Dear Diary,

  If there's anything I can't stand in this world, it's mythical beasts whose name is a combination of two other names. Exhibit A: an owlbear. An one, mind you.

  It all started when a scrawny man with a nervous twitch dragged in a rusted iron cage. He claimed the cage held a “rare, magical guardian beast” that was “worth every copper.”

  I eyed the empty cage skeptically. “It’s empty.”

  The man grinned. “That’s the magic of it! It’s an owlbear! And it's also an albino, which makes it incredibly rare!”

  "How do you know it's albino if it's invisible?" I asked, knowing full well my question would be ignored. And it was.

  The man started talking some nonsense about the supposed biology and habits of invisible owlbears. I leaned closer, trying to sense any sign of life inside the cage. Nothing. No sounds, no smells, no ominous growls.

  “I don't see anything,” I said.

  Against my better judgment, I reached inside, cautiously patting the air. Still nothing. The cage was as empty as my patience was about to become.

  The man’s grin faltered, beads of sweat forming on his brow. “That’s strange… Maybe it’s sleeping? Or shy?”

  I glared at him. “Or it never existed.”

  "N-no, it must have escaped!" he panicked. He bolted out the door, leaving me with an empty, rusted cage and a nasty headache. I locked the cage in the backroom and forgot about it. Until the chaos started.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  It began with the sound of crashing shelves. I rushed to the shop floor, only to find a pile of enchanted scrolls scattered across the floor. No customers in sight. The broom was trembling in the corner, quivering like a terrified hedgehog.

  Then the grumbling started. A low, guttural growl that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

  “Korgath!” I shouted. He emerged from the back, holding a stack of helmets. “Something’s in the shop!”

  Korgath tilted his head. “You sure?”

  Another crash answered for me. This time, a rack of cursed mirrors tumbled over, sending shards flying. One particularly dramatic mirror cursed my mother before shattering completely.

  Korgath frowned, setting the helmets down. “Sounds big.”

  “Sounds invisible,” I muttered, piecing it together. Before I could explain, an unseen force barreled into me, knocking me into the discount bin. I scrambled to my feet, heart racing.

  “It’s the owlbear!” I shouted.

  Korgath squinted at the empty air. “Where?”

  “Maybe behind you?”

  For the next hour, the shop descended into chaos. The invisible beast rampaged through shelves, knocked over potion racks, and made me paranoid of even the slightest sounds. Korgath swung wildly with a broom handle while I tried to lure the beast away with raw meat from the storeroom.

  Eventually, we cornered it—or rather, we cornered the sounds of its growling—behind the counter. I grabbed a handful of enchanted glitter and flung it into the air. The glitter stuck to the creature, revealing its massive, feathered outline.

  An invisible owlbear. It really existed. Not sure if it truly was an albino, though.

  Korgath smacked his lips in approval. “Big. Strong. Korgath likes it.”

  I didn’t share his enthusiasm. “Great. Now what?”

  We ended up bribing it with half the shop’s jerky stock, which kept it calm long enough for me to reinforce the backroom door. The broom now refuses to sweep near the storeroom, and the customers think the growling is just something we do to create ambiance.

  I can't wait till the man who brought this beast here visits my shop again. I have a thank-you gift basket waiting for him, with two sizeable half-orc fists inside. But for now, it seems the man has gone invisible, too.

  Yours in profit,

  Garren