Willow - part 2

Willow's eyes snapped open. She heard a rustling noise to her left. Slowly, she turned, pretending to still be asleep. There it was again. This time it was coming closer. It was right behind her now, whatever it was. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself walking past a river. In the water, strange signs sparkled like stars. She grabbed one. Spinning around, she returned to the waking world and spat the spell out at the thing behind her. 1

A tall, decaying creature screamed a high pitched wail. It pierced the quiet forest. It's skin was like that of a chicken, scaly and hard, but a strange lime-green colour. Its neck was about twice the length of any human’s but was strangely curved. The only human part of it was the head, covered in dry metallic blood. But the eyes... In their place were small, green fires. They did not show, however, as the sun was going up.2

It was a Scrafe Magic creature. Scrafe magic was uncontrolled and evil. It made people who used Retra magic retch and vomit. Evil sorcerers and necromancers summoned these creatures from the dead to do their bidding. 3

Willow had just picked out a spell from the endless flow of the Retra, a river of spells and marks that created life themselves. Every single one was different, and the possibilities were never-ending. The marks could be strung together to make even stronger spells called Master Retra. There was no end to the flow of marks.4

In front of Willow, the creature started to rise again. It swiped at her arm, leaving a deep gash. All of a sudden, she felt her necklace start to grow. She had no idea why, but it was one of the necklaces that she was found with. It had a small bell on the end. Soon, the necklace was large enough to slip down her slender body. Willow realised what she had to do.5

Stepping out from the necklace, she picked it up. She advanced on the creature. It tried to attack her, but she slung it over its neck. The monster struggled at it, trying frantically to remove it. The necklace constricted, strangling the monster. Willow saw a bright, red flash of Retra marks on the necklace. It was binding the creature.6

Slowly, the creature seemed to dissolve into the air, fizzling away to leave smoke. The smoke was thick and a putrid green, smelling of a rancid, metallic stench, the smell of Retra magic. When the smoke cleared, a large dog stood in front of her. It was black and was wearing a collar, swimming with Retra marks. The dog started choking, and coughed up what would seem to be a necklace. Slowly, it lifted its head.7

“Hello, Willow,” it said calmly.8

“ H-how do you know my n-name?” she asked in a small voice.9

“I am Mendos, Willow. The reins that I wore around my neck were saturated with Retra marks and bound the Scrafe magic creature that I am. A passing rat managed to nibble them off and release the monster within me. With your necklace now as my collar, I am bound again to do your will. Here, take this new necklace in case this ever happens again. Without it, I will release my wrath on you.” Mendos replied, scratching agitatedly at his collar. He nudged the necklace with his paw. Willow cautiously approached him.10