Wakfu: Aeri The Eliatrope

Chapter 14: The Swamp Of Horrors

Having gotten then information necessary the three returned to the base of the Rogues. Some were surprised they even made it back, let alone in one piece. ;"Now we're even kids. What are you going to do now?" Smisse asked them curiously. ;"We're going to that place that the Enutrof told us about. That's our only lead so far, and it sounds like the Dofus Grougaloragran told us about." Aeri explained. Shiro gave a huff in response. ;"You sure about that? You could just stay here and become a Rogue you know. You have the stuff for it." Lightning said. Both Aeri and Shiroazaad shook their head slightly. ;"Thanks, but no thanks. Finding our family comes first." She explained. Smisse stroked her head lightly. ;"Well, just know that the deal still applies if you change your minds." He told them. The other Rogues concured. "If you ever need help around Bonta, know that we're here for you guys, alright?" He continued. She nodded. The two bid farewell to the Rogues, and headed towards the direction the Enutrof had previously told them about. Because Shiroazaad was unable to turn into his dragon form, due to there being too many people around, they had to go by foot. For some way they got a ride from a nice man on a wagon, on the way out of the city. He however refused to take them all the way to the swamp, as it was notorious from getting people lost, and for them to never return.

The pair continued onward together. The Swamp was dark, and damp, filled with thick greenish fog. The water was dark and murky, you couldn't see the bottom. The air felt heavy, and a sense of dread loomed. Whisper-like sounds could be heard in the distance as they walked hand in hand, and unknown hissing sound was made by some creature deep within the swamp. Crows filled the branches of the trees, watching the two. Shiroazaad growled lowly at them, they seemed to get the message, as some of them flew away in fear. Something slithered it's way up a tree in a hurry as if to hide. Aeri sensed SOMETHING's Wakfu around them, but couldn't pin point where it was. It felt big and strong, but it was as if it was all around them. They hopped from portal to portal to avoid walking in the murky unknown waters. The entire swamp felt... suspiciously calm. They hadn't even noticed any bugs flying through the air, nor had They actually SEEN any other life besides the crows on the trees. The uncertainty in the children's hearts weighed heavy, but their excitement if finding their Dofus helped them forward. They moved deeper and deeper into the ever darkening forest, soon it was too dark to even see your own hands, the only thing glowing was the portals Aeri created, and her red wings. Good thing that they both could see the Wakfu of any living being which helped them navigate through the darkness.

For some time there was nothing, but then, there was a dim reddish glow. It grew bigger and bigger the closer they got. And there, on a tree trunk, it was. A brilliant red, Ruby colored Dofus. It seemed easy. Too easy. No one, nothing guarding one. Aeri hesitated to approach it. Shiroazaad felt the same. ;"Are you sure about this sister?" He asked her. She gulped and nodded in response. She took a step, then another forward. Once she was sure nothing happened, was she bravely moving on. Step by step until she was at the stump. She reached her hands towards the Dofus. Slowly but surely. Aeri moved it a little to test the waters, then more, and then she took it in her hands holding it. The soft and warm glow enveloped her. It felt familiar yet different from what she had imagined. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong. Suddenly something shot out of the waters. Or rather the water itself shot upwards into a giant snake like being. It dashed towards Aeri who barely had enough time to jump backwards away from the being. It then quickly maneuvered itself towards her. She created a portal big enough for the creature to go through, it took quite a lot of her strength. Shiroazaad quickly ran to her sister, taking a form of a dragon to protect her. The being, a little confused from the portal trip, quickly turned itself back towards the two. It moved quickly through the trees and branches, it WAS mostly consisting of water after all. Aeri and Shiro both jumped to different directions to confuse the creature, but it went after Aeri instead. ;"Why is it only attacking ME?" She yelped. The water creature splashed against her body, taking a hold of Aeri. She hung helplessly with the Dofus in her arms. "Let. Me. Go!" She yelled, making a Wakfu blast at the creature, cutting it in half. The bring however quickly recovered from this, becoming whole once more, as the Eliatrope ran creating portals with her free hand, jumping through as quickly as she could. The being wasn't far behind her. Shiro spat fire at it, only for the creature's head to evaporate and taking form again. It slammed it's body against Shiro who was sent flying to the water. ;"Brother!" Aeri yelled in despair. The being slammed it's tail against Aeri this time, who fell to the ground still clutching to the Dofus. The creature watched as she got back up only for it to slam her down once again, and again. Shiroazaad flew at the creature who didn't even bother to attack him. It just let him flew through it's body as it did no damage. As many times as it hit her, she clutched more and more tightly at the egg. Finally she got up, and was immediately sent flying upwards, that's when she noticed something strange about the Dofus. It had changed color to more faded red. She stared at it before it hit her: ;"This isn't ours." She said. Once she managed to land safely, she quickly held up the egg at the creature. ;"There has been a mistake! We thought this Dofus was one of ours. But it turns out it's not. You must be the guardian of this place... Please forgive us!" She told it bowing down. The creature gently took the Dofus from her, placing it back onto the tree trunk it had formerly been, then it turned back into normal swamp water. ;"Now what do we do then?" Shiro asked holding his arm. ;"I don't know. This was our only lead." Aeri said sadly. "We can't even sense our Dofus. Nor the others." She continued. Both of them looked at each other. Both of them disheartened.