The stories below are all incredible, and any one of them could have won this month’s contest. It was a very difficult month to judge. If you are seeing this, I hope you will take the time to read the stories below and reach out to the writers if you like their stories. I know they would love to hear from you!
As a reminder, the piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
The stories below are listed in the order they were received and do not reflect a system of ranking.
“You know I will kill you,” said the monster. “Fight as much as you want, I will win in the end.”
Anika wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to go. It was just her and the monster in the middle of a flat desert. She was rooted to the spot in terror.
Anika awoke with a scream then stared at the ceiling. “Shit,” she thought. “I hate chemo dreams.”
That’s what it was, her chemotherapy dream. Each time she got her treatment she would come home exhausted and collapse into bed. Sleep was the best thing afterwards, but the monster was always waiting for her. It was always the same huge creature that eyed her with malevolence, belittled her, sneered at her, toyed with her, and above all terrified her. This wasn’t a cat and mouse game, a mouse would have stood a chance. It was more like a cat playing with an ant. Anika got up and tried to put the image of the huge merciless face, and the evil sneering voice out of her mind.
It had started with her diagnosis. The words Stage Four Cancer were now permanently seared into her brain. They started her on chemotherapy. Once a week Anika would go in and spend a couple of hours listening to music, while a litre of clear liquid drained into her arm. Then she would go home and have the nightmare. So far she had only had four treatments, twelve more were scheduled. It was going to be a long autumn.
Halloween came and went, but Anika was too exhausted to greet anyone at the door. Thanksgiving passed, but her immune system was too weak to risk getting together with anyone. December arrived, the new year would bring the end of her treatments. None too soon as she had lost weight, her hair had fallen out, and her hands and face were grey and cold. The side effects of chemotherapy accumulate as the cycles go on.
Worse of all though, was the monster. She could feel its hot breath on her face, it’s malice boring into her very soul. She always woke up with a scream.
It was after the first treatment in December that Anika noticed something. The monster wasn’t quite as big any more. Its arrogance and malevolence were just as bad, but it was noticeably smaller. A week later it was smaller still, she could almost look it in the eye. The treatment before Christmas left it barely as tall as her waist. Then a week later she fell asleep to find the creature about the size of cat. Anika smiled, took three steps and punted it as hard as she could. The creature flew beyond the horizon and was no more.
Anika awoke in silence. She felt good, happy, energized. A huge weight had been lifted from her. She still had two more treatments, but in her heart Anika knew that the cancer was gone.
’How could this have happened?’ whispered Jackie incredulously. Her brown coat’s hem twirled around her shins as a gust blasted past her. Her shaky arms lifted up, her clenched fists quivering in the cold. The roaring wind deafened her ears. Her tourmaline eyes squinted through the cascade of misty spray that blew into her face, and she forced herself to make eye contact with the beast ahead.
The first thing that caught her attention was the beast’s expression. There was a twinkle of interest in its dark eyes, similar to a leopard staring at a mouse. Its ears pointed out from the sides of its head, tapered and long. It had twin peculiarly shaped… eyebrows Jackie wanted to call them. Its chin was decorated with a curly, albeit short beard. The massive head was supported by a neck, thick and wide as a small shuttle bus.
The creature had strong, well defined forearms, which sported paws large enough to squish her effortlessly. The claws of the toes were larger than her torso, and sharp enough to disembowel her effortlessly. The muscular chest led to a potbelly, big enough to house an entire elephant.
Jackie could barely make out the beast’s legs, but its right foot stuck out, as intimidating as its front paws. The back of the creature tapered into a muscular yet slender tail. A mysterious smell of sandalwood hung about the beast’s grey fur.
The faint sound of anxious cawing snapped Jackie out of her trance. Her ‘pet’ crows, Ebonette and Soot, circled around her, trying to put up a strong front against the creature. She smiled weakly; somehow these two were the only beings that were teleported with her from the city park.
She steadied her footing, and her clenched fists tightened harder still. As she did so, the creature blinked and huffed a gentle breath.
The breath was powerful enough to cause Jackie to teeter slightly, but she held on, determined to show no weaknesses. “I am not scared of you!” she yelled. Her momentary surge of braveness was lost as her battle cry got lost in the wind. The beast let out a noise akin to a chuckle, and its body convulsed softly as though restraining itself from laughing.
Jackie’s fear turned into rage; the feeling of being treated as a joke reignited her fighting spirit brighter than ever.
She roared and ran at her opponent, her brown sneakers drumming swiftly on the unusually soft floor.
“Cease your silly antics, youngling. I’ll need stitches for my sides.“
A loud voice rumbled, a hint of amusement barely disguised in its majestic rich tone.
Jackie paused, slack-jawed at the sudden development. ”Who-“
”Me? Why, I’m your new familiar. Didn’t you get the memo from Meralda from HR?“
”H-excuse me? Who and what now?“ stammered Jackie.
The creature sighed. ”Well, easier to show than tell. Come.“ Suddenly , it bent down its head and touched Jackie’s, and a blinding white light enveloped them, and the sound faded to nothingness.
Wander makes his way across the frozen river, followed idly by two crows. He does not pay any mind to the guardian sleeping on the ice, for he has places to be, but the guardian hears him coming and stands. Wander, begrudgingly stops before the gray giant. The guardians watch, the protect. They want to know where you’ll be. “I’m just going to the next town over,” Wander answers the beast’s unasked question. “I’ll be back before sundown. You know I’m good for it.” The guardian stares down at the man for a moment before he huffs out a long slow breath and proceeds to lay back on the ice. Wander smiles and walks up to the guardian, rubbing behind his ear. The man says, “Thank you for your service,” and makes his way out.
What an incredible month! I want to thank all of you who made this final month of the contest such a success. It was wonderful reading the stories created by such incredibly talented writers that I’ve met throughout the duration of this contest. I was also deeply moved by those of you who mentioned how this contest has inspired you over the past couple of years. I am glad to know that my little project was able to have a positive impact in some small way.
I think this has been the most difficult month yet to judge. Each entry was just amazing and presented a completely different take on this image. However, not choosing a winner would make a rather anti-climatic end to the contest. So here goes…
The winner for this month’s contest is… @circees! Congratulations! I was captured by the simple exchange of affection that was presented in this piece. Something about it just spoke to me. I believe this writer may have more than one Tumblr page, but I’m sticking with the tag that this post was submitted from. @circees, if you want to direct readers to any other page to see more of your work, please feel free to link in the comments below.
I hope anyone reading this will also look for my Honorable Mentions post later today to see the other stories that were contenders for the win.
As a reminder, the piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
There had once been a mighty castle that loomed where the creature now sat, but it was long gone now, down to the dust and the remains. The land was barren and flat, guarded by unforgiving mountains on three sides, and the god that perched in its center tilted its monstrous head.
“Traveler,” it murmured, voice resounding through the mountains. The sound fell flat just short of reaching the traveler’s ears - it came back small and unassuming, as if a child were speaking. To that end, it was far from impressive, despite the god’s hulking mass, but the traveler knew better than to rely on mortal senses. “You return again.”
“I always do,” the traveler said - their own voice came out equally small and flat, but the god did not struggle to hear. “I always will.”
The pair - monstrous god, fearless traveler - shared the silence for a few moments later, eyes fixed carefully on each other.
At long last, the traveler spoke. “Old God,” they said. “I’ve come to ask permission to rebuild your shrine and city.”
The god chuckled, a sound that stayed heavy. “You always say this,” it murmured. “You always ask this. You have not proven yourself capable - you should be better suited to asking if I can move the moon or stars.”
The traveler remained stubborn, and pulled a half-stick of incense and a packet of dried apples from their bag. “For your shrine, majesty,” they said.
The god eyed the gifts. The traveler eyed the god. It is a game they have played before, but one neither of them have won.
If you saw my previous post, you know that this will be the last contest for the time being. If you missed that announcement, you can read it here. I thought it was only appropriate for me to bring things to a close by featuring my favorite and most featured artist. Virginie Juteau @hydraart is not only an incredibly gifted creator of monsters, but has also been continually supportive of this contest over the years. I couldn’t resist featuring one more of this artist’s incredible creations.
The final piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
If you saw my previous post, you know that this will be the last contest for the time being. If you missed that announcement, you can read it here. I thought it was only appropriate for me to bring things to a close by featuring my favorite and most featured artist. Virginie Juteau @hydraart is not only an incredibly gifted creator of monsters, but has also been continually supportive of this contest over the years. I couldn’t resist featuring one more of this artist’s incredible creations.
The final piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
What an incredible month! I want to thank all of you who made this final month of the contest such a success. It was wonderful reading the stories created by such incredibly talented writers that I’ve met throughout the duration of this contest. I was also deeply moved by those of you who mentioned how this contest has inspired you over the past couple of years. I am glad to know that my little project was able to have a positive impact in some small way.
I think this has been the most difficult month yet to judge. Each entry was just amazing and presented a completely different take on this image. However, not choosing a winner would make a rather anti-climatic end to the contest. So here goes…
The winner for this month’s contest is… @circees! Congratulations! I was captured by the simple exchange of affection that was presented in this piece. Something about it just spoke to me. I believe this writer may have more than one Tumblr page, but I’m sticking with the tag that this post was submitted from. @circees, if you want to direct readers to any other page to see more of your work, please feel free to link in the comments below.
I hope anyone reading this will also look for my Honorable Mentions post later today to see the other stories that were contenders for the win.
As a reminder, the piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
There had once been a mighty castle that loomed where the creature now sat, but it was long gone now, down to the dust and the remains. The land was barren and flat, guarded by unforgiving mountains on three sides, and the god that perched in its center tilted its monstrous head.
“Traveler,” it murmured, voice resounding through the mountains. The sound fell flat just short of reaching the traveler’s ears - it came back small and unassuming, as if a child were speaking. To that end, it was far from impressive, despite the god’s hulking mass, but the traveler knew better than to rely on mortal senses. “You return again.”
“I always do,” the traveler said - their own voice came out equally small and flat, but the god did not struggle to hear. “I always will.”
The pair - monstrous god, fearless traveler - shared the silence for a few moments later, eyes fixed carefully on each other.
At long last, the traveler spoke. “Old God,” they said. “I’ve come to ask permission to rebuild your shrine and city.”
The god chuckled, a sound that stayed heavy. “You always say this,” it murmured. “You always ask this. You have not proven yourself capable - you should be better suited to asking if I can move the moon or stars.”
The traveler remained stubborn, and pulled a half-stick of incense and a packet of dried apples from their bag. “For your shrine, majesty,” they said.
The god eyed the gifts. The traveler eyed the god. It is a game they have played before, but one neither of them have won.
They do not speak for a very long time.
Congratulation@circees for winning this contest! I ABSOLUTELY love what you came up with! Thank you so much for participating!
The stories below are all incredible, and any one of them could have won this month’s contest. It was a very difficult month to judge. If you are seeing this, I hope you will take the time to read the stories below and reach out to the writers if you like their stories. I know they would love to hear from you!
As a reminder, the piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
The stories below are listed in the order they were received and do not reflect a system of ranking.
“You know I will kill you,” said the monster. “Fight as much as you want, I will win in the end.”
Anika wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to go. It was just her and the monster in the middle of a flat desert. She was rooted to the spot in terror.
Anika awoke with a scream then stared at the ceiling. “Shit,” she thought. “I hate chemo dreams.”
That’s what it was, her chemotherapy dream. Each time she got her treatment she would come home exhausted and collapse into bed. Sleep was the best thing afterwards, but the monster was always waiting for her. It was always the same huge creature that eyed her with malevolence, belittled her, sneered at her, toyed with her, and above all terrified her. This wasn’t a cat and mouse game, a mouse would have stood a chance. It was more like a cat playing with an ant. Anika got up and tried to put the image of the huge merciless face, and the evil sneering voice out of her mind.
It had started with her diagnosis. The words Stage Four Cancer were now permanently seared into her brain. They started her on chemotherapy. Once a week Anika would go in and spend a couple of hours listening to music, while a litre of clear liquid drained into her arm. Then she would go home and have the nightmare. So far she had only had four treatments, twelve more were scheduled. It was going to be a long autumn.
Halloween came and went, but Anika was too exhausted to greet anyone at the door. Thanksgiving passed, but her immune system was too weak to risk getting together with anyone. December arrived, the new year would bring the end of her treatments. None too soon as she had lost weight, her hair had fallen out, and her hands and face were grey and cold. The side effects of chemotherapy accumulate as the cycles go on.
Worse of all though, was the monster. She could feel its hot breath on her face, it’s malice boring into her very soul. She always woke up with a scream.
It was after the first treatment in December that Anika noticed something. The monster wasn’t quite as big any more. Its arrogance and malevolence were just as bad, but it was noticeably smaller. A week later it was smaller still, she could almost look it in the eye. The treatment before Christmas left it barely as tall as her waist. Then a week later she fell asleep to find the creature about the size of cat. Anika smiled, took three steps and punted it as hard as she could. The creature flew beyond the horizon and was no more.
Anika awoke in silence. She felt good, happy, energized. A huge weight had been lifted from her. She still had two more treatments, but in her heart Anika knew that the cancer was gone.
’How could this have happened?’ whispered Jackie incredulously. Her brown coat’s hem twirled around her shins as a gust blasted past her. Her shaky arms lifted up, her clenched fists quivering in the cold. The roaring wind deafened her ears. Her tourmaline eyes squinted through the cascade of misty spray that blew into her face, and she forced herself to make eye contact with the beast ahead.
The first thing that caught her attention was the beast’s expression. There was a twinkle of interest in its dark eyes, similar to a leopard staring at a mouse. Its ears pointed out from the sides of its head, tapered and long. It had twin peculiarly shaped… eyebrows Jackie wanted to call them. Its chin was decorated with a curly, albeit short beard. The massive head was supported by a neck, thick and wide as a small shuttle bus.
The creature had strong, well defined forearms, which sported paws large enough to squish her effortlessly. The claws of the toes were larger than her torso, and sharp enough to disembowel her effortlessly. The muscular chest led to a potbelly, big enough to house an entire elephant.
Jackie could barely make out the beast’s legs, but its right foot stuck out, as intimidating as its front paws. The back of the creature tapered into a muscular yet slender tail. A mysterious smell of sandalwood hung about the beast’s grey fur.
The faint sound of anxious cawing snapped Jackie out of her trance. Her ‘pet’ crows, Ebonette and Soot, circled around her, trying to put up a strong front against the creature. She smiled weakly; somehow these two were the only beings that were teleported with her from the city park.
She steadied her footing, and her clenched fists tightened harder still. As she did so, the creature blinked and huffed a gentle breath.
The breath was powerful enough to cause Jackie to teeter slightly, but she held on, determined to show no weaknesses. “I am not scared of you!” she yelled. Her momentary surge of braveness was lost as her battle cry got lost in the wind. The beast let out a noise akin to a chuckle, and its body convulsed softly as though restraining itself from laughing.
Jackie’s fear turned into rage; the feeling of being treated as a joke reignited her fighting spirit brighter than ever.
She roared and ran at her opponent, her brown sneakers drumming swiftly on the unusually soft floor.
“Cease your silly antics, youngling. I’ll need stitches for my sides.“
A loud voice rumbled, a hint of amusement barely disguised in its majestic rich tone.
Jackie paused, slack-jawed at the sudden development. ”Who-“
”Me? Why, I’m your new familiar. Didn’t you get the memo from Meralda from HR?“
”H-excuse me? Who and what now?“ stammered Jackie.
The creature sighed. ”Well, easier to show than tell. Come.“ Suddenly , it bent down its head and touched Jackie’s, and a blinding white light enveloped them, and the sound faded to nothingness.
Wander makes his way across the frozen river, followed idly by two crows. He does not pay any mind to the guardian sleeping on the ice, for he has places to be, but the guardian hears him coming and stands. Wander, begrudgingly stops before the gray giant. The guardians watch, the protect. They want to know where you’ll be. “I’m just going to the next town over,” Wander answers the beast’s unasked question. “I’ll be back before sundown. You know I’m good for it.” The guardian stares down at the man for a moment before he huffs out a long slow breath and proceeds to lay back on the ice. Wander smiles and walks up to the guardian, rubbing behind his ear. The man says, “Thank you for your service,” and makes his way out.
Hey people, check out those AMAZING stories inspired of my illustration. I love reading what people come up with <3
If you saw my previous post, you know that this will be the last contest for the time being. If you missed that announcement, you can read it here. I thought it was only appropriate for me to bring things to a close by featuring my favorite and most featured artist. Virginie Juteau @hydraart is not only an incredibly gifted creator of monsters, but has also been continually supportive of this contest over the years. I couldn’t resist featuring one more of this artist’s incredible creations.
The final piece for the contest is titled, “Scientia,” and it’s an example of yet another mythical being that was generated from the mind of @hydraart. If you’re into fantasy/horror art and you’re not familiar with this artist’s work, you can click here to see a vast collection of original work.
