Of Elvia and the Steam | Part 5

Table of Contents : Prt 1; Prt 2; Prt 3; Prt 4; Prt 5; Prt 6; Prt 7; Prt 8; Prt 9; Prt 10

Elvia squinted her eyes but could not see.
She listened to the soft padding of large feet
And the occasional ripple in the creak.
She spoke again saying, “Won’t you greet me?”

Another low bellow came as the answer.
“I am no threat to you if that’s what you think.
And, be sure, I am also no good to eat.”
Silent, hot breath in her face was this answer.

“My muscles are gristly. My blood runs sour.”
She did not know if the creature could use words
But vocal tone could convey meaning, she’d heard.
Thus, she considered speech her greatest power.

So, she kept talking. Mostly about herself.
She told stories of her antics, pranks and fun.
Stories of those she’d helped, and conflicts she’d won.
“But enough about me. What about yourself?”

To Elvia’s surprise, a deep voice replied,
“I am a creature of justice and vengeance.
I do not play games where I find indignance.
I kill and devour as is justified.

“I am friend to none, but an ally to some.
There are few who even know that I exist
Because most whom I meet deserve my vengeance
For crimes against the natural world they have done.

“But in you I see a good friend to the trees.
You live with the river and make clothes from mud.
You are a creature of nature scorned in love.
With the passion of a storm I saw you weep.

“Tell me one more story. About how you came
To wash up in my home like a river stone.”
Letting out one last motherly gurgled tone,
Whatever-it-was had nothing left to say.

Elvia sat silently for a moment.
A bit shocked and trying to collect her thoughts,
She took several deep breaths then began to talk.
When finished with the story she had woven

About the bargers, songs, chaos, and the fog,
Elvia asked what Whatever-it-was thought,
Concluding, “I’m going to find that wicked prod.
And, I’ll make him pay for the evil he wrought.”

“Yes, I thought as much, and this fog I must find.
We will go together for retribution.
Your arrival was natural consecution
Of the river bringing its justice to bind.”

Uncertain what Whatever-it-was had meant,
Elvia giggled and prepared to set off
She felt rested, though her pain was far from gone.
Still, she was pleased with how this encounter went.

But before she could take more than a few steps
Whatever-it-was tossed her onto its back.
She was surprised. It was high. But, there she sat
Happy to rest for as long as she could get.

As the two came nearer to the cave entrance
Elvia saw Whatever-it-was better.
She already felt great scales underneath her,
But what she saw, she could hardly comprehend.

A humongous gator from snout to mid back,
Met by smooth grey-brown otter fur in the rear
With great puma forelegs, or so it appeared.
Elvia had not seen a creature to match.

Table of Contents : Prt 1; Prt 2; Prt 3; Prt 4; Prt 5; Prt 6; Prt 7; Prt 8; Prt 9; Prt 10