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Chapter 2
Part 1
After around an hour, Ifan and Mari found their way to Denthir Lake, its surface shimmering in the afternoon sun. On the north-eastern side of the lake, the pair could see a large black structure emerging from a small island. A weathered bridge of rough cobble connected the island with the shores of the lake, its loose rocks tangled together with a mass of moss and vines. Mari and Ifan rode along the lake’s edge towards the bridge, keeping to the grassy verge near the pebble-laden shore for their hoofed friends’ sake.
Ducks and other waterfowl fed themselves on the rich abundance of reeds and aquatic foliage scattered around the edges of the lake. The feathered behinds of the mallards could be seen bobbing in and out of the water, eliciting a smirk from Ifan out of the judging gaze of his sister.
“Fancy a swim when we’re done?” asked Ifan, his gaze still fixed on the feathered icebergs sticking out of the water’s surface.
“It depends on how long it takes us to extract the obelisk. I wouldn’t be averse to a dip. If there’s one thing I miss about home it’s the coast. It’s been too long since my last swim out in the open air.” Mari paused and let the sound of water lapping at the shore soak into her consciousness.
“Yeah, it is a shame how landlocked Treffynnon is. The closest you can get to water in the city is a longboat on the canal, and I don’t trust myself on those since Hephaestus’ birthday party last year.”
“Oh Gods, I forgot about that.” Mari grinned and glanced backwards to Ifan.
“I wish I could. I’ve tried to. Believe me.” Ifan’s mouth curled to a smirk as Mari chuckled and turned back to concentrate on her riding.
“Back to the topic of swimming; give me a moment.” Unsheathing her wand, Mari waved it around off to the right of the horse, “Solari Temporus.” A small cat appeared next to her, its furry front legs dangling either side of the hammer of a floating alarm clock. “Hi there, Terry.” With doe eyes and pursed lips, Mari fawned over her new animal companion. Terry meowed back loudly, the clock keeping up with the horse’s plodding. “Half past three. Brilliant, thank you, Terry. See you in a bit.” Terry batted the top of the clock and with a flick of Mari’s wrist, he vanished back into the nothingness he came from.
“Half three, huh?”
“Yep. I’d say, if we manage to finish this in the next half an hour, we can spare a moment to enjoy the lake and still be back before dusk.” Mari placed the wand back in its holster and returned her hand back to the reins. After a few more minutes traversing the coast, the pair arrived at the dilapidated bridge, its uneven surface leading to a small, grassy island housing the black monolith. Dragonflies buzzed around the water’s edge as Mari and Ifan left their horses and approached the bridge. Now closer, the two could make out more details of the bridge; the walls had mostly crumbled away, and each corner of the bridge was adorned with a stone statue of what appeared to be winged creatures with long ears. The statues were all different: their hair varying lengths and their bodies adorned with a variety of unusual shapes and carvings. Ifan approached the statue closest and reached out to touch the rough grey surface.
“Bloody spooky looking things. I’ve never seen anything like them.” His hand traced the statue’s form; his fingers trying to make out the details of what looked like wheat sheafs sticking out of the statue’s head. One crumbled in his fingers, its stone breaking apart into fine particles.
“Ifan!” Mari watched as her brother broke the ancient statue, her tone harsh as she furrowed her brow. “Stop touching them now! You’re so damned clumsy.”
“Jeez, sorry.” Ifan’s hand recoiled back to his side, his shoulders hunching forward slightly as he stepped away from the statue. “It was a matter of time though; I mean that basically turned to dust in my hands.”
“Even so, it’s not like this part of the forest is particularly heavily trafficked. It probably could’ve lasted another century without you getting your grubby mitts all over it.”
“Well, is there any spell you could cast to fix it if it’s so important?”
“Not as it’s become dust; I wouldn’t be able to recreate the shape as I barely got a look at it before you broke it.” Mari shook her head, “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Fine… Still good to swim after this?” Ifan cracked an uneasy smile at Mari as he stepped alongside her, the pair making their way across the bridge side-by-side.
“…Yes…”
“Phew, I thought I’d really pissed you off then.”
“You did and I still am. But I really want to get in the water, so you’ve gotten away with it this time.” Mari jabbed her brother with an elbow, and he recoiled in faux pain.
“Ow!” The two shared a smile that was soon interrupted by a low rumbling coming from either end of the bridge. Ifan furrowed his brow, turning to look behind them while Mari tried to locate the sound coming from in front of them.
Silence.
The two looked back at each other and Ifan shrugged in confusion. “That was weird.”
“We can agree on that.”
Ifan scratched the back of his head and sighed, “Any mention of this bridge in your research?”
“None whatsoever.”
“Interesting.” The two had been stood, frozen, side-by-side as they tried to work out if it was safe to continue. Ifan placed his hand on Mari’s shoulder gently and slowly lifted his right leg. With intense trepidation, he placed his toes a few inches ahead and rolled his heel to meet the stone.
Silence.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Ifan let go of Mari and subtly shifted his weight. The rumbling returned, the bridge quaking beneath their feet.
“What the h—” Ifan grabbed at Mari’s hand as the stone shifted under foot. Before he could get a firm grasp, he was knocked to the ground from behind. The grey stone arrested his breath, causing him to choke on the air in his lungs.
“Ifan!” Mari watched as a hand of stone dug its sharpened nails into Ifan’s hand and he screamed out in agony. The cobble refused his grip, now soaked in his blood as he wrestled beneath the weight of the creature. He gasped in relief as the stone claw slid out of his hand, the creature beginning an ascent into the air above the boy. The heavy stone wings defied gravity as they lifted the long-eared statue into the air. The creature pulled its wings back towards its person and began plummeting towards the ground right above Ifan’s body.
“Cantarus enflamaris!” An orb of pure blue light emanating a dazzling aura of heat shot at speed towards the creature, striking the beast cleanly in its torso. Mari had pulled her wand from its sheathe, and swiftly began readying another spell, her face smothered with concentration. Dust fell from the construct as Ifan wrested himself from the ground in the pause granted to him by Mari. Off-balance, the creature crashed into the water beside the bridge, causing the waterfowl nearby to flee the scene.
Through coughs, Ifan managed to muster a meagre attempt at “Thanks” before another stone creature grabbed Mari by the shoulders and lifted her up into the air.
The creature’s stone claws dug into her flesh; her screams for help jammed in her throat.
Pulling some translucent beads from his pocket, Ifan muttered under his breath before white fires streamed out of his open hand. The flames engulfed Mari, and she watched as the claws holding her body suspended crumbled to dust. The flames crawled up her body and swallowed the statue, whose guttural screams betrayed that it could feel pain. Unable to keep a hold of its prey, Mari began her free fall to the bridge below. Spinning in the air, Mari strained as she waved her wand at the ground. “Terry!”
The ground beside Ifan tore open. Huge black paws dragged a massive hairy body up from a gaping hole of nothingness onto the bridge. Terry curled into a ball as Mari landed softly in and amongst his long fur. Mari winced as blood continued seeping from the wounds in her shoulders, and dust rained down from above. The creature had burnt to a fine powder above the pair, the flames dissipating when their target vanished.
Terry let out a deep meow as the two statues at the other end of the bridge cracked into life.
“Not over yet, it seems.” Ifan pulled a long, steel broadsword off his back – its scabbard resting beneath his leather rucksack. Its weightless metal danced in Ifan’s fingers, the afternoon sun gleaming off its pristine surface.
Mari slid off Terry and stroked behind her companion’s ear. Saliva collected at the corner of Terry’s lips, her low purr causing the bridge to vibrate beneath their feet. “I’ll take the one on the right, if you deal with the left?”
Ifan nodded in agreement.
The creatures let out primal shrieks as their wings flapped behind them, carrying their bodies into the air.
Ifan lowered into a lunge, and his eyes burnt a harrowing, pale white. Effortlessly lifting the large sword in one hand, he passed it through his left hand and over his right shoulder. Glyphs seared into the steel’s surface, and Ifan’s gaze settled on the stone statue now approaching the pair fast. Ifan closed his eyes and lightning swelled around the blade. Storm clouds over head crackled with excitement, the sky darkening above the bridge as Ifan pushed the sword forward towards the creature. The monstrosity’s wings flapped aggressively, stopping its flight a few inches from the sword’s tip.
CRACK.
A spear of electricity passed from the sword’s tip and pierced the creature’s chest. The energy raced throughout the stone trying to find an escape, before bursting out of the creature’s neck. The stone exploded in retaliation, as chunks of the creature fell at their feet and into the waters below the bridge.
The other statue’s face cracked, its face twisting into a scowl as it let out another screech.
“Go get the birdy, Terry.” Mari patted Terry’s muscular shoulders, and the cat meowed back. Bounding forward, Terry leapt toward the creature. Beating its wings vigorously, the creature ascended another few metres into the air, hoping to avoid becoming the cat’s plaything. Terry’s paw batted out at the statue, the tips of her claws striking true at the monster’s feet causing it to tumble to the ground. Before the statue could retaliate, Terry’s mouth wrapped around the stone body, its warmth engulfing most of the creature. Biting down into the stone, the statue let out another pained shriek. Its claws dug into Terry’s cheek as the cat shook its head in the hopes of paralysing the construct. Unperturbed, the monster continued its assault – its wings trying to beat in the steadfast prison of Terry’s jaws. Biting down hard, Terry’s canines finally passed through the stone completely, and the creature’s structure cracked and crumbled as its form became destabilised. Crunching down on her prey, Terry continued breaking the statue apart in her mouth, before swallowing what was left of the stone hard. Turning back to Mari, Terry let out a satisfied meow. Mari smiled back at her companion, watching as Terry’s shoulders came forward. Mari’s eyes widened as Terry wretched, her feet carrying her to the cat’s side, “If you’re going to be sick, do it off the side of the bridge into the water!”
Mari stroked Terry’s neck as she continued dry heaving. Soon after, a shifting mass of mucous soaked rock flew from her mouth into the water below. Terry composed herself and meowed to reassure Mari, licking the saliva and spittle from her lips.
“Nice job, sweety.” Mari continued patting Terry’s fur, when Ifan approached from behind and joined in, his sword back in its sheathe.
“I guess you can’t be too mad that I broke that one’s hair accessory earlier.” Catching Mari’s gaze over Terry’s back, she could see his pupils had lost their pale glow.
“I guess not.” Mari let out a light chuckle as Ifan wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Thanks for all your help, Terry, but we’ve got this from here.”
“Meow.”
Mari began a brief incantation and waved her wand at Terry’s being. A bubble formed around her body, and Mari waved at her feline friend before popping the bubble with her wand. Terry vanished back into nothingness, leaving Mari and Ifan stood opposite each other. Ifan’s hand continued to drip blood on the cobble beneath his feet, and he could see that Mari wasn’t faring any better. Her dress had become stained with crimson liquid and he noticed that she wasn’t particularly stable on her feet.
Ifan pulled the beads from his pocket once more and held them up to Mari, who shuffled knowingly towards him in response. Clasping his hands together over the beads, he muttered a prayer under his breath. Mari had heard this at least a hundred times before, his voice thick with admiration for the God he was invoking. White apparitions danced around the pair, and Mari could feel the pain in her shoulders ease. Reaching up, she touched the wounds on her shoulders. She felt as the flesh closed under her fingers slowly.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this feeling.”
“Don’t break my concentration.” Mari could see Ifan’s smirk emerge as he continued his prayer. The apparitions continued up into the sky, their warmth fading from Mari’s skin. “Done.” Ifan opened his eyes and made a fist with his previously damaged hand. The wound had closed completely, leaving behind dried blood in its absence.
“At least you won’t need to go shopping for new clothes.” Mari watched as Ifan inspected his handiwork, his eyes dancing around the holes in Mari’s dress.
“Can’t you just make new ones?”
“I try not to. The mage’s guild has a thing about conjuring things that might ‘disrupt the economy’. An agreement they came to with the government, if you remember.”
“Right, yeah I remember you complaining about it in our letters while you were at magic school.”
“It just had to happen two months into me joining,” Mari scratched at the broken fabric around her shoulder, “Still sour about it.”