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There’s a legend, in the backwaters of Voltra, that says a creature lurks in the waterways that loop around the city, a grotesque little thing, a monster. There are few reports, but the legend says that most who encounter it do not return. They say it has sharp claws, grabbing hands, a stench of stagnant water surrounding it. They say it takes you underwater to it’s algae-infested lair, and waits until you drown.
They’re wrong… aren’t they?
I’m not so sure. I came in search of this creature, against my better judgment perhaps. I’m thinking my next novel will be horror, and these creatures that are popping up around Voltra are the perfect inspiration. They’re only stories, after all.
They call it the Grindylok, from the ancient word for water. They tell children about him, when they’re naughty. Be good, else the Lok will drag you kicking and screaming under the water.
I approach the deserted river. No one comes down here, where the creature is said to live, just in case. It’s dark, getting late, and perhaps I should not be out so far into the evening. The river is wide here, and thick with moss and reeds, a kind of green coating on the water surface. It stinks of stagnant water and rotting plant matter, but I pinch my nose and move on. The grass surrounding it is wet against my feet.
Odd. There are no animals. Closer to the city, there are waterfowl and little insects, but out here it is eerily still and silent.
“Hello?” I call. Even monsters appreciate politeness, I’m sure, but there is no answer. “I’m from the city. I’m here to—“
A gurgle, like bubbles being released. I flinch, but catch myself. It’s just bubbles. Gas beneath the water, probably.
“If you’re there, I mean you no harm—“
Immediately, there’s a disturbance in the water, like something swimming under there. There’s a bulge in the water, where the bubbles came from, right at the widest part of the river. The water is green here, green and murky, and I cannot see what it is.
A head emerges from the reeds, small and skeletal, bony and greenish, like moss, like the river itself. It has stringy black hair, thin and worm-ish. It breathes out bubbles beneath the water, and then its eyes appear, large and yellow, like a belching frog’s, reptilian and clouded with a stark red center.
Its teeth, which emerge above the surface as it takes a gurgling breath, are as yellow as the eyes, old and decaying and deadly sharp.
“Hello,” I say again, hoping good manners will save me. I’m not in the water, yet; it can’t grab me.
It beckons with a thin hand, those fabled claws jutting out of the nail bed. Come closer.
“I’m only here to… I mean, I just came to—“ But why did I come? To see it? I can’t remember.
It continues to crawl out the water, heading for me, its long green limbs unfurling as it moves. It is so bony, how long has it been down there?
I back away, but I cannot tear my eyes from it. It wants me to climb into the water, to drown beneath the reeds. Algae drips from its body as it creeps closer, landing in the river and sending little green clouds of murk as it sinks. It smells ancient.
“I should go, I’m sorry for disturbing you, I mean—“
Why can’t I look away? Its yellow lizard-like eyes are suckering me in. I cannot so much as blink. I take a step closer, and another. My feet are almost at the bank.
Brrrring-brrrrring!
My phone!
The spell is broken and I flinch away. A name pops up on the screen, no doubt wondering where I’ve been. I look away from the cell and back to the river, but it is deserted. Not even so much as a bubble on the water’s surface. Had it ever been there at all? I back further away. My feet are soaked with river water. A close call, no doubt. I run, back to the city, with those yellow eyes forever burned into my vision.

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