A Land Far Away

*the Grimwarden watched in horror as the gibbering goblins came rushing down at him from the wooded hill west of the road*

*in a voice filled with panic, the halfling cries out to his deity, his hand white-knuckled around his holy symbol*

*the Grimwarden's horror turns to awe as the ground before him begins seeping a thick black mist*

*the dark mist rose in the path of the frenzied goblins who rushed on thinking the shadowy cloud a desperate illusion*

*the black vapor surged and billowed the way ink does when spilled in water*

*suddenly the dark mist took the form of a great hound, its eyes gleaming like garnets, its pupils shards of onyx*

*slick as oil, the shadowy hound gnashed and snapped, rending the goblins apart*

*their horrific screams filled the night air, their blood painting the tall grass*

*the halfling priest stood stricken, his bare feet firm and flat on the dirt road, the frayed hem of his brown robe quivering as his body trembled beneath*

*the Hound turned to face the hin, its fur rippling with wisps of shadow*

*their eyes meet and search......they stand like this for a time*

*as suddenly as it took shape, the shadowy hound withdrew back into the earth*