Wyrm

Why did I ever come this way? I should have heeded the warning signs. If the site wasn't so far from civilisation, I suppose they’d have set up road blocks.

“The last one of its kind,” the guidebook said. “A living legend.” Amongst the blackened remains of the visitor centre, it was immortalised in computer games and plastic toys. I miss that reassurance of a safer world.

I hadn’t realised quite how disorientating a forest could be and I should have turned back when the path petered out. But there was a clearing ahead and I was sure I saw something sliding off into the gloom. It was born in these woods and they say it can weave between the trees leaving hardly a trace behind. By the time I gave up the pursuit, I’d completely lost my bearings.

It’s almost too dark to write. I’m sure I can hear it not far away, its scales hissing over the leaves. A little earlier I glimpsed huge wings against the stars. Perhaps there’s more than one. The book says they hunt at dawn, so

(The note ends here. When they returned it to his widow, they cut off the charred edges)