Gresh

T H E...G R E S H THE BEAST OF BLACK ROCK Teeth dripping with infectious saliva sprouting along its body, The Gresh, also called The Beast of Black Rock, is a horrific thing to stumble upon late at night. Entirely nocturnal, no travelers can be seen around Black Rock once the sun goes down. Once in a while, someone will think the stories to be myths and venture onward...never to be seen again. Named for the ear-splitting hiss it emits when it is close to its prey, which can be heard for miles, The Gresh is best left unmet.

His name, once, was Algar. He doesn't really remember what happened to him. Something bit him, he knows that much. The rest of his mind was lost to the beast he became. The strange, alien parasite that fused with his body commands most of his functions now, and, save for a few shattered memories, Algar is mostly gone.

---

"Are you sure we should be out here? The night guard said-"

"The night guard is a superstitious idiot, Caleb. I've traveled this route my whole life, and I've never encountered this 'beast' they are all cowering from in their homes. If they don't want to make deliveries on time, that is their issue. As for me, we need to get this into High Ridge by the morning." The Snapper shook his shoulders and grunted. "Now get off the cart. It's hard enough to pull as it is."

Caleb quietly apologized to Brunt, hopping down with a creak of the wheels. He did not hate having a dragon that couldn't fly as a partner, but this was the first time he wished he hadn't. If they could fly this cargo to its destination, they wouldn't need to take this road. But maybe...maybe he was letting the locals get to him. Far and wide the duo had traveled, hearing all kinds of wild tales of things living in the shadows of the world, and they had yet to encounter any of them. Stories made to scare hatchlings so they wouldn't stray too far from the nest.

And yet...there was something about the air.

"Stop it." Brunt sighed, pushing forward without looking at his companion. The Skydancer cleared his throat.

"S-stop what?"

"Stressing. I can feel it from here! You're making me nervous. There's nothing out he-"

The abrupt halt in his complaining put Caleb on edge immediately. He looked around, drinking in any and all imagery he could make out in the dead of night, but there was not much to see beyond the swinging light of the lantern on the cart. Giving Brunt a pleading look, Caleb finally broke the silence. "What?"

Brunt squinted up at the looming mesas that surrounded the road. "I thought I heard something up there," He gave a shrug, pressing his mighty feet into the earth to get the cart going again.

Caleb was not amused. "Don't do that!"

"I was serious!" Brunt laughed. "It was probably just some critter. You worry too much."

The feathers on the back of his neck were standing on end, crest high and alert. Caleb did not feel safe. Some rock debris dislodged somewhere in the dark, and he heard a strange chittering sound.

---

"What happened to Brunt, Caleb, and the cargo?" His boss was angry. He had a right to be. He only knew that his employees and items were missing, and he was the type to jump to conclusions of unsavory natures. As far as Mister Bal was concerned, he had two lazy employees lounging somewhere in a town.

"We don't know, sir. The last town they checked into said they left through the Black Rock road at dusk, in a hurry to deliver the-"

"What did you say?" Bal had lost a few shades of his emerald coloring. He looked visibly ill.

"...B-Black Rock road, sir. The town on the other side has not seen them yet, so they must have gotten into some trouble-"

"They're dead." He put his face in his claws with a sigh.

"Sir?"

"Brunt was a stubborn old fool. It's not a superstition. You do not travel that road at night. They're dead. Make arrangements for a memorial, inform their families, and dispatch a team to the road - but ONLY at daytime. If anyone goes there at night I'll have your hide."

"Y...you speak of The Gresh?"

"Don't say it's name," Bal hissed. "It lives. It hunts. It feeds. It doesn't like the light. Never go there at night, and never go into the caves. Now...get to work. We have funerals to plan..." Bal solemnly left the room, heading in the direction of Caleb's home. His mother would be devastated. Brunt, on the other hand, lived alone, but he did have many dear friends.

It was going to be a rough week.