Egrariand Chronicles Book 1: The Curse of the Black Stone

Fossigrim, the Water Spirit

Emily rushed home to get Steve and the others back to the river where they were fetching water. She told them that she found Jack and Jane and Mrs. Osnord lying unconscious on the ground near the river. She told them she tried to wake them up but to no avail.

They all hastily went to the river to check on them.

"What happened?" asked Steve.

Frekyt as a dover demon sat beside Jack, and with the looks on him, he seemed frightened of something. He was trembling and it was the first time they saw him like that. Lucas tried to get Frekyt but the dover demon tensed. His claws got firm and were sharp.

He was about to attack Lucas but thanks to Blaine he knocked Frekyt off by the handle of his sword. Frekyt tried to stand again and with an unknown reason, he shivered and wimped like an injured dog.

They were all confused at what was happening.

'Fossigrim', was what Amara said when she saw them and felt a presence of a mythical being around.

Amara told them that the Fossigrim was a mischievous water spirit in the guise of a young girl. She was luring victims into the deepest part of the river, letting them drink from it. Once they drank the water, they would sleep for eternity.

"That's not possible," said Mr. Osnord, weeping as he lifted up his pregnant wife with Steve's help. Blaine and Altair carried Jane and Jack respectively. They went back home, with Frekyt following them from a distance.

Lucas tried to use his magic to see what happened as soon as they laid them on the bed to the other room, but he saw nothing. It only drained his strength.

"Don't force yourself Lucas," said Amara. "There's a way to get them back."

They all looked at Amara with hope.

"What is it?" asked Lucas, caressing Jack and Jane, concerned for them. Even though they had bad history with each other, they were still his family, and besides, it was them who saved him and Blaine from Lord Pierre.

"We need an antidote."

"Antidote?"

"Argotus, a kind of a healing potion that can reverse spells, including this sleeping spell," said Amara while holding their hands and checking them.

"What? Where can we get one?" asked Steve.

"There's only one race that can craft that kind of potion. The Laseries."

Steve and Ava looked at each other. They have no clue at all of what Amara was talking about.

"Laseries? The half-elf, half-human?" asked Lucas.

Steve contorted his face. "You know something about them?"

"I am a Laserie," said Lucas "My mother was, at least."

"What?" they gasped. Steve remembered what Amara told him before that Lucas had blood of an elf, which was the reason why he has that terrifying power.

"Lord Pierre told me---"

"We have been going to that river for the longest time since I was young," interrupted Mr. Osnord. "We never saw any Fossigrim there. They are only a myth, no one had proved their existence. And even if they do exist, there's no chance of getting an anti-sleeping potion from the Laseries. They are aloof and they will make anyone fall under their spell, driving them mad and crazy afterwards."

"I will get it," said Lucas. "I can't be affected by spells."

"It will be dangerous Lucas," said Amara. "Their 'power of mind' is much stronger than yours. They have been practicing it for more than a millennia, unlike you, you just recently discovered that you possessed that kind of magic. And besides, they are as powerful as the Gorttaurs."