A fetid stench clung to the air. I was close.
Soon I heard the sound of rushing water ahead of me, and I saw it.
Stretching down across the plains, I found the dismal river.
It was exactly where the Townspeople had told me, but far worse than they had said.
The river used to leap with fish as the current tore down the banks- Now it was still, black and reeked of death.

I knelt down to get a better look at it, when i saw something move in the shallows.
I crossed myself. "Unholy beast"
I drew my sword and stood back from the great river.
The ground trembled, the water churned, and then suddenly went still.

The creature emerged from the murky waters, and uncoiled it's serpentine body around me.
"Lindorm"
The dark waters surged, and I leapt into fray.
My steel hungered for the beast's throat.

---

Etching
2013
Ageaus