Mavec reached his hand out towards Alvec. "Grab on!"

"Do you have a strength-enhancing spell?" Alvec's voice resounded in Mavec's mind. Mavec smiled; this made much more sense to communicate since there was no risk of chugging water if you didn't open your mouth as often.

"Yeah, just grab on though. I can strengthen one of us, and we can climb up," Mavec replied mentally.

"Not me, I've got a scroll of summoning. I'll bring out a dolphin, buff it, and it can carry us both to the other shore," Alvec insisted as he used his tail to pluck the scroll from below the waterline and begin casting from it. The one advantage of their current situation was that the rocks provided cover from the giant skull, keeping them roughly out of sight of the smaller teeth if they could see. It meant all Alvec was fighting with was the river, a struggle he barely managed to win. He felt the power from the scroll unleash, and moments later as if made from a pool of silvery light, a river dolphin arrived under Alvec and pushed him up above the surface. It swam against the current and parked beside Mavec.

Still clinging to the rock, Mavec fought to hold on as he cast the buff spell on the dolphin. As it took effect, he couldn't help but reflect that this was the most jacked dolphin he had ever seen, thanks to the spell he'd cast. Mavec wrapped his arms around Alvec's waist and clamped his legs tight to the dolphin. He couldn't help but laugh. Maybe it was the sense of danger he felt or the ridiculousness of their joint solution. Either way, he laughed manically as the dolphin darted through the water. It quickly got both wizards to the other side, practically throwing them ashore.

Illaria abandoned her position on the rocks; the speed boost meant she wasn't afraid of how many teeth bit into her. She stopped even bothering to parry them and just charged forward. Another pair of them latched on, but with her blistering speed, she was able to set foot on solid ground. "Bait, Naya, this isn't a fight we want. Get across the river, forget about attacking, and just get your butts over here," she shouted. With her feet on solid ground, she'd at least be safe from possibly drowning. Across the river, the water-logged wizards pulled themselves up from the ground. She recognized the risks Alvec had taken to his person by choosing to speed everyone else up first. When they got home to celebrate surviving she'd be buying him a drink. She slid her sword back into its sheath and grabbed out her bow. It didn’t get much use, but it was worth keeping on hand.

Bait ignored Illaria, focusing again on the skull. He let off another few rounds as teeth snapped onto him. The skull, in response, swooped in over him and engulfed him whole. Naya slashed at it, her blade striking the front teeth already partially punched out by Bait's bullets. She cut a solid hole into it and leaped into the opening in its teeth herself. "Echo, get to shore!" she commanded. This plan felt like suicide, but leaving Bait alone felt worse. Echo whined at her but reluctantly followed her orders. Abandoning his position on the high rocks and darting for the shoreline.

Inside the elongated skull, Naya and Bait found themselves being chewed on. Bait took aim at the back of the skull and unloaded his musket again. The shots had peppered through it so much so that Naya was sure, with enough speed and enough force, they could just burst through. She scooped Bait up by the waist and threw herself at the back of the skull as hard as possible. Her petite frame smashed through the brittle wall of bone, and she and Bait tumbled out of it, plunging into the river below. The two dove below its cold waters and were immediately swept downriver. Echo, still sopping wet from his plunge into the water, dove back in, grabbing hold of Naya with his mouth and pulling her onto the embankment.

Alvec and Mavec did their best to hold the enemies at bay; red hot flame leaped from Alvec's hand and bounced between the floating sets of teeth, burning them to a crisp. Mavec launched a ray of fire at the giant skull. The skull spun around, marked by scorch marks and bullet holes, but still coming. As it lurched towards them, a deep rumbling sound shook the riverbanks. A wave of water rushed from upriver, taking the form of a giant snake as it barreled towards the skull. It opened its mouth impossibly wide and sunk its fangs into the skull. Just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared downriver, leaving only a flooded riverbank in its wake.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"What the hell was that?" Mavec sputtered.

"I think that was Omral, a greater water spirit," Naya said. "I think it's the same thing we encountered while on the High Arrow.”

"Did it just eat the skull?" Alvec asked.

"Sure, as rain looks like it," Illaria responded.

"Ate them, swept them away? Hard to say," Naya replied.

"Ok, I hate it, but I understand the spirit. I'm more concerned about the floating body parts that just attacked us," Mavec stated.

"I can't say I've ever heard of anything like this either," Alvec said. "I mean, necromancers exist, which would fit the bone motif, but usually they don't float, and usually they aren't just bits and pieces of bodies," Alvec confirmed.

"Which leaves us back at, what the hell were those?" Mavec asked again.

"I don't think any of us be having a satisfactory answer to that question, which is in and of itself alarming," Illaria said.

"Should we go visit the capital to ask around?" Mavec asked.

"How does one visit money?" Bait asked.

"How do you know the secondary use of that word and not the primary?" Mavec asked while looking at his goblin companion.

"Bait goblin smart. Know many good things."

"Is there any commonality between these strange creatures?" Alvec asked out loud.

"Us," Naya responded.

"Well, that's not entirely true. The first one was already actively murdering someone before we even arrived," Mavec said.

"Could it perhaps be related to the coded journal?' Illaria asked.

"It certainly could be. Though, I've checked it over several times. Can't find a bit of magic on it that would cause anything to pursue or target it," Alvec replied.

"It's a strange puzzle, that's for sure," Mavec said. "Too little information for us to make a real guess. We can infer from Vato's journal, at the very least, that the "intruders" aren't strictly here for the journal. As it presumably didn't exist then."

"A good point; the question now is, is there something actively guiding their appearance and targeting them towards us, or is it just a coincidence,” Alvec asked. “Are they just arriving more frequently now, increasing the odds that anyone runs into them? How many travelers have just gone missing on the roads?"

"All excellent questions, but could we discuss more after we get a fire going. Everyone but Illaria dipped in the water, and our clothing was all soaked. If we don't dry ourselves out, we will either come down with something or have no chance for stealth as our clothing squelches when we move," Maved said.

The group set about gathering up wood, and before long, they had not one but three fires set up in a triangle around themselves. Not wanting to strip down to nothing and be left even more vulnerable, the three fires meant they were at least getting heat from every direction. It could draw more Kobold or worse to their location, but it was better than nothing.

"So far, we have too many questions and insufficient information. Not sure how we'd even figure that out," Illaria stated.

"Guess there isn't much sense trying to figure this out while we're in the woods. Under attack by kobolds and strange creatures," Mavec said. "Alvec, what do you think we'll find at this abandoned expedition?"

"Considering the volcanic activity here, I'm guessing we'll find some items with resistance spells woven in,” said Alvec. “Heat resistance is the most important one, I'd imagine. It's not a very expensive enchantment, but each one would be worth somewhere in the ballpark of three to six thousand gold a piece. We likely only need about ten sets to make this trip worth our time."

"That makes sense; I wonder if they used any clockwork here. It's sturdier than humans in terms of being able to withstand heat and the like," Mavec speculated.

The party rested a few hours beside the fires, letting their clothing dry. When sufficiently dry, they began making their way forward again. The road they eventually found led to a tall hill with steep sides. The only way up was a switchback road. Bait took the lead, quickly discovering that the road was trapped. None of them were particularly well hidden, and it took Bait only a handful of minutes to either disarm them or to snake around them. The group went single file just to be safe while doing so. No one needed to take extra risks while avoiding the snares and pitfalls dug into this already dangerous road. After a little more walking, they came across some old log cabins covered in vines. Scattered around them were the collapsed remnants of wagons, one bearing the emblem of the Arcane Academy. They had found the expedition at last.