The Trail of Mysteries

Prologue

Two sets of black tridactyl claws gripped the still moistened sand while yellow eyes examined the fresh tracks. The blood-stained maw nudged the rough patch in the smooth beach, inhaling the scent.

The beast had followed the trail because it tracked meat. The need for it burned through every cell in its cold-blooded frame. At twenty feet from snout to tail the peppery gray body did not fear anything- even its own kind. The desire for sustenance - food - was so strong now in its life that it had killed the only other of its kind.

While all other creatures and animals had existed to mate and restore populations to the world, it was not so with the beast. It had no need to mate. Its sole existence was enveloped in an endless quest for flesh and bone - whatever it found it killed and ate.

The beast quickened its pace following the tracks, the pungent smell of prey filling its dilating nostrils. The yellow black-slitted eyes narrowed and saliva filled its mouth. It knew it was about to feed. The beast gnashed its teeth and snarled....

Later, after feeding, the beast felt an unexpected cessation to its hunting. It went back to its lair at the base of the mountain. There it laid down at the back of the cave, curling into its nest to disappear into the black rock and mud. Then it closed its eyes and its heartbeat stopped.

Four years later, a thump echoed in the silent cave.

Four hundred years later, it sounded again.

Four thousand years later, one eye opened....