(Previous chapters 1-11 are available here.)
Arthur stepped through the doorway and closed the door. He left 400 poqine on the little table inside, to compensate the Inn for the damage. He walked down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the entry hall. Strangers chattered cheerfully all around him. For a moment, Arthur stared at them in envy. They seemed so carefree. He continued walking at a fast pace out of the Inn, down the steps, and onto the pavement. He was on a mission.
The sun beat down upon him as he walked. He didn’t care much for the happy colors of the houses today, for he could only think of Beatrix. He worried about her, and hoped she was ok. He grew ill just thinking of the horrendous creature that had taken her.
The creature he desired to find was a called a crojoran. He had heard stories of them from his father, and had gone on scavenger hunts in the woods to find the small silver quills to sell in town. Crojorans, though from another world, often visited this one to feed on small creatures that occupied the deepest parts of the forest. Nocturnal, they visited their world once a day, usually in packs, to feast. Crojorans were odd looking creatures, with spines lined in sharp silver quills. They never left the depths of the forest, which made this occurrence extremely unusual.
Arthur walked to the edge of town. The sun began to fade, as it went behind the trees. He was near the edge of the forest. A creature galloped through the woods ahead. It was beige, had two reptilian heads, and walked on all fours. The creature took a glance in Arthur’s direction, showing its brilliant pale blue eyes, then continued on.
The woods were full of extraordinary creatures. As he walked through the forest, he spotted many that he knew. He saw a few clynso, which were little bug like creatures, fluttering above a flower blossom. Arthur was tempted by two talenbees that floated by. Though forgetting his troubles would be great for a moment, he didn’t want to get distracted from his journey, so he continued on.
The daylight dimmed, as the sun settled below the horizon; changing the sky into a plethora of brilliant colors.
Over large fallen trees and through thick shrubbery he went. The sunset began to fade, giving way to a star spattered night sky. The time was fast approaching, and he still had a long way to go. He stopped for a moment, held his fingers to his lips, and whistled a tune. Arthur stood there quietly and listened. He could hear chirping in the distance. Arthur smiled, as his pet sparrow Jinx perched on a branch next to him. He walked a little ways away from the bird, and muttered “esphorge ae shevurah.” A loud crack echoed, as a flash of light illuminated the trees. Green specks of light encircled him, as he shrunk and slowly morphed back into a small spider.
Jinx, the sparrow, flew down from the tree onto the ground next to him. It laid its wing down to make a ramp for the little spider to climb on. Once he was nestled atop the bird, they set off into the woods. Jinx’s feathers were soft and warm beneath him. The spider watched as the trees raced past in a blur.
Through the dense forest canopy, and up and over the trees they flew. Stars sparkled and glistened in the sky all around them. There ahead, was the center of the forest. The trees there towered over all the rest. The spider’s eyes gleamed with excitement and hope. They were almost there.
Jinx flew through the canopy; weaving around the branches. The sparrow perched on a large rock on the forest floor, and lowered his wing to let the spider down. With haste, the bird flew up into the canopy, and out of sight.
The little spider sat on the cold rock, gazing all around. The forest floor sparkled with silver quills in the moonlight. He hoped that this was the right place.
The trees began to rustle in the distance. Two large crojorans bustled out of the brush holding Beatrix. She fussed and writhed, trying to get away. Her jeans were torn, showing sections of her legs covered in bruises. The crojorans grasped her arms tightly, and shoved her to the ground.
Anger filled the spider. The creatures sat on the ground on either side of Beatrix. They looked like they were waiting for something. “Waiting for what?” the little spider wondered. The spider tried to come up with a plan to save her. He decided to sneak to her. The ground was littered with dead leaves, so the little spider scurried across the forest floor, hiding under the fallen leaves as he went. He was feet away from her when all of a sudden, he stopped. He tried moving forward but couldn’t. The spider walked back, and climbed up a tall blade of grass. The ground had been spelled around her. A line of syrothean dust had been sprinkled in a line that encircled her. Syrothean dust was used to block any magical creatures that were not in their true form from entering. Back when the great war was going on, witches and warlocks used the dust to protect their homes from insidious, disguised intruders. The dust also kept those intruders from casting spells across it. This meant, only the magical creatures inside the line could use magic within the circle.
The little spider gazed at a large, dead tree branch in the distance. The spider focused on the branch. The branch began to bend slowly, and then suddenly snapped, and came crashing down onto the forest floor. The crojorans jerked around to see what was causing the commotion. The spider quickly held up two silver quills and waived them wildly. They sparkled and flashed in the moonlight. Beatrix strained her eyes to see what it was, and saw the little spider, flailing around two silver quills that where twice as tall as he was. Hope filled her eyes. “It’s going to be ok” said the spider. Beatrix looked at him fearfully, afraid the crojorans might have heard him, until she remembered that he was speaking to her telepathically.
“It is time for you to practice what you have learned” the spider said. She studied the different spells she had learned in her mind, and remembered what he had once told her: “once you learn the basics, you will be able to create your own spells.”
She sat there quietly, working with the different spells she had learned, to create an equation similar to a math problem. She applied the basic principles of each, and chose her phrases based off of things she had read in the book. Her eyes gleamed with excitement. She had come up with a spell! For a moment she worried. What if it didn’t work? She thought about it some more. What is the worst thing that could happen?
Her heart overflowed with a barrage of different emotions. Suddenly, a sense of calm washed over her, followed by a strange feeling. She had felt it before; the night she floated above the canyon. It excited and scared her at the same time. She gave into the feeling.
Beatrix’s eyes narrowed. She was ready.
The spider stared at Beatrix. A different personality flashed in her eyes, as she gazed out into the forest. It scared him; for he knew the extent of the great power she was capable of…or did he?
I am using the tag "beatrix-percival", so you can easily find all the previous chapters, as well as see the new ones as soon as they are released!