Wary Druids and Tarry Fluids - The Druids: Part 1

Wary Druids and Tarry Fluids
The Druids: Part 1

(Intro, feel free to skip till --- part)

   When the Thoughtflow ended, Vericia and Eli needed a moment to break free from the enchantment surrounding them while Amos was already up and in front of Pyrri to request her permission to stay and learn more about this novel form of magic. Leaving their fellow adventurer to chat, the siblings eventually slipped out of the blankets and left the hall to breathe some fresh air. Or, as fresh as it got down here, it still couldn’t compare to the homely spring breeze of Warrenfall while running through the blooming forest next to a shimmering lake.

“Oh, fellow Vayrons, what brings you here?”

   A friendly lively voice behind them, speaking without the weird Haedian dialect, gave the siblings a good startle. Them being frightened also scared the new Puller talking to them, and with a nervous chuckle he apologized for the intrusion. He was wearing silver glasses and seemed to be more on the elder side, but that didn’t stop him from being rather energetic for his age.

“Oh, my apologies, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I’m Caelan, nice to meet you.”

   Seeing the fine gentleman was just being friendly, Eli smiled at him politely.

“It is very nice to meet you, too, sir. I am Eli and this is my beloved sister Vericia. We merely happened to stumble upon this peaceful clan and we were met with great hospitality.”

“What he said. So, what brings you here?”

   Vericia wasn’t in the mood to potentially listen to her brother’s neverending poetic chatter as she noticed Caelan wearing a translucent crystal flask around his neck, which seemed to have some potion in it. Caelan noticed where Vericia’s attention was. He gently touched the vial, then turned to look back with the face of someone who’s reluctant to share their worries with the random strangers they just met.

“How do I put it short… hmm.”

   Caelan tapped against his chin to have a moment to think, after which he sighed and sat down, the siblings following his example, ears perked in anticipation. The shift in Caelan’s mood suggested something serious had happened.

“Me and my wife got separated down here but fortunately, we were reunited at the border of the next clan over there.”

   He pointed towards a large tunnel, which headed further on into the depths of the immeasurable cave labyrinth.

“As we were deciding where to head next, a creature of a novel species rushed out of the fauna, having large claw marks on its side. Poor thing was obviously in great distress, so my wife and I followed it till we managed to trap it between three rocky walls. We decided to help this unfortunate soul no matter what, so she stayed back there to keep it from escaping our sight and I rushed back here to the Tranquil, as I knew they must have medicine or potions that can ease this animal’s condition. So, here I am, with the medicine and about to turn back till I notice you two.”

   Eli nodded compassionately while listening to the story, while Vericia’s profession poked her internally and raised a couple questions in her mind.

“How big was this creature? And what surface species does it resemble the most?”

   Caelan blinked a couple of times. This was something he had to think about for a moment.

“I’d say about the size of an average Vitalus Spikeback dragon, with the anatomy very closely resembling an adult stag. It had a black iridescent fur and if my memory doesn’t deceive me, bright yellow glowing eyes.”

“Hmm… So how do you and your wife plan to contain it while trying to apply the medicine?”

   Vericia made a valid point, to which Caelan didn’t have a good answer, making the aged fella look even more sad.

“But of course with our help, dear sister.”

   Eli stood up with an annoying smirk on his face as Vericia gave him a grandiose stinkeye in response. Damn guy knew too well how there was not a fat chance Vericia could just wave goodbye and walk away from this irresistible opportunity. With a sigh but while smiling because of Eli’s subtle picking on her, Vericia stood up, ready to follow Caelan to their destination.

“My brother might be the type of person who stands in front of a mirror with closed eyes because he wants to see how he looks like when sleeping, but he’s right. We’d like to aid you with this good-natured quest, please lead the way.”

   Caelan was seemingly relieved to stumble upon the two wonderful young Vayrons to help him solve a problem he couldn’t think of in the first place. Thanking them profusely in advance, he jumped up and headed straight into the tunnel with vivacious trotting, Eli and Vericia following closeby.

---

   They walked for quite a while, which gave the siblings and Caelan the perfect time window to learn more about each other. It was really pleasant to talk to Caelan, but the conversation seemed to often steer towards the common interests he had with Eli, leaving Vericia mostly listening to their excited nerdy chatter. Not that she would mind, while listening to them geek over some unknown scholarly name to her, she was formulating plans in her head to pin down the creature so Caelan could apply this stuff from the Tranquil on the wounds.

   The tunnel shortly opened up in a much bigger cavern with a lush enormous forest in it, so the trio’s journey proceeded mostly through this fairytale forest. They all knew the magical beauty of Vitalus woodlands, but this one here had its own special charm to it, which immediately embraced the visitors with its fresh air, pleasant breeze and active birdsong coming from all directions. Since the trees mostly fed off from energy provided by the magical crystals, their canopy had grown very thick, creating a labyrinth of its own around their trunks and roots. Fortunately, Caelan had marked the path so they navigated to the rocky formation in the middle of a small clearing without any side-adventures. Vericia immediately spotted the majestic creature lying down in its temporary jail while another Puller turned around and with a gleeful smile, greeted her husband and the newcomers. They introduced themselves mutually, thanks to which the siblings learned the new Puller’s name was Hesfedira. Caelan explained he got the medicine and how the other two have come to help. They didn’t waste too much time on chit-chat as the animal seemed to be rather weak, so Vericia explained to them the plan of properly capturing it so they could rub the cure on those nasty scratches.

   Revising everything once more, the four Vayrons headed to their positions - Caelan and his wife, Hesfedira, were to prevent the black stag from escaping through the opening in the stone-walled corner while Eli distracted it so Vericia could safely pin it down. Vericia climbed up the ascending ground and found a spot for the ambush. Eli did a good job slowly pushing the scared critter towards Vericia’s position, it didn’t try to jump past or over him, so it probably realized why the other two remained standing in the entrance. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until the stag realized it had not enough space to keep backing away, so it lowered its head, pointing the impressive crown of antlers at Eli. This made the lass stop, glancing towards Vericia to see her making the jump, but she was busy adjusting her footing. Caelan also sensed the potential upcoming trouble, so he shifted closer to Hesfe in order to protect her from the desperate animal’s sharp hooves.

   Eli made just one step wrong. This triggered the critter to lunge at him, and before Vericia landed on the stag’s back with finely calculated precision, Eli was already catapulted to a short flight across the trap. He was yelling from surprise as he was flailing his all four limbs and tail throughout the free astronaut trial, which ended with him gracefully like a flying whale tumbling on the ground, making a couple somersaults before the inertia dissipated enough to allow him to stop. He raised his head, spat out soil, grass and a couple of flowers before he turned to look whether the stag capturing mission was a success. To his relief, Vericia was capable of holding the animal still, while Hesfe made sure its head stayed firmly on the ground while Caelan was trying to open the bottle with shaky paws to apply the ointment. The stag stopped struggling, it was too weak to fight back any longer so the Reoseans could work on it in peace. Eli also limped closer to the others to watch the process and soon enough, the ointment did a wonderful job already. The wounds were visibly getting better, during which Eli placed his paw on the animal’s chest and utilizing his magic, gave it more strength and energy. Good thing Caelan and Hesfe stepped away as the stag felt the life returning to its body immediately, thanks to which it got up, gave a brief wild rodeo ride to Vericia before tossing her off its back and quickly disappearing into the forest.

“Ow… you’re welcome, buddy!”

   Having all her body parts pointing in the wrong direction regarding gravity, Vericia shouted a nagging comment after their patient before she unraveled herself and stretched her back. Seeing Vericia being fine, Caelan and Hesfedira also relaxed.

“I can’t thank you enough for your help, we couldn’t have done it without you!”

   Caelan even wagged his tail as he expressed his sincere gratitude to them. It was only now he noticed how Eli avoided putting much pressure on one of his hind limbs, which made Caelan’s eyes widen from surprise and worry.

“Oh dear, are you hurt? I have some of that medicine left, that should fix you up.”

   Before Caelan could pour some of it out on his paw, Vericia appeared next to him, politely requesting the vial for herself. Having received that, she trotted to Eli while having a devious smirk giving away her intentions. The brother knew he had no way out of this, so he sighed and secured his stance.

“Near the hip.”

   That was all he said before Vericia poured the leftover ointment on her paw and slapped her brother’s tender spot with it. The peaceful grove of the Druids echoed from Eli’s high-pitched scream, which startled all the nearby creatures.