Chereads / The Lunar Ray Guild / Chapter 3 - Story 3 | Riverbed Hijinx

Chapter 3 - Story 3 | Riverbed Hijinx

 The next morning, Xander is once again woken up by Shanna's persistent knocking. Although, this time it's more like banging. He groans and gets up yelling, "I'm up, I'm up!" However, when he opens the door, he sees Marlo. "Oh, hello. W-what's up, Marlo?"

 Marlo stands there with his hands propped behind the back of his head, "Tch, Shanna told me to come get you."

 Xander quickly apologizes, "I'm sorry, she insists that I get up early in the morning."

 "Pfft," Marlo wears a teasing smile on his face, "Sounds like she's got a thing for you."

 Xander blinks and replies, "She nearly killed me yesterday, I highly doubt that."

 "Shanna can be quite annoying. I may be stronger than her, but her insistence is uncanny."

 "Noted. Anyway, thanks for dropping by. I was probably gonna sleep another two hours."

 Marlo's smile disappears for a second and he says, "I know it's tough dealing with her, but she does mean well. She takes strength and weakness a bit too seriously sometimes. She masks her care for people behind an air of arrogance." Xander is a bit shocked hearing this from Marlo. 

 The moment is quickly interrupted, however, by Melkhi who pushes past Marlo and says, "Leave Xander be, Marlo. He's got a long day ahead of him."

 "OI! What do you say when you push pass somebody?!" Marlo says.

 "Out of my way, chump," Melkhi answers with a wicked smile on his face. The two stare each other down once again, as if getting ready to brawl. Then a cold bead of sweat moves down Melkhi's face as he backs off.

 "You know the rules fellas. No fighting inside the dorms. The guildhall is one thing but here it's strictly forbidden." Cruccevo stands in the hallway with his arms crossed. He takes a look at the two and both Melkhi and Marlo depart in a fearful silence. 'Just how powerful is this guy,' Xander wonders in his head. Cruccevo walks down the hall and pats Xander on the shoulder as he passes by, "I wouldn't keep Shanna waiting. What Marlo says about her is true. Despite her attitude she really cares about everybody in the guild. She just needs to break out of her shell more."

 Xander closes his door and sighs. He never expected to be visited by such a set of powerful faces this early in the morning, but he'll use it as motivation to become stronger today when he faces off against the naiads. 

 A little later that morning, he stands outside the guildhall doors waiting to meet up with Shanna. He half expects Gridlock to show up and see him off, but he seems to be absent at the moment. Instead, Frizz stands there wearing a big smile on her face.

 Shanna comes out of the guildhall and turns to Xander, "Are you ready?" Xander nods his head while adjusting his belt full of crystals.

 Frizz says, "Be careful, you two. Make sure you stay out of any unnecessary trouble."

 "Thank you, Bunny!" Xander replies appreciatively.

 Shanna blushes slightly and turns away. Frizz' smile softens, and she gives Shanna a hug, "Don't worry so much, dear. Your comrade is right here with you."

 Shanna hesitantly brings her hands up. She gently moves Frizz away from her while looking down and says, "I know."

 Frizz' face saddens a bit, but she quickly lights back up again, "Alrighty, we'll see you two when you get back!" Frizz waves to the two of them as they set off for the east side of the town.

 'I wonder what that was about,' Xander thinks to himself as he peeks at Shanna's face. She wears a glum expression with a tinge of sadness hidden within her eyes. Her eyes are unnervingly green. Xander never took the chance to concentrate on how she looks like, but she's pretty. Her hair matches her own eyes with a red streak infiltrating the folds of green. It's done up in a sort of bell-shaped design and is quite short, only reaching her shoulders. Her skin is very light, lighter than even Xander's. Her hands are very small and delicate, though Xander already knows how strong they can be. Her skin is flawless, or almost flawless but Xander notices something growing from beneath her sleeves. He focuses in on it for a second. 

 She turns her head, and he quickly looks away pretending his attention was caught on something in the sky. "Are you ready for today?" she asks him.

 "Of course. As ready as I'll ever be," he answers with a smile while pumping his fist into the air.

 She nods her head and points at the path ahead of them. One leading straight from the town's road into the forest. "This path will bring us to the designated location. But first, we need to head to the fishermen's guild to get a little bit of extra information to know what we're dealing with."

 "Yeah, that would be a good idea," he nods. 

 The two enter the building nearest the edge of the river before it flows through the city. At the top of the guild's building there is an insignia displaying a fishing rod pulling a squid from the ocean. The guild at first sight surprises Xander a bit. The inside is much smaller than their own guild. The lounge is much cozier, the interior decorated with a darkened plaster wall. Dark wood floors casting extra shadows everywhere around the room. There are fishing rods, trophy fish, and portraits hanging on the walls, displays both menacing and magnificent. A fire blazes in the corner as both fishermen and sailors gather around the hearth telling each other's amazing tales and stories out in the seas and the ocean.

 "…and that was when One-Eyed Barnaby snatched up the young wench and saved her from the vast jaws of the Kraken! You could bet your bottom dollar the young lass was scared out of her wits. Every man along with her, but not Barnaby."

 "Isn't that when Barnaby drove a harpoon through the heart of the Kraken?"

 "Aye. It done scared the thing away back to the icy depths of the Kolaken Sea." That's when the storyteller first notices the two as they walk further into the guild hall. "Is there something can we do for you strangers?"

 "Yes," Xander says while holding out a hand to shake, "We're actually two wizards hired from the local mage guild to handle some naiads that's been causing your members trouble lately."

 The old sailor just eyes Xander's hand then looks him in the eye. He sends a glob of spit flying straight into a spittoon three feet away before standing up and turning away, "I could crush the vermin myself if I wanted to. But why not hand a little pocket change over to some land-lovers to solve the problem for us."

 Xander lowers his hand as Shanna speaks up this time, "Do you have any information on these naiads or are you going to continue wasting our time?"

 The older man snorts and responds, "I would have your tongue little lady if you weren't from the guild of that ink and paper scallywag." 'Cruccevo again…' Xander notes in his head. "There are only three of them," the sailor concedes, "They've accused us of defiling the waters of the river but we ain't done nothing to that blast river or lake for the past century our guild has been stationed here. The harlots won't leave our patrons be. Every poor soul who sets up by the river or lake are quickly driven away. We need you to exterminate these naiads for us. You think you and your little calypso can handle that?" The older man turns to Xander who finally realizes he was talking directly to him.

 Shanna doesn't look happy at this little jab, but Xander quickly moves them along, "Yes! We appreciate the information. We'll be on our way now!" 

 Once they're outside, Shanna shoves Xander off of her, "The next time you shove me, I'll feed you to a carnivorous plant." She quickly pulls her sleeves back down to conceal the mystery growth Xander noticed earlier.

 Rather than asking about it, he says, "Come on. Now is a good time to head to the river."

 Shanna immediately snaps back into mission mode, "Right. There's something you should know about naiads, they tend to have a bit of control over water flow, command over lesser sea creatures, and some are even known to harness electricity."

 "I'm sorry…electricity? Sort of like electric eels."

 "Yes. Many naiads have a similar affinity with other creatures in the seas and the oceans."

 They see a man on the road carrying a fishing rod with empty buckets and lures, grumbling and mumbling to himself. "Excuse me, sir. May I ask what has you frustrated?" Shanna asks the man while standing in front of him.

 He points and says, "There, those darn naiads. They won't let anybody near the river! I can't catch a single thing while they're there."

 "Well lucky for you, that's why we're here," Xander says with a smile.

 The fisherman frowns and asks, "Who are you?"

 "We're mages from Lunar Ray. We're here to drive away those pesky nature spirits."

 "You're better off exterminating them, they'll just come back eventually."

 "Understood," Shanna says in response. The man nods then continues along his way.

 "So, we're going to kill these naiads?"

 "If it's the only way to resolve the quest, then yes."

 "I'm sure there are other ways we can think of that'll keep them away."

 "I'm all ears if any ideas stab your mind, Prolly. Until then, we're going to get rid of these naiads permanently." The two encroach upon the area the fisherman had been walking away from and come to a stop. A rock comes whizzing through the air missing Shanna's face by an inch.

 Shanna's eyes narrow and glares at the individual responsible for slinging the rock. There stands a woman spirit. Transparent with features of her spectral form rippling and flowing around the air as if she's made entirely of water. "Yes, killing them sounds nice," Shanna says, getting into a battle stance, causing the ground to tremble beneath them. 

 The naiad turns to Xander ready to sling a rock his way, but she stops and drops the rock. If Xander didn't know any better, the woman is blushing. Shanna uses this as her chance to attack, sending a flood of roots and vines through the ground toward the naiad. The ground breaks apart as thick tree roots jut from the soil, the vines wrapping around the tree roots as they go. Before the attack can reach the spirit, a small wave of water comes crashing into the array of plant life causing the roots to sprawl apart unevenly and miss her. Shanna pulls back the attack and looks toward the side. Two more naiads appear, having conjured the wave. "What is wrong sister!? Do not falter! These children are mages."

 The first spirit snaps out of it, "You're right, sister. My apologies. The young male just averted my gaze for a moment."

 Xander blinks and points to himself, "Wait, you're talking about me?" A rock knocks into the side of Xander's head, "Ow! What was that for?!"

 "Do not goggle at our sister with your filthy eyes, human!" the other one spits, "You are not worthy of her mana."

 Xander turns red, "What!? No! I-I wasn't thinking about that at all. I'm not even the flirtatious type."

 "Liar!"

 "Sister, please," calls the first naiad, who then turns her attention back to Shanna, "What do two wizards want with me and my sisters?"

 "You're monsters we're here to ki-"

 "Kindly escort you to another area to protect!" Xander quickly interrupts her. Shanna turns on Xander, "Excuse me?" Xander waves her off and continues, "You see. We understand that you're wanting to protect the resources within your domain."

 "Fish are not resources," blurts out one of the other naiads.

 "Yeah, they're our friends," adds the other one.

 The first one speaks up, "I am Nimra, protector of this river. And these are my sisters Felesta and Minera. Humans have been poaching the fish in our river for many decades. Only recently, the river started to become corrupted by a mysterious black substance. We try to cleanse the river, but the black substance always returns, especially during the activity of those fishermen."

 Xander turns to Shanna, "Maybe…you have a power that could help." Shanna just stares at Xander, and he shakes head, "No. Alright. Then we will just have to figure out what's causing this black substance to infiltrate the river and how to stop its spread."

 Shanna doesn't say anything in response, instead she protectively rubs her arms along the forearm.

 Xander turns his attention back to Nimra, "Can you please show us where the black substance is growing?" The naiad nods her head and drifts above the river waters, almost like a phantom. Xander follows with Shanna close behind. Felesta and Minera also follow, although from a farther distance. Possibly to keep a watchful eye over the two mages. They finally reach a point in the river where it splits into two different paths. One stream of the river leads onward to the mountains while the other leads to a lake in the far distance. At the point where both streams meet, a black substance is swimming through the water, almost ink-like. There are dead fish floating about the water's surface. The flow of the water is also affected by this substance as it slows down significantly, almost coming to a complete standstill as it flows pass but then picks up again a few feet beyond the blackened area. The area not only permeates the river but also seeps into the ground touching the river. Xander gets into the water and wades through as he approaches the black substance.

 "Xander you idiot, what are you doing?" Shanna shouts suddenly.

 Xander holds up an Analysis Crystal, "I'm going to take a peek at this substance and its true nature. He then holds the crystal up to the black substance which is then partially absorbed by the crystal. Suddenly, a shadow appears in the river taking a hold of Xander's legs, "What the-" he says surprised before being pulled underwater. He's dragged upstream toward the lake up ahead.

 "Xander!" Shanna shouts as she runs after him. The naiads follow in hot pursuit. Xander quickly uses his Crystalline ability, and the shadow lets go of him retreating back into the riverbank. Shanna runs up to where he had stopped as he resurfaces.

 He coughs up water while quickly climbing out of the river and laying down on the side of the river, thin crystal plating breaking off of him and shattering in pieces. He pants while holding his chest, feeling exasperated, "What in the world was that!?"

 The naiads finally catch up and Shanna shields Xander as if they're going to ambush the two, "Something tells me they have something to do with this."

 "Don't be absurd!" Felesta shouts in frustration, "If we wanted to kill you we would have done so when you first approached."

 Nimra holds up a hand and her sister shuts up. "That's a shadow that has been lurking in this forest for as long as we can remember. It serves no one. We are just as surprised as you are."

 Shanna's eyes glow a bit greener, almost neon. She's angry and it shows as the ground starts to shake. The three naiads prepare for the attack that is to come but Xander holds up the Analysis Crystal in front of Shanna's face, "The analysis is complete. This substance is some kind of anti-energy feeding off the energy of the forest itself. Because of this the spread of the black substance is slowly killing every living part of the forest it touches."

 Shanna stares back at the black substance. Xander cannot read her face, but her voice is shaky with the next thing she says, "I guess I have no choice but to use that." She walks back towards the fork in the river and gets into the water herself. She wades into the black substance and Xander tries to protest but she ignores him.

 She places her hands over the blackened area and starts to chant, "O, let the spirit of the forest hear my plea. Let the dying be reborn again. Let the withering ground grow, let the poisoned stream replenish itself, let the accursed land be cured of its disease and corruption." A giant magic circle quickly forms over the entirety of the blackened area. The longer she chants these words the brighter the circle glows to the point where it makes it difficult for Xander to get a good look at what's happening. She completes the spell by shouting, "Regrowth!"

 The black substance immediately retracts from both the river and the land as it vaporizes into a cloud of black particles. The river flow returns to normal and even the fish that were once dead revive and continue on their way. The grass that had blackened and died also returns to normal.

 Shanna pants and nearly falls face first into the river, but Xander leaps forward to catch her. He carries her to the path side of the riverbank and lays her on the ground. He can feel the magic power drained out of her. She groans and holds her head, a sharp headache moving through her skull. If Xander doesn't know any better the red streak on her head changes from scarlet to a sort of scarlet-orange color. He sums it up to his own imagination and shakes her shoulder, "Hey, will you be alright?" She knocks his hand aside and sits up, "I'll be fine."

 "That magic…you're," Nimra starts to say but Shanna glares at her. The naiad shuts her mouth and gestures to her sisters. They all fall like puddles of water back into the river and disappear. Shanna gets up off the ground and says, "Come on, let's go confirm the resolution of this quest." The two head back to the fishermen's guild. 

 It took Xander all he could to keep Shanna from destroying the guild after the old sailor commented, "What's wrong, little calypso. You're so pale, you'd think you ran into a ghost!" Even when the two are walking away from the guild, they can hear the boisterous laugh of the old man. They return to their own guild where everybody cheers upon their re-entry.

 "How did the quest go?!" Frizz asks excitedly. If Xander doesn't know any better, he can see her nose slightly twitching.

 "It went…well," Xander says as he looks at Shanna who stares off blankly into the distance.

 "You said that non-convincingly, Prolly. Did something happen?" Melkhi says while handing a mug to Xander.

 Xander drinks the rich cider on the inside then swirls his drink around a bit before saying, "Well, we met some interesting characters. Especially this one older sailor."

 "Sounds like you met Hannis Jones, Barnaby's brother." Cruccevo walks down the stairs shouldering a bag with a poster rolled up in his hand, most likely an S-class quest he picked up from the board. He notices Shanna's blank stare and walks over to her. He places a hand on her forehead, and she stares back at him clearly annoyed. He smiles back at her, "You look like you need some rest, Shanna." He then lets his hand fall to his side as he walks out the guild.

 Shanna smiles a little and turns to Frizz saying, "I'm just a bit tired, I think I'll go get some rest." Frizz places a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Of course, dear. I'll let Gridlock know of your success!"

 Shanna walks out and Xander asks Frizz, "He isn't back yet?"

 "No, dear. He's still working on something important. But I'm sure he'll be back some time tonight." Xander nods his head with a smile.

 "Well, I'm a bit tired, too," he lies, "I think I'll turn in early." He returns to his dorm room and unpacks. Once he finishes, he starts working on creating new storage crystals. He doesn't know if Shanna will want to go on another quest with him. She pretty much did all the work, so he gave her 60% of the reward. She insisted that they split it 50/50 but he just couldn't accept that. He lays back with a sigh as he holds up his hand clenched tightly. He can feel the crystal particles slowly but surely growing. 

 Somewhere in a faraway region of the world, Gridlock stands at the top of a cliff overlooking a city brought to ruin. Anera was once a thriving miner city. They were digging for special metals that could supposedly grant people's wishes. However, everybody in the city vanished completely without a trace. Many theorize the people entered the mines for some reason but there has been nothing to support such a theory, not without some kind of sign or piece of evidence.

 Many years ago, the X-class took on this mission, all ten of them. One of the most difficult quests in the world, a reward worth several billion Aris. As Gridlock now looks down on the city he notices that the very tops of the buildings have been blackened, as if a dragon flew overhead and roasted the topside of the city. The ground has long since upheaved the cobblestone streets, revealing a purple mineral growing from the dirt. Though the biggest mystery of it all… Gridlock stands and stares up into the night sky. Although the sky is illuminated by the stars...the moon is nowhere in sight.