The Abomination

Gladys had seen these grim shores before, but for her companion, it would be his first step into the land of the rotting undead.

"Did you drink your potion, Agnar?" She asked him. She turned to look over her shoulder to the dark-haired man bending over the oar of their small longship.

"About to." Agnar pulled against a mechanism behind him, lowering the sails so they could coast smoothly to shore. "Are you sure we are ready for this?"

Gladys nodded. Thanks to Agnar's earlier expeditions, they had a good layout of the land closest to the ocean, so if they had any trouble, they could run back to the ship and take off without worry of hidden rocks or sandbars.

But if Gladys was being honest with herself, the swamps of Valheim were unpredictable, and certain enemies lurking within the mist and gloom were too fast to outrun. These were rare enemies, but they still existed and needed to be considered for every outing into the swamps.

The ship's hull groaned as it beached onto dry land. In front of them, a tall runestone glowed, its carvings giving warning to any who dared venture here.

Gladys hopped out first, unsheathing her blade and shield. On her hip, she carried an axe as well, just in case they needed to chop down lumber for a temporary camp.

Behind her, Agnar secured the ship and wandered over to the runestone, peering at the old letters engraved upon its surface.

"Linger not, traveler," Agnar read aloud, "the air is pestilent and the water poison. The Draugr walk here and the thing I will not name stirs below the surface, a bitter mass of bone and sin. Tread carefully and-"

"-quickly until you feel the sun on your face once more," Gladys finished, her eyes surveying the gnarled trees and suspiciously empty shadows around them. "Most of the stones you find here will be warnings."

Agnar's throat bobbed, his jaw clenched. Instinctively he reached for the arrows sitting in their quill at his hip. "Great! Just great, Gladys. Draugr are awful as is, but a mass of bone and sin? Poison waters? I thought this was just a swamp."

Gladys frowned at her companion. "It is a swamp."

"Swamps, from what I recall, aren't filled with the undead, deadly water, and glowing stones that warn passersby of monsters beneath the ground!"

Gladys shrugged, turning away from him and walking along a stretch of dry ground. "You'll get used to it. There are worse things to come."

Agnar sighed. "Why did I agree to this," he muttered, hiking his own axe over one shoulder and walking over to a small tree. "I'll get started on a fire."

"Sounds good. I'll scout around and clear away any Draugr or Skeletons who want to join the party."

A small snort was Agnar's only reply.

Keeping herself between the din and damp environment and Agnar, Gladys roamed onwards, hopping over deep water channels and marking down places where wild turnips and thistle grew. They weren't easy to spot. Despite it being midday, the swamp appeared to be in perpetual twilight, and the fog was so thick as to be oppressive.

A few animated blobs - bright green slimy creatures who spewed poison - came across her path. They were easy enough to take out, and thanks to the potions she and Agnar had brewed, the poison damage wasn't too much of an issue.

There were no signs of iron deposits though, which was the main reason she had taken Agnar out here with her. It was worrisome, as without the precious metal they would be hard-pressed to continue their journey through the lands of Valheim.

What worried her more than anything else, however, was the silence.

She had planned for them to land here during the day, as Draugr and Skeletons were far less likely to spawn and swarm them in daylight, but there still should have been a few lingering in the shadows of the ancient trees. There weren't even any giant leeches patrolling the waters.

She moved to higher ground closer to the coast, aiming to get a better view of the land. There were many trees here, including larger ones with roots tangling together to form a makeshift bridge. She leaped onto it, pushing her arms out to her sides to balance herself.

That was when the trees around her began to groan.

Eyes widening, Gladys retreated backward, running and jumping off of the tree bridge. She landed with a loud splash into shallow water which bubbled and squelched. Greyish-green mud reluctantly let go of new branches rising up out of the muck like dark appendages.

A giant gnarled root rose and smashed into the ground, pulling up a gnarled body from the earth.

"Agnar!" Gladys turned and shouted, switching out her blade for her axe as she ran from the Abomination rising out of the swamp. "Get back to the boat!"

A horrid unearthly sound rumbled and crackled, sending violent shivers down Gladys' body. She dared look behind her to see that the creature had fully emerged from the bog, and it was moving towards her on four tree trunk-sized legs.

Agnar spotted Gladys running back through the swamp, only to shout in terror as he saw the crown of branches, rot and moss stumbling over the water-clogged land towards her, him, and the beached boat.

"What the hell is that?" He turned and sprinted for the longboat, dropping his firewood and sheathing his axe on his hip.

"Abomination!" Gladys shouted, her breaths becoming haggard as she was forced to wade through a deep channel of water.

"And I'm supposed to know what that is?"

The ground shuddered harder beneath Gladys, indicating the monster was gaining on her. It let out a haunting trill as if it too knew she would soon be joining its tangled mass.

She wasn't going to make it. Even if she did, the creature was too quick and too large. It would wade through the shallow water of the swamp and chase after their ship until it destroyed it and them inside it.

Abominations were aggressive enemies. Gladys cursed herself for not preparing more.

She gritted her teeth, leaning back on her years of experience. Agnar had no idea what this thing was capable of, but she did.

"Out of the ship!" She shouted at Agnar, turning and leading the Abomination away from the shore.

Agnar's mouth fell open as he watched the horror lumber past, its multitude of limbs reaching out to grab at Gladys. "But you just said to get to the ship!"

Gladys rolled, gagging on swamp water as she narrowly missed the creature's attack. "No! We have to kill it here!"

Agnar jumped out of the ship, his leather armor creaking. He was terrified, but he had been practicing with Gladys for over a month now on how to fight a multitude of creatures in Valheim. Surely he could help her here?

But his mind was still in shock, seeing the walking horror of bark, rot, and tangled branches weaving through the trees. Nothing they had faced was like this.

Yet, it was made of wood, and wood burned.

"Get over here!" Gladys shouted at the creature, growing frustrated as she kept dodging attacks, unable to get any hits in for herself against the Abomination.

Suddenly, the creature screeched, and a bright orange glow erupted from one of its legs.

Gladys gasped, ducking as embers sparked and spiraled around her.

Beyond her and the monster stood Agnar, his bow fully drawn and his arrows dripping with flammable oil. He had brought extra supplies, it seemed.

"Yes!" Gladys shouted. Hope and pride drowned out her frustration and terror. "Kill it with fire!"

Agnar grunted. He loaded another arrow, dragging the tip over a surtling core fragment on his finger to ignite it. "I'm on it!"

Together the duo worked to take the Abomination down; Gladys distracting the monster within range of its dangerous limbs, and Agnar hitting its weak points with powerful shots from his bow. Yet, the bow alone wasn't enough to stop it.

Gladys's breath left her body as one of the wooden limbs whipped out and smacked her, flinging her entire body several meters back into the trees. She landed on a root, her back screaming in pain at the impact.

Agnar shouted and cursed, now becoming the new target of the monster. "Gladys! Gladys get up!"

Gladys groaned, rolling onto her side and pushing herself up onto one elbow. Looking up, she watched the Abomination maneuver its way over fallen trees and churned-up mud, approaching Agnar's position at a frightening pace.

Her mind raced, searching her memories for anything useful to help against this creature. She looked around her surroundings and found her gaze drawn to the runestone which glowed like a beacon in the chaos, and an idea formed.

She remembered that Abominations needed a line of sight on their prey, which was easy for them when they had the strength and speed to cover ground and topple trees with a single swing, but a runestone? They were indestructible. She'd seen those stones take a full impact from a Troll's club.

It was time to play a game of goose chase with the swamp horror.

She got up, wincing as the muscles in her back barked in complaint. Agnar was still running, unable to turn around and shoot at the creature. He was closer to the ship and to the runestone now, at least.

Gladys brandished her axe once more and ran toward him, calling upon the old god Eikthyr's power, her legs moving faster and easier than before.

Red and purple light encircled her as she jumped between the Abomination and Agnar, the light moving beyond her to encircle Agnar as well, giving him Eiktyr's blessing.

"Over here, you ugly bastard!" She shouted, waving her axe at the Abomination.

It cackled a deep sound that clicked three times before one of its legs whipped out at her again.

Good, it's on me now.

"Keep shooting it, Agnar!" Gladys dodged, rolling and swerving towards the runestone. "I got this!"

"I hate you so much right now, Gladys!" He shouted at her, slathering more oil on his remaining arrows.

Gladys laughed as she reached the runestone, turning to face the creature as it crookedly wobbled up to her. Once she saw its tangled limb come up to strike, she swerved behind the stone, hiding her body behind its grey surface.

The abomination clicked and groaned, its limb lowering as it moved to a better position. Once it did, Gladys did the same movement again, hiding herself from its gaze, if it had one.

And there Agnar stood, firing arrows in disbelief as he watched little Gladys play 'ring-around-the-rosey' with an eldritch horror from the swamp.

Around and around the stone they danced, Gladys rolling in to swing at the legs of the beast with her axe, and then rolling out of sight. The Abomination never swung as it was constantly trying to walk into position to attack her.

It was utterly ridiculous.

"What's happening?" Agnar shouted. "How are you doing that?"

Gladys swung out again, this time hitting home on the central root of the creature, drawing sickly green guck from its body. Many of its branches were already burned away thanks to Agnar's impeccable aim, so it didn't have much left to defend itself with.

With a loud shriek and a terrible groan, the Abomination froze up, its animated roots and branches stiffening. Like a mighty tree, it slowly fell over and crumbled, going up in a puff of red and purple smoke and sparks, just like the other creatures in Valheim.

The battle was over.

Agnar ran up to Gladys who stood leaning against the runestone, panting and covered in green slime, black mud, and tree debris.

"What the actual fuck, Gladys?" Agnar dropped his oil and arrows on the ground, leaning over Gladys to check her wounds. "What was that thing?"

"I told you...an Abomination."

Agnar frowned. "Oh...I thought you were just calling it an abomination to freak me out more."

Gladys laughed. "Sorry."

Silence passed between them as they reflected on their battle, the landscape around them nearly destroyed by the rampage of the Abomination. On the ground where it fell, pieces of its bark and globs of its blood begged an inspection, but both were weary to go near it.

"Gladys...let's never do this again."

"Agreed."

"And Gladys?"

Gladys looked up, straightening out from the runestone behind her. "Yes?"

Agnar shook his head, sighing. "Next time, let's light that damn campfire first."

______________

Author's Note

My first spooky story for October 2023!! Yay!

This was inspired by an actual in-game encounter with an Abomination with me and Ian Read. It was quite the experience introducing this horrible creature to a new player, and admittedley very funny. Lots of the dialogue was ripped directly from the in-game chat and the voice call we were in after the fight.

I hope this was sufficiently spooky, and maybe a bit funny too. (:

- Amanda

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