The World of Myth Magazine

Fox knew Evergreen Glen very well. He knew each oak and elm, each hill, every blade of lush, green grass. He listened to the winds and sang the same songs that the birds all sang. Fox was forest-friend, druid, one who cared for the land and protected it in the best way that he knew how. Fox was one of many who called the realm of nature home. He loved the land and the land loved him in return.

Fox arose from his slumber one winter's morning, sensing that something was not right with Evergreen Glen. He scratched at the reddish stubble that sprouted from his chin as he stepped out from the simple hut he called home. The world looked fine from where he stood but nature often hid secrets from those who did not bother to look. Fox shouldered his knapsack and latched the door to his hut. The fire in the hearth was out, he did not know how long he would be away from home.

"You are awake early," Fox said to one of the great brown bears when he found her clawing at an iced over pond.

It was the middle of winter and certainly not yet time for the ice to thaw. Everything was still pretty, covered in a beautiful blanket of white.

Mumbling a pattern of syllables he had been taught by Elder Druid Francis Eaglehawk, Fox asked the pond to give the bear a gift. Like the magic that it was, the thick layer of ice steamed and melted away. What was revealed was not the pristine waters, nor the fresh fish that Fox expected to find.

"What is that smell, that stench?" the young druid asked the bear.

Black was the color of the water found beneath the ice, black with a distinct smell of death and decay. Fox watched the water and the way that it sluggishly seemed to ooze along. Fox made to dip his fingers into the blackness, slowly, uncertainly lowering his hand.

"Grrrrr," rumbled the she-bear, battering Fox's hand with her meaty paw.

Fox looked up, surprised, expecting to find that the bear's strike had caused him harm, but the bear only wanted his attention.

"What do you know?" asked the druid.

As he looked the bear in her beady eyes the pond iced over again.

"Tell me, what you know…" Fox then said as he cast another spell and then listened.

"Grrr… Fo… Low…" commanded the bear. "Fo… Low… Honey… Paw…"

Fox nodded to show that he understood. Satisfied, the bear turned and lumbered away.

Honey Paw was surprisingly swift for her bulky form. Fox had to run and run fast to keep up.

"Slow down!" he called, pleading as he hurdled over a low log and then through a shallow puddle.

"No… Slow… Must… Fast…" rumbled the bear.

She gave Fox a moment to catch his breath before she lumbered off again.

Fox found himself being drawn into an area of Evergreen Glen that was unfamiliar. It surprised him to think that such a place existed. He had been certain that there was no part of that land he did not know intimately. Fox's first thought was that the snow and ice had made the land seem different but that was wrong. There was something, a presence there that was causing the land and the spirit of the land to morph and pervert. Thinking about the strangeness of what was lurking beneath the pond ice, feeling the way that his world was changing, Fox sensed the importance that he acted on what he had discovered. There was no time to contact the other druids; Fox hoped that they had all made their own, similar discoveries.

"How long has this been happening?" the druid asked out loud, though he did not expect an answer.

"Long… Land… Cry… Land… Change…" said Honey Paw.

The chest of the she-bear was heaving but her eyes were filled with hope.

Fox took a moment to really look, to wipe the snow from the branches of the usually green fir trees. The branches were warped, twisted and bare.

"I am sorry," murmured the druid as he placed his weight upon a limb.

There was a moment when the branch resisted and then it broke, revealing the same black ooze Fox had found beneath the pond ice.

"Wrong…" growled Honey Paw. "Bees… Gone… Fish… Gone… All… Gone…"

Fox stared at the forest before him and the forest behind him. As he brushed the snow from the branches of the trees that headed up the slope he found more and more affected by the blight.

"Stay here and don't follow, unless I call," ordered Fox.

"And… When… Call..?" asked the bear.

"If you hear me call you bring the whole damn forest," said Fox. "You make sure they come fast too…"

The bear rumbled and then turned to lumber back towards the heart of Evergreen Glen.

Left alone Fox made his way further up the rise. Giant firs had fallen, twisted into tortured shapes that made the druid shiver. Placing a hand upon the great trees Fox listened to them.

"Pain, spirit, age, die," each tree stated the same mournful story.

"Those responsible will pay," the druid vowed. "You will have peace again."

At the peak of the rise Fox found himself at the base of a great mountain. No longer in Evergreen Glen he hesitated. The mountain was the source of the stream that fed the pond, and Fox had a feeling that somewhere on that mountain he was going to find the heart of the changes. That was where he needed to be. There was something not quite right. Something that Fox knew he needed to fix and fast.

There was a bitterness that could be tasted, felt in the icy wind that constantly blew. It battered Fox back two steps with every step forward he made. Shivering, stiff with cold, Fox sang the song of the wind that he had been taught. The wind whistled back but it was not the song of a powerful force, instead it was the cry of a slave.

"Let me by and I will save you," Fox promised.

The wind died down but then struck again, twice as fiercely. Fox realized then that whatever presence lay ahead was strong, powerful, more powerful than the might of the wind.

Fox produced a shield to protect himself but that was torn from his hands, vanishing back into the realm of magic as suddenly as it appeared. The next spell Fox cast made him vanish from the wind's sight. It blew through the druid, blew by him as if he was not there. Fox walked up the mountain, quickening his pace. No longer cold and no longer being heeded by the mountain's fury, Fox made good time. He sang a song of thanks with each step he made in the mountain's thick, deep snow. As Fox drew nearer to the mountain's top he slowed his assent, drawn as he was towards a small cave entrance.

"Don't do anything stupid now, Fox," the druid said to himself.

Stepping into the shelter offered by the cave Fox let his spell fall away. He shivered as the cold attacked him again. It was not as harsh though since the wicked wind was gone. The cave was dark, Fox's elven eyes taking a moment to adjust. Ahead he noticed what looked like familiar figures. There was something wrong though, a sense of corruption. Placing his hands upon the hilt of his scimitar the druid brought forth his crescent blade.

"Hello?" Fox murmured. "What is this?"

"Welcome Fox friend," said one of the pair, a tall and elderly druid that Fox thought was named Badger.

"Welcome to paradise," stated the other, a younger druid named Wolf-Pup.

As Fox carefully approached he noticed the same dark liquid present in the eyes of the two. Their lips were not pink, instead there was a grey that did not seem healthy, the same grey that tinted and discolored the flesh of the pair. Wolf-Pup was shorter and plumper than Badger. With a smile the younger took a step towards where Fox stood, unsure.

"You will not need your sword in paradise, Fox," stated the younger druid. "Give it to me and I will take you to see The Wise Ones."

"Until I understand what is happening here I will keep my blade with me, friend," said Fox, smiling. "Please take me to speak with these wise ones though, I am certain they will make everything clear."

"We cannot let you witness the blessings of paradise with such a weapon," stated Badger as he placed a gnarled but meaty hand upon Fox's shoulder.

"Badger, as a sign of respect I will ask you once to remove your hand," stated Fox, giving the elder druid a smile.

Dark eyes narrowed.

"Drop the blade, Fox," growled Badger as his hand began to squeeze.

Fox swung the scimitar upwards in a half circle and Badger's hand dropped to the cave floor with a splat. Black ichor oozed from the wound instead of the spray of crimson Fox was expecting. He stepped back, taking up a defensive stance.

"I wish not to harm you, my brothers," Fox said. "But we all vowed to do what we needed to do for the sake of the forest."

"We hear only The Wise Ones now, brother," growled Wolf-Pup.

The younger druid pulled from his belt twin daggers and without warning slashed at Fox aggressively. Fox easily deflected the first and then the second attack, flicking his wrists and then twisting his curved sword to send one of the sharp blades to the far corner of the cave with a clatter as he nicked Wolf-Pup's wrist. A trickle of the black ooze dripped from the fresh scratch.

While Wolf-Pup attacked, Badger remained still, staring at his arm where his hand had been cut free. As Fox parried another of Wolf-Pup's advances the elder druid suddenly sprang back into action. With a strangely alien roar Badger charged at Fox and grasped him by the neck. The old man moved with surprising youthfulness, ignoring the cuts and slashes from Fox's scimitar.

"Stop, you're killing me," roared Fox.

"For paradise!" cried Badger. "May paradise come into this world!"

"May paradise come for the chosen few," echoed Wolf-Pup.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fox saw Wolf-Pup's dagger. Instinctively he twisted from Badger's vice-like grip, the dagger slipping between the old druid's ribs instead.

Two slashes from Fox's curved sword and Badger lay headless on the cave floor. The black ooze ebbed from the elder's body and seemed to take on a life of its own. It crawled towards Fox, following him as he moved around the cavern to avoid it.

"Stop being the fool, Fox my brother and join our cause," urged Wolf-Pup.

"I am sorry lad," replied Fox with a frown. "The forest is the only voice I wish to hear, I must stop whatever it is that has corrupted you."

With a flurry of cuts and slashes Fox made short work of the young Wolf-Pup.

"It will be impossible for you to defeat The Wise Ones," gurgled the youth as the dark liquid drained from his dying form.

Fox considered staying to slash at the ooze but it seemed a hopeless cause, a task that would take up precious time when too much time had passed already.

Fox discovered three more druids barring his way as he made haste along the mountain's inner tunnel. All showed signs they had succumbed to the ooze. With tears in his eyes Fox cut them down one by one, worrying for the parts of the forest he knew those brothers and sisters watched over. If he survived this Fox vowed to take his knowledge to King Ethan and Queen Sophia in hopes they would know what to do.

In the heart of the mountain Fox was attacked by a strange heat he had never experienced before. Tropical vines creeped forth from a strange green sack that hung amongst the fossilized stalactites. A mesmerizing light pulsed every couple of seconds illuminating what was held within the sack. Fox tried to hold back a feeling of nausea but failed. Bile sprayed the vines causing them to hiss as the stomach acid burned them. The egg sack shifted as if it too had been sprayed. Holding his nose and covering his mouth with a gloved hand Fox stepped lightly over the vines and attempted to reach the sack. Quickly the druid found his way was heeded by the plants as they wrapped around his legs. Slashing with his scimitar to get free Fox discovered the black ichor splashing across his boots and climbing up towards his legs.

"What the hell!?" cried the druid as he took his glove way from his face to brush the liquid away.

It clung to his glove and then moved up his arm.

Without caution Fox waded the remainder of the way up to the sack and sliced it free. There came another pulse of energy that lit up the chamber before the mountain began to suddenly shake. Fox watched in horror as black ooze dribbled out of the egg sack as it rolled about, emitting an agonizing squealing sound.

Fox kicked off his boots and threw away the ooze covered glove before he turned and ran back the way he had come.

As Fox exited the cave he was met at the mouth by Honey Paw, behind her four other bears stood tall, ready for to fight upon their hind legs. Behind them was a wolf pack, a number of squirrels and a flock of sparrows. Just within vision, further down the mountain, blending with the whiteness of the snow Fox could make out his namesake, a dozen arctic foxes.

"Obviously you had a whole tonne of faith in me," the druid stated.

"Me call… They come…" growled Honey Paw.

Fox didn't realize that bears could shrug, but Honey Paw did, a sign as if to say she had faith in Fox but also had faith in contingency plans.

The mountain rumbled, shaking violently as the creature within the egg-sack continued to slowly die.

"Go! Go! Run, fly!" Fox urged. "Stay clear of the black ooze… Don't let it touch you…"

Without needing more encouragement the forest creatures turned as one and did as Fox suggested. Twisted trees that seemed dead arose from forced slumber to block the way. The bears crashed through the barricade creating a path for the other animals. The precious seconds that this took were costly as Fox discovered a stream of the black ooze was lapping at his bare heels.

An eaglehawk flew over Fox's shoulder before it transformed into the ancient druid of that same name. Francis threw down a ball of blazing fire that caused the ooze to scream and then back away.

"Fire spells, young Fox," called the ancient figure. "Cast whatever ones you know."

Without needing to be told twice Fox plucked a hair from his chin and then stated the words he hoped he would never have to say.

Jets of pure white flame burst forth from his bare hand, igniting trees and melting snow revealing the black corruption hidden beneath.

"More!" urged Eaglehawk. "Send fire as far and as fast as you can!"

Fox worked silently to obey, pausing only for a moment to sheath his scimitar and flick off his other gauntlet. The two druids were joined by a dozen others and finally the ooze was driven back up to the cave. With stone and flame the entrance was sealed shut, only then did the druids cease their attacks.

"You are lucky to be alive," scolded Eaglehawk as he turned to Fox. "But the forest thanks you for your foolish bravery."

Fox hung his head but then looked up with a confused grin.

"So I did good?" he asked, sheepishly.

"You got lucky," the ancient druid replied.

"What of the rest of the land?" asked another of the druids that had helped.

"I do not know what has attacked our homes, nor do I understand how it has appeared without us knowing," said Eaglehawk with worry creasing his wrinkled face.

"We have defeated the ooze here, we can surely defeat it everywhere," suggested Fox.

"We will stay and fight," said Eaglehawk. "But we need someone to travel to the king and queen."

Torn, remembering his vow but not wanting to leave his home unprotected, Fox for the briefest of moments remained quiet.

"I will go," he finally said when it was obvious none of the other druids were eager to offer.

"Good, Fox, I hoped it would be you," Eaglehawk stated, slapping Fox on the back. "You have witnessed firsthand more than any of us what this thing is."

Fox remembered the sack and the sight that the pulsing light had revealed. He hadn't eaten in at least a day and for that he was thankful as his empty stomach rumbled threateningly.

"I will go and try to convince the people of the city of this new threat," vowed Fox. "But first I must return home."

"We will watch over Evergreen Glen while you are away," promised a young druid, Sparrowheart, Wolf-Pup's sister.

"Haste is what is needed now," urged Eaglehawk.

"Aye," agreed Fox. "We know not how far this blight has already spread."

"Why then must you go home?" asked Sparrowheart

"For boots," stated Fox, succumbing to a whole body shiver that had been building for some time.

"Go then, fetch new boots," laughed druid Eaglehawk, joined by the others present.

With a nod of thanks to Eaglehawk and after flashing a smile of his own, Fox transformed into the creature that was his namesake. Speeding through the land Fox sensed it was returning to normal. The druid knew that his adventure was just beginning though. The road ahead would be long.

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