The
next morning they both got up, ready to discover the legend. As they
rode their horses through a narrow path of trees, they noticed four pillars
of rock, rising high above the trees. The sun was relatively high
for how early it really was. They continued down the path until they
could see what was in the middle of the stone pillars. A giant bubble,
reflecting light and images off its surface, just sitting there plain as
day.
"You'd think we'd have seen that." remarked Stant.
"Maybe, maybe not." replied Lichram. "Maybe its one of those things that comes and goes. Could explain why not too many people have seen it"
"Come on, something this large can't just come and go as it pleases."
"Says who? We've seen weirder things."
"Yeah, but dragons disappearing and reappearing can be explained. They could have turned into their human form and hidden themselves somewhere, and later on, turn back into their dragon form and fly away."
"Yeah, but how do they hide in the middle of a field in broad daylight?"
"Maybe an illusionist was playing a trick on everyone."
"That's a pretty big illusion for one illusionist."
"Maybe he was a really good illusionist!"
"Bah. Too many what ifs, buts, and could've beens."
"So how would you explain it?"
"I don't. I'll leave that to you humans."
They rode nearer and nearer to the bubble encased in the monumental rocks. As soon as they got close to the edge of the trees, the forest seemed to turn against them. The trees in front of them closed off their path forward, and the trees behind closed off their retreat.
"Well this could explain why not too many people have seen it." Stant said in a slightly worried tone.
"Um, I don't like this at all." replied Lichram.
"We got to get out of here before something really bad happens."
They dismounted and began searching the now completely closed off wooden walls for any possible way out. None could be found. They were sealed in tight.
"I really wish I brought my axe." remarked Stant.
"I wish I had mine too." echoed Lichram.
"Oh well, no time like the present to break in this new sword. We'll see if it's worth what I paid for it."
"Um, Stant, look at the horses."
Stant looked at the horses and they seemed to have gotten bigger. Much bigger. Their eyes where now glowing a bright, flaming red. They both almost rhythmically bucked up to their hind legs, and swung their fore legs wildly at Stant and Lichram. In almost a split second, Lichram had his crossbow loaded and pointing at the horses.
"This is bad!" Stant yelled while dodging a hoof that was now the size of his head.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah damn!" yelled Lichram, as he pulled the trigger releasing the the bolt from his crossbow.
The bolt flew fast and true, hitting the enlarged horse right in the neck. Lichram loaded and fired at the second horse, hitting it in it's ear hole, killing it almost instantly. Stant, seeing the second horse somewhat recovering from its painful wound, lunged forward and thrust his sword right in to the horses chest. It let out a loud squeal and fell to the ground, dead. The forest was silent around them. They both looked cautiously around, not knowing what to expect next. They heard a giant screech from above as a giant hawk beared down on them.
"Shot it, shoot it, shoot it." beckoned Stant.
"I will, I will, I will." replied Lichram.
Stant ran over to the dead horses and grabbed the throwing daggers out of the packs. Lichram fired bolt after bolt at the hawk. Each bolt only seemed to bounce off of the giant birds armory feathers. Stant handed Lichram some of the daggers.
"Here use some of these."
"Are you crazy, I can't fire a dagger."
"Fire, throw, I don't care, they're sharper then your bolts."
The bird swooped low and sure. The only thing that kept it from hitting Stant and Lichram, was the tree branches that stretched across the path.
"On the next pass, aim for the neck." yelled Stant.
"Who made you boss!" bellowed Lichram.
"Just shut up and do it, Sprite!"
"I'M AN ELF!" yelled lichram as he hurled one of the throwing darts with all his might, at the oversized hawk.
It hit the hawk hard in the neck, piercing its flesh, and obviously angering it even more from the sound of the loud shriek that emanated from it.
"Oh now its mad."
The hawk flew down and crashed through one of the wooden walls, cut all of the branches above, and knocked Stant and Lichram down. It flew back around for another low pass. This time Stant was ready for it. He drew his sword, and as the hawk crashed through the other barrier, he heaved his sword into the hawks neck. The hawk flew up, and then crashed to the ground. It screeched one last time and closed its eyes. The wind began to blow violently. The 3 dead animals slowly turned to ash and blew away, leaving only their weapons and equipment behind. The wind then died down to almost nothing again.
"I wish we had a security system like that." joked Stant.
"You have a joke for everything don't you?" asked Lichram
Stant shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Eh, I try."
"Well, should we go..."
"Damn, now we gotta carry all our equipment."
"As I was saying, should we go to that bubble like looking thing?"
"Sure why not. It's not like we can go back home carrying all of this stuff."
"Well, pick it up and lets get going."
They picked up as much as they could and headed over to the bubble. They reached it and saw perfect reflections of themselves and the landscape around them in it. Lichram touched his hand to it and it shivered like the water in a lake when a stone is thrown into it. He looked at Stant and took a deep breath and walked into the bubble. Stant, with a puzzled look on his face, scratched the back of his neck. The next thing that happened was a hand popped out of the bubble and grabbed Stant and pulled him in.