You approach the river's edge carefully, paws sinking into the damp earth as the air fills with the festering scent of rot. The water itself is dark, nearly impossible to see anything further than a snout's depth as it swirls in unnatural currents that seem to flow with an almost disturbing rhythm. The stench of death weighs heavily on you both - not from any nearby carcass you can spot, but from the very river itself, as if the water might turn to blood and viscera if you stare for too long.
As you linger at the shoreline, the surface of the water begins to change. The current slows for a moment in front of you - and only in front of you - the ripples becoming unnervingly still.
From the depths of the foul water, something begins to emerge.
It was not a natural face; its features twisted grotesquely, as if formed from the very sludge that churned below, and two hollow eyes suddenly appear with a sickly pale light illuminating from within.
Its mouth stretches into a horrific grin.