Chronicles of a Stark (Book#2)

The depths

   A year has passed since Arya's encounter with that wreck of the Iron Fleet in the Targaryen Islands, the young Stark has explored the waters to the west of the continent of Westeros along with her crew on the ship Nymeria.  "Twelve long months, and we have found nothing more than some islets," says Arya to his first officer, Owen replies that they have at least served to supply themselves with water and food, preventing hunger "Well, are we close to known land at least?" Asks Arya, "the maps are still incomplete, in fact, thanks to this exploration, we know more about this world than most people or even masters know",  Owen would reply.

As they speak, the ship's lookout gives the ground signal, screaming with all its might so that each crew member knows of the find.  Arya, Owen and the rest of the sailors observe lands covered by a dense forest or jungle on the horizon.  "It seems bigger than a common islet or island, at least from this distance," says Arya. Owen replies that according to what the navigation charts indicate, it could be the hidden coast of Ulthos, the most unexplored continent in the world.  known.  Arya decides that for now they will only approach the coast, since it will be dark soon, they will explore the new territory in the morning.

At dawn Arya, Owen and a group of sailors disembark on the beach, in total there are ten people, Arya orders them to divide into two groups, Arya Owen and three crew members form the first group and enter the forest, the second group separates  at a distance of about 200 meters to cover a little more ground.  Before separating Owen tells everyone to be vigilant, this land does not appear on the maps, they do not know what dangers they hide among the dense vegetation.

After a few hours of driving, Owen calls his captain, "Captain, I'd better see this," Arya heeds the first officer's call and steps forward in formation, observes through the brush, the footprints Owen had discovered, the  which were huge, at least a meter long, each showed that the animal that had left them had three toes on its legs, and by formation revealed that it is a biped animal.  Arya orders to open her eyes wide, whatever that thing is, it would be better not to find it.

"What kind of beast left those tracks? Arya asks the first officer, who replies that he was not sure, it was the first time he saw tracks like this," Do you think it's a dragon or something similar?  Asked by Arya, Owen tells him that it could be possible, but as he saw in those tracks the animal walked on two legs, and the dragons use their wings to walk on all fours when they are on the ground.  This raised more questions than answers in the mind of the young Stark, what kind of fauna inhabits this island or continent, if they are on the unknown coast of Ulthos, they are surely the first human beings to set foot in place in thousands of years.

While they continued exploring, the second group of sailors sounds a horn in alarm signaling a possible attack or a finding that could interest the captain.  The group led by Arya runs towards the direction of the alarm to investigate what has happened.  Upon arriving at the place Arya asks what has happened, because they gave the alarm signal, one of the Sailors point something to the front, a few meters from them is the corpse of an unknown animal, none of them can identify that it is, not even Owen, the most experienced of the group.  As they approach, they notice that the creature has a large wound in its abdomen, the beast is huge, at least comparable to an elephant, its skin is grayish, scaly and hard, its face is elongated and its mouth resembles that of  a wild duck.

The group wonders if it could be the creature that produced those footprints they found on the road, but Owen rules it out, Arya asks why he rules out that possibility, Owen points out that the corpse corresponds to a quadruped animal, not biped like that of the  footprints, besides that these correspond to an animal with three toes on its legs, similar to a lizard, that dead beast has legs very similar to an elephant, it would be impossible that they were the same being, Owen points out that a better question would be What  kind of animal gave house and death to what they have in front?  His injuries and the fact that his abdomen is partially devoured indicate that it was a huge predator.  This makes Arya even more thoughtful, orders her men to regroup in one place, and continue the exploration together to avoid being ambushed.