The Magic Mirror

Creeping Charlie

Somehow Audrin thought that waking up with Marcos' arms around her would be... well, a happier occasion. However, it had been brought on by a few special circumstances, the largest circumstance being that they seemed to be trapped in a net suspended over their campsite. More intriguing still was that the net, a crisscross of pulsing green vines, small purple flowers and round leaves, seemed to be alive.

"...what happened?" Audrin asked tentatively. Marcos had been peering through the thick material of their encasing and seemed surprised to hear her.

"The bird is at it again," he muttered.

Audrin looked down and saw that one of the creatures called a bird was indeed rummaging through their camp below. She pushed against the throbbing net and pulled her hand away as she realized that it was covered in slime.

"Oh my.." She grimaced and wiped the goo off on her shirt. "Fier?"

"Audrin," the voice from the ring replied shortly. Not surprisingly Fier sounded a little hopeless again. "It's nice to see that you've woken up to smell the digestive juices."

"The what?" she asked. She could see Marcos giving her a strange look.

"The plant that wrapped itself around you last night is called Creeping Charlie," Fier explained. "...it was locked away in the tree of lore a couple decades ago for inappropriate consumption of living people..."

"How do you know?" Audrin asked.

" Parsimum made me live and breath all things having to do with magic," Fier pointed out. "Of course I know these things."

"Right." Audrin looked at Marcos with the least convincing smile she had probably ever managed and said, "It..uh.. appears that we are being eaten alive."

"Oh.. I see," Marcos nodded. Once again he did not seem particularly affected by the knowledge that their lives were in mortal peril. "So does Fier the all knowing have any suggestions for us?"

"Where's his big, fat sword?" Fier asked, defensively. "One whack to this thing would probably do it! It isn't really that formidable of a creature."

Audrin looked down at the camp and somehow doubted this plan would be seen through. Both swords were still leaned against the log by their camp fire.

"Any other ideas?" she asked.

"...perfect," Fier grumbled. "..brought down by a weed."

Just then there was a crash. Audrin looked down to see the bird was now throwing things, like an upset child.

"Where's the stone?" it screeched. "Where is it? Where is it? The girl did not have it, the knight did not have it and now I do not have it"

The bird sank to its knees dramatically and if Audrin wasn't mistaken she could hear it sniffling. The mastermind behind capturing them in a human devouring net of plant life was throwing a tantrum. In the next moment it stopped its weeping abruptly and it's tone had gained a comforting quality.

"There there, Naros... take a moment to think. Is there something missing that was here before?"

The bird jumped to it's feet suddenly.

"Of course, Haviers! Why didn't I think of it? The dog! The dog!"

Audrin looked the camp over a few good times but Dumpling was nowhere to be seen. The bird turned its faceless head this way and that as if searching, but then it stopped. The bird's entire body seemed to shimmer, it broke into clouds and then reformed. Even to Audrin, who had a very limited knowledge of birds, this seemed odd.