The current pulled them downstream, and wave after wave crashed against them due to the falling bricks and stones. Not long after, the bridge disappeared, yet that didn’t preoccupy their minds. Nila struggled to hold onto X. 

“Don’t drop the chest!” X shouted at her.

“I’m fucking trying!” Nila retorted.

“Mau, do something! I can’t pull her!” the elf yelled.

“Hold on!” Mau crawled over X’s body and reached Nila, who passed him the chest.

The tranquil currents of Felpein River gained strength, their volume and speed increasing exponentially. Within these rapids, the raft crashed against walls of water, barely staying afloat. 

“Damn!” Mau lost his footing and fell, but he managed to grab onto X’s arm at the last moment. Now it was Mau who held the chest, floating on those rapids.

“Crap!” the elf saw what lay ahead, jutting out from the river’s treacherous waters. “Watch out for the rocks!” 

Several rocks protruded out of the water, upon which the rapids crashed violently. X didn’t recall the rapid or the rocks from the last time he had been submerged in the river. To be fair, he didn’t remember anything at all and simply assumed there wouldn’t be a problem because, after all, he had survived. Now, amidst these wild currents, he couldn’t help but wonder: Why the hell did the gnomes agree to this plan?! 

While X entertained second thoughts about this venture, Nila had managed to climb back up onto the raft and was helping X pull Mau.

“Pull harder!” Mau yelled.

More rocks lay on their path, inching closer.

“I’m trying!” Nila shouted back.

“Those rocks are too big! We won’t pass!” X warned.

Two massive boulders loomed directly ahead.

Nila scrambled over to X and reached for Mau’s belt. She grabbed his Skull Ripper, loaded a shell, and shot at the rocks, pulverizing both. They passed over safely.

“Darn it, Mau’s slipping!” X exclaimed.

“Hold on!” Nila shouted at her companions as the tumultuous Felpein River’s waterfall approached fast.

“I don’t remember any of this!” the elf yelled.

“Fuck! I need air!” Mau’s grip on X’s arm faltered.

“Ahh!”

Nothing had prepared them for the three-story fall that washed away their sins.

*

A flock of birds took off from the riverbanks as three figures emerged from the waters: two gnomes, one of them carrying a redheaded elf. 

“You alright Ekk’s?” Mau asked.

“I’ll live,” X replied.

“Well then Nila, let’s go,” Mau gazed at Nila after putting the elf down.

“At least let me rest for a while,” the female gnome said.

“Stop complaining and come,” Mau insisted.

Both gnomes returned to the river, swimming towards the remains of the raft, and swam back with a chest each. They repeated this process until the four chests lay safely beside them.

“I’m done! I can’t swim anymore!” Mau declared before dropping down.

“Hey Ekk’s... If you can’t swim at all, why the hell did you come up with this plan?” Nila asked, resting upon the river’s shore.

“You need to risk it all to gain it all,” X replied.

“For four chests?” Nila breathed deeply.

“I’d do it for none,” Mau interjected.

“See?” X smiled.

“I think you two assholes have a point,” the female gnome concluded.

The midday sun warmed their bodies as they lay stretched out on an uncomfortable pebbled shore, waiting to regain their lost energy.

“Now we have to drag these chests into the farmhouse.” Nila wanted to keep resting the whole day.

“Well then, get going. Four arms, four chests... I fail to see the problem,” X remarked, still lying down, his gaze fixed on a cloud above them.

After a few more minutes, the gnomes stood up.

“What convenient curses you have... and we are stuck with the heavy work.” Nila glanced at the resting elf.

“I’m the brains of this operation,” X retorted.

Nila and Mau each dragged two chests, while X slowly rejoined them.

“Who were the ones who cursed you? That didn’t make much sense.” Mau inquired.

“The demon-gods.”

“Oh, right, on your other life,” Nila sarcastically added.

“If you don’t want to believe me, go ahead, I wouldn’t either, but you can verify the curses yourself with one of those magik rocks,” X suggested.

“Waste one on that?” Nila asked, shocked.

“Nah,” Mau replied to her question. “We got better things to do.”

“Anyway, I think the dryad will be happy this time since we didn’t involve her at all, and her forest remains unharmed,” Nila stated.

“Happy? She? As long as she’s not angry, the plan worked,” X added.

“And we snagged two more chests than last time. What’s not to fucking like?” Mau smiled.

While the Lighter Than A Feather spell made the chests manageable, thick drops of sweat trickled down from both gnomes’ faces. 

“But damn! I didn’t think the bridge would fall that easily,” Mau voiced between deep breaths.

“Shoddy masonry, mate. Sub-races can’t build for shit,” Nila chimed in.

“What’s done is done. And it’s not like we’re freaking bridge experts,” X said.

Without humans hunting them, the members of Del’vhario walked without a care towards their lair. They minimized their pauses to rest, knowing that the Lighter Than A Feather enchantments wouldn’t last long. However, they managed to reach the clearing in time. 

“Ah!” Nila yelped.

“I’ll just leave those here! Fuck it!” Mau raised his voice and headed towards the farmhouse shouting, “Water!”

Khratzika welcomed them. “Mau. Nila. Ekk’s!”

“Hey, you’re still here,” Mau pointed out.

X stopped to observe the chit’tan’s movements. “What are you doing?”

The female dreg held the bag of flower seeds. “Me help!” She gestured towards the burned fields. 

“Crap!” X ran towards the fields but found everything just as they had left it. “Well, if you’re still alive... then you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Me help!” Khratzika exclaimed again.

Mau and Nila approached with glasses full of water in their hands.

“What’s she doing?” Mau asked.

“She told me yesterday she wants you to help planting the seeds,” Nila said staring at X.

“And?” the elf asked.

“But she wants to do it right, you know, dig a hole in the ground and shit, but with the cranky dryad around, I told her to ask you.”

“Let’s sort this out right now... and then we check our haul,” X said.

“Fuck yeah!” Mau exclaimed, his head filled with visions of riches.

“So... What now?” Nila inquired.

“We call her. Dryad! Come out! Your guests need your advice!” X yelled towards the vegetation. 

Her forest remained silent.

“I don’t think she’s coming,” Mau said.

“Nah, she’ll come,” X spoke with confidence in his voice.

X went into the house and emerged with a piece of parchment from their last haul. He sat down and motioned Nila to come closer. “Use some of your nutty dusts to ignite it.”

“What?” Nila asked, perplexed.

“Just do it. You’ll see I can do magik too,” the elf grinned.

The three of them gathered around him with curiosity. Nila took out a shell, opened it, and sprinkled a few particles of the glowing mixture onto the paper, then cast a spell-trigger. Soon, the paper caught fire.

“Watch this magik trick.” X squatted next to a flower and brought the burning paper close to it.

“Ekk’s... I’m having second thoughts about your magik,” Mau’s voice sounded uncertain.

“Stop fucking with dark, prohibited magik. You’ll get us all killed!” Nila added.
 
“Cowards!” X moved the burning paper closer.

Suddenly a gust of wind extinguished the fire. Both gnomes stepped back. She had come. With her arrival, vines sprang forth, their bladed points traversing the ground. Nila and Mau jumped back while X stood up.

“Hey, your flower is alright!” X yelled at the newcomer.

“Because I arrived in time, you fuck!” the dryad shouted back.

Her vines stopped just in time before the ritual mincing could begin. Her visage teetered between rage and insanity. 

“It barely warmed it!” X said.

“Dryad, oh great protector of nature, you can see the flower’s undamaged!” Nila chimed in.

“As is this... temple of death and its surroundings, oh fellow superior being!” Mau added.

“See? We are abiding by your rules.” X drove the point home.

Her erratic breathing calmed down. “What the fuck were you trying to do to my flower?” the dryad asked.

“Nothing...” 

The dryad stared at X, her vines remaining in place, poised to cut, gut and slash. 

“Better explain to her about the magik trick, Ekk’s.” Nila prodded the redheaded elf.

“It’s probably a good thing that you can’t cast spells, mate, ‘cause I don’t like your damn magik.” Mau stepped back, ready for any sudden movement.

“What’s this shit about?” The dryad’s words, though calmer, demanded an explanation.

“I called for you and you wouldn’t come out,” X reproachful tone was evident.

“What the hell do you think I am? Your fucking servant? A fucking clown, ready to entertain?” the dryad retorted.

Nila quickly attempted to calm her down. “No, no, dryad, our crazy elf here doesn’t mean any of--”

“You heard me calling you,” X interrupted his female companion.

“I hear everything in my forest,” the dryad stated.

“Well then, that explains it. If you had heeded my call, I wouldn’t have to resort to such underhanded tactics, would I?” X’s smug face irritated her further.

“Are you blaming me for your shit?” the dryad asked, her voice raising in volume.

“No, dryad! Err... We... simply... had a question for you... Regarding your precious forest.” Nila interjected. “Our friend here-- Khratzika, come here and introduce yourself.”

The female dreg walked towards the dryad, stopped before her, and lowered herself, legs folding beneath her.

“Dryad! Protector!” Khratzika lauded nature’s guardian. 

The reverential gesture from the chit’tan softened the dryad’s frown; her vines returned to her. 

“She wants to make some holes, plant flowers... but since this is your forest, we thought of asking you,” X said.

“Respectfully, we ask for your permission, dryad,” Nila added.

“Me help!” Khratzika held out the bag of flower seeds.

The dryad stared at the dreg then turned her gaze towards X, a twisted frown appeared on her face. “What a fucking strange way you have to ask permission.” She shifted her attention back to the dreg. “And you can go ahead.”

“Dryad. Thanks!” Khratzika raised her jubilant voice.

“We’ll continue taking care of your forest!” Mau said.

“You’re becoming a better host. You’re learning stuff!” X smiled.

The dryad’s gaze pierced the redheaded elf.

“Just tell us your name.” X couldn’t stop himself needling her.

“And you’ll shut up?” the dryad asked.

“Of course!” the elf nodded.

“I don’t fucking believe you ever will,” the dryad said.

“Come on, tell us your name. You’re not embarrassed, are you?” X spoke, grinning. “I mean, you’re not the shy type, at least not when you vivisect people.”

“And don’t ever, ever again, threaten my forest,” the dryad warned.

“I swear I’m not using this magik trick again. It was a one-time thing,” the elf said.

She turned around and walked out of the clearing.

“But do heed our call from now on!” X shouted after her.

“Shut it, mate,” Nila sighed, color returning to her face.

“Do you have a death wish?” Mau asked.

“I told you she’d come.” X turned around, smiling at his companions.

The elf glanced at the female dreg that was still lying down on the soil. “Hey Khratzika, she’s already gone, stop pretending,” he said to the prostrated dreg.

“I don’t think she’s pretending,” Mau said.

“Huh... anyway, Khratzika, there’s your answer. Go crazy planting those seeds,” X spoke.

“I really don’t understand you sometimes, Ekk’s,” Nila sat down on the porch.

“Then stop trying to, because we have better things to do,” the elf said.

Forgetting the dryad and their close encounter with a possible gruesome death, the three smiled.

“Please, some wealth!” Mau said.

“At least no more clothes,” Nila chimed in.

“Shouldn’t we take the chests inside?” X asked.

“The enchantments have worn off,” Mau replied.

“Me help.” Khratzika dragged her tendrils towards the chests, picked one up, took it inside the farmhouse, and repeated this three more times. 

“She’s freaking strong,” X said.

“Stronger than any of us,” Nila added.

After finishing carrying the chests inside, the female dreg addressed X. “Thanks!” She then headed towards the back of the farmhouse to begin planting the seeds.

*

A cool breeze swept through her crimson-hued forest. X sat outside the farmhouse, leaning against its weathered wooden front wall, relishing the breeze as he watched the sun dip below the horizon. Tree branches danced beneath the triple moonlight, bringing her forest alive, while intermittent beastly noises interrupted the elf’s serene rest. Khratzika had spent the entire afternoon planting flower seeds, with X observing her efforts and occasionally offering guidance on their placement.

Moments earlier, the trio had finished an inventory of their haul, which brought them equal joy as disappointment. One chest had yielded documents and household items, another contained a bag of grains and a single loaf of bread. Unsurprisingly, the third chest held clothes. However, the final chest redeemed their entire endeavor. Inside, they discovered and abundance of silver coins, a smaller quantity of gold coins, magikal scrolls, a staff and a magikally sealed letter. This last item disintegrated after X opened it against the gnomes’ warnings, as only the precise magikal spell could safely unseal it. Mau remarked that X had been lucky; the letter could have exploded in his face. They stored the staff, along with other objects too cumbersome for the gnomes to carry, in a chest where the sword from their first haul rested. Del’vhario compiled two list: one for inventory and another for items they needed to purchase. With excitement, the gnomes departed with a substantial collection of coins and several scrolls they had no use for other than to sell.

X gripped a fireball scroll in his right hand, feeling the warmth of its glowing inscriptions against his skin. The gnomes had explained to him several times that this hot parchment had been infused with magikal properties that held the potent Fireball spell. Uttering the correct incantation would unleash its destructive potential. And it wasn’t the only spell they found, the chest contained several more. However, according to the gnomes, only three held actual utility: Fireball, Chain Lightning and Magik Barrage. Nila and Mau had also informed him that these three spells could fetch a handsome price anywhere. When X questioned why they wouldn’t simply sell them then, the gnomes promptly dismissed the idea, insisting that these spells would come in handy. It became clear to X that the gnomes had a bias towards anything that went ‘kaboom’. 

“Does this really spit out a ball of fire?” the elf wondered aloud.

[Why don’t you find out?]

It sat beside him.

X turned his head and saw it in all its splendor—the ever-present hallucination.

“Then stand up, walk into the back field... I’ll see if this thing can finally rid me of you.”

[I don’t think it works like that.]

“Of course not, if it did, the bullets I put through you would’ve killed you that time.”

[You’re getting more fucked up by the minute. You did kill me, back in the day. You forgot about that?]

“Nah... You trying to mess with me?”

But a doubt, an incipient faulty memory, lodged in his mind on this day.

[Not that it matters. Not anymore.]

“Finally, you speak sense. Now shut up and enjoy the three moons-light up in these open skies, bathing these murderous woods... in this bizarre world with its even freakier inhabitants. How can this be too hard for you?”

“Who talking?” Khratzika stood before him.

“No one that matters.” X had begun to figure out her primitive mode of speech. “Are you finished?”

She showed him the empty bag. “Can sit?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

X hadn’t completely come to terms with her visage, but her calm demeanor soothed him. She didn’t try to struggle or out-compete everyone and everything. There was clarity in her thoughts, a simple logic. She simply was.

She sat over his hallucination’s vanishing shadow.

“Pretty stars,” the female dreg said while looking at the night sky.

X lifted his gaze, lost in contemplation, spoke, “Very pretty, and far away from our mortal concerns. Lonely, traversing space in their fiery paths, wishing... we could outlive them, to see them vanish into the cold night...”