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river.  Even when rinsed, the residue from it vanished as if it was never there.  In the end, the clothes were clean and smelled good.  Many moments passed trying to figure out what it was which delayed the task of cleaning my clothes.  My previous tardiness earned me undesirable tasks usually involving a shovel and the latrine we had made near the camp.
    The river moved with its gentle current.  I could wade across it without the water reaching my chin, fish swimming around my feet the whole time.  Sometimes they brushed up against me, which used to freak me out.  It was sort of funny that I did not have to fish for dinner.  I simply walked into the water and grabbed one or two.  They tried to get away once that happened, but it was almost as if they knew they were to become dinner and did not swim away at my approach.  Sometimes, they even came up to the shore and swam around me while I washed my clothes or myself.  The shoreline allowed me to step down into a slight rocky bottom, which made it ideal and was why I came to the location.  The depth was about two feet right at the bank.
    That day was different.  There were no fish, and the water was muddy as if something had been disturbing it.  Something swam in the water!   I rose from a squat position and slowly stepped back, watching the surface in anticipation of something about to reveal itself.  There were minor ripples as the gentle current flowed by me.  I found it odd that even with a current that the water remained cloudy in this area.  Something had to be in the water because no fish were by the shore and the visibility was gone.  A noise came from my left.  I realized my mistake when there was an explosion of water to my right and something flew out of the river, knocking me over in an attempt to pin me down.
    All I saw was a blur until it was on top of me.  Dark gray skin covered a sleek muscled frame standing on two legs.  It moved so fast it was not possible to get a look at it until its jaw latched onto my leg.  There were spikes on the top of its head for causing puncture wounds, more than likely deep, bleeding wounds.  The bleeding would wear down its opponent.  Thankfully, the spikes missed and I did not go down.  Its teeth were, however, very sharp but smaller, like a lizard.  I could feel dozens of punctures on my leg.  I knew these wounds could easily turn into large gashed if the monster or I started thrashing too violently.  The creature did not take me down.
    The creature had no arms, but very large tendrils protruded from its cheeks that enabled it to hold onto its prey.  A fluid oozed onto my skin, followed by a numbing sensation likely to cause paralysis.  Seconds passed before it started to grind its teeth.  The flesh began to rip and a small part of me was almost thankful that it dulled the pain slightly as the debilitation started.  A cold sensation worked its way up my thigh, slowly at first.  Within seconds, it hit my hip and my balance failed.  I toppled over and started punching the thing repeatedly in the head as hard as I could.
    The creature squealed each time I struck.  Sounds echoed from my right, bringing me hope it was Malnuras.  Sadly, I was mistaken; a second set of tendrils hit my arm, yanked me off balance even more, and held my torso slightly off the ground.  The teeth sunk in and the fluid flowed, numbing me further.  I tried to pull my right arm free and continue to hit the one on my leg intermittently.  Its skull was not cracking and it showed no signs of letting go.  Changing my tactics, I aimed for its eye.  Using my thumb, I pressed into the soft tissue and hard as possible.  Fluid burst forth and a roar came out of its mouth.  It did not let up but increased the pressure, finding bone. 
    With my vision swimming, my head felt lighter and lighter.  Darkness rushed in on my thoughts faster than I could react.  My grip on the creature relaxed.  My thumb slid from its eye socket,