Justintime: Thanks for the suggestion. Finally I could update; I'm on vacation for a week and I hope you enjoy this.

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Chapter 10: Coi - Coi

A pair of red eyes were observing them intensively... expecting any hostile move from the heterogeneal group of adventurers down in the floor, but those humanoids seemed frozen. They seemed too small to be humans. Intrigued, the creature flew down.

Whatever that was, it seemed to come down flying from the observation point in the upper part of the tree. Strange enough, but the creature had no wings. The creature surrounded them with her body. It was huge, like 100 feet long, and quite reptilian, but she still was smaller than Phebas, besides her body was of a blue colour and covered with brilliant scales. It was a giant snake, a Great Wyrm too, just like Phebas.

Kedri, Wyrmir and Dahra were frozen and whispered as they saw the creature comming down.

"What's that?" asked Kedri to the Wizard, but he just shrugged

"I don't know. It does look like a dragon, though."

"No..." whispered Dahra "It looks more like a... a giant snake or something. Maybe is a dragon of the water."

"Probably" whispered Wyrmir.

Kedri looked at No One Knows, who was whining and didn't dare to move a muscle. His ears and tail were down in a submissive way, completely scared. Kedri patted his head to calm him down, but it had little effect. The wolf was terrifyed.

After having the group completely surrounded with her brilliant reptilian body, the creature looked at them again and a bifid tongue came out swiftly from her mouth, looking directly at them it took a deep breath and spoke with a whispery voice.

"Annnddd... who exssactly are you?"

Kedri wanted to look nonchalant and answered

"Adventurers"

"We were just passing by" started Dahra, who was the only one that could actually say more than one word in that moment, in spite of the fear "We have to accomplish a promise."

"Aaahhh! A "promissse"..." The snake like thing hissed and seemed to be thinking for a while "What isss a "promissse"?" it looked directly at Dahra now.

"Is when you say you're going to do something, then you have to do it" explained Dahra.

"Then I "promisssed" to take care of thisss eggsss..." it didn't take her eyes off the adventurers and continued "Noone ssstaysss here for too long. Everyone passsesss and tryesss to eat thessse eggsss, but I have to keep my promissse, right?" The trio nodded to the snake "I can't let anyone eat the eggsss. I... "promisssed"." She made a long pause before continueing "All the time, when sssomeone comesss to thisss place, they attack me... I don't know why, but isss alwaysss the sssame. They alwaysss attack me, they alwaysss try to kill me with their weaponsss. Alwaysss "Kill the sssnake! kill the sssnake!" and I have nothing against them, but... I have to defend myssself.. Would you let anyone jussst come to your houssse and kill you?" she asked and the three of them shook their heads at the same time. She made a pause, like she was remembering something. At this point she didn't see that these adventurers did have weapons too. "no, right? That wouldn't be niece. The last one wasss tasssty, although it'sss armor wasss very hard and it'sss ssstill between my teeth."

"Doesn't it bother you?" sayed Kedri, finally and Wyrmir hitted her slightly with his elbow "What? I'm just asking!"

"Oh, yesss, a lot, but I can't take it out. Who did you make that "promissse" to?" she asked in general.

"To a boy and a dragon" answered Dahra.

"Interesssting... what isss a "boy"?"

The three of them smiled at this question, but none dared to laugh.

"Let's see..." started Dahra and thought for a switable answer, but Kedri decided against all the bullshit and paraphernalia and just answered straight.

"A boy is a humanoid cub, ok?" She decided that takl to the snake creature with few words was better, besides she was familiar to the way that animals communicate. Dahra looked at her with fear that she might have sayed something worng, because the snake looked at them with a question in her eyes, but then the snake nodded.

"Oh... I sssee..." she looked at them with hunger.

"Do you know the dragons?" asked Dahra, who noticed her look and tried to distract the snake.

"Yesss... they're like far away cousssinsss. They have beautifull and huge wingsss, lussstrousss ssscalesss, big hornsss and beautifull eyesss, not to mention that mossst of them can ssspit fire and other thingsss. Why do you asssk?"

"Oh, for nothing," started Dahra and tried to appeal to the snake's vanity "is just that we thought that you were one of them."

The snake seemed flattered and glad for what the piggot girl sayed.

"Really? Isss that ssso? isss it true that I, Coi - coi, am that beautifull?" she seemed surprised, but flattered. "I'm a sssnake, not a Dragon, but thank you"

"Oh, yes" sayed all of them at unison and smiled, thinking that the snake wouldn't eat them now.

"THANK YOU! Now I'll be more happy when I eat you all!"

"NO! no!" started Wyrmir "wait a minute, let's make a deal." Coi - coi listened at him intently, and so did Kedri and Dahra, that couldn't figure out with what he'd come out next "We can work this out. Why don't you eat only Kedri. She has a wolf, so if you eat her and her wolf you can let us go" and he pointed towards Dahra and himself. Kedri, No One Knows and Dahra looked at him murderously. The truth was that Wyrmir wanted the snake to eat Kedri because he wanted to keep her magical rings and all her magical stuff. Coi - coi seemed to ponderate this for a few seconds.

"I'll deal with you later" muttered Kedri to Wyrmir, with a calmed tone that unsettled the wizard and made him go pale.

"Mmm... nope, better not." Sayed Coi - coi, who seemed to not have heard what Kedri just muttered at the Alfon "all of you are very sssmall, and if I only eat one I'd ssstill be hungry. I'll eat you all."

"NO, WAIT!" Kedri suddenly cryed, with a new idea. Wyrmir was affraid that she was going to say to her that she could eat him as her first snack to look for a way out. "Why don't you let us deal with that little problem of yours... you know, that armor between your teeth? We can take it out using Dahra's sword..."

Kedri couldn't finish her sentence.

"YOU HAVE A SSSWORD! YOU CAME TO KILL ME TOO! YOU LIED TO ME!"

Dahra gave her a murderous gaze.

"No, we didn't come to kill you, calm down, calm down. If we wanted to kill you we would have attacked already, take it easy." Kedri tried to fix it, and even when Coi - coi still looked wearily at her, she let the Arborum finish her proposal. "I was saying that we can try to take that armor out of your teeth so it doesn't bother you any more, that's all. We can use the weapons as tools to take it out..."

"But if you hurt me I'll eat you." stated the snake, finally understanding.

"Well... we really hope you don't eat us. We would appreciate it..." Dahra sayed and thought that if the snake ate them she'd be most ungratefull.

"No talking! you take it out and you're free, but if you hurt me the three of you will be sssupper" Coi - coi was firm about this. The wizard tried to refutate, but the look that the snake gave him was too severe and he just let his jaw open, with a finger in the air, but wisely chose to shut up. The giant snake layed her head on the ground in front of the three adventurers and opened her huge mouth at them. A stench of fish came out of it and none of them liked it, but Wyrmir almost puked whatever nothingness he had in his stomach, but held it.

The thing was serious. The armor was "put" in one of her teeth, and not just that, but she even had the sword of the aten knight was buried in her gumms.

"Hummm... this won't be easy. How will we do this?" Dahra asked Kedri

"Do you still have any healing potion?"

"No"

"Wyrmir, take one of the healing potions that I have in my bag, in No One Knows's back and give it to Dahra." while Wyrmir did as he was told, Kedri told Dahra how she thought it could be done. "Ok, I don't know how about you, but I think it will be less painfull if we just pull the thing out. While I pull it out you can rub her with healing potion and pray that it doesn't hurt her" not having any better idea, Dahra just nodded and recieved the healing liquid vial that her friend was giving her. She poured some in a piece of her cloak and waited for Kedri to start pulling.

"Ok, the sword first" muttered Kedri and started pulling the sword out of the snake's gumms. As Kedri was standing in the snake's tongue, she felt it moving, swallowing saliva, and prayed to Tayra that the snake didn't swallow her too, but for the move she knew it was hurting in spite of the healing potion that the Piggot was rubbing in the wound. Finally, after long 10 minutes of pulling and rubbing, the sword finally came out. Kedri fell in her butt in the soft tongue of the snake and pulled herself again on her feet swiftly and threw the sword outside.

"Good girl! now the armour. How will we take this one out?" the Arborum scratched her head a few times.

"If we can unlock the locks it could be easier" sayed Dahra while doing so "Now you pull it out while I rub her again"

In the meantime, Wyrmir took the sword from the ground, to keep anyone from tripping with it and get injured.

Dahra looked at the vial of healing potion and her eyes grew wide opened "There's no more healing potion!"

"No way!" sayed Kedri

"Is true, no more healing potion!"

Wyrmir sighed and pushed Dahra slightly. "Let me do my job" he rubbed his hands "Kedri, pull" the Arborum pulled with all her strength, again, trying to cause the less harm possible. All the while, Wyrmir had his hands over the huge tooth of the snake, glowing with a soft blue colour and chanting a spell very softly. This time Kedri could feel that the snake felt no pain at all, for the lack of movement in her tongue. Pulling the armor out took twice the time that the sword, but finally it came out. It was completely ragged and useless for anyone due to the acids of the serpent's saliva, but the sword was in amazingly perfect conditions.

As soon as Kedri and wyrmir came out of her mouth, Coi - coi smiled at them.

"THANK YOU! WOU! THIS FEELSSS GREAT! now wait a minute, ok? I'll be right back" she sayed and happily jumped to the water and dived to the bottom of her lake.

In the meantime, Dahra examined the sword. It was plainly huge, a little longer than a long sword and as she tried to wield it she realiced that she had to grab it with both hands because it was too heavy.

After a few minutes, when Coi - coi finally came out of the water, she was carrying a heavy chest made of half rotten wood.

"Thisss isss a gift for you. To ssshow gratitude for taking that nuisssance out of my mouth." Kedri and her friends looked at each other, wondering what kind of gift could a rotten chest be, but they thanked her for it any ways. "You will go to thossse high treesss, won't you?"

"Yes, why?" Wyrmir sayed

"Promissse me sssomething, pleassse. Promissse me that after that you will come back to tell me what you find there"

Kedri smiled and patted Coi - coi's cheek "Of course, we will"

Coi - coi was about to leave when she remembered something and turned to her new allies again "Before I forget... remember this: The guardian hides the key of the cell to the right" and jumped to the water again, not giving any explanation on what this warning was about.

"What did she mean?" Wyrmir asked

"No idea" Dahra shrugged "but I'll keep that in mind, just in case. Now let's see what this rotten chest has inside.

They opened the chest and saw that it was full of water, but it also had a lot of furs, boots, capes and other usefull things to get dressed, but mostly, furs. After taking all the wet things out and hunging them in branches nearby to dry them, they all helped to take the water out of the chest, so they could move it easier and when they tried to move it they realiced it was still very heavy, although it had nothing inside.

"How strange!" Dahra scratched her head and all of them tried pushing and pulling the chest up, to the high trees, but they could barely move it about 10 feet.

"This is not working" Dahra held her axe high and was about to break the rotten wood of the chest. At least that way they would be able to use it as wood for a fire. Kedri knew that wet wood wouldn't light, but the rest insisted so much that she had to agree.

"NOOOOO!" a little voice was heard while the axe was comming down, and Dahra was fast enough to stop before hitting the chest.

The three friends looked at each other disconcerted and waited for a few seconds, thinking that with all the strange things that happened to them in the Geetah lately, it could happen that the chest was talking, but as the voice wasn't heard again Dahra held the axe up one more time.

"NOOOOO! DON'T BREAK MY HOUSE!"

This time they realiced that the voice came from the inside of the chest. Completely stunned, Wyrmir reopened the chest. A tiny little brilliant thing shoot out of it and flew like a mad little brilliant thing around the three of them, even around No One Knows who tried desperately to catch whatever that flying brilliant spot was. It kept flying for about a whole minute, and when it finally stopped in front of Kedri's face the group realiced that it was a faerie, and she was really upset. Wyrmir quickly closed the chest again.

"Why did you want to break my house, HUH? WHY?" she yelled at them with a pitched voice

"Hum... We're sorry, we didn't know it was your house" sayed Kedri while scratching the back of her head. "If we knew it before we wouldn't even have tried. Sorry"

"Yes, easy to say "I'm sorry; I'm sorry" but it wasn't your house that was almost destroyed by a trio of giants, right?" Kedri looked puzzled and then she realiced that the giants were them.

"Coi-coi gave us this chest because we helped her. We emptied it and then tried to move it, but to no avail, so we were going to make a fire with the wood. We didn't know it was your house. If we knew we wouldn't have tried to brake it." This time Dahra was the one who spoke.

The tiny sprite sighed and rolled her eyes. "Open the chest again" she commanded and Dahra complied. Under the cover of the chest she showed them a mechanism with a little wheel. "Turn the wheel" the sprite sayed and Dahra did so. "Now close the chest again" The faerie was explaining it as if she was talking to a 5 years old human. Dahra did what the sprite sayed any ways and as soon as the chest was closed it shrank. Now it wasn't bigger than Dahra's hand. "See? and to make it bigger you must do the same" The fae looked at the "giants" and saw they were all amazed. "My name is Kikirikán, and you are...?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm Dahra" everyone introduced themselves to Kikirikán and went to find wood to start a fire. It was getting late and nobody rushed them to move on, but the wood was too wet to light it, so Kikirikán flew over the wood and chanted a spell. In a second the wood was dry and in flames.

"TADAAAAA!" bowed the faerie and everyone clapped at her. After all, she was really nice. Kedri and Dahra extended the furs in front of the fire to get them dried. they would prove quite usefull now that the nights were so cold, but not tonight. the furs wouldn't be completely dry untill the morning.

"YAWWWNNN!" Kedri stretched herself "We should make turns to watch and sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be a heavy day"

"Hahaha..." laughed Wyrmir "we're in the border of a lake where a giant snake lives and you think that anyone would be so foolish to come and bother us?"

"Well, Wyrmir" started Kikirikán "Coi-coi sleeps too, so it would be wise to take turns. I'll take the first, then I'll sleep inside my house".

They organized the turns and went to sleep. It was a quiet and silent night, and in fact nothing bad happened.

The next morning Kikirikán woke up first and flew to Dahra to wake her up, then Kedri and Wyrmir. She didn't want to get close to the wolf. They still had nothing to eat for breakfast, but were starting to get used to hunger. Something told them it was going to be a while untill they ate again. The eggs were still there, but they wouldn't dare to touch them now, and Coi-coi was nowhere on sight. Not even the fishes were close enough to fish them, so the gathered the furs and put them in No One Knows back, then the rest of their things and moved to the north again, in the direction of the "tall trees", like Coi-coi used to call the big group of tall larches to the north of her lake.

"The Lord of All Times is surrounded by his son's" Thought Kedri to herself as they kept walking. The wind was getting stronger and stronger while they, apparently, reached the bottom of a hill. What they thought it was strange was that surrounding the bottom of that hill was a tall stone wall.

"I'll talk to the trees, wait a minute" Kedri nibbled one of the larches and focused to stablish communication. The tree was very sleepy.

"Hello"

"YAWWWNNN! HUM... hello"

"Do you know why that stonewall's there and what's behind it?"

"Hmmm... no... It was there when I was born... now let me sleep"

She couldn't take anything else from the larch, so she tried with another tree, but to no avail. Noone knew what was behind the stonewall. Kedri felt frustrated, but nothing came to her mind. She started praying to Tayra, the Arborum goddess of water, trees and soil. She threw afist full of dust over her shoulder and planted a seed, then she tried to communicate again with another larch.

This time, though, Tayra smiled at her faithful follower and talked to her. Kedri could hear her soft voice in her heart; not the voice of the tree, but the very voice of her goddess. She was teaching her, not what's behind the wall, but a spell. The spell summons a spectral Bear. Tears shred from the Shoni arborum's green eyes with emotion. She never thought of herself as of someone worth enough to be considered by the gods, and there she was, listening to Tyra herself. When Tyra stopped teaching her, the connection broke, and Kedri realiced she was on her knees, calming down.

She went back to her friends. "The trees are too sleepy to talk and most of them were born after the wall was already here" she sayed, but sayed nothing about her chat with the godess. There was too much wind in the place to climb any tree. "Kikirikán, you're small enough and you can fly, could you fly and tell us what's on the other side?"

The tiny sprite nodded and flew over the stone wall. She had to hung to a larch to avoid flying away for the strength of the wind. Kikirikán went pale. She flew down again to Kedri and her friends.

"Hummm... it was a real pleasure to meet and travel you, but I have something really important to do now. Good luck in whatever you have to do!" and with that she flew away, not saying a word and not even bothering to look back. She flew as if fire was chasing her, leaving the chest that was her home with the trio of adventurers that stared at her as she flew away.

"Coward" thought Kedri.