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.
Great. Just great.
Griffin treaded water as he thought, glad that the naiad shell enabled him to breathe.
But the others can't. We need to get out of here quickly.
Griffin summoned a mass of magic and began to condense it together. The water kept separating the shadows, however, and Griffin was forced to use much more magic than he had intended to create a small black dagger. Griffin shrugged. It would have to do. Grasping the weapon firmly in both hands, the spriggan thrust it into the wall of the bubble. The tip slipped downward immediately upon impact, throwing Griffin off balance and causing his legs to drift above his head. Kicking furiously, Griffin repositioned himself right-side up next to the wall and tried again. Once more, his efforts proved fruitless. The dagger's blade couldn't seem to make a scratch and kept slipping in every direction when Griffin tried to concentrate on one spot and chisel a hole. A glance at his followers showed that they weren't having much luck either. Their movements were getting sluggish as well, indicating that they were at their last breathes.
Time's out.
Griffin bit his lip and glanced down at the smoking black magic swirling around his hands. Griffin's eyes suddenly lit up and he held out his hands, letting loose every little bit of magic inside him. The shadows coiled and surged through the water, bumping up against the bubble walls then tumbling freely around and mingling with the new surges of magic. Griffin's gut twisted sharply as he pushed for every last drop, but he ignored it, concentrating on the shadows that had now completely filled in the bubble. It was as if he had stepped off the earth and into a starless night sky.
Hands trembling, Griffin willed the shadows to expand and keep expanding. The darkness obeyed, lengthening and growing and pushing up against every portion of the bubble's cage. One of Griffin's ears popped as the pressure increased, and he glanced worriedly at the others. Only Ash remained conscious.
Griffin released the magic stored in his reservoir, sending that out to help push as well. His other ear popped and then the bubble burst, spilling water and Elder onto the forest grass. Griffin got up to his feet as he heard Ash and Night Shade gasp in the cold night air.
The thief must be pretty far away by now, Griffin thought to himself, frustrated. His tired fingers curled into fists. No. I'm not letting her get away with this.
Closing his eyes, Griffin recalled how Wolf had tried seeking out Feral with his magic. The spriggan, reached inside himself to find that a small bit of magic had regenerated. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Opening his eyes, Griffin held out his hands before him, palms facing the stars, and what little magic and regenerated appeared in a small mass above his hands. Focusing on where he had seen the naiad run, Griffin pushed the mass in that direction. The shadows took off, quickly melting into the darkness of the trees. Eyes closed, Griffin felt the darkness flashing through the pine tree limbs and snaking over boulders and fallen trunks. It raced on then suddenly sped even faster as if it were a hound on a scent, causing Griffin to stumble backwards a bit at the sudden barrage of images flashing through his head. The shadows drew to a jarring halt. Griffin could feel that the naiad was nearby. He waited, expecting the shadows to follow her movements, but both Elder and magic stayed put.
Taking a rest, huh?
Griffin turned to Ash who was kneeling next to Mac and Starlight. Night Shade was pushing on their chests, trying to clear the water from their lungs. "I'm going after the naiad. Bring the others back to camp."
Ignoring his legs' plea for him to collapse on the ground and take a long nap, Griffin sprinted into the trees, following his shadow trail. The magic was fading and fear of losing the trail gave him the energy he needed to keep going.
The shadows had all but faded by the time Griffin had reached the tall pine tree where the naiad was napping. Griffin hesitated then chose to duck down behind a particularly large tree. The spriggan forced his breaths to slow down and eventually the adrenaline pumping through his veins died away. He sat there waiting for his magic to regenerate and his limbs to quit trembling, watching the naiad as she dozed peacefully against her tree. The sound of rushing water drew Griffin's attention over to a nearby meandering stream. Next to it on one of the wide, sandy banks, sat the four stolen bags. The spriggan involuntarily straightened up, ready to grab the bags and go, but the boulder-like heaviness in his legs reminded him why he had chosen to rest.
The thief doesn't know I'm here and probably thinks the others and I have drowned. She chose to rest and will have had time to gather her strength so I'll need to rest as well.
Griffin shifted uncomfortably as the moon rose higher and higher into the sky, wincing as the movements only caused the pine needle-carpeted ground to stab him. After a couple hours had passed, the spriggan closed his eyes and checked on his magic. It was full. Griffin sat up and forced himself to stand. His body still felt heavy and his legs and arms still ached from the constant treading earlier, but he could rest more later. It was time to act.
Eyes trained on the still-sleeping naiad, Griffin sent out a cloud of magic to hover over top her, then moved his hands as though shaping a rope. The shadows mimicked his movements, taking on the hazy appearance of a rope. The spriggan held his breath as he twisted the rope around the thief. To his relief, the naiad did not wake up. Adding in more magic, Griffin followed the steps he normally took when creating solid objects, though this took more magic than usual since he was creating it from afar. With painstaking slowness, the thief's bindings began to lose its see-through gray color and take on a darker gray-turning black shade. Finally solid, the thick spriggan rope hung loosely around the thief's shoulders. Griffin sent more magic to connect his creation to his fingers, then clenched his fists and yanked hard. The ropes tightened and the naiad woke up.
"What the...? Hey!" The dark-haired naiad glanced wildly around, searching for her captor. "Let me go!"
Griffin remained silent and crept closer, keeping to the darkest shadows where the moon's light could not reach.
The naiad thrashed against her bonds, but the black ropes held firm. "If you think you can get away with stealing my things, you should rethink that thought and get away before I tear you to pieces!"
The thief stopped moving and watery-blue magic began to coalesce in her hands. Griffin broke from the shadows and held up his dagger from earlier against the naiad's throat.
"There'll be none of that. Dissipate your magic."
The naiad clenched her hands around the drops that had formed then reopened them, displaying that the magic was gone.
"Good." Griffin moved so that he was standing in front of his prisoner where the moonlight could illuminate his frame. He kept his dagger pointed at her. "I'm not here to steal your things. Rather, I'm here for someone who stole my things."
"Better go find them," the thief replied.
"I believe I already have." Griffin's gaze hardened. "Why'd you steal from us?"
The thief shrugged. "I do what I have to do."
"Does that include killing innocent Elder?"
"Like I said. I do what I have to do."
Griffin frowned. Is she like Feral? Does she enjoy killing?
"You don't have to, though. You don't have to be a killer."
The naiad sighed. "Don't I? It's what I was trained to do. What I've been turned into. What I am."
Her voice had taken on an acidic sting and Griffin found himself wanting to know why she claimed the title of "Killer" so confidently yet so bitterly.
"You were trained to kill?"
"Not all slaves were bought for farm and factory work." The naiad turned away, black eyes heavy with memories. Or were they nightmares? "I was trained to fight and then I became a Champion. Champions never let their victims live, and so I learned to kill."
Griffin didn't understand what exactly his prisoner was talking about, but he understood the hurt and desperation for freedom hiding behind the façade of confidence. "That must have been hard."
The naiad tossed her hair, the façade of confidence thickening so that it hid what was underneath once again. "It is what it is and I'm grateful for the skills I've gained from it. Now are you going to let me go?"
"No. You're coming back with me."
"I'm what?!?"
Griffin grunted as he picked up the bags, two per arm. "Think of this as part of your punishment for stealing from me and attempting to kill my followers. Oh, and I'd advise against summoning your magic." He flicked his wrist, causing the ropes around the naiad to tighten a bit. "Might be more comfortable that way."
The naiad rolled her eyes. "I can't believe a boy is threatening me right now."
Griffin ignored her. "Let's go."
His prisoner sighed but didn't complain anymore and followed the Moonlight Band leader back through the trees.