Bjorn's Journey

My name is Bjorn. I used to be soldier before I was disgraced and reduced to a beggar. And now you want to know why I'm here? I suppose I've got some time. Nothing much changes here.
It all started when I stole a fish. Yes, that's right, a fish. I don't think it was even that big, but the town guards chased me into the forest nonetheless. I eventually lost 'em. Got lost meself though. I wandered the forest for hours, looking for a way out. I'm not a dumb man. I had spent many years at my toft hunting and fending for myself, and I knew how to track. For somsone like me, finding my own tracks should have been easy, but this place seemed determined to keep me. It was as if the footprints had disappeared.
I didn't have time for hopelessness to set in. I heard a soft padding among the trees, so up a tree I went. I stayed there and held my breath, unwilling to give any predators a chance to find me before I found them. A few minutes passed before I saw the giant bulk of a huge brown bear. This behemoth was massive, even by the standards of the bears around my homelands. Even if I had stood on my toes, this beorn's head would have been at least half a man taller than me. It wasn't alone either. Around its feet were two smaller bears, still taller than a man. They padded around the trees for a bit, then they bundled up for a nap.
I watched for a few minutes before I noticed I wasn't alone in my tree. A clawed creature with one bloodshot eye and a big toothy mouth was watching me, and had just started climbing towards me. It had four long lanky legs, a disk shaped body, and huge talons on each foot. Once it realized I had noticed it, it swung off the tree branch and sailed towards me. In slow motion, I watched that maw widen in anticipation.
Then I slapped it with the fish I had been holding. I stared in surprise at the fish. I had forgotten I was holding it. It stared back at me reproachfully.
The thing fudged its landing, but sunk several claws into the tree trunk, catching itself as it fell. Realizing I wasn't going to have any luck avoiding it in the tree, I tried to clamber down as fast as I could. Unfortunately, the creature slashed at me with a clawed foot, and I lost my balance. This is when I fell onto the mother bear.
She wasn't happy to have her rest interrupted. Then the creature also landed on her, apparently still more interested in a potential meal than the possible dangers on the ground. The difference was, I was lucky enough to catch the mother bear while she was still sleepy. The crawler was not as blessed, and the beorn slashed at the thing with claws like swords. Screeching in alarm, it jumped away from her, making for another tree.
But it didn't make it, but it wasn't because of the bear. A crab claw, easily five men in length, pinned it, stunning the creature. Another limb ending in a hand with claws the length of a full grown salmon snatched it up, raising the struggling creature towards a head contorted between wolf and man, crowned with spiraled goat horns. Opening its mangled mouth, the new monster took a bite out of it's catch.
The mother bear began to growl. She clacked her teeth and pushed her cubs behind her, watching both me and the new threat, unsure of what to do. She grunted towards the cubs, and the family began to move away. I scrambled to my feet and ran past them, trying to stay out of reach of the mother bear. That's when the thing appeared to notice me. It finished eating my former attacker and turned its gaze towards me, teetering on rabbit-like legs.
It took a step towards me only for the leg it walked on to buckle and reform as fur fell out and the leg split into three smaller limbs, each barely capable of supporting its owner's weight. It reached a claw towards me, and it too changed. The chitinous crab claw cracked apart and talons grew in its place, forming into a bigger version of the limbs from the creature it had just eaten. Howling in pain, it forgot me for a second as it attempted to right itself.
I ran then. My blood ran cold as I heard a very human sound coming from the thing: Laughter. A cacophonous, insane, cruel laughter, only heard from torturers who enjoy their work.
Seeing a path in the underbrush, I ran down it. It didn't take long to realize the reason for the path: The mother bear and her cubs had been running this way. I caught up with them, fear of the laughter driving me to sprint ever faster. They didn't notice me, and just kept running. I risked a glimpse back, only to see that the thing had grown massive bat wings and was somehow flying after us, all while continuously cackling. Even as I watched, another limb sprouted from it's shoulder, this time mirroring one of my own. I didn't look back after that.
We kept running for an eternity, without even knowing where. My lungs and legs burned from the exertion, but I wasn't about to stop while I still heard it behind me. Then we burst into a clearing, and the laughter was cut off. I tumbled into a dead stop, before righting myself and looking back. The bear cubs were right behind me, but somehow I had gotten ahead of the mother bear. Then I saw her, grasped in a whip-like vine attached to the giant's shoulder. It had changed its appearance again and fired a harpoon at the mother, catching her and dragging her back.
It looked at her, holding her up, still struggling, by the neck. Then, with a single twist, the monster robbed her cubs of a parent. It looked at me, white eyes reflecting a cruel purple glow. Taking a hesitant step towards the clearing on giant goat feet, it drew an arm across it's neck. The arm shifted again to man's, and to my surprise... it motioned as if to decapitate.
"ZEPHNOS!" A voice thundered from the center of the clearing, its roar backed up by a fireball of violet power. The projectile slammed into the abomination, actually managing to knock it down. It screamed and ran, cowed by the display of force.
I turned towards the source of the voice. Now that I was safe, I looked around. The two bear cubs were huddled around a lilac fire in the center of the clearing. In the center of it was a small lizard -- no, a salamander. It looked at me, and spoke.
"Keep my fire fed, and I will keep things like THAT away."
All I could do we laugh. You know, that stupid, nervous laugh you get just after battle because you can't believe you're alive? That was my laugh. I was sure I was hallucinating.

---

The Salamander told me about how that creature had come to be. How it had stolen a part of the Salamander's fire and eaten the moon. How the keeper of the Campgrounds had all but let it.
After that, I decided the Campgrounds needed a guard. I didn't want anything untrustworthy getting that close to the fire ever again. One shapeshifting abomination was enough. The Salamander laughed at that, but said I was welcome to try.
I still feel guilty about that mother bear's death. I know it's irrational, but it doesn't make me feel any better. A small part of me wants to kill Zephnos, to make things right again. Another part of me, the sensible Bjorn, knows that's impossible. How does a man like me even fight a monster like that? I'm not strong or fast or tough.
I spent a long time on that question. I kept coming back to traps. I truly deserved my beggar status if I was going to resort to that, even against such a monster.