The Sylvanthri Sage

The kids ran through the forest, their little feet padding against the soft brown earth. There was no turning back now…or was there?

Din skidded to a stop, raising his hands.

“Wait, wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!” he cried, and the other two turned to face him.

“Din, we don’t have time!” Elora said, pointing back the way they had come. “Those snapvines have already overrun half the village, and if we don’t find a solution now, there’s no telling what things will look like when we return. There’s no turning back.”

Din sighed. Elora was right, of course. She always was. He nodded, following her and Mavis deeper into the woods.

The children were Glenfolk. Little people who lived in a little village just north of the Sylvan Woods. Their life was peaceful, for the most part, far from the rest of the world. But recently, things had been bothering the little village more and more. Rumblings in the distant mountains, unpredictable rains, and now this. Snapvines. The worst kind of chokeweed imaginable. They crept along the ground with their vine-like limbs, and sprouted hissing flowers which spat venom, and snapped at anything that moved. They were omnivorous, and had descended on the village like a plague.

The Sylvan Woods is where the snapvines had come from, and most other problems the village faced, for that matter. It was an enchanted forest said to hide ghosts, spirits, and all manner of strange beast. But the Sylvan Woods also held another secret. The Sylvanthri Sage, an ancient sorceress said to have power over all plants, animals, and other things. If you believed the stories, which Elora most certainly did, then she would almost certainly have the solution to their little snapvine problem.

Suddenly there was a rasping in the branches up ahead. and a green thorny vine descended from the tree.

“Chokeweed!” Elora cried, drawing a little sword from her sheath. She hacked at the plant, slicing it in half.

“Eughh!” Din cried as another little vine wrapped around his ankle, “The thorns! They’re digging into my skin!”

Elora dashed towards Din, chopping the vine around his ankle and breaking him free. He fell to the ground wailing, while Elora swung and stabbed at every root and limb that moved. Eventually all fell silent, and she turned to face her friends.

“Everyone okay?” she asked, and Din just shook his head, rubbing his ankle. “Come on,” Elora said, helping Din to his feet. “You can walk it off.”

Elora gestured down the path, and the other two followed her deeper into the forest.

“This is getting worser and worser,” Din muttered as he followed the others.

The forest grew dark as they walked, and the path descended into a strange foggy thicket filled with knotted oak and thorny brambles. The path twisted and turned in the fog, and Elora became unsure of the way forward.

“Mavis, any ideas here?” she asked, and Mavis looked around, raising a finger to her lips.

“The wind,” she whispered, pointing forward. “It’s coming from this direction.”

Elora nodded skeptically. “And that helps us how?”

Mavis looked at Elora matter-of-factly. “If we know where the wind is, we know the way out of the fog. Mist dissipates in the wind.”

Elora smiled. “See, I knew we brought you along for a reason.” She placed a hand on Mavis’ shoulder. “Lead the way, Mavis.”

And so they followed Mavis through the woods as the fog grew thicker and thicker. They could no longer see more than a few paces in front of themselves, but still Mavis plodded her way forward, stopping every so often to listen for the wind. Elora couldn’t hear it, but Mavis’ ears were bigger. I hope this works out, Elora thought to herself, trusting her friend.

Suddenly Din stopped moving.

“What is it?” Elora asked, and Din shook his head.

“I can’t…I can’t…” Din replied.

“Can’t what?”
 “Can’t go on any farther. I want to go home.”

“Go home? Now? We’re in the middle of the fog.”
 “I know. I can just follow our tracks home. I’ll be fine. You two go on, I’ll make sure — ”

“Din!” Elora cried, and Din fell silent. She took him by the hand.

“Come on, we can do this. Together.”

Mavis held out her hand, and Din took hers as well.

“You sure we’re going to be okay?” he asked.

Elora shook her head. “Not at all. But at least we’ll be together.”

“That is not comforting.” Din replied as Mavis and Elora led him deeper into the foggy forest.

Eventually the path led up and out of the mist, and the trio could see once more. The trees were bigger here, with great interlocking branches limbs forming a thick canopy overhead. They were getting closer.

Then Din stopped again, and Elora sighed.

“What is it now?”

Din’s eyes widened, and he pointed over her shoulder, “G…G…Groven!” he whispered, and Elora turned to see a great hulking shape lumbering through the woods. It looked like the stump of a great tree come to life, with rough bark-like skin, thick branches for arms, and gnarled roots for feet. Mossy warts covered its bulbous nose, and it lumbered through the forest, gazing around with black beady eyes.

“Hide!” Elora whispered harshly, and the trio ducked behind a fallen tree, just as the Groven turned toward them.

“Did it see us?” Din asked, and Elora shook her head.

“I don’t think so.”

Mavis looked at Elora with wide eyes. “You didn’t say there was a Groven in this forest!”

“I didn’t know there was one!” Elora replied.

Mavis shook her head. “This is serious. This is dangerous. I don’t know if I can — ”

“Come on, Mavis. You can handle a little Groven.”

“Little Groven? Did you see that thing!?”

They heard heavy footsteps as the hulking creature drew close, and the children slunk down behind the log, holding their breath.

A gnarled hand fell on the trunk above them, and Elora looked up to see the Groven’s mossy nose, sniffing deeply. Then the beast turned and shuffled away, its thumping footsteps growing quieter.

The trio rose to their feet, then Mavis looked at Elora.

“I’m sorry, Elora. I can’t do this.”
 “Can’t do this? But…but what about the village? We’ve come so far!”

“Elora, this is serious. It’s a Groven, not just some chokeweed in the bush.”

“Mavis — ”

“I’m sorry. I really am.”

Din shook his head. “I’m sorry too, Elora.”
 “Din, not you too?”

Din looked down, unable to meet her gaze. “I’m just not built for battle.”

“But what are we going to do about the snapvines?” Elora asked, and Mavis shook her head.

“We’ll figure something else out, Elora. Something…safer.”

Elora sighed. “Fine.”

Mavis took a step away from Elora, then turned.

“You’re not coming with us?”

Elora stared at her friends. “There is a sage in this forest. And she has the power to help our village, to help our people! I’m going to find her.”

“Okay. Be careful,” Mavis said, embracing her friend.

Elora watched Mavis and Din disappear back into the mist, then she turned toward the deep, dark forest once again.

“Here we go.”

Elora drew her sword, making her way deeper into the forest. Alone.

I don’t need them anyways, Elora thought to herself. They were just slowing me down.

She kept low to the ground, trying to be as silent as she could. Better to go it alone. I can keep to my own pace. Elora nodded, looking around. Where is that Groven? Am I in the clear? Elora crept farther and farther. Then she heard a sound.

It was a low growl, almost like a gurgling sound. Elora turned to see the great Groven looking down at her, its dark beady eyes frowning with malice. Then it roared, and rushed at her. She hardly had time to react, ducking to the ground as a great branch-like arm swiped over her head. She slashed at the beast's leg in one swift motion, but her blade glanced off the thick bark-like skin. The beast growled as it spun around, but she was already sprinting away.

Elora ran as fast as she could as the beast rumbled after her, and she could feel the creature’s rotten breath on her neck. Where could she go? What could she do? She tried dashing left, but a great tree fell over in her path. So she tried turned right, but the Groven slammed a great gnarled fist down beside her. Elora felt her options becoming fewer and fewer.

It’s herding me somewhere, she thought. But where?

Soon she found herself running into a little hollow with steep cliffs on all sides. Elora sprinted at the cliff face, trying to clamber her way up. But the wall was too steep, and she slid back down to the bottom. There was nowhere to go. She was trapped.

Elora turned to face the beast, holding her sword tightly in her hands. Would this have happened if Din and Mavis were here? She wasn’t sure. But she knew that if she was going to die, then she would die fighting.

“Alright, you ready? I’m ready,” Elora said, trying to talk some courage into her quaking limbs.

The Groven snorted, then took a step towards Elora.

Suddenly a little stone bounced off the creature’s head, followed by another. The beast grunted, waving away the little stones as a third one hit it square in the nose. Elora heard voices in the dark.

“Hey there, you big brute! Over here!”

The Groven turned, and Elora saw Mavis and Din standing behind it, throwing stones. Din chuckled, then gasped as he realized that the creature was about to chase them.

“Run, Mavis, run!” Din yelled, leading Mavis away from the Groven as it chased them.

Elora followed behind them as Din and Mavis led the creature back toward the foggy thicket.

“Din, Mavis, be careful!” Elora cried, watching her friends disappear into the mist, followed by the creature.

Elora stopped in her tracks, unsure about entering the mist without Mavis to lead her back out again. She could see the hulking shadow of the beast moving in the mist, but neither saw nor heard any sign of her friends. Then she heard a low roar, followed by a crack and a whump.

“Mavis? Din!” Elora cried, peering into the fog.

A few moments later, Mavis and Din emerged from the fog, unscathed.

“Elora!” they cried, running to embrace their friend.

“I thought you were done for!” Elora said, and Mavis shook her head.

“Never better. Leading the beast into the fog was Din’s idea.”

“Din!” Elora said, looking at Din as he blushed.

“Now, come on, let’s get out of here before that lummox recovers,” Mavis said.

Elora nodded, following her friends away from the mist, toward the deep forest.

They walked in silence for several minutes, keeping an eye out for any more Grovens or Choke Weed, but nothing came. And then the woods opened up, revealing a great swamp stretching out before them. The water was dark and murky, with bubbles popping up here and there, hiding some other mysterious creature or thing beneath the glassy surface.

Directly in front of the trio, a narrow stone path made its way straight into the heart of the swamp, to an island. And on the island there stood a lone willow tree, huge in stature, with its massive branches spreading out like a great leafy curtain, hiding what was within.

“There it is,” Elora said. “The Sacred Willow. The home of the sage.”

Mavis nodded. “Are you sure we should do this?”

Elora shook her head. “Not at all. But we’ve come this far.”

She took a step forward, leading her friends down the stone path and across the swamp. As they approached the willow tree, a strange sound could be heard from within. Unexpected in these woods. It sounded like a voice, humming a tune. The friends stopped at the edge of the island, unsure of what lay beyond. A strange rosy light emanated from within.

“Come, come inside,” a friendly voice called, and Elora looked at her friends, then led them through the curtain of leaves.

The canopy of branches and leaves formed a complete roof over the island, shutting out the world beyond. Glowing pink flowers grew from the branches, bathing the entire space in an otherworldly hue. The ground was covered in moss, and set into the trunk of the willow tree was a quaint little cottage, beside which sat several large mushrooms. A little old lady sat on one of the mushrooms, smiling up at the three friends.

The woman had bristly white hair with leaves sticking out of it. She wore a long cloak made up of a patchwork of flowers, leaves, and moss, and her leathery hands were knitting a little scarf. Moss grew on the warts on her nose and chin, but what was strangest of all were her eyes. They were green, and glowing like a woodland stream on a sunny day. She smiled, then gestured towards the mushrooms before her.

“Come, come, sit down!” she said, and the friends cautiously approached. “What brings you here? What can I do you for?” she asked, and the friends glanced at one another.

“Are you th…the Sylvanthri Sage?” Elora asked, and the woman nodded.

“One and the same. Next question.”

Mavis and Din nudged Elora forward, and she stuttered, “We…we come from a village just north of the woods. It’s been overrun by snapvines, and we were told that you could help us.”

The Sage nodded. “Hmmm. Indeed.” She closed her eyes, breathing deep. “Snapvines, you say?” she cocked her head to the side, almost as though her mind was wandering across the forest. “Yes, I can feel their limbs now, stretching out where they don’t belong,” she clucked, “Need to stick to their own rock and mound, if you ask me!”

Suddenly she cackled, and the children glanced at one another in surprise.

“Anyhoo, I’ll do what I can to help you out. Here — ”

The Sage snapped a finger, and suddenly a black and red staff appeared in her hand. It looked like three dark cords woven around a thin, red stick.

“This here is a Grimrod. It will kill those little suckers, and send them back where they came from. But,” she raised her eyebrows. “It’ll also kill every other plant living in your village. Flowers, vegetables, trees…all dead. So if you want it,” she offered the black rod to Elora. “You’ve been warned.”

Elora nodded her head, eyeing the black rod cautiously. Kill every living plant? That was a heavy price to pay. But it was also the price of peace, security, and a quiet home. She carefully reached out and took the staff.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Ah. It’s nothing. Those snippy-snappies never stay where they belong! Teach ‘em a lesson, will you?”

Elora nodded. “We will.”

“Oh, and when you’re done, please return the rod. Wouldn’t want it…getting in the wrong hands, if you know what I mean?”

Elora nodded. “Of course.”

“You shouldn’t face any trouble on the way home. I’ll make sure of that. Best of luck to you."

And with that, the friends bid the Sage farewell, and returned back the way they came. It was odd to be walking through the woods with such a powerful artifact, but they encountered no danger on the way home, just as the Sage had said.

As they emerged from the woods, the trio gazed upon their village in astonishment. Great thorny vines had consumed most of the buildings, and were already producing venomous flowers that hissed and snapped at everything that moved.

“It moved faster than I thought it would,” Din said.

“Yeah. I hope we’re not too late,” Mavis replied.

“We’re not. Come on!” Elora cried, running toward the well at the centre of town.

As they arrived at the well, Elora looked at her friends.

“How do we use this thing?” she cried, looking around as the vines crept towards them, hissing and crackling all the while.

Din shook his head. “Uh…I don’t know! She didn’t say!”

“Here, everybody grab hold!” Mavis said, and the friends all grabbed hold of the staff, holding it straight up in the air.

“On my mark, we slam the butt end into the earth! Ready?” Mavis directed, and the friends nodded.

“Now!” Mavis cried, and together they slammed the butt end of the staff down to the ground.

There was a thunderclap as a black shockwave burst out of the staff, rushing over every vine, tree, and living plant. The effect was immediate, and all the plants withered and died in a flash. The snapvines, chokeweeds, as well as the flowers and trees.

A moment later, the village was silent.

“What have we done?” Din said, looking around at the dead plants and trees.

A few heads popped up from behind a fence at the far edge of town.

“Din? Mavis? Elora!” several voices cried, and the children’s eyes widened as a group of adults emerged, running to meet them.

“Mum! Dad! You’re okay!” Elora cried, hugging her parents as they wrapped their arms around her.

“What did you…what happened?” Elora’s mother asked, and the children all began talking at once.

“We went into the forest…found the Sylvanthri Sage…she’s real!….we got this thing…it’s a Grimrod…It killed the snapvines…and everything else…”

Elora looked up at her mother, “I’m sorry,” she said, looking at the dead plants around them.

Her mother shook her head. “Are you kidding! We’re just glad you’re okay! You’re safe!”

She hugged Elora. “We can always replant our gardens. That’s what we do.”

Elora nodded, closing her eyes as her mother embraced her. “That’s what we do."

The next day, the Glenfolk got to work rebuilding, replanting, and restarting their lives. The children met at the edge of the wood, and Elora held up the Grimrod in her hands.

“She said we should return this when we’re done.”

Din nodded. “Good thing we know the way.”

“We can do this,” Mavis said. “Together.”

The friends nodded, then held hands as they entered the Sylvan Woods once more.