Chapter 3: Hello

The air was damp under the dome of trees.

For a moment, the two Magis stayed still. The insane voice left as suddenly as it came, leaving only a disturbing silence to be witnessed.

The man behind bars spoke. “You should move away.”

Hal and Rafaën could only barely dodge from a burst of vines that hammered down from nowhere. Then a second, a third, a fourth attack sprung into them, leaving little space to anything other than defensive maneuvers.

Hal’s air shields started to be disrupted by the flurry of blows. “Raffa, what are you doing?”, he said. “These are plants.”

Rafaën then noticed what he meant and cursed her own lack of attention. “Of course” she thought. “Plants!”

Moving away from the successive attacks as best as she could, she managed to cast a quick chanting and the fiery tiger grew in size, to a point where he shielded the two of them almost completely by burning away the green whips.

She roared with him, in a cheerful laugh. “Do you really think you can fight fire like this?”

Seconds went by before a disdainful reply came from the dark beyond the oaks. ”Do you think, my dear, that fire can truly fight anything? Think again, love. Think again.”

The vines then stroke even fiercer than before, this time slippery with a thick sap that covered their tentacle-like grip, protecting them against the flames. Hal and Rafaën pulled back behind the tiger, which struggled more and more under the slap of the trees.

“We can’t hold this much longer”, said Hal. He had slashed more vines than he could count but yet they seemed to be thousands.

The assault, however, was much quicker than they expected. In one single sweep the enemy had left them with their backs against the wall of trunks. Rafaën could not concentrate to keep the Firelines awake and the tiger disappeared, leaving behind only a thin smoke trail.

The final blow seemed to be near, when Hal asked, “What do you want, for god’s sake!”

The vines stopped in the air, suspended. “Silly boy... pretty, but dull. Don’t you see I have what I wanted?”

And from behind the upmost branches of the dome, a figure floated. He was young and copper-skinned, shorthaired, with leaves being waved into the hair threads and descending to be tied in a braid behind his back. His clothes were flamboyant and minimal, his smile, dainty but maniacal, and his eyes, full of greed.

Rafaën saw that he was not floating exactly, but hovering over them attached gracefully to the vines.

“I’m not sorry for putting up a show... “, he said, giggling. “Because that’s what I do best”. The plants seemed to retrocede and the woods were starting to diminish to their normal size. 

“I do have what I want now, but I think I like you enough to let you go somewhere else.”

Hal had a glimpse of understanding and went for his pocket. “When... how... you stole our devices!?”

Rafaën checked her pouch, incredulous. “How dare you, creep? Give them back!”

She conjured a huge flame whip out of her own hair and was ready to strike, but someone shouted and they saw that the caged man was being dangerously trapped. The trunk was getting smaller and smaller, soon to crush him well and forever.

She stood still. “Fine! Do what you fuckin’ want. Bastard.”

“Uuuh, someone has a dirty mouth, hasn’t she?”. The young man rejoiced with the situation. “When in my woods, abide to my rules, that’s what I say. Now, would you please leave? Unless you want to party again... and harder”, he said.

“What about him?”, asked Hal.

“He will be my guarantee... until you leave.”

They stood there for a brief moment staring coldly at each other, when suddenly Hal started laughing so hard he was soon out of breath.

Rafaën pierced him with furious green eyes. “Are you finally out of your mind!?”

Hal made a great effort to contain himself. “Well, my vegetable friend... Maybe it is you who should leave, after all.”

Then the young man looked behind him to see a shadow standing over a branch.

A hand played one bucolic tone in a string, and then two, tree. A song started to spread from the dark, flooding the woods with the unmistakable sound of music.

Slowly at first, and then progressively faster, the vines that were once enemies turned against their master, wrapping him tight and holding him prisoner of his own instruments.

“Wait... what!? You can’t do that! How is this even possible!?”, said the young man, trying to escape with no success. “Nature bows to me! TO ME ONLY!”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken”, said Dern, stepping out of the dark. “You were the one who bowed, boy”. Dern looked somberly at the man behind the bars.

The prisoner was smiling, and spoke with a voice so twisted, contrived and immoral that hopelessness suddenly became an understatement.

“Hello.”