(William)

William raced toward the river, dove into the water, and shifted into a houndfish. He quickly picked up two trails of blood leading into the depths of the river. Following his sense of smell, he raced after the mysterious shifter, hoping that he could save Fleck.

To move faster, he cast Shatter Touch with his tailfin. To his surprise, he shot through the water like an arrow. It was not long before he saw a faint light in the distance. He followed the light and continued to cast Shatter Touch. His dive took him deeper and deeper into the depths of the Lonely River. He was catching up to the light when it disappeared. He zoomed toward the last place that he had seen it and stumbled upon the entrance to a vast underwater cavern. The blood trail was stronger and led directly into the cave.

The entrance of the cavern was big enough for a leviathan ship to pass through it. Glowing runes were inscribed all around it. William could see tendrils of magic knitted together, stretching like a net between the runes. He swam to the base and tentatively pressed against the surface with his fin. His eyes widened in surprise. There was air on the other side. He poked his head through to find out what was there and took a deep breath. He shifted and cautiously stepped into the cave.

The air was redolent with earthy smells. It reminded him of their sunstone garden after he watered the vegetables. He stood on a wide road made of polished shells and turquoise pebbles. After staring at the road for a moment he looked up and gaped. The underwater cave appeared as vast as the Forest Cavern in Scar. Eerily glowing mushrooms dominated the scenery. Some of them were nearly as tall as the Bell Towers of Pike.

A crackling and splintering noise startled him. His head whipped around. The entrance had solidified into a thick wall of ice. Rustling sounds came from the other side of the road. William conjured a Light Shield. There were many trees there that he had not noticed earlier. Several of the trees transformed into ghastly creatures with frog-like faces, serpentine bodies, and four arms. Their blood-red bulging eyes were large and wide-set. Most of their face was dominated by a gaping maw with razor-sharp teeth. His stomach knotted as one of them approached him. The flaps on the side of its neck opened and closed with a hiss. Its back fins bristled. It raised a hulking arm and gestured aggressively. William took a step back and swallowed hard. The creature’s talons were curved and sharp like blades.

William’s heart pounded. He felt like a mouse surrounded by hungry cats. More and more of the trees near the entrance transformed and moved in to surround him.

William stammered nervously, “I… uh… uh… came to save Fleck.” He wondered if they understood him.

“Atkeeuudk’ack dk’od hruutkcuhr,” the largest creature snapped at William.

The others behind it bellowed in unison, “Gee godk… Gee godk… Gee godk!” The shouts were followed by brutish gurgling sounds.

“Ughdkt’kee Dk’hikseeack korhrhiduut heer,” one of the others hissed.

To his utter shock, William understood everything that was being said.

What’s going on?

He knew the answer the moment he asked the question. The old man from the Lonely River.

I wonder what else he did to me.

After his encounter with the old man, William continued to discover unexpected abilities. Things like unexplained magic, telepathy with the Saberwolves, and now, understanding a weird language that he had never heard before. Even though he was becoming accustomed to knowing things that he should not know, the experience was still disconcerting.

He quietly repeated the last thing that he had heard, “Only Nixies permitted here.”

“Hey, I can turn into a tree just like you,” William exclaimed and realized that he had spoken in their language. He shifted into a tree to demonstrate and then shifted back.

“Gar… gar… gar!” The gathered Nixies laughed at him. “Oh, nooo,” one of them declared. “You’re way too ugly to be related to one of us.”

“How unsightly.” Another one grimaced. “You only have two scrawny arms and no tail.”

“Ahhh, I wish I had such an exquisite tail as yours!” William said with forced adulation. He noticed that they were quite pleased with the compliment and several of them flared their back fins.

“For an Overwater, this one is quite perceptive,” said one of the Nixies behind him.

“Can I have it for my Slave Pens?” another exclaimed.

“He hasn’t hurt a Nixie. He has to go!”

“You should leave, little pink worm, before my wife arrives and eats you,” said the largest Nixie. The others laughed.

“Oh, I’d like that very much,” William replied. “I don’t mean the part where I get eaten. I mean the part where I get to go home.” He hesitated a moment and addressed the biggest Nixie. “I’m William. What’s your name?”

The large Nixie slithered toward him and flared its back fin. “I’m called Gitk the Fierce.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Gitk the Fierce.”

“Well met, William,” Gitk replied. “Shoo, it’s time for you to leave,” he said as he extended his arms toward the icy barrier. His palms began to glow, and a ball of mist appeared between his four hands. The mist traveled toward the barrier and then began to melt a section of it.

“Uhh, wait.” William held up a finger. “I want to apologize for Fleck. He was just trying to repair one of our water vessels. He had no idea that the tree he tried to chop down was a Nixie.”

“He injured one of our seedlings.” Gitk growled. “He’ll pay the price for that!”

William’s forehead creased and then he suddenly smiled. “Hey, I might be able to heal your seedling.” He thrust his hands forward and they began to glow. The Nixies stared at the magic with awe.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Gitk scrutinized William and considered the offer. “Follow me. I’ll take you to the seedling.”

They followed the road for some time before it split into three separate paths. They took the one furthest to the right and kept on going. William felt like he was in a mushroom forest. There were glowing mushrooms everywhere. He had never seen so many different types. Tall skinny mushrooms lined the road like light posts. The gills under their caps emitted soft amber light.

“I’ve never seen glowing mushrooms before,” William remarked.

“These are no mushrooms,” Gitk replied without slowing down. “They’re mushblooms. They grow only in the deepest caverns and flourish when Nixies tend to them.”

They continued along the winding road, through the maze of mushblooms until they reached a bridge over a narrow chasm. Looking across the bridge, William saw a vast mushbloom city dotted with little lakes. Right across the bridge, there was a bright blueberry-capped house. The little path leading to it was dotted with colorful pebbles. The arched doorway was lime-green with a pale pink awning. A warm, inviting light streamed out of the round windows. A ramp spiraled around the house, connecting the platforms between the different levels. Balconies protruded on the upper floors, and many Nixies watched him with great interest.

I hope they’re not hungry. William lowered his head and followed Gitk into the dwelling.

The pungent smell of herbs, fruit, and flowers greeted him as soon as he entered the house. He stood inside a circular chamber. Strings of herbs and dried fish hung throughout the room. A weird mushroom grew down from the ceiling. It reminded William of the chandeliers in the ballroom of Pike. It appeared to be the main source of light. Decorative shells in different patterns covered the walls. A thin stream of water snaked around the perimeter of the walls near the ceiling. It passed through different shell tubes, creating a soothing melody. William could see the flow of magic in the water. On the opposite side of the room, there were several round nests made from thick spongy moss. A smaller Nixie lay in one of the nests. Hovering over it was a Nixie with a tall colorful fin on top of its head. In comparison, Gitk’s head fin was much smaller.

The little Nixie had a nasty gash on its tail that was oozing an amber tree-like sap. The hunched over Nixie manipulated a globe of water over the injury, using unknown magic. William watched with fascination as the water pulsed with light.

“Why have you brought an overwater into my house?” The comment was quiet, almost whispered, but there was a threat left hanging in the air. “Those pink worms have hurt another one of my seedlings,” she hissed.

“Hrukor, I have a good reason,” Gitk responded. “This one has powerful healing magic. I’ve seen it.”

Hrukor turned around and slithered toward William. She extended a sharp talon and sliced open her own arm. “Heal it!”

William’s eyes widened and he swallowed hard. He looked at Hrukor and his jaw twitched. She was the most intimidating creature he had ever seen. His heart pounded wildly, and he was afraid. He wanted to turn around and flee, but the image of Fleck being tortured by these monsters flashed through his mind.

Hrukor continued to stare at him as sap oozed out of her arm. William closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He had healed many times, and he knew what he needed to do. The key was affinity. He opened his eyes and focused on Hrukor. She had cut her arm to protect her seedling. She was brave and compassionate. He felt the familiar flow of energy and his hands glowed. The cut on her arm began to knit together.

Hrukor pinned William with her eyes, grabbed his arm, and thrust him toward the injured seedling. “Heal Seetk,” she demanded. “Now!”

Beads of sweat trickled down William’s temple. He used his sleeve to wipe them off and approached Seetk. Scowling, Hrukor crouched over him. She hissed and growled right next to his ear. One of her arms prodded him impatiently.

William looked at Hrukor and stammered, “I…I… need space to heal Seetk. And I can’t heal him properly if you’re poking me.” He gave her an apologetic look.

She narrowed her eyes. Her back fin vibrated, and her tail rattled, but she backed slowly away. “I don’t like your kind,” she snarled.

“Tell me about Seetk. It’ll help me with the healing if I know more about him.”

“He is a seedling,” said Gitk. “He was planted two winters ago. He has not earned his name yet.”

“What do you mean he hasn’t earned his name? I thought he was called Seetk.”

“All seedlings are called Seetk,” replied Gitk. “This Seetk likes to have a fat trunk and small leaves. His roots run deep, and he encourages purple and blue flowers to grow under his shade. He loves birds and squirrels but does not like flappies.”

What is a flappy?

William smiled at Gitk. “Thank you. That will help.” His hands began to glow again, and he placed them above Seetk’s injured tail. Magic shimmered over the wound as he healed the seedling.

Suddenly, Seetk sprang out of the nest and raced around the room, rattling his tail excitedly. For the first time, William saw Hrukor smile. She watched Seetk slither happily around. All four of her arms were pressed against her chest. Her expression changed into a scowl once she noticed that he was watching her.

The little Nixie skidded to a stop next to William and his crimson eyes lit up. “Thank you,” he said cheerfully. Seetk reached up, removed one of his shell necklaces, and handed it to William. “One of the flappies gave it to me when they were visiting the forest. You can have it. It attracts flutterbies. Don’t you pink worms eat flutterbies?”

William hesitated, not sure how to respond. “Uh, well, no… we don’t eat them… We think that they’re beautiful and we like to watch them. Uh, thank you for the gift.”

(Seetk)

“You’re welcome,” Seetk replied enthusiastically. “I’m glad you like it.” His eyes twinkled. He was greatly pleased with himself. He had finally gotten rid of that nasty necklace. No more flutterbies buzzing around. For some reason, the birds rarely ate those pesky flappers. The little flappers were almost as annoying as the big ones, those silly Sprites.

Most of the other Nixies loved Sprites. After all, both races were the caretakers of nature. Nixies used their water magic to nurture the forests around them. Sprites used their songs, enchantments, and runes to do the same. Still, Seetk did not like them. He just wanted to be left in peace, and Sprites were so needy. He also felt like Sprites were beneath him. In his opinion, the Nixie magic was better. To be fair, Nixies’ water magic was nowhere as potent as the water magic of the ancient Ice Wyverns, but no one had seen their distant cousins for millennia. After the Fire and Ice war between dragons and wyverns, which had decimated all the forests, wyverns had disappeared. Dragons had disappeared as well, but over the years the offspring of Sháte had figured out how to summon them.

Maybe one day, the pink worms will figure out how to summon Ice Wyverns, he mused.

Seetk’s mind continued to race as it tended to do when he was not in tree-form. His mind was flooded with thoughts and memories. That always happened to him after a prolonged Tree Transformation.

(William)

“You need to go back,” Hrukor said to the seedling. “You’re not ready to be down here yet. You have one more season to go,” she said gently. “Krok… krok!” She clapped her hands. “Time to go.” She patted his little head fin, and he raced out. She turned her attention to William and gave him a frosty look. “It’s time for you to leave. Gitk, get this pink worm out of my house.”

“Very well.” Gitk inclined his head and looked at William. “Let’s get the other overwater.”

“Gitk, you know what to do to them before they depart.” William overheard Hrukor whisper behind him as they were leaving her house. His eyes widened.

Scraps, what does that mean? What’re they going to do to us?

Fleck and William were escorted to the entrance of the cave. They were followed by a few dozen Nixies from the city.

“Did you hear, he healed Seetk,” one of the Nixies hissed softly.

“I really want him for my Slave Pens,” another replied and whipped its tail.

“That one is a rather useful sort of pink worm.”

William felt uneasy. The words of Hrukor, “You know what to do to them before they depart,” kept echoing in his mind. The walk back felt much longer. He wondered if they were taking the same road. The mushbloom forest, which had seemed so magical when he had first seen it, now looked ominous. His tension eased when he saw the entrance of the cavern and that was when it happened. A fog of mist descended on him and Fleck, his eyes clouded, and he collapsed.