River Of Lost Souls

There weren't always dragons in the valley where the River Of Lost Souls now flows. Not a single one ever existed. Not even in the old stories of giant reptiles walking and hunting on the earth in the past. Which is what I thought the tracks belonged to.

By the way my name is Sh'yar. Please excuse the fact that I hadn't shaved in a while. Which is kind of why you thought that I had dirt smeared across my face. Nope. Just a 5 o'clock shadow is all. Besides, with all of the excitement in this land who has the time to stay clean shaven. There's adventure to be had and I aims to smack dab in the middle of it. Headlong if need be.

And the only reason for me having long unkempt hair is because I was in a rush. Hey! When your stomach is having a very intimate conversation with your back you tends to make ya a bit edgy and forgetful. And right about now is one of those times.

Anyways, the river that I stood next to wasn't really a river of flowing water, but of a flowing strange glowing light. As I have been told as a child the River Of Souls flowed with the souls of those whom died in the land since the creation of this valley.

Both human and animal alike. Millions of souls. Billions. Possibly even trillions of them tightly packed. Dense. All with nowhere to go. Trapped in time. Cursed to travel back and forth through the cracks and crevices of this ravine with no means of escape. What sounded like rushing water was really the wails and moans of the souls of eternity.

Now I know that your wondering why in blue blazes am I out here getting my fine clothes all dirty. Well... that could be an over exaggeration. My clothing only looks sinister and shabby due to all the pelts of the animals I trapped.

Then there's my gear consisting of a bow across my back along with a quiver of arrows for hunting. My trusty elven blade that I won off an elvin guard on my left hip, and his mithril outfit fitted me so well. Poor fool never had a clue what hit him. And I almost never leave home without my two daggers strapped to both of my ankles. And of course my trusty boots...

But who cares about all of that. What you're here for is the beast that I found. I suspect that such a beast may be real from observing the fresh giant prints of a strange lizard footed beast. The impression is far too deep to be a small creature.

With years of experience I knelt down beside the oddities running his rough hands over the textures of the prints.

I discovered that the grass couldn't be used to tell how long it's been since this beast traveled through here. The beast was too heavy for all of that.

I stood up and followed the tracks. They traveled for a mile and then vanished on the bank of the river just as fast as they started. They reappeared about half a mile down further. And then abruptly ceased in a likewise manner. The pattern repeated.

"That's odd" I whispered. 'It seems as if the tracks come from the River Of Lost Souls. Then as if missing it's home the tracks return back to the river.' I murmured to himself.

I looked up from the print that I was studying, squinted my eyes from the glare of the sun, then brought my hand up to shield my eyes. It was then down yonder that I saw a faint glow recede from the river stepping out onto the river bank. It was huge and formless. Just a blob of light. Transparent. Opaque really. No... It started out transparent and then took on form becoming opaque and then... Solid?

I crouched hoping not to be seen. 'Am I going mad? How can a spirit take form from the ethereal? I swear that I have to stop drinking in the morning.' I thought. I shook my head as if trying to clear it. Then I looked again in horror and disbelief. And there it was standing still. Huge and looming high above the tree tops a few yards away from it. Way high above the tree tops.

The beast began to take form but stayed ethereal never really taking on a true form. Just a roiling mass of faintly glowing light and what seemed like mist. Shadowy mist. I crept closer careful to keep low as not to be seen or smelled. The blasted thing was so huge that it was incomprehensible to my mind. I've never seen anything so huge in my life. I had to get a closer look. Closer and closer I crept careful not to disturb the leaves, twigs, and faggots underneath my feet.

The formless beast took a few steps forward. It's long four legged stride spanned hundreds of feet each step. It's tail dragged along behind it. 'So this is how the prints, widespread as they are, spanned meters with only a few strides' I thought. Then suddenly it walked back to the river's edge and faded away.

'It's unlike any beast I've ever seen before. Legends told of nothing like it. Cave paintings never showed it. Artist's renditions never accounted for it's existence. Not even our stories of history mentioned them.' My head filled with thoughts of grandeur.

Anxiously I awaited to see if it reappeared. It didn't. I waited for a couple hours. Nothing. It never showed up again.

'The fellows back at the tavern are never gonna believe this when I tell. They'll probably think me mad in my dotage is more like it. Stay off the hard stuff!" I murmured mimicking one of the fellas as he knew they would all laugh at his thought to be an old wives tale. I then rolled my eyes at the thought and headed back to town.

*********************

I was surrounded by a sea of patrons inside The Garceyok Tavern. They all listened intently to his tale. Some drinking heavily from the tankards in their hands. Others nursing their own tankards while listening in disbelief. The expressions were plainly seen written on their faces that they didn't believe. While others still sat in awe of the tale being spun or even calling for more ale.

The Garceyok Tavern was seedy sort of place. Dimly lit reeking of ale and vomit and stale sweat. The furniture was made of stout wood with stained finishing. Some of the chairs looked worn and rickety. Some had the look of fresh repairs from a rowdy brawl that more than likely recently broke out. Even a few tables wobbled on wedges underneath the shortened repaired legs.

Trophies of bull, deer, and boar heads lined the walls. A fisherman's net hung from the ceiling. The bar looked for better days long gone. The bartender was burly chested, plenty of muscles, apron shirt pants and boots for his attire.

"I was out walking through the forest on a hunt for food. I had the taste for boar, but deer would also do. As I crept around the forest I saw a rabbit. Fast little bugger too. You know how they are. I stalked it to the clearing thinking I would have a clear shot out in the open. I knocked my bow, drew it back, and took aim. That was when I noticed the huge foot prints in the ground just beyond the rabbit.

'Putting me growling stomach to the side I approached the foot print. To my amazement it looked to be a giant lizards foot. What looked like talon prints dug deeply into the soil. I placed me foot next to it for measure. It would take about 20-30 of my feet to make one length of the print. The hole the talon dug came up to my elbow when I reached into it. I swear to ya I've never seen such a print so huge."

M'reif, a big burly brute of a man stained to the hilt with a scar on his left cheek and a sour disposition, stopped me.

"So ya aims to tell us that we've got a beast bigger than me out there?" His deep ragged voice growled.

"You have no idea just how huge the beast is. I swear ta ya that you've never seen anything as big before. No tale from our past speaks of it. It's entirely new." I retorted. My voice tenored voice sparsely matched that of M'reif.

A short portly man cut in. Though he wore the clothing of a friar tied off at the waist he was no saint. He waved a tankard at me and ale sloshed around. "Come on then. Tell us what it looked like!" In unison the crowd uproared yelling "Yeah!" and "Spill it!" and "Out with it man!" Along with a whistle or two. M'reif grinning held up his hands turning from side to side. "Everybody! Everybody! Let the man talk! Let him speak." The crowd started chanting "Speak! Speak! Speak!"

What else could I do? So I cleared my throat and gave them what they wanted. "Ehem. The beast didn't have much of a shape nor form. It was ethereal. Almost like a ghostly being. It came from the River Of Lost Souls I tell ya. Could be the soul of a beast from long ago. One that none of the likes of us has seen before."

"That's impossible! Our Tome Of Reality would have spoken of such a beast." A frail scraggly caped man with a patch over his right eye yelled at me.

"Yeah! The Tome Of Reality speaks of all things from our past. There is no such beast." Another frail man with crooked teeth shouted. The crowd joined in yelling "Preposterous!" "Unheard of!" M'reif Boomed out "Silence!" His deep voice left no room for disobedience. Slowly the crowd calmed down. M'reif turned back to me and said, "Go on. Finsh up."

I took a nervous deep breath and continued.

"As I was saying the beast is ethereal. Huge!" I held my hands up to show just how big I was speaking of. 'It almost took on form. I... I could just barely make it out. It's head and back was covered in what looked to be bone spikes. The spikes ran the whole length of it. Right on down it's long tail. It was portly. Kind of like M'rorn over there.'

M'rorn beamed with pride grasping his belly and pulling it up to let it fall back down. The whole tavern roared with laughter. Then I continued.

'The beast looked to be a deep green. Almost as deeply green as the forest itself. And it was covered in scales. That's all I could make out since it turned back to a roiling mass of spirit once more."

M'reif sat in quiet contemplation rubbing his chin as murmurs broke out all around him. He looked me dead in the eyes for a long moment.

"Take me to the tracks."