The Defeat of the Fairies - Hope of a new Dawn

XXII. Missing One

Upon arrival at the lake, the three, Nikla, Ailrees, and Caleb, noticed the boat was docked at the lodge but before swimming there, they decided to look around for the three left behind, Valory, Jack, and...

- I'm pretty sure there was two of them... - Nick commented, sighting his sister and the shapeshifter not too far away.

- Guys,...

We're missing one... - Valory shouted in response as if she could have heard her brother.

Twins are way too weird... *goosebumps*

Ailrees and Caleb had quietly followed the shapeshifter along. No small talk, no comments, no questions, not amongst themselves, not directed at the grizzly. The silence was suiting, especially since Jack needn't distracting.

Initially, when Jack suggested looking for Connor in some of the forest's hostile resident's dens, he had only invited the fairy along, but as you probably could have guessed by now, Caleb insisted on accompanying them.

The twins, contrary to their friend, had no problem staying behind. Valory stated that attention is attracted to her, not away from her, and naturally, stealth wouldn't suit her. She might have also not been in the best mood to be useful... 

Meanwhile, Nick didn't much care, you see, he has this thing where although he has the biggest of hearts, he won't help anyone unless it is asked of him. So, if he is not needed, he won't waste an effort.

As a bear, the shapeshifter had sniffed and sniffed and had followed Connor's scent to an opening at the base of a mountain. However, he didn't tell the others that Connor's scent wasn't the only thing he had picked up on...

The three of them hid behind bushes to peek at the place. Their own scent masked, not by coffee nor mud, but by magic... it sure was convenient.

At the base of the mountain, the ground was parched, lifeless, burnt to a crisp, and stained black. The rock, the same, marked by high flames blazing. 

There was a tall and narrow, arched opening on the bare stone. It was framed and ornamented by engravings impossible to be read, broken, and scratched, and it seemed that the opening had had doors at some point, but those were long gone. Maybe along the fire? Who knew?

It was an elvish ruin. The elves had fled into another realm and left everything behind, so, I guess it was up for grabs...? The fairies weren't around to reclaim any of it, you know, 

personal reasons, *cough-cough*......

Ailrees couldn't help but wonder if all of those locations had been taken, too. It would be worrisome, to say the least, if they had...

For the time the group was there, it was rather quiet. No flow of anyone. No life around the stone. Except for two terribly ugly trolls standing deeper at the entrance, avoiding the last beams of sun that shone into the cave.

I don't even know why I mentioned that they were ugly, I don't think there was a cute troll... They were a ghoulish sight; pale, thick, sickish skin in weirdly unnatural colors, such as green, blue, orange, pink, and so on; they had serrated teeth and their mouths were cut at the corners; they had big pointy and deformed ears; were completely hairless; and had an impressively large built. It didn't help any bit that their aggressive nature meant they would also display many scars and bruises and poorly healed noses, with the occasional one-eyed individuals... so, not exactly the beauty standard, eh?