17

Apprentice and master returned to the wagon, but this time Rilcar went inside and came out with an old tome with drawings. It was a compendium of monsters.

"While we get to the edge of the forest, look for river monsters or those that live near water..."

That was very funny, the boy turned pages with drawings and descriptions of different monsters...

"Water troll..."

"Too aggressive, they would have already killed one of the boys or a cow... keep looking for water monsters but ones that are neutral, that are not especially aggressive or predatory but territorial..."

"An elemental?"

"Hmm, it's not bad, but the elemental would stay in a deep pool and wouldn't move enough to scare the wolves..."

"And a dryad..."

"That's a possibility, now tell me what you think about all this Gael..."

"Well, I doubt the boy is telling the truth, so I don't think he's a spectre, ghost, banshee, or any of those scary monsters. But if he doesn't attack, the truth is that it's difficult, we only know that for some reason the wolves don't cross, there's something, that's clear."

"It doesn't have a town, nor is it a group, Jacob is not stupid, he would have found the same tracks, he doesn't let himself be seen... Either it's a member of the Faeri like the Dryads or the Undines, or it's some kind of monstrous fish... or a crab... or what's in the water isn't a monster..."

"But then why don't the wolves cross?"

"Poisoned water, another predator from the other side of the forest... that's what we're here to find out... just in case, take a look at the third wind spell, maybe it can be useful to us"

"The air bell? That's a very useless spell..."

"What would you do to breathe underwater... and don't tell me to grow gills, I know that joke..."

Gael didn't object any more and started looking at the basics of the spell, it was really one of the simplest, although it was the first time that Gael tried to contain the air around him, the sensation was strange when he tried it.

They left the wagon near the edge of the forest, but they didn't go to the pool where Matias said he was fishing but directly to the cave. The smell of rotten eggs could be smelled from afar...

"Why does it smell so bad? I'm not surprised that no one goes there..."

"Now you don't think the bell is so silly, do you? Tell me Gael, if you were Matias, why would you stop going fishing, which is fun, and go to the cave that smells so bad?"

"Only if they tell me there's a hidden treasure, or to go on an adventure... I can't think of any other reason, and I would only run away if something scares me..."

They got closer little by little, the entrance to the cave was not like in the legends, a little round cave on a mountainside, it was a deep crack in the ground, as if a god had stuck his sword there. The cave was about forty meters from the river, it wasn't much, but it was likely that there was some kind of pool with sulphurous water and that's why it smelled like that.

"Zin var aeles der fin unc astra"

Magic began to flow from Rilcar, all the sulfurous gases concentrated in a single wind tube that took them out of the cave. The boy looked in wonder at the magic his master had done, it was not a direct mana spell, these were real magic words that built the world in a complex effect.

"Use the air bell anyway, it still smells bad in there, step where I step"

They looked into the abyss, and apart from gases coming out of various cracks, nothing strange could be seen. They went down a few meters until the cave widened a little and the descent became easier, several bubbling pools could be seen with the light filtering in from outside. With a snap, the part of the cave where they were lit up.

"Look, master, there's the fishing rod..."

"Don't move, Gael, stay behind me, we're not alone..."

The boy hadn't seen anything, neither in the illuminated area nor anywhere else, however his master unhooked from his belt a long, heavy battle axe that he was wielding with one arm. A light clacking sound like that of a large insect could be heard from the darkness in front of them.

On the uneven ground a magic circle began to be drawn, carved in stone. Gael did not know these symbols, but it was clear that the master was not just a smart guy with a long hand for punishment.

"Whatever happens, do not leave the circle..."

At lightning speed Rilcar jumped to the other side of the illuminated area, several balls of light shot from his hands towards the bottom.

There were more than twenty insectoid monsters as large as a bear but shaped like a crab or beetle, with a thick red shell, they had two large pincers and a tail on their back. However, the monsters had been taken by surprise by the magician's jump, all of them pointed their tails at where Gael was, some even threw a strange substance with their tails.

The boy fell on his ass in fright, but whatever that liquid was was blocked by an invisible barrier surrounding the magic circle.

Rilcar took advantage of the monsters' confusion at the excess of light to shoot five air blades with his free hand, one for each of his fingers. The insects in the first row fell to the ground when their legs were cut off. The rest spat again in the direction of the wizard as they tried to advance even above their peers, but the wizard had already moved, jumping quickly to another side. In the same air, five ice blades were fired, but only two managed to penetrate the hard shells. The rest bounced off, falling to the ground, although for some reason the sound of ice hitting the stone was not heard. It seemed that the ground had become muddy by magic.

The strange beings tried to advance through the mud, but by the time they tried to lift their legs, the ground was as solid as before. They were trapped in their places. Now that they were immobilized, the wind blades cut the pincers cleanly. In a few magical passes, not even the dangerous tails remained active. Rilcar's axe did the rest of the work, with effective blows that sounded like a Clock the shells were split, the wizard then fired with his other hand an ice knife that entered the soft parts of the insects without resistance.

The fight had not been elegant or heroic, it had been simply efficient, but the boy had many questions...