The Clouded Beast

A test at the feared and unknown. A man who's lost most of his body and mind. A creature of pure mythos...

From the Writing of James Alexander Elden:

What I am about to recount could not be understood by any mortal man, save for those who have the less fortunate blunder of finding this rabid fiend, in which they will surely not return from such an encounter. I, myself, may be of blessed blood to survive my confrontation, regrettably at a cost of a portion of my sanity. May I never venture further than the bed I now lay in, which gratefully sits sealed against the beloved ground beneath me and not upon the lofty spaces of the mountain sides. Too vivid are the images in my head that I must shelter myself under covers as the fog rolls into the valley, for fear of their repulsive imitation of clouds.
My hysterical rants and depictions have been misconstrued ignorantly by many as folly and lunacy. Not even my own daughter, dearest Felicia, will accept my accounts of what happened that tempestuous night. For I dared where none dare tread, and has left me a broken man. I will clarify on all that has transpired, and you will take from this what you can bare. But you must accept that what I have witnessed is certainly real.
My archaeological studies had driven me on a path to discovery whilst in the Tibet region three weeks prior to now, over the hushed rumors of snow fall on cliffs that later in season would not vaporate. I was led to the base of the Tibetan Mountains, where I collected samples and admitted my team to run analyses on them. Results returned as a type of fur, from some sort of animal that could not be matched to any indigenous to this territory. And that is when my memory sparked the idea of the fabled creature of myth. During the beginnings of the Tang Dynasty, there had been reports chronicled of a demonic giant that roamed high in the peaks to the West. They had entwined the names for “tiger” and “evil” into a word scrawled countless times throughout ancient text as the Laoger. Repeated during the Yuan Dynasty, travelers began disappearing after setting forth on excavations through the mountain passages, and the wind would growl with rage for any who braved to enter. Evidently this was a strikingly unique accomplishment from all that I had so long researched, and the thrill of uncovering something so monumental grew lustrously in my mind.
That nightfall after my studies began everything. For as I laid my head down to a good night's rest, the wind picked up with a force that battered against the windows near the point I thought they would shatter. And even over the strong gusts rattling all else you could still hear the fervent roar, that bone-jarring wail that to this day will not leave my ears, blare over the small valley. As expected I did not sleep easy that night, and when I awoke I was greeted by a frenzy of team members in stuttering panic. Allegedly, one of our men had been caught in the storm and had such disappeared since. The crew spoke of packing their belongings and dispensing from this place promptly, in which I responded with the proposition of traversing the mountain side to search further for our missing comrade. My curiosity and urge to find this possible creature was too alluring to simply brush away, and so decided to begin my ascent posthaste, whether my team was to accompany me or not. They would follow me no further.

I climbed. I clambered over slopes and cliffs, crawled over crags and precipices, until I was gasping for breath. I hugged my scarf near my face and positioned my goggles to envelop my eyes as the cold chill tried to bite and frost against my skin. Pursuing my rise to the top, either in history or to this mountain, I passed by several cloud formations before recognizing that the sun had set and night was upon me. Time had seemed to flash by, and now I would be near stranded in the dark if I did not find shelter soon. As I hefted myself passed another overhang, I glimpsed a large cavern set in front of me. Due to the lack of illumination and the small pellets of raindrops upon me, I felt no other choice than to shield myself within the gloomy dwellings.

I crept slowly into the hollow, tapping along the solid walls to make certain that the cave was empty and dormant. I took a continued step only to trip against a solid object below me. Steadying myself, I perched down and felt for the item of matter, and detected a large form laying in the crook of the wall and floor. There was a sudden burst of lightning from outside and it lit the den in an ignited flash, revealing what I had been trifling with. Horror was bestowed upon me as the sight of the missing team member lingered even as the glow went out, his mangled form torn to shreds and blood covered the residual area. I backed away to the opposite side of the cavern, trying to wipe away what red-stained remains I had accidentally taken up from the corpse. Small tufts of snow-white fur still clung to me as it became clear to me where I truly was.
And in the next instant, light flickered rapidly from the entrance, where I turned to greet the true nightmare that shall forever embezzle my waking memory. Lightning arched from it's large spinal rods protruding from it's back as it leapt from the blackened clouds it had road in on. It's razor sharp claws dug into the delicate snow covered ground and it inched it's way through the entrance. It's face...oh, that hideous face! Like that of the statues I see in historical images of the chinese gaurdians, the Laoger's teeth were the size of tusks baring visibly at my presence. The sheer size of the behemoth was six times that of my own and as it recoiled I had little time to interpret such a move before it lunged into me.
The force slammed me against the wall, nearly jolting me into concussion as the body of the beast scraped past me, the sandpaper-like fur on it's coat grinding against me that it tore through my jacket layers and peeled into my skin. As it darted across the arena I now stood in, I looked at the blood oozing from my raw arms and chest. I needed to escape, to flee from this monstrosity, before I truly was a minuscule meal. I started to sprint with all my effort for the entrance, but feeling the tremendous footfalls after me, I knew I was not getting far before the beast would be at my throat. I dropped to the ground, thinking the creature would overestimate and hurtle passed me, but turning over onto my back I watched as the demon barreling came down, mouth stretched open. It gripped hold of my right leg, it's teeth like piercing drills stabbing into my flesh, and dragged me along with it's momentum toward the entry. With one foul tug, it yanked harshly on my person, severing my leg and flinging me out into the cold storm. I fell, losing track of all that was around me, for it spun in cycles that make me feel nauseous even trying to explain. The pain was searing and overcame my consciousness to cause me to black out, but not before I heard the chilling cry over the rushing wind. The call of the Laoger.
The next thing I remember is laying in this bed, bandaged from nearly head to toe, and all the pain returning in slow bursts. The members of the team interpreted that I was found at the base of the mountain the next morning, having fallen from such a great height that it had caused major fractures in my limbs and torso. They were bewildered as to how my leg had gotten completely lost in the endeavor and little assured me that they could not believe I survived during the storm last night. I tried desperately to extrapolate on what occurred up there on the summit but they have since written me off as deranged. They called in Felicia a few days after and I am soon to be shipped back to my home in Devonshire where I am to be bedridden for some time. I am content with this, for I need not be travelling anywhere other than the comfort of my sofa and kitchen. For one thing that I have taken from all of the shadows and monsters that now haunt me is this: do not search in find of things better left unseen.