The Land of Green and Gold Part II: Silence

Chapter 24: The Thief

A thief.

Griffin sprinted back up the valley to level ground and shadow-veiled his eyes, straining to see through the night-shrouded trees. Several long seconds of immense darkness met his efforts but then a sudden flash caught his attention from his left. Griffin turned to see the tiniest flicker of blue disappear into the gloom.

A naiad.

"Sir, Mac, and Starlight—fly up above the trees and see if you can spot a naiad running away. Use veiled sighting if you're able," Griffin ordered.

The sylphs immediately took off.

"Ash, you're in charge here. Night Shade, you come with me."

The red-glowing wisp joined him at the top of the valley and Griffin took off into the forest where he had seen the light disappear.

He or she is pretty fast to have grabbed our supplies then run out of sight, Griffin mused as he and Night Shade ran. I wonder if they're strong?

A cacophony of triumphant yells and furious shrieks suddenly filled the air. Griffin and Night Shade sped up, adjusting their course to the barrage of battle cries. Lights began to dance in between the trees as they grew closer, and soon Griffin could pick out the blue-tinted silvers of his sylphs and the ocean blue color of the thief in between them.

"Don't jump in just yet," Griffin murmured to Night Shade as they pulled up to the edge of the fight.

Griffin peered through the spiny branches of the pine trees and studied the thief. The naiad was a tall woman with pale skin and dark violet, almost black, hair. Her magic was full and strong, completely filling in her frame, though not enough to spill out. She fought with skill, both with weapons and with magic. Sir and Starlight were forced to keep up shields as she relentlessly attacked with her naiad-crafted sword. Just as Griffin was wondering where Mac had gone off to, the young sylph swooped in from above and began pelting the naiad with apples. Undeterred, the thief continued attacking with her sword and used her other hand to create a hasty shield.

"Alright. Let's go."

Griffin and Night Shade burst from their hiding places and raced to their band mates. Night Shade increased her glow, giving the wisp a threatening blood-red color, and Griffin summoned the shadows to his hands. The darkness responded eagerly.

"Stop, thief," Griffin commanded. "You've lost. You're outnumbered."

The naiad came to a halt, eyes shooting over to her new attackers. Her black eyes revealed not even a spark of panic. "Oh really? And since when did numbers have anything to do with winning or losing?"

"If numbers don't mean a thing to you, then you should check my strength." Griffin slowly stepped forward, hands inky black now from all the magic. "You don't want to test me."

The naiad laughed and sheathed her sword, arms folding across her chest as she smirked. "Ha! A little boy is threatening me? How precious!"

Griffin ignored the demeaning tone in her voice. "Why did you steal our supplies? And where did you put them?"

"Hm. Where did I put those heavy bags? I wonder..." The naiad suddenly clapped her hands together, feigning realization. "Oh! That's right. Somewhere not here which I should be heading to right now."

Griffin realized a moment too late that the naiad had created a tiny bubble when she had clapped her hands. The naiad gave him a triumphant smirk and snapped her fingers. The bubble exploded. More water than should have been possible crashed down upon the Moonlight Band members and began created a giant bubble around them. Within seconds, all five members were trapped inside the bubble of water, fists pounding on the walls and lungs burning as their oxygen slowly depleted. The naiad thief gave them a wave then disappeared into the trees.