The Black Bog

"I was gliding through the mountain range in search of someone." Aurelia explained reluctantly. The less Archie knows about her mission, the better.

"Who?"

"Top secret."

"Why?"

"Top secret."

"Have you found that someone?"

"Top secret."

"So, you have?"

"I said top secret."

"So, your boyfriend ran away from you, and you are searching for him, but he is hiding from you?"

"How do you manage to make such a preposterous deduction?"

"Well, if everything you say is going to be a top secret, might as well I make my own deductions from your tale?"

"It is not a tale; it is a mission."

"Mission? Are you that desperate to get married? I thought women nowadays thrived on independence and were advocates of feminism. You chasing after a guy doesn't sit well with me. The more you pursue him, the more he will avoid you."

"What on Elysium are you referring to? And my affections for anyone are not of your concern."

"Polygamy, then? Well, I suppose, given that you are a bird. You are probably not bound to one spouse. I would say this: right now, you are not in a condition to look for him because you are wearing another man's jacket with nothing underneath! That will seem fishy to anyone."

Aurelia locked eyes with Archie as if a gaze could pierce through flesh, but he was too busy climbing up into the forest to notice her death glare. From complete strangers to obnoxious sibling-like relationships in a flash. 

"Look, it is none of your business, alright?"

"So, who hurt you?"

"The harpy you killed."

"Really, I assumed that you are a phoenix; your powers should be more superior than those of a mere harpy."

"It was with dark creatures. I wasn't fighting against the harpy alone. They were other creatures."

"Like what?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't see who you fought with?"

"I don't know. All I knew was that I saw yellow eyes lurking in the shadows and it was helping the harpy."

"Why didn't you warn me when we were sleeping last night that it could sneak an attack when we were most vulnerable?"

Aurelia was looking at Archie's back in surprise.

"You couldn't see?"

"See what?"

"Mana."

"What is that?"

"We are here."

"What mana?"

"No time to explain. The phantoms and dark creatures are here too."

Archie reached and stood at the bottom of the cliff.

"This is a dead end."

"It is not; you need to figure out a way to enter."

"Enter where?"

"The only way to enter the oasis is to find the entrance by detecting mana flow. I could not help you, because everyone's entrance to the oasis is different."

Aurelia transformed into a phoenix for the first time, flew high up towards the top of the cliff and vanished.

Archie looked at her dumbfoundedly as she either vanished into the cliff or phased straight through. He felt like an unpaid Uber driver being scammed for a ride and was surrounded by mobsters.

'That's sly fox!' She's definitely not a phoenix.' Archie was disgruntled; he was feverishly touching every inch of the cliff, hoping to find a trap door or just phase into the mountain like Aurelia.

In search of a cave or opening, he chose to begin ascending the cliff.

As Archie was about to climb, a black bog started to swirl on the ground, casting a dense fog that slowly rose to form the silhouettes of unknown beings. Yellow eyes popped out amidst the bog.

As the black bog threatened to consume him, Archie desperately scrambled up the rock.

Out of nowhere, a dark cloud morphed into a gothic, gaunt, gloomy Aurelia as it rose higher into his field of vision.

"Ah!" Incredulous at the less attractive version of Aurelia, Archie let out a scream of horror. The imposter was like a floating black wisp, with its luminous yellow eyes gazing into Archie's eyes, trying to hypnotize him.

"Archie, come with me." The gothic Aurelia began reaching out her hand to touch his face.

Archie was beginning to fall for its enchantment as it transformed into a much more attractive form in his eyes. Then, the creature started to float around his face as a certain amount of black wisp began to enter his nostrils.

A gust of wind blew that broke the form of dark Aurelia and a tail poked out from the wisp in the middle of the air. Archie thankfully recovered from his hypnosis and regained his composure. He immediately grabbed the tail that poked out from the wisp to reveal a black fox.

Archie stared at the black fox. It looked pretty cute and harmless. Then a whisper of wind said, "Kill it."

"Kill? No, it looks like it is trapped. I just need to break whatever it is that's binding him."

Archie held the black fox and saw that it had a collar with encryptions on. His eyes squinted to find the mechanics that allowed him to force open the collar. He slid down the cliff and landed on the ground. He attempted to pry open the collar with his pen knife.

However, his efforts were for naught. Archie looked at the collar once more as he squinted his eyes, attempting to decipher the inscription on it:

'Three times around and wait,

The sound clicks and the first gate breaks.

Press the bud on the right

to reveal the nape to sight.'

Archie inspected the collar once more and located the hole that he initially tried to force with his pen knife. He rummaged through his first-aid kit and found a suture needle. He inserted the needle point inside the hole and turned it in three times.

Since the inscription did not mention if it was counter-clockwise or clockwise, he attempted to turn in the direction in which he opened a bottle. A 'click' was made and he was relieved that the first step took effect.

The black wisp returned and the black fox eyes glowed yellow once more. This time he knew that the reason its eyes glow was because it was activating its magic. Archie was running out of time, so he quickly pressed the button found on his right.

Finally, the collar snapped to reveal the black fox nape; the creature's eyes grew dimmer, and it passed out while in his grasp.

Out of a blue, an arrow sprung out, just missing his hand holding the black fox, while the black wisp emitted from the fox faded slowly and eventually vanished; another ominous figure appeared beyond the trees, lurking in the shadows.