[2880 words | WIP | 6 pages | SFW| Multiple characters & species | Fantasy| Mystery |Magic]

The day appeared to run as usual. Isaryn, a fox and wolf hybrid, was peacefully hunting for his prey, when his close friend, a gryphoness called Nova asked him to help the nearby city with the "weird" drought issue. But as soon as his paws stepped into the city's walls, he already knew that he'll face something more than just capricious force of nature.

I decided to share a WIP with you, since working on it takes way much longer than I expected. And yet, in a free time, I keep hit the letters on keyboard, putting them into the more or less meaningful words and sentences. :D

-!- (please download .pdf for a full view of the text, or just keep scrolling down for a part of the whole text!) -!-
Whole story is also available to read on ArchiveOfOurOwn: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64909303

Any comments are welcome!
All characters belongs to me. ❤

Greetings!
Reed

*** My other socials! ***
__________________________

Flow (Work in progress)
Written by ©Reeden Landshey

Just a little more… Just a few more steps… Come on… Don’t be shy…

The young deer stopped just a few meters away from his hiding, lowering his head to look for food hidden in the forest’s floor. His ears flickered a few times as he kept himself alerted - even at his current age he was well aware about the predators hunting in that part of Nerya, one of the largest forests of Brigann.

If only he could walk a little closer… All I need is him to be within the range of my jump…

Hidden in the nearest tall grass, a carnivore male wouldn’t even dare to move a little finger of his paw, keeping his bright, white eyes focused on the potential prey. He was a tri-color canine hybrid - while his physique, size and fur mostly resembled that of a wolf, his muzzle, tail and slitted, black pupils were representing the fox part of him. Keeping himself low on the strong paws and with his belly pressed against the ground, the wox waited patently, even keeping his breathing as silent and less frequent as possible. C’mere big boy, just sniff out the bait already, he thought, gulping slowly. Believe me, it’s really delicious! I’ve spent half of the day preparing that one just for you.

Deer’s hooves started to dig into the old leaves as his nose finally caught the pleasant scent of bait. Wox’s body tensed up as he noticed his chance to attack. A lonely hunt was always a difficult one - after taking all the preparation and measurements, you always had only one chance to clench your teeth on the prey's throat, taking away a breath from its lungs. Failure meant a few days of starving, which was unacceptable in the wild - either you had enough strength to stand on your own paws and fight for your life, or you were becoming a food for scavengers and worms.

Suddenly the deer’s head lifted and his ears flickered nervously, while his nostrils started to spread quickly. Shit! Did he just notice me? Baring his teeth, the canine male needed to act fast. Flexing his hind legs muscles, in one swift move he shot out of the bushes like a spring, opening his muzzle. The deer’s eyes opened widely with surprise, but it was too late to dodge or run. Only one, precise bite. When the wox's fangs reach the prey's neck, it’ll be all over. Just…

“MASTER ISARYN! WHERE ARE YOU?”

Canine’s eyes looked on the side as he suddenly lost all of his focus. Instead of locking teeth on the deer’s throat, he only grazed it. Falling on the ground with a loud growl, he immediately turned around, flexing his muzzle for another jump, but it was already too late - his prey turned around in a flash, dashing blindly forward to save its life.

Breathing quickly, Isaryn looked with disbelief at the deer running away. He was so close! Finally being able to successfully hunt all by himself! And yet…

“MASTER! PLEASE, THIS IS URGENT!”

“I’M HERE!” Wox male barked with anger, huffing and sitting on the forest’s floor with his fur bristled. “Hopefully it’s something really urgent… Worth at least two days of decent meals and a dried meat supply!”

Suddenly something white appeared on the sky over the clearing and dived down, moving with almost lightning speed toward the canine, who remained impassive. With slick moves of the wings, a feathered creature made an arc in the air, touching the grass with its black claws and stopping just in front of Isaryn’s head. A quick glance was enough to tell that he was currently facing a small griffin, no bigger than an eagle-owl, with white and silver mixture of feathers, fur and scales covering its body. Black horns and sharp, curved beak were crowning the whole look of the mystical creature, while its green eyes were looking at the canine with concern.

“I’m… I’m really sorry for interrupting your hunt, Master Isaryn!” Griffin - a female one, judging from the voice - said, keeping herself in the air with still moving wings. “I was flying at the market as you asked me, looking for the herbs seller, when the town’s mayor spotted me and called to himself. I tried to explain that my Master is busy today, but…”

“Nova!” Isaryn interrupted her with a loud growl, only to calm down second after, seeing the scared griffin’s expression. He really shouldn’t be getting out of his nerves just because of the stupid meal, especially in front of her. Taking in a deep breath he sighted, looking at her with the far more calm gleam of his blue eyes. “First of all - you need to stop calling me your Master. We’ve been through this so many times… There’s not the slightest reason for you to call me like that!”

Nova nodded with embarrassment, landing on the ground in front of him and lowering her ears.

“It’s because you saved me when I was a cub.” Her voice was barely hearable as she looked down on her own paws. “And you teached me so many things, like no one ever did.”

“You saved yourself with your own strong will of living.” Wox placed a paw on her head, gently ruffling the fur on it. “You improved yourself because of your own hard work. You don’t owe me anything.”

Griffin nodded once more under his paw, but deep inside Isaryn knew that his words were bouncing off again from the iron shield of her respect and gratitude.

“Now, for the second thing.” Isaryn backed up the paw from her head. “I may be a wandering sorcerer without a permanent job, but I’m not an errand boy for the mayor of every town we’re passing by.” He said, gently nudging Nova’s fluffy chest. “We’re both worth a little more… Creative works rather than helping citizens with their everyday’s problems.”

“B-but he said that they’re out of water for almost two weeks!” Nova said, bristling her fur and feathers lightly. “You told me that we should always help others, no matter who they are and how deep their pouch is!” She puffed her cheeks lightly, looking at Isaryn with reproach.

Wox male lifted his brow and chuckled silently shortly after. She knew exactly how to approach his gentle side of character, making him care about the things that he would usually pass by without taking a look. Besides, giving it a quick thought, it was really weird that the small town on the southern part of Brigann could have such a long lasting issue with water, especially after a very snowy winter.

Sighting loudly, he stood up and shaked his fur from the remaining grass and twigs. “Well, I guess I can spend a small amount of my time to have a look at their issue.” Isaryn took a last, short look at the place where the deer runned away. “Just promise me that you’ll help me with hunting when we're done. I'm…” He cleared his throat without looking at Nova. “I guess I’m not really good with chasing prey all by myself.” The wox male started to run slowly toward the town.

“Oh I’ll gladly do my best for you, Master!” She chirped happily, lifting up into the air from the ground and following him in the air. “I’ll help you to hunt down the biggest deer that can be found in the whole Brigann, so you can feast for a whole week!”

***

“I’m truly grateful that you wanted to take care of our case. We tried to contact a few sorcerers already, but they didn’t even bother to reply.”

The town’s mayor - a short, about 50 years old human with long, brown and gray hairs, and even longer, thick beard that was partly covering a large scar on his right cheek - looked up at Anthren standing next to him. His green, tired eyes were underlined with shadows, betraying a small amount of sleep.

“It’s because most of the sorcerers are not paying attention to such ordinary problems like the lack of water.” Isaryn replied, kneeling by the completely dry riverbed and sliding his paw pads against the stone's smooth surface. Before he left the forest, he shapeshifted into the anthropomorphic form, wearing his usual, simple clothes - a long, grey shirt and a dark brown coat. Using his paws in the feral form while casting spells or fighting with weapons was usually pretty hard. Not to mention that his current form was quite more acceptable for citizens - the sight of a talking animal that can use magic was pretty rare in most parts of Carmond.

Lowering himself, wox pressed his ear against the river bank, whispering a few words in the Ancient Speech. Mayor looked at him with concern, and then he raised his head to look at Nova, which was currently circling slowly above them high in the sky, resembling a tiny, white ball.

“It’s really rare to see a gryphon cooperating with anyone.” He said, returning with his eyes to Isaryn. “They’re such proud and independent creatures, that befriending them seems impossible for most of the Carmond’s residents. Not to mention the legends about Pinia - their homeland on the Calea - before it was devoured by shadow.”

“Those are not only the legends, mayor.” Isaryn muttered with his ear still pressed against the ground. “According to the reports of the scouts and researchers from the Highest Guild, the remains of the old Calea are still there, isolated from the rest of the world under the reign of Syun and the corrupted Ancients. There’s no clear sign of the resistance though, only some unconfirmed gossip about small groups of Anthrens still fighting in there.”

“Gods, please have mercy over them.” Mayor shook his head sadly, clenching his hands tightly around the cane. “If only there was a way to help them.”

“I’m afraid that our rulers have no interest in risking current peace for helping the bunch of madmen that doomed themselves.” Isaryn stood up from the ground with the uneasy expression on his muzzle. “Hmm, that’s really weird. There’s water still flowing under the dried surface, but its spirit doesn't want to answer my call, almost like someone locked it with magic.”

“Water’s spirit? Locked with magic?” Human asked, opening his eyes wide. “But… Why? Why would anyone want to cut us off from the water? We don’t have any enemies, and our small town doesn’t own anything valuable.”

“I would like to know an answer to that question as much as you want to.” Anthren replied, turning around and starting to walk back to the town’s street. “Sometimes the motives of someone’s actions are reaching way deeper than we can see.” He added, still trying to call out any nearest water spirit, but his whispers in the Ancient’s Speech were in vain - all that he could get back was the disturbing silence.

“What about the town’s wells?” He asked, leaving the riverbend behind and heading to the town’s main square. “They shouldn’t dry out that fast, even during a longer drought.”

“We… We have two wells, located in different parts of the t- town.” Old man had trouble keeping up with the canine's pace. “They are usually filled with enough water for the citizens, so they don’t have to use the river.”

Stopping suddenly, Isaryn turned around with his back mane starting to bristle. Ignoring the curious looks of passersby, he walked to the old human, glaring at him and resisting the urge to lock his claws on the front of the mayor's clothes.

“But…?” He asked, hoping that there was a “but”. “If there are still running wells inside the town, then why won’t you just wait for a rain that will make the river flow again?”

Mayor suddenly looked even smaller, clutching his cane nervously.

“J- just before the drought started, we found out that both of them became… Poisoned, as most of us assumed.” He explained quickly. “I’m not sure what kind of poison that may be, or who may be guilty for it, that’s still the thing to find out.”

“Poisons are the domain of the local alchemists and healers, not the sorcerers.” Isaryn turned around as he kept walking. “Don’t you have any of them around the town?”

“We had one.” Old man tried his best to follow wox’s pace. “He was a really experienced, long-time alchemist for our town and the nearest villages, saving the lives of many citizens. Unfortunately for all of us, he was the first victim of the poison.”

An experienced alchemist wouldn’t get poisoned so easily. Anthren thought. Most of them can sense poisons in the air, water or even food, that’s why they’re kept close to the royal families and rulers. So either he was a quack doctor, or the poison is really well-hidden.

Reaching into his sack, Isaryn took out a small, brown notebook with a drip-free vial of black ink attached to its spine, and a feather similar to those covering Nova’s body. Untying the black string, he quickly started to quickly put a short note inside it, but before the old man could peek at the words he had written, wox closed it already.

“As I assume, none of you thought about the post-mortem of his body to find out what poison you’re dealing with, or what kind of damage it has done to the body?” He asked, stopping at the end of the small street they were currently walking. They reached the town’s center - a small square with a market and a well with a high, decorated roof in the middle of it.

“Aren’t you expecting too much from the simple citizens?” Mayor replied resentfully, hitting the street under his feet with a cane. “Once someone dies, we bury him and say prayers. We don’t cut their bodies, looking for clues like savages and performing some wicked investigations!”

“It’s not a matter of honor or faith, mayor.” Wox growled back at him, exposing his teeth. Turning around, he faced the old human, looking down on him with lightly bristled fur and dangerous sparks in his eyes. “Your stupidity and stubbornness are only putting innocent lives in danger. How can you possibly be willing to fight, if you don’t know who your enemy is and what he is capable of? It’s like swinging a sword blindly inside the dense fog.”

“T-that’s why I called you here!” Mayor threw back, taking a few steps backward. Suddenly his back bumped against the wall of the nearest building. “I hired you, so it’s your responsibility to deal with it as soon as possible! It must be some kind of magic or curse, so you must-”

A clawed paw slammed the wall nearby the man's head, making him instantly mute.

“There are no such words as “must” or “should” for the true sorcerers.” Isaryn said silently, lowering his head close to the human’s neck. Just one, quick snap of his sharp teeth would be enough to rip off his throat and end his miserable life. Mayor seemed to be well aware about it, because even with a few people and two guards wandering on the square, he didn’t make a slightest sound. “I’m here only because my friend asked me to help you. Without her polite request, I would be still hunting in the forest, and your citizens would be dying, because no one would reply to your whining for help. So you may rethink your words now, especially when my work here just barely started, hm?”

“Master Isaryn, what are you doing here with the mayor? Is everything okay?”

A screeching voice behind Anthren’s back made him sight and straighten up. Turning around, he noticed that Nova was already sitting on the ground, looking at them with concern. He didn’t even hear her landing behind them, which was really bad - just a short moment of anger made his back vulnerable to any attack. Which was quite possible, judging from the things he already discovered. Not that he was paranoid about his own safety, but… Something was really wrong here, sending shivers through the skin on his fur. It wasn’t so strong at the beginning, but now Isaryn could feel it clearly - someone - or something - didn’t want them here. (...)

(download .pdf file for the full text!)