The Fish in the Forest

"Jason, lad! He's awake! The mage's awake!"

Jason hurried over to the couch and stood beside the much shorter Greeny. Elfin's eyes fluttered open slowly.

"What happened...?" he asked softly. His voice was devoid of energy.

"We dunno, Elfin. I opened the door and next thing I know you were passin' out all over me floor!" answered Greenothumbos. Jason shook his head, signalling that he should take over from here. Greeny shrugged and walked off to greet a guest who had been ringing the counter bell for the past five minutes.

"Elfin, you okay?"

Sitting up, the mage replied, "I've had better days." Jason couldn't help but laugh.

Elfin didn't respond to the laughter. Instead, he looked at Jason with grim eyes. The young man knew something grave had happened, or was about to.

"I saw Spellophia...going into war. It's been five hundred years since the End. And now that it's been rebuilt, it's going to face more trouble..." Elfin's voice trailed off.

With a sigh, Jason said, "That no good Griephon...don't worry. We'll get him."

"It's not Griephon," cut in the elf. "I saw the man's face. The one who will invade Spellophia. It was dark; purely evil. Jason, I fear we have dug in way too deep this time. Griephon might not be our only problem."

They stared at each other in silence, Jason's jaw hung open.

"Well I've got your things down. Have a safe trip you lot," came Greeny's voice, breaking the silence. Jason and Elfin both looked up and saw that the dwarf had taken the liberty of bringing their bags down. Jason took his small backpack and Elfin his Inventi. Thanking Greeny, they left the Short Stalkers.

*** *** ***

Using the river Elfin had followed the night before, the pair headed towards the forest. The tree spirits there would help them get more information about Griephon's location. Having split up, they met together at a small lake where the river flow mysteriously stopped moments later.

Most of the tree spirits shunned either of them, but some offered helpful hints as to where Griephon might be hiding. A majority mentioned Siege Island, a place said to be a realm all on its own. The entrance to Siege was through a portal previously locked in the heart of the outbacks. However, Griephon had ordered the portal moved to his base of operations.

There was something else that nearly all the spirits who bothered to speak talked about. The many inhabitants of the forest were being oppressed by a ferocious beast sent by Griephon himself to capture powerful spirits.

"We should help them!" said Jason strongly. Elfin nodded, smiling.

Together, they ventured deeper into the forest, so deep that, even though it was noon, the sun's rays seemed to dim. As they neared a suspicious-looking cavern, a mind-blowing sound knocked both of them to the ground.

"SHREEE_ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!"

"What the heck is that!?" bellowed Jason, but his voice was lost in the horrible sound. Elfin decided not to waste the effort. He held up his staff, one hand on his left ear, and tried to utter a Silencing Spell. However, the screech, or roar or whatever it was made it hard to concentrate.

Then, as sudden as it had began, it stopped. A weird silence permeated in the woods.

"What the heck was that?" said Jason again.

"I do believe...I don't know," muttered Elfin. Just as he finished his sentence, a body of black skin stepped out from behind the cavern. Whatever it was, it had an extremely large mouth which hung open rudely, and blood-shot eyes. Two arms extended from either side of it, and its powerful feet were lined with two claws each. Pipe-like organs stuck out from its forehead and back, forming a tail.

"That's one ugly-ARGHH!" Jason was cut off as the creature unleashed yet another screeching roar. Admist the chaos, a jet of red flames, skilfully shot, blasted right into the creature's back. It stopped its sound attack and fell on its face, (or mouth, which was still wide open) struggling to get up.

"What the heck was that?" cursed Jason for the third time then.

"No more chit-chat and let's finish off the monster!" spat Elfin, who immediately cast his Silencing Spell. The sound beast had gotten up, and tried to unleash another sound attack. It was puzzled at first, but Jason sprang forward to relieve it of its bewilderment. His sword made a graceful arch, and that was that.

"Now, what the HECK was that!?" Jason yelled, frustrated at having asked the same question so many times.

"That was my Dragon Flare, and I'm sorry if I scared you two," said a cool, watery voice. Jason and Elfin looked around, but saw no one.

"Show yourself!" shouted Elfin. He gripped his staff harder.

A rustle of leaves, and out from the thick bushes came the blue, translucent body of a Piscian, in his hands a torch of some sort.

"Hi, my name's Neptune. Please to meet you."