklish? Yes, I know a strange question, but just the same, humor an old man and answer it all the same. Ah yes, so you are ticklish. Same as myself, I do admit. In fact, I remember when I was growing up I had an aunt who simply loved nothing more then to pin me down and tickle me. Sometimes they were short playful tickles, but more times then naught the tickling would draw out for so long and be so merciless, that at times I would wish I could just crawl out of my skin. Do you know that feeling Archer? The helpless feeling of being tickled half to death, unable to get away, but wishing more then anything that you could? Well, you see, this is how the Mel’Noth work. They are skilled and merciless ticklers, inflicting suffering on there captives. They tickle a person until they cannot stand it anymore and wish they could escape from the creatures torment of the flesh, and in a way, that wish is granted. You see, the Mel’Noth literally tickles their captive’s soul out of them.”
“It doesn’t end their though. You see, once a person’s soul has escaped, the creature continues to tickle their soul. This can last for weeks, if not longer, depending on the person. The body of the person enters a state of suspended animation. All the while, this tickling consumes the soul of the person, but, before the soul has fully been consumed, it is thrust by the Mel’Noth back into their human body again. By doing this, it allows the soul to replenish. The targets are still tickled though, their torment never ending. After several minutes, the soul is extracted again, and the process is repeated.”
“I’ve done the math. In fact, that was the first thing I did the moment I left the medicine women’s hut. If every time a person’s body has its soul removed they are frozen in life, for lack of a better word, and they can be tormented for weeks before they need to be returned to their bodies again, a person could live for a couple hundred years. In fact, assuming the soul is separated from the body for six hours, and returned only for five minutes, one day of a person’s life would last 72 years, all the while, being tortured. And that is the fate of my wife and Vanessa, and all of the others.”
“As you know, after I returned to the states, I had a breakdown. Who could blame me? I spent the next couple of years in the Hamark Asylum. Even once I got out, I could still not deny the truth. Yes, I know the truth, but what can I do? I cannot find the temple, nor gather the funds needed. To go on with my life…perhaps that is all I can do. That, and warn others, like yourself. Those who are intelligent and steady of spirit. Who have a thirst for knowledge and discovery. I cannot protect you from the horrors that exist in the world, but I can at the very least inform you of them. Perhaps that will in some way let me atone for my failure to rescue those I love. Or perhaps not. I know not how the scales are weighed and balanced. Let me say this Archer. I am not the man I was many years ago. I am different. If you need help…if you find yourself in a situation beyond your abilities…yes, in a situation where lives are on the line…call upon me. Perhaps I can still atone for my sins…my weakness…my failure. That is all a man can hope for.”
“I see the sparkle in your eye Archer. I have a feeling that you will do great things, which many in the world will not know of. Perhaps that is for the best. The truth is a scary thing, though I believe I have made that clear in our talks. I wish you the best, young man. May whatever deity you believe in watch over you, and give you the strength I lacked. The battle has fallen to the youth of this world, and I wish you luck, for you shall need it!”
