The Forbidden Forest

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"I think he fell asleep", said Nicolas to Derek.

 

"I haven't heard anything about Yuer, but my Uncle Krapo went on a hop-see two seasons ago, and he never came back. He even left me his questing tools. Maybe he was burned up in this fire. I hope not though, I really like him." Rainette was feeling somewhat scared with all this talk of demons.

 

Derek noticed the fear in the tasloi's voice and said,"Don't be scared Rainette, while you're with me, nothing bad will happen to you."

 

Nicolas was tired of talking and wanted to continue.

"What about this river plan of yours, Rainette?"

 

"River plan?" said Derek looking at Rainette.

 

"Rainette said that if we can swim we can get out of the forest."

 

"Well, the green fish are born here in the forest pools. Then they grow up and go to the sea. Later they come back here to mate and die. I know this because one of them told me, so I didn't eat him. So if we swim down the river, we will get to the sea, and out of the forest, like the green fish. I don't know how far it is though, I've never been out of the forest." Rainette was looking forward to maybe going on a hop-see like Uncle Krapo.

 

"Let's do it. Once I get out of here, I can get some more supplies. I will be difficult to continue my quest in the forest with so little supplies."

 

"I'll go too. The other Druids can protect while I'm gone."

 

"Well, if I'm going on a quest, I should get my Uncle Krapo's questing tools that he left me. I'll go get them. They're in my tree-hole not far from here. Wait a few minutes and I'll be right back."

Rainette hopped off into the forest. Ten minutes later he came back, looking very different from the naked creature he had left as. He was wearing a hat of a big green scale, his chest and back were covered by two larger green scales connected with twine. Around his waist was a twine belt, and hanging from that were a dagger, a bone club, and a quiver. A short bow hung around his back.

"These are my Uncle Krapo's questing tools." He told Derek and Nicolas. "He taught me how to use them, but it is the first time that I go on a quest with them, so if it looks to you like I put them on wrong, please tell me."

"My hat and breast and back cover are from scales from the green dragon 'Old Death Breath' who was defeated several years ago by the tornado that made the bramble pit. They are held together by iron-tree bark rope."

He pulled out his dagger. "My dagger is one of 'Old Death Breath's' teeth. And this empty lillypond bulb down here on the handle is filled with the oil from my back. When I squeeze it, it goes into the flesh where the dagger is, and it makes creatures vomit and spit their stomaches out. I make sure to rub my scale coverings really well with my back-oil too, and I can also put it on my arrows."

He put his dagger in its sheath and showed his bone club. "This is the leg bone of Luleth, the unicorn. When she died, she willed her body to us forest creatures. My uncle wanted to get her horn, for a spear, but I'm pretty happy with this for a club, so far, it has never broken or cracked."

"Does it look like I have all these questing tools on correctly?" Rainette asked Derek and Nicolas. They nodded.

"Okay, then we can go. There's a little stream just to the moss-side, we can follow that to the river that the green fish take to go to the sea."

Rainette hopped off towards the stream.

 

SSmalass lay coiled in a deep pool in the river. He was very sore and hungry. Other nagas had found his hiding place and beaten him. He had barely escaped with his life managing to get to this spot not far from the ocean

He was sso hungry, sso misserable, sso feeling ssorry for himsself.

His wounds made him slow and he was unable to catch any fish.

Oh, what wass a poor odd looking naga to do. Jusst curl up and die he thought.

 

"Gedfoih Sertaq Befreaotiy," Derek said, summoning a water serpent to guide him and the others. "He can help us if he sees danger."

 

Rainette and the others soon followed the stream down to the river. The banks were so overgrown with brambles and weeds that Rainette jumped in the river. "If you want to follow on the bank, that's fine, but it's much easier going in the water," Rainette called out to Nicolas and Derek. Derek's water serpent was ahead of Rainette. Rainette kicked hard a couple of times and jumped out of the water, over the serpent, before splashing down in the river again. The serpent took off ahead of him again. Rainette sprang over it again. He hadn't had so much fun swimming since playing leap-frog with his broodlings long ago. The serpent had passed him again. The river was going left around a bend. Rainette hopped out of the river, up on the bank, took three hops through some trees, and hopped back in the river, way ahead of the water serpent.

"Ha, ha, water-snake-friend. Let's see you beat that!" Rainette called out to the serpent, which was just rounding the bend.

 

From his hole in the river SSmalass feels the vibration of something dropping into the water. He looks up and sees a very large frog. "Frog legs, yum."

With a quick thrust he bites onto the body and even faster spits out whatever it is. Coiling as far into hole as he can he throws up.

"yuk, what a horrible tassting thing."

Then slowly lifting his head until one eye is out of the water he looks around. Towards the middle of the river is the large frog thing and coming down the river is a sea serpent. Normally even Ssmalass could take on a sea serpent but not hurt the way he was.

He sinks back into his hole hoping he will not be observed.

 

"Oww!" Something bit Rainette. The green dragon scales took most of the bite, but he was squeezed pretty hard. He dipped under the water and saw a large snake puking. He jumped out of the river and into a tree, quicking becoming the color of bark. "Snake!" He yelled to Derek and Nicolas.

 

Derek ran ahead of Nicolas. "Where is it now, Rainette?"

 

If it was a snake, Derek was the right man to find. To Nicolas and Rainette, it sounded like,"Ssss Sss ss sssss sSSSsss," but in reality, it was " Come to me serpent, we know of your existence and wish to speak to you." Any serpent-like creature should understand this.

 

SSmalass heard the sound through water vibration. There was something enticing about it, a warm feeling that he had never felt.

Slowly he rises from the water, exposing his head, torso and those abominations of limbs. His body is covered with cuts and brusies. Some of the cuts are quite deep and have not yet begun to heal.

"Oh pleasse don't kill me. I thought it wass a frog. I'm ssso hungry and I hurt ssso bad. Maybe you ssshould kill me and put me out of my missery. I can't drown. But I don't really want to die. Why doessn't anyone like me? It'sss not my fault I was born thisss way. SSS sss S s."

He looks sadly at the creature making the Ssss noises.

 

"It's okay, Naga," Derek said," We don't wish to hurt you. I have food for you if you wish it. We need information."

 

"Food, oh yesss pleassse, anything, I can eat anything. Information? I don't know very much. What are you anyway? My name is Ssmalass. Food, pleassse, pleassse."