They kept her locked away in a plush prison. However, this tiny girl with a sturdy frame, short dark hair, and covered in tattoos was a master of illusion and deception. She had a unique ability to communicate with flora and fauna. She made a habit of escaping from her cell almost every night. She would sneak around the fortress gathering information and sabotaging plans. On this evening she bore witness to a sight most foul. The birth of an atrocity. She’d learned enough to know that these people needed to be stopped no matter what.

That night, she fled. As she ran, she would touch the trees and plants she passed, asking for help. They assisted her as best they could, sprouting extra vines, releasing noxious fumes, or densely grouping together. When she put enough distance between herself and the fortress she hastily drew a rune in the soil and recited an incantation. Transforming herself into a fox. She sprinted across the rocky terrain. She could hear menacing snarls behind her.

They’ve caught up to me. The ocean must be this way, maybe I can catch a whale cloud.

To her left and right bulky dogs appeared in her peripherals. Their long strides closing the distance. Her sleek form allowed her to slip past. She slid under a rotting log. One dog collided with the log, the other jumped over it. They ran until they reached a small river. Nimbly she leaped across the stones. The clumsy mutt splashed into the water. She continued to sprint toward the ocean. Looking up she saw the ravens overhead.

They still have me in their sights. She dashed into a thicket of bushes. Where she emerged, several humans, armed and mounted on horseback, were running up from behind. Two men in front clad in black robes, ornate helmets, and holding glass balls. Four others, heavily battle scarred, brandished enchanted swords and crossbows. A wave of power flung her forward and forced back into her petite form. She grabbed at the loose gravelly soil and scrambled to her feet. The humans, on their twisted steeds, galloping after her. Hastily she ran to a low hanging vine. It pulled her up into the trees. She asked them to create obstacles as she climbed through the canopy. Stopping at the trees, the men realized they could not squeeze through. The orb wielders split the group, running around the densely packed trees to ensnare their prey.

She put some distance between herself and the men. However, the flock of ravens overhead still had her in their sights. Not far behind and below, she could hear the dogs barking. If she climbed too high, the birds would snatch her. If she fell to the ground, the dogs would get her. Several of her markings flashed a turquoise glow. She reached the edge of the canopy, and a gust of wind carried her up into the air. She flailed about as she rose higher and higher. Dread flushed through her when she looked down. She had overshot her intended landing point, in a neighboring group of trees. She could see the ravens coming up from below. Twisting her body she narrowly dodged them. The birds began circling back around. She could see a small cluster of bushes below. It was not ideal, but she had no other landing options. She maneuvered herself over the bushes, just as the birds descended on her. Streamlining her body, she made a dive for it, hoping the bushes would be enough to break her fall. Suddenly, a giant brown mushroom popped up. She bounced off the soft mushroom top and rolled into the bushes. She shot up and patted herself down. Then she saw, by far the strangest creature she had ever seen. On its back, a bearded child.

“What is that?”

“Murp.”

“Hello, this is Dungii. He saw you falling and ran to help. My names Angdraoni, but I go by Ang. What’s your name?”

“You’re like me. Thank you, but we're not safe. You have to get away before they find you too.”

“What do you mean, I’m like you?”

“I can sense that you have highly active Imdrina channels. There are some awful men chasing me, and if they find you, they’ll capture you and probably dissect Dungii.”

“We thought we heard some noise coming from that direction. I suppose that was you and whoever is after you?”

“Yeah, it probably was, did you get here on a whale cloud? We can escape that way.”

“We did but the whale’s have been gone for some time now.”

“But I swear I just heard a whale song.”

“Oh, you must mean this.” Ang took out the conch shell and played the song. Causing a small rain cloud to appear above them.

“You idiot! Now they know where we are.”

“Don’t worry Dungii,s fast, and he has a protective veil, hop on. You never told me your name.”

“Call me Vlux.”

She climbed under the veil, sat next to Ang and grabbed hold of the mushroom stalk.

“What are you smiling at?” she asked.

“I’ve just never met anyone smaller than me.”

“You know there’s a spider on your shoulder.”

“Sorry I didn’t introduce you. This is my long time guardian and mentor Kiliyi.” They could hear the thunderous rumble of horse hooves approaching. Dungii surrounded himself and his occupants with his veil. Unintentionally, the rain cloud provided cover from the ravens. Dungii charged forward, toward the horsemen.

“Why are we going this way?”

“Because running away isn’t going to solve your problem.”

The two men holding orbs took the vanguard, the other four men behind them. Several colors flashed over their orbs as they launched a volley of elemental projectiles. Vlux tightened her grip on the stalk and braced for the impact. Ang remained focused. The magic bolts bounced off the barrier. Dungii let out a battle cry and pushed forward. The horses faltered as the unstoppable tank advanced. One of the orb wielders summoned a wall of stone. Dungii smashed through it. The other four men charged forward. Dungii bulldozed two of them and wiped the other two off their mounts with his long thin tail. The orb wielder’s steeds were much swifter and began circling Dungii. Kiliyi jumped onto Vlux’s head, then Vlux asked.

“Ang, do you have a tome in that bag, can I see it?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“She just told me.”

“You can talk to spiders?” He asked as he handed over the tome.

“I can talk to a lot of things. I don’t think you realize what you have here. This book is a well crafted Ardin. Kiliyi just told me how to use it. Have Dungii make an opening and watch this. Ascend.” The book started to take on a faint blue glow, as it floated just above Vlux’s small hand.

“Target.” She pointed her finger to one of the circling men. The spine of the tome following his movements, “Fly.”

The tome spun through the opening. The hard wood cover impacting the man’s head, causing him to fall off his steed. The tome flew back to Vlux. Ang sat there, mouth agape as she turned to attack the other man. The orb wielder cast a spell that encased them in ice. The man cautiously approached Dungii, as he wiped his tail around while emitting a shockingly loud cry.

A blast of fire shot through an opening in the veil. Vlux emerged mounted atop a black dog with jagged red markings. The tome floating open in front of her. The orb wielder fired several magic blasts as they charged forward. The tome’s hard cover moved to block every strike. When they were close enough, the dog let out a blast of fire. The man countered with a gust of wind that subjugated and sent the flames back. The tome blocked. The dog dashed to the side. Vlux launched the tome at the man’s head. He blocked with his orb, shattering it. He discarded the broken glass, drew a white sword, and gave chase.

Above the ravens swarmed and flew after the pair. Ahead of them the two pursuing dogs. Vlux turned around and multi targeted the ravens. Ang shot a blast of fire at the dogs. The tome took one raven out, the rest narrowly evaded it. Ang set the dogs on fire. They yelped and fled to the nearby stream. The man swung his sword, unleashing a blast that forced Ang out of his transformation, and flung them forward several meters. The man noticed the spider that had hitched a ride on the tome, sitting on his right shoulder. Kiliyi already tied a strand of her slicing silver silk around his sword arm. With a tug she cleanly severed it. He screamed in agony and fell off his steed. In his final moments perceiving the strand of silver coming off his neck.

The tome continued to buzz around the ravens as Ang and Vlux got to their feet. The other orb wielder recovered and charged after them. Dungii escaped his ice prison. He slammed into the horse and trampled the man as he made his way to Ang and Vlux. The storm cloud still brewing above him. Vlux and Ang quickly crawled under the veil.

“Ang, play the whale song!”

He seized conch shell from the bag he secured around the mushroom and played the song. The storm overhead started to grow. Vlux recalled the tome and read off an incantation. The ravens swarmed and pecked at the veil. Dungii swatted with his tail. The whale song and incantation melded, causing the storm to swell and lightning to strike the birds down. Just when they thought they were in the clear, several more orb wielding horseman came charging down a hill. They attempted to strengthen the storm, but it was no longer under their control. It swirled high into the sky, and between the clouds a colossal gray bird with one leg appeared. With a flap of its cyclone wings and sonic screech, it rained chunks of hail on the men. They responded with their magic bolts, but it forced them back with strong wind. The bird molded the storm into a twister, becoming the eye of the storm. It flew around Dungii and wreaked havoc on the fleeing men.

“That’s amazing.” said Ang.

“Let’s get out of here before more show up, or that giant bird comes after us.”

“No, that bird purposefully avoided hitting us. And I’m not leaving without Kili, oh there you are.”

“My home is that way, hurry.”

“Murp.”

They fled toward the hills, leaving the men to deal with the massive storm bird.

“So who were those people?” asked Ang.

“Their called the Koru-Ation, a despicable bunch of humans. They kill their own kind and exploit anything they view can further their ambitions. I agreed to work with them hoping they would leave my people alone. Now I realize nothing they say can be trusted. I made the dumb decision to try and escape with no real plan. I’m lucky I bounced off this guy. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Are you kidding me, that was amazing. You were amazing with the book. And that bird took our storm and wreaked those hunters. Where did it come from, and why did it help us out?”

“I have no clue. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a real storm bird. That could have just been an elaborate illusion. Either way, someone is looking out for you, me, or both of us.”

“What about Kiliyi and Dungii?”

“Them too. By the way, what is Dungii?”

“Dungii is Dungii, he just kind of popped out of a hole where a great big tree used to be. We naturally bonded, he and Kiliyi, their like my family.”

“What happened to this tree? Did the Koru come and cut it down?”

“You mean those hunters. I don’t think so. At least it wasn’t cut down and dragged off. It looked like an apparition spell was used on it.”

“You’re saying a big tree just up and vanished. I didn’t think apparition magic on something that big was even possible. I don’t think humans would be capable of doing that, at least not on their own. Most humans suck at magic, which is why they enslave us.”

“That’s why I think it had to have been my mother.”

“Who’s your mother?

“Her name’s Lysyntri.”

“Lysyntri the Spider of the Usgrat dwarven tribe! She’s alive! And you’re her son?”

“Yeah, you know her?”

“Everyone knows her, she revolutionized magic, she’s a master rune weaver. That’s why they call her, The Spider. I loved listening to stories about her and her sister the master healer Myorni.”

“I had no idea she was famous, no one told me anything.”

“It shows. I’ve been told the Usgrat were master craftsmen. The best at making musical instruments and Ardin items. The Koru caught them and started using them to make weapons until Lysyntri freed them. But some horrible beast the Koru sent caught and ate them. I guess Lysyntri was able to defeat the monster and keep the Usgrat hidden, that sounds like her. And you’re right, if anyone could cast an apparition spell on something like a tree it would be her. So tell me more about this tree, was there anything unique about it?”

“Yeah, it was a big silver weeping willow. When I would rest my head against it, I could hear a song, like someone humming. And the air felt like how it does under here, it’s soothing.”

“So Dungii might be somehow related to that tree. Interesting, I wish I could go have a chat with it. I have a rare ability that allows me to communicate with most plants and animals. It works especially well with Kiliyi but I can’t connect with Dungii.”

“What do you think that means?”

“I don’t know, might be because he’s neither plant nor animal. I mean look at this weird body. I’ll have to do some investigating. You don’t mind if I borrow this book for a while do ya?”

“You’re a lot better with it than I ever was. Keep it, I think I learned everything I need to know from it. How is it you can talk to plants and animals? Can you teach me how to do that?”

“I’m afflicted with Elucidetris, it’s not something you can teach, and not something you want. See usually Imdrina channels are directed internally; however mine are directed externally, closer to the surface. It allows me to readily make connections with other living things and communicate with them. The drawback is that my Imdrina would constantly leak out. If it wasn’t for these markings all over my body, I would have already suffered a slow, painful death. So what happened to your tribe?”

“We were attacked, I’m guessing by the Koru. The armor those men were wearing looked similar to the giants that attacked my village. Well, they seemed like giants at the time. They appeared out of nowhere, I ran and a big gray bear came and saved me. That’s when I met Kiliyi and learned how to use magic. Later, after I found Dungii where that tree was. I found my way back but kind of like how the Silver Willow was just gone, my village was just gone.”

“Lysyntri is known for pulling off some amazing feats of magic, but teleporting a giant tree, and a whole village, that seems like a stretch. After we visit my home, we should go back to your village and see if we can find some clues.”

“I like that idea, where is home?”

“Brexcen, were not too far from it. I hope my people are still safe.”

The party made their way over the craggy, sparsely green terrain toward Vlux’s home.