Hoia Baciu againThe journey to the Hoia Baciu Forest began at midnight, when the moonlight pierced the dense canopy of the ancient trees. The air was crisp and cool, laden with the earthy scent of moss and decaying leaves. Claud, led the group with long, confident strides. His eyes, a piercing blue, scanned the path ahead, ever watchful for any sign of danger.Beside him walked Lupa, her lithe form moving with a grace that belied her strength. Lycidas and Elena got a hint of her relationship with Claud because of the small, tender gestures they exchanged. A touch on the arm, a shared glance, a quick smile and occasional giggles.Elena, the person who had unwittingly released a demon into the world, followed closely behind them. Her face was pale with worry, her eyes wide and darting at every rustle and shadow. The weight of her mistake hung heavily on her shoulders, and the presence of the demon within her cast a dark shadow over her soul. She clutched at her coat, her fingers trembl
Hoia Baciu Again IIThey all nodded, a renewed sense of determination settling over them. As they pressed on, the eerie silence of the forest was punctuated only by the sound of their footsteps and the occasional whisper of the wind through the trees.As the Claud, Lupa, Lycidas and Elena continued through the oppressive, shadowed depths of the Hoia Baciu Forest, a sudden whistling noise pierced the air. In an instant, Claud’s reflexes kicked in, and he leaped into action, catching an arrow mere inches from Elena’s head.“Positions, everyone! We’re under attack!” Claud roared, his voice echoing through the trees. “Any ideas who it could be?” he asked, glancing at Lycidas.“Trolls,” Lycidas replied, a note of grim recognition in his voice. “They’re thieves, carnivores, and magical creatures. Not as strong as a werewolf individually, but formidable in numbers.”Before Claud could respond, the forest exploded into chaos. The trolls had planned their attack meticulously. Hundreds of them
Fairies“So we’re finally here?”“Not quite.” Lycidas said. “The village of the pixies, their hive. Is the last stop before the tomb that harbours the eldershard crystal. If we can get past their village without making noise or alerting them. It’ll be perfect. That way we’ll only have to deal with the guardian pixies, the astral but if the village finds out that we’re here, they’ll attack us and make us lose the element of surprise. We’ll definitely prevail and beat every pixie in the village. They’re no match for us but the astrals, they’re a different type of pixie. Stronger, faster and smarter. If they see us beating their whole village, they’ll resort to severe measures to protect the eldershard crystal. I don’t know what they’ll do but I’m sure we won’t stand a chance anymore if they get that prep time.” “So what should we do?”“Wait for nightfall.”“Nightfall again?” Lupa asked. “We have just one day left. If we don’t get back tomorrow to the demon it’ll free itself from the bi
Clash with the pixies.The pixies surrounded them with their tiny spears and tiny arrows. It looked insignificant but they knew that word must have reached the astrals by now.“Should we?”“Wait let me try something first.” Lycidas said. “Non vobis nocere volumus. Solum volumus rem recuperare quae eruptionem daemonum sistet.”“Mendacia!” The pixie leading the attack replied “Millenniorum daemonibus caruimus. Solum nostra artificia furari vultis ut ea ad privatos usus convertatis.”“Hoc non verum est. Humanus daemonem invocavit, itaque ego, magus, rem necessariam habeo ut energiam requisitam ad eum in infernum remittendum colligam.” Lycidas said“Audivimus quid trollis feceritis. Non possumus vobis credere.” The pixie replied “Impugnate!”“I didn’t know that you could speak… what was that? Spanish? French?” “Latin.” Lycidas said. “All my magic spells are in Latin so I had to learn Latin before learning magic and besides Latin is the language that all mystical beings understand. Just l
Clash With Pixies IILycidas studied the pattern. “It looks like a cycle, a balance of elements. We need to activate them in the right order to unlock the door.”Claud frowned. “But what’s the order?”Lupa looked thoughtful. “If I remember correctly, the ancient texts spoke of the cycle of creation and destruction. Water nourishes earth, earth produces life, life creates fire, fire produces ash, and ash becomes earth again. It’s a cycle.”Lycidas nodded. “So we need to follow the cycle.” He pointed to the symbols. “Water, earth, life, fire, ash.”They studied the door, noting the connections between the symbols. “But how do we activate them?” Claud asked.Lupa noticed small depressions in each symbol. “I think we need to press them in the right order.”“Let’s try it,” Lycidas said. He reached out and pressed the water symbol first. The symbol glowed faintly, and the light spread along the lines connecting it to the earth symbol.Claud pressed the earth symbol next, and it too began to
The Astral Pixies“They are just standing like statues.” Claud said. “Should we? Should we not?”“I’ve never gotten this far before so I don’t know what to do.” Lycidas said. “I’ve only read about the Astral Pixies in books. I’ve never met one. They’re powers are gotten from the stars. They’re very powerful.”“Who dares disturb our slumber?” The Astral with the red eyes spoke out first. “Down here.” Lycidas said. The astrals looked down first before Lycidas continue talking. “So we’re going to need that crystal. Just hand it over and we’ll be on our way. No need to turn this into a fight.”“A fight?” The pixie laughed. “It’ll be a massacre. You don’t have the power to even stain my weapon. It’s better you leave now that you have the chance so that we’ll not have to kill you like the others that made it this far more than two millennials ago.”“Lycidas we don’t have time for this.” Claud said. “lets take them.”“On this, I agree with you.”Claud, Lycidas, and Lupa finally confronted t
Mistakes“We have to get to Elena and take her back to Verdant.”“Let me see the crystal first.” Lycidas asked.“There will be time to explore the powers of the crystal after we banish the demon.” Lupa said. “Let’s go now.”Lycidas didn’t say anything again as they ran towards where they told Elena to wait. They saw Elena just standing and staring into space.“Elena we got it! We got it!” Lupa said excitedly. “What’s with that look on your face?”“It’s 12:13am” Elena replied.“So?”“It’s tomorrow already. The demon has been released.” Elena said.“How do you know this?” As if waiting for it’s cue, the demon came out from the darkness, hands on Elena’s shoulder then whispered into her ear. “I’m the master now.”After saying that the demon moved backwards with her slowly before vanishing completely into the darkness.“Shit! Shit! Shit!!!” Lupa exclaimed hands on her head. “How did it find her?”“The bind between them works both ways.” Lycidas said dryly. “She can track the demon where
Clash of two realmsInside the building, Claud had been doing his best to keep the demon occupied. His claws and fangs were fierce, but the demon’s regeneration abilities made it nearly impossible to deal lasting damage. Each strike Claud landed was met with a hiss of pain from the demon, but within moments, the wounds would close, leaving the demon as strong as ever. Claud dodged a swipe from the demon’s claws, using his speed and agility to stay one step ahead. He tried to use his elemental powers to create a barrier of fire, hoping to slow the demon down, but the creature simply walked through the flames, unscathed.“Your tricks won’t save you,” the demon taunted, its voice dripping with malice. It lunged at Claud, its claws extended. Claud countered with a burst of lightning, the electricity crackling through the air and striking the demon. The creature roared in pain, but once again, the damage was short-lived.Outside, Lycidas and Lupa watched in horror as the demon threw Claud