Dive into the shadowy depths of the Maw, a chilling collection of eight stories that peel back the curtains on the darkest corners of this nightmarish world. Each tale invites you to experience the Maw through the eyes of those who dared to dream-an...
Maria's feet dragged heavily along the creaking boards of the old pier, each step an effort against the weight of her pain. The night pressed in around her, the inky blackness broken only by the sputtering light of a few scattered lanterns. Their flickering glow cast eerie shadows that danced and writhed like tortured spirits, the darkness seeming to pulse with a life of its own.
Below, the waters of the Maw churned and frothed, an ominous, oily black that reflected no light. The surface roiled with unseen horrors, shapes moving just beneath the waves that defied the imagination. A thick mist rose from the depths, curling around the pier posts like grasping fingers.
Maria shivered, pulling her tattered coat tighter around her thin frame. The cold seeped into her bones, an ache that matched the dull throbbing that pulsed through her head with every heartbeat. Pain had been her constant companion for as long as she could remember, a searing agony that flared behind her eyes and coiled in her gut like a serpent. It gnawed at her, relentless, eating away at her sanity bit by bit. The doctors had no answers, no cures. Just more bottles of useless pills and pitying looks.
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A dark shape detached itself from the shadows ahead, resolving into the hunched figure of a man. He stood motionless at the end of the pier, draped in a cloak the color of old blood. As Maria approached, limping, he turned to face her. The lantern light caught his features - sunken eyes in a gaunt, skeletal face, skin pulled tight over jutting cheekbones. A wide-brimmed hat cast his face in shadow.
"You're late," the Ferryman said, his voice the dry whisper of dead leaves skittering across stone.
"I'm here now," Maria replied, breath fogging in the chill air. "I want passage. To the Maw."
The Ferryman regarded her silently for a long moment, eyes glinting beneath the brim of his hat. "The journey is perilous. Few return from the dark waters. Fewer still return...whole."
Maria met his gaze steadily, unflinching. "I'll take my chances. I can't live like this anymore. I need answers."
The Ferryman inclined his head. "As you wish." He extended a skeletal hand. "The fee."
