The Sprite Witch

CHAPTER 5: Whisper's Basin

Strands of seaweed clumped around the two mermaids, the currents whistling through the easily. The Randolph, swimming above the Basin to try and hunt some more schools of tiny fish, was already lost from view. The water itself was darker down here, a completely different blue; it was greyer, like someone had accidentally dropped a big blob of black paint in their mixing tray and couldn't be bothered to start a new batch of blue.

Laila hunted amongst the bracken lying at the bottom of the paths of least resistance; one could almost imagine that these paths had actually been worn through, once upon a time. Nexie wandered over to any rocky columns and arches that weren't completely covered by knots of shimmering seaweed. The dark scars that ran along them seemed deliberate; she could see a pattern in them, like rushed symbols scratched onto paper, the pen pooling ink in any place it stayed for too long.

"Laila, are you sure this is a good idea?" she called out, struggling to spot the moving figure of her pupil through the masses of seaweed.

"I know; all the rocks here are grey. How'm I meant to find a fluro orange one in this mess?"

She slid into merbat form, the same shiny blue scales from her tail spreading over her body. They reflected the water around her, and the vague forms of the seaweed, rendering her almost invisible in the forest. Nexie struggled to keep up with the fast figure.

"We must be approaching the centre of the basin by now. Do you think we'll find good rocks there?"

"If we're gonna find important stuff anywhere, it'll be the center."

"Ooh, I can't wait!"

Nexie laughed hesitantly and danced around clumps of seaweed, some of them threaded into bulges as thick as tree trunks and as hard as rocks. She finally caught up to her now-silent pupil, staring down past where the centre of the basin slipped away, a shallow cliff face coated with seaweed. Up above them, the dark seaweed arched between them and the waves, thick and twisted. Nexie swam up to the protagonist, peering down into the centre of the basin, where the seaweed itself was black, an endless maze of rock-hard plant life. Though 'life' might be the wrong word.

Laila swam down into the darkness, the water around her pushing back, the murkiness blurring her vision. But she had found the thing she wanted.

"Nexie! Look! This isn't seaweed; it's a rock! And it's completely orange and fluro and beautiful!"

Her mentor hadn't realised she was holding her breath. She floated down quickly, anxious to get the rock and get out before her student had any other brilliant ideas.

Laila pulled at some of the softer seaweed, straining to get it away from the orange rock she found. It seemed like the rock was much bigger than she first anticipated; closer to the size of a boulder. Nexie fidgeted and prodded the rock impatiently.

Beneath her hand, the rock moved.

---

"Come on, lazybones!" Voir called.

She adjusted the point on her hat, which wasn't quite crooked enough for her taste. Beside her, a small leathery fruit bat lay on its back and stared blankly at the ceiling. Voir nudged it and, gaining no reaction, stuffed the bat in one of the baskets she had collected by her feet. After a few more impatient shouts and insults, Taffy showed up, perching on Voir's hat happily. The witch grimaced as her hat flopped over completely, losing every hint of crookedness.

She picked up the baskets, slightly overbalanced with the sheer amount. She stumbled outside and kicked the door shut, looking around her load for her missing assistant. She didn't trust Laila's potion-brewing skills in the slightest, and had never known someone who was so incompetent at Fantasial history, but she thought that she would at least bother to show up on an important day like today.

Taffy skittered from one tree to another happily, squeaking with surprise whenever a bird or a squirrel peeked out at it. Then it squeaked with fear when one of the cute little squirrels spat out a flame ball at it.

After what seemed like an age, Voir finally reached the vampire stronghold.

It was different to last year, surprisingly so. Perhaps it was the change in leaders, but murky green streamers hung about the place, stalls were set up, a duel was being advertised with a single yellow word on the grey poster. Voir couldn't recall the last time they'd had so much yellow just hanging around.

An old, greying bat fluttered next to her, and swished into human form, grey-silver fang implants matching the rim on his monocle. The rest of his teeth were missing, and he hobbled about with a regal cane, charred black so as to not look too cheerful.

With a single nod, he began looking through the numerous potions and herbal remedies as Voir set up her stall.

Last time she'd come here, business hadn't been too good. Her... apprentice at the time, gave up in selling things almost as soon as they'd set up. But she kept Voir company. They eventually mae a sale, just before heading home. A single vial of newts, which Kirlian had just scooped up form a grey lake nearby, and had advertised as having 'magical properties'. They had laughed all the way home about that one.

Voir traded off a few potions to the man, and then glanced over at Taffy to ensure he wasn't causing too much havoc. With a pang, she realised that, right now, he was the closest thing she had to an apprentice.

---

High above the protagonist, the dome of blackened seaweed began to crumble, boulder-sized pieces crashing onto the petrified seaweed below. Between her and Nexie, the orange rock raised up, shimmering and waving, attached to a long orange tentacle, thicker than an elephant and long enough to challenge a highway, raising up and crashing down again between them. The seaweed-rocks shattered, and another tentacle raised up, pounding at the dome, ripping down the barrier between it and the open ocean. The seaweed structures tumbled into a giant sinkhole, lined with teeth.

A gargantuan octopus flailed against its bindings, getting stronger with every one broken. Another enormous tentacle rose out of the debris, slamming down in front of Laila, the force of the blow swirling dust and pebbles through the water. As it swung again, an army of arms dragged Laila out of the blast zone.

The protagonist struggled against the squid, calling out her mentor's name, trying to spot a wash of brown hair amongst the wreckage. Then,

everything

went

black