'Holy Sunbeams!' Iris gasped, feeling her legs shaking involuntary.
'Fine, you overgrown worm. Do you want to fight?! Let's fight!' Arlo taunted. He was sidestepping away from the rest of his companions. The creature eyed him and, with incredible speed, darted forward so fast, he barely managed to dodge in time. The giant wyrm crashed headfirst into the wall, crushing the stones and crystals. Myr managed to already fire a few arrows at it, but most of them bounced harmlessly from the hard rocks.
'How do we even fight this thing?' Iris shouted, drawing light from the torches.
'Let's try to blind it!' Jayden waved his glowing hand.
The creature picked its head up and shook the loose stone and dust when a blinding light exploded right in front of it. It shrieked, but it sounded more angry than painful. The stone monster lowered its head, and its glowing blue eyes focused on two Mages now.
It hissed.
'Run!' shouted Myrica at them. 'Disperse!'
They didn't need more encouragement and rushed in different directions. The stone wyrm dashed after Jayden.
'No, you don't!' Arlo screamed and swiped both of his axes in a giant arc into the monster's tail. The steel ignited the rain of sparks and crushed some stones but failed to do any substantial damage. The monster shrieked and turned quickly, rushing onto the latest threat.
'Our attacks are useless!' Arlo barked, jumping out of the way of the charging creature. 'It's made of bloody stone!'
'Iris, help me distract him,' Jayden called. 'Otherwise, it'll crash Arlo sooner or later!'
The young Mage produced a myriad of tiny lights, reminding Iris of fireflies, and sent them to orbit around the wyrm's head. The creature shook its head and tried to eye all of the lights at once. Iris followed his lead and created more floating lights. Of course, hers wasn't as pretty or precise as Jayden's. They were more like irregular splatters of lights. She made them float near the creature's head, from one side to another.
'It's working! Keep it up!' Myr shouted. She tried to send another arrow targeting the monster's eye, but it seemed the glowing points were not physical enough to get pierced by an ordinary weapon like hers. She cursed in a language Iris didn't understand and stepped back to look at the Crystal again. It was glowing brightly now, emanating with a bright blue light.
The woman gingerly put her hand on the Crystal and didn't withdraw it.
'It's no longer burning. Jayden! I think we can use it now!'
But before the Mage managed to respond, the snake turned toward Myrica, glowing eyes focusing on the artefact in her hands.
'Blashamenit!' the booming voice reverberated through the stones. 'Furaneliun!'
The creature howled, ignoring all the floating lights, and rushed toward the huntress. She nimbly dodged, jumping over the giant head and backing away in the other direction.
'It talks?' Jayden shouted in surprise, trying to distract the beast with lights again. 'What is this language?'
'It's the ancient dialect of the forest,' replied Myr eyeing the creature warily. 'Is it possible that...'
'Myr!' Arlo shouted, impatiently stepping between a gaping woman and the wyrm, recoiling for another attack. 'We need to know how to fight it! Do you have anything for us?'
'Drop your weapons,' the woman said, suddenly throwing her bow onto the ground.
'What?' exclaimed three voices in identical disbelieve.
'Do as I command!' she barked, glaring at them. 'Arlo, out of the way!'
The big man looked like he was about to argue, but one look at his companion and he slowly lowered his axes and took a few steps back. Myrica straightened, still holding the glowing crystal in her hands. She took a step toward the creature.
The monster hissed, his rocky body tensed and readied for an attack. It bared its stony teeth and rushed at the woman at full speed.
'No!' cried Iris. Her feet were urging her to move, to stop the charging monster. To do anything. But an arm blocked her path. She looked up at Jayden. He clenched his teeth while observing the unravelling scene. It was too late now. Iris felt a flood of despair. Myr stood no chance against this creature.
Just when the monster was a step away, the huntress fell on her knees and held the crystal high over her head.
'Innociente!' she shouted in a strange dialect. 'Custosio silvestre! Necessiuto auxilli!'
The stone wyrm suddenly stopped his massive jaws just a breath away from Myrica. After an agonising second, it withdrew and looked at her with glowing blue eyes swaying gently from side to side.
'Custosio?' boomed deep voice again. It seemed to come not from the monster itself but the stones all around them, vibrating gently to the rhythm of the words.
Myr looked up cautiously, not daring to move. 'Si ono Myrica Fenphyra, sucessiro del defensiore silvestre animosa!'
'Curiositas.'
'What is happening?' Iris whispered to Jayden, not daring to move, not to interrupt this bizarre conversation.
'I'm not sure,' he replied. For once, there was no venom in his words. He was as flabbergasted as she was.
The strange dialogue continued, but Iris couldn't understand a word. At some point, Myrica put her hands down and looked straight at the creature, though there was still a reverence sound in her melodic voice. The stone wyrm hummed something, and Myrica suddenly screamed and fell on her hands, brilliant blue light engulfing her body.
'Myr!' Arlo shouted and took a step forward, his hands reaching for his axes.
'No! Do not step any closer!' the huntress gasped in a shaky voice, all her body trembling. The man stopped, but his whole body was tense as if he were ready to dash to her side at any second. But the light suddenly disappeared, and Myrica sighed with visible relief.
'Seu prefectulare,' the monster boomed, an odd hint of satisfaction in his tone. 'Seu meliuse defectulare.' The otherworldly light in his eyes suddenly vanished, and the stones crumbled down on the floor, dead and unmoving once more.
Arlo was at Myrica's side before Iris managed to sigh in relief.
'Are you all right?' he asked, his arm wrapped gently around her narrow shoulders. 'What the hell was that?'
'We... have to get out of here,' she managed to say, her voice frail and tired. 'I need air.'
The big man helped her to her feet and let her lean heavily on his arm. Iris noticed she didn't seem to be injured, not physically at least, but she looked like she was utterly exhausted. Her shoulders were hunched, and deep dark circles appeared under her brilliant golden eyes. They all saved their questions for later and just followed her in a slow way back to the surface.
Once they were back in the forest outside of the cave, Myrica dropped heavily on the grass and kept taking deep breaths.
'Are you all right?' Iris asked, concerned and sat next to her. 'Can we do anything to help?'
'I am well. For now, at least,' the huntress replied, her voice quiet and tired. 'Sit with me, so I can tell you what happened there.' She patted the grass next to her. Everyone complied, and Myrica took the crystal from her bag and put it on the ground between them. It was not glowing anymore. Just merely reflecting the faint rays of the setting Lord Sun.
Myrica was silent for a moment while collecting her thoughts.
'That thing back there,' Jayden said, breaking the silence. 'It was an ancient Spirit of the Forest, was it not?'
'Yes, indeed,' the huntress agreed. Her voice was slowly getting stronger and back to its usual musical vibe. She was recovering from whatever the Spirit did to her. 'When the Ancients lay the Crystal of Illumination to rest, they not only concealed it with spells, preventing it from resurfacing. They also left one of them as a guardian.' She looked at Iris. 'You were right. The Light Magic roused the Crystal from its slumber. But it had also awakened the guardian.'
'No wonder he was pissed,' Arlo murmured. 'I would be too if someone woke me up from my hundreds-year long nap!'
Myrica's lips quivered in a small smile. 'He was. I only recognised it when it spoke. There could be no doubt it was the Ancient Forest dialect.'
'You scared the crap out of me when you just knelt there, without any weapon,' Arlo complained, his face solemn again.
'I apologise, but it was necessary to prove that our intentions were pure.'
'The Spirit agreed that we could take the Crystal?' Jayden asked, his brows knitted in a frown while he listened intently.
'Yes, but under one condition.'
'What condition?' Iris asked.
'We have to return it before the new moon rises,' Myr said, her voice gloomy.
'And what if we fail to do that?' Arlo asked, dread clear in his voice. They all suspected the answer already.
'Then the Crystal of Illumination will use my soul to seal its power for another hundred years.'
Picture by Graham-H from Pixabay