Arania's Quest for Magic

Chapter 12 - The Misty Moors

The sun rose into the sky, welcoming a new day. I yawned and stretched, waking up, ready for another day of my quest. Reenee was already up, but Betsy and Flora were still asleep.

“Thanks for not waking us up today,” I told her.

She grinned at me. “Don’t get too used to it! I was just giving you a break today, since we don’t have to travel very far! But tomorrow I’ll wake you up again, and I know that’s your absolute favorite part of the day, right?”

“Sure,” I said, sighing. I was really hoping she’d stop doing that!

Flora soon woke up, followed by Betsy. “NOW can I eat?” Reenee impatiently asked Betsy.

“I hope you do realize that I have only just woken up, and considering there is no food around, you could assume I was not out collecting food all night,” Betsy answered.

“Where can you even get food around here?” asked Reenee.

“There are palm trees near here, which coconuts grow on,” Betsy told her.

“You just think we should eat coconuts plain?” I asked her, “That’s kind of strange.

“It’s actually really delicious!” said Flora excitedly.

“If you say so,” I said, walking up to a palm tree. I shot a burst of light from my wand up into the tree, causing some coconuts to fall down. I gave one to Reenee, Flora, and Betsy.

“How in the world am I supposed to eat this thing anyway?” I asked, eyeing the coconut’s rough brown shell.

“You do not really eat it, just drink the coconut water. You just have to make a hole in the shell and then drink out of it; it is very refreshing,” Betsy answered.

I shot a tiny bit of light into the shell, making a small hole, and I took a sip out of it. “It’s okay,” I said, “Better than nothing.”

Following Betsy, we began walking away from the cove. The landscape began to change, the weather got very windy, and thick fog settled over the ground. Betsy lit up the tip of her wand so we’d be able to see her through the mist. “This is the Misty Moor,” Betsy told us.

“I thought it was hard to figure out what we were supposed to do in the forest, but this is ridiculous!” complained Reenee. “We can’t see anything!”

In the distance, I saw a faint light. “Maybe we should go in that direction!” I said.

“We can go that way if you want, but it is most likely nothing – just a will’o the wisp, a floating ball of light. They are quite common around this area, and really do nothing but distract you. Considering it is not moving, that is most likely what it is. We can check it out though,” said Betsy, and we all began following her towards it. As we got closer, it darted away towards another place further away.

“I was correct, it is definitely a will’o the wisp,” said Betsy.

“It looks like it’s trying to lead us somewhere!” I said. “Maybe we should follow it!”

“That would not be the best idea,” Betsy warned me. “They never lead you anywhere.”

“Okay, then where do you think we should go?” I asked her.

“I am not sure,” said Betsy.

“Look around us!” said Flora. “There are so many wisps!”

She was right. We were surrounded by a circle of them – at least 10. “If they are all trying to distract us, which way is the right path?” I asked.