Chapter 4: The Black Mud Swamp
The following morning came and Erasiel was still asleep his dreams were of the sort that shifted and could generally be anything due his many adventures and the many things he had seen over his exceedingly long life which would never end unless the universe did; his sleep of course was soon interrupted by Stormy: who was overly excited. "Hey, wake up, there has been some crazy stuff that happened overnight!" Stormy yelled eagerly, Erasiel woke up, yawned, then used his magic to change into his day clothes and then picked up his staff from his bed side before responding to Stormy.
"What news?" Erasiel asked absent-mindedly as he was still waking up, his memories of last night were hazy.
"There was a massive fight between the Faeries and the Specialists after our prank went off, that so the icing on the cake, but more importantly one of the specialists was found dead this morning hanging from the statue in the Red Fountain courtyard also Icy woke up and there was duckling on her bed, man she freaked out, but she lightened up after it called her mother" Stormy responded rather quickly, this reminded Erasiel and fully woke him up.
"Oh that, the duckling was a gift, and the body well that was a loose end" Erasiel responded.
"Wait so you killed that guy?" Stormy asked curiously her eyes wide with shock rather outrage, she was generally excited by that news, something that worried Erasiel, he didn't want Stormy to be too bloodthirsty.
"No not personally, I did have a couple of Dark Elf Assassins do the job though, don't worry I covered my tracks well and they will blame to local Beastmen for the affair" Erasiel responded. "Anyway, I would like you to keep the matter quiet, don't tell anyone apart from your sisters about this and I won't tell anybody about our adventure last night, speaking of which did Griffin reward you and your sister's already and what did Icy name the duck" Erasiel inquired.
"Oh yes, they already have done that; Headmistress Griffin gave us extra credit for the whole prank which was good, I had a C- in History of magic; now I have an A for the course" Stormy responded. "Also, she wanted to see you, and Icy named the duck Pepe" she continued, this of course prompted Erasiel to leave and then go to Griffin's office where Griffin was quite annoyed.
"What were you thinking?! The prank was supposed to be a practical joke, why is there a dead specialist who was hanging from the statue in the Red Fountain courtyard this morning?!" Griffin interrogated to which Erasiel merely frowned.
"Oh yes that corpse. The Trix had nothing to do with dead Specialist: that noble prick's death was solely my doing; not directly though: I had Lethos send a couple of Assassins his way; don't worry he will hardly be missed he was slime ball and he started that fight last night by pinching Musa's butt; he also insulted me and Saladin let him and other troublemakers off light; don't worry I made sure the Beastmen were blamed; mainly because they won't talk to anyone just attack them outright and because it was the most effective scapegoat literally in fact a literal goat" Erasiel responded.
"Well I just had a call from Saladin; the last thing Cloud Tower needs is to blamed for a murder" Griffin responded.
"Look don't worry like I said the Beastmen are the perfect scapegoats because they don't answer questions they just kill; also, by the way did Saladin change the punishment for the troublemakers?" Erasiel responded. Griffin relented and resumed a calm demeanor
"Oh that; Saladin did give them a month's detention for the whole fight; I guess the death of one of the students was enough to send a message to him; he probably knows that the death of the noble's son was you're doing; but I think you got the point across that the punishment should be more severe; I don't think he cares about the noble's son's death and if he did he wouldn't be able to prove it: the Assassins are loyal to you only and won't betray a client's trust or give their name" Griffin responded. "Anyway, I just need you to focus on the Trix today, I have made absence exception for their classes today, so you can teach them more; I think you could afford to teach them some of the more advanced spells" Griffin continued, Erasiel nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry I have just the thing in mind for them today, it will kill two birds with one stone" Erasiel responded.
"Good also in the future don't pull stunts like that so soon after the event" Griffin responded. "Also, I love you my dear husband and have a good day" she concluded and kissed him lovingly.
Erasiel soon left: now had come the time for more advanced approach but he needed a few things mainly alchemical ingredients; the Trix could help with that and he would teach them some more advanced spells as a reward; all the ingredients he needed could be found in the Black Mud Swamp; though he would have to deal with Goblins that dwelt there. "All the more practice for the Trix" Erasiel thought.
Unaware to Erasiel: the Winx and number of other Faeries would be heading to the Black Mud Swamp for the same reason, to collect alchemical ingredients though for different potions; Erasiel needed the ingredients for a rather practical set of augment potions that would allow the caster to focus better and tap into more magic; Erasiel wanted these specifically for the Trix's training which if he was going to teach them more advanced spells they would need these potions to strengthen themselves to be able to cast some of the more advanced spells which required more energy to cast.
Erasiel spent the next few hours however making sure the Trix were caught up and fully able to use what they had learned so far; this was both for practice and to see how much their magical potential had advanced. After practice he informed the Trix that they would be heading to the Black Mud Swamp to collect Alchemy ingredients for special potions that would enhance their magical potential, something had he not mentioned it was solely for their benefit they would've surely complained about doing.
Unaware to Erasiel, the Trix, and the Winx alike in the swamp the local goblin tribes were minding their own business until a certain Goblin Hexer approached a number of tribes, the Hexer was clad in the blue and black robes of a Night Goblin Spider Priest wore a large mushroom on his head as a cap, he carried along an uneven and black staff with was studded with spikes and topped by three pointed spear tip a "Prodda" as the Greenskins called it, he rode a large swamp beetle and was escorted by a number of well-armed goblins. The Hexer whose name was Nurgzak Shroomchewa was a well-respected wanderer of the Goblin communities on Magix however he was well known as a speaker to the Spider God, he approached the local Swamp Goblin Warboss who sat on his throne beside which two large Squigs were chained up and slept. "All right then what do you want Hexer?" the Warboss, Sawtooth Squiglova asked.
"Da time has come, spider god sayz to smash Faeries who live in shiny school, also to smash hummies in the big city, the Spider god says it's time for the WAAGH!" Nurgzak responded, which got the attention of all the goblins nearby.
"Alright lads here's the plan we'z gonna smash em and bash and beat em WAAGH! And if we lose we pretend we waz neva there" Raktooth yelled to his goblin warriors, they then creeped off into the swamp with their weapons in hand.
Meanwhile… the Winx had just arrived in the swamp, they along with the other students were clad in explorer garb, the kind which you would wear on an African Safari or jungle expedition with Pith Helmets and all that entailed, the signature garb of late 19th century explorers who wandered into the jungles of the Heart of Darkness as the interior of Africa was known at the time, the only person not in this garb was Professor Gelt who wore his ordinary attire, he carried the golden staff of Volans in his right hand and had a sword on his side, Bloom was also next to him because she was overflowing with questions. "Professor I have to ask are you the real Balthazar Gelt, the Supreme Patriarch of the Altdorf Colleges of Magic" Bloom asked eagerly beginning her first salvo of questions.
"Former Supreme Patriarch, I gave up my position when I was offered the more prestigious rule on the Wizard's Council by Erasiel Darkar though I kept the Staff of Volans as I was not defeated by my successor he will have to make do with his own staff, I've lived a lifetime far beyond that of the people on my world, but time hasn't changed much since I left, due to some rules on how time passes here versus in my world; anyway I became the Alchemy teacher at Alfea after the War of the Ancestresses I thought it would be suitable to teach new generations of students the finer points of Alchemy and magic" Professor Gelt responded, in his metallic voice which sounded like a man talking thru a network of brass pipes.
"Wow, it so awesome to actually meet someone from a game you've played, I have a model of you in my dorm room back at Alfea from the Tabletop battles" Bloom responded.
"I see, those; I knew you were a fan of that game when you asked me that question, that whole franchise is all Darkar's doing I was not surprised that he would turn my life's stories and those of my homeworld into a gaming franchise, now do you have any other questions Bloom" Gelt asked.
"Yes, I do; what are we looking for in this swamp?" Bloom asked.
"A number of practical ingredients; Mud weed mostly as well a number of other plants that grow here; Mud Weed has applications in most healing potions as well as few enchantment potions and other less then savory potions: Also, we are looking for Sulphur, it is a necessary ingredient in number of potions that can be used to clear obstacles mainly boulders" Gelt responded.
"So, we get to work with explosives!?" Bloom asked excitedly.
"Yes and no, I will be showing you how to make them but no we will not be using them; on School grounds at least, I believe in teaching students information that will be practical in unexpected situations, on my world knowing more will allow you survive the many hazards it presents" Gelt responded.
"Anything to be worried about in this swamp?" Bloom asked weary, she was genuinely worried about the threats here as she hadn't really any combat experience outside her initial encounter with Stella and the follow up Troll attack.
"Not much that cannot be handled if we stick together, however there are some dangerous creatures in this swamp but those are in the deeper parts of the swamp which we will not be visiting, the most resident threat is the Goblins who live in this swamp, however they are content to stay in their territory and as long as we avoid their territory we will be safe from attack, even if they do attack however a class of Faeries and former Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic will be able to fend them off rather easily the dangers of the Black Mud Swamp are nothing compared to forests of my home world" Balthazar Gelt responded to Bloom's query, Bloom felt reassured that they wouldn't be in any real danger as long as Professor Gelt was with them.
Meanwhile… Erasiel and the Trix had recently arrived and had begun scouring the local area for anything on Erasiel's list; Erasiel himself kept his eyes and ears open for any danger that might threaten them. Hours Erasiel and the Trix were looking for Light-bell and Shadow-clover when they heard the frantic footsteps coming in their direction and they had readied their spells. To their surprise five Faeries came running in their direction; Erasiel and the Trix barely got a chance to look at them when they yelled: "RUN! GOBLINS!" and soon they were followed by a number of goblins yelling their battle cry "WAAAGH!" at the top of their lungs, they brandished a variety of weapons, some crude but others good quality and some masterworks of their smiths, regardless the Goblins were rather angry, Erasiel dropped a wall of Fire in their path and followed the five Faeries and the Trix followed him; the yells of angry goblins behind.
"I can't believe we are running from Goblins" Stormy angrily stated.
"Too many of them and not enough time for me to come up with a plan, this isn't running it is a tactical retreat" Erasiel responded, ducking a goblin arrow which he responded to by sending a fiery wave at the attackers, who screamed out in agony at their pain, soon they had lost their pursuers and Erasiel could ask the Faeries questions, he recognized all five of them as the faeries that along with Winx had gotten detention; the Blue hair girl was one, but there were four others one with long red-brown hair, one with long blue hair and glasses, one with short Magenta hair and glasses, and the other with bob-cut orange-blonde hair, they were all beautiful and their figures were the same as those of the Trix, all five of them wore the garb of explorers. "For starters who are you girls and how did you manage to piss off those goblins" Erasiel asked, the Blue haired girl responded.
"My name is Jennifer and these four are Amaryl, Ortensia, Emily, and Francine" the now named Jennifer stated pointing to Amaryl; the orange haired girl with green eyes, Ortensia the girl with square-framed glasses and very long dark blue-black hair that is about waist-length who resembled Musa and Erasiel assumed she was from Melody, Emily the Pinkette with glasses and brown eyes, a last Francine the fair faced girl with long brown-red hair that had neatly brushed bangs near her temples and sea-blue eyes, all five of them were dressed in the same explorer garb. "As to the Goblins, we got separated from the rest of Professor Gelt's class while we were looking for Insty flowers and they attacked us, I've never seen so many Goblins in my life and Professor Gelt said we would be safe in this part of the swamp" Jennifer continued.
"Usually they do stick to their territory, usually if they leave their territory it's in smaller numbers not large warbands, no that means a Hexer has been agitating the tribes into a WAAGH! That is not a good thing and means the swamp became a lot more dangerous" Erasiel explained.
"So now what do we do?" Emily asked a look of panic on her face.
"The only thing to stop them from getting out of hand would be to kill their War Boss and their Hexer, that will cause them to scatter and go into infighting" Erasiel responded.
"How do we go about doing that?" Ortensia asked cynically.
"We need numbers, if we were to link up with rest of the class; with my help and that of the Trix and Professor Gelt we should be able to beat them enough to kill their War Boss and Hexer" Erasiel responded, "Now into your Charmix Forms or your Witch Forms and get ready to fight" Erasiel ordered. Each of them transforming in their forms which appeared as so: Amaryl wore a sparkling olive-green dress with a light green part on the top that connects to a red gem and continues to a point and is tied with green neck trim and the same light green colored mini-shorts on under them with green trim. Her boots were ankle-height and light green. Her wings had leaflets on them and are lavender with hot pink tips. Francine wore a light blue sparkly top with the sides showing and opens on the hips with points in the back and under for a short view she wore a blue two-pointed piece with a royal blue pointed skirt under and having a light blue gem on the top of the dress that has dark blue feather-type decorations that spread out not blocking her face. Her shoes were blue heels with the back of her foot showing and an ankle strap with a light blue gem. She also wears blue gloves and has blue wings. She also wore pale blue headband under her bangs and hair. Emily's Charmix resembled Francine's but instead of blue the colors were fuchsia, Byzantine purple and hot pink she also wore bells in her hair. Ortensia wore a sparkly pink muffin-top hat, her glasses, and also a sparkling pink tank-top and skirt, along with slightly darker shorts and below the knee fuchsia boots. Lastly came Jennifer wore an ice blue collared jumpsuit with shorts and a piece of blue on the back and side of her chest also, connected is a purple cape. She wore the same boots as her civilian outfit only lacking socks. Her wings were magenta/pink. With them in in Charmix they proceeded to be on their way into the bog. The Trix also had transformed from their civilian garb into their witch combat forms; Icy's witch form was a dull navy-blue one-piece suit and a royal blue cape, with high-heeled boots a darker shade of blue. Down the front of the suit was a white stripe that formed a thin belt with the letter "I" over the stomach. With this, she wore fingerless gloves and dark blue eye shadow. Darcy's witch outfit was purple, but it is more like a bodysuit with no sleeves, and Capri-style pants. Accessories included light purple gloves, ankle boots that are the same color as her witch outfit, and a choker that forms a "D" at her belt. Continuing the purple accessories, Darcy wore purple eye shadow makeup in the same style as the rest of her sisters, her glasses were noticeably absence. Her hair was the same. Stormy wore a maroon dress with the letter "S" embossed at the middle of her outfit. She had matching maroon fingerless gloves that went to her elbows. She also had matching tights, Her high-heeled boots were the same height as Darcy's. Like her older sisters, she wore eye makeup of the color of her outfit and a choker around her neck. Her hair is the same. Her skirt was the same color as her normal form and she still had on lavender panties which Erasiel could see from his position.
They then wandered around for a while as they avoided the hazards of the bog, when Goblins came looking for them they killed them so they wouldn't report their positions, they flew low to avoid being spotted by Goblin archers which while they wouldn't be able to hurt Erasiel or the Trix because of their wards; The faeries wards were under-developed and they would easily threatened by well-placed goblin arrows, something which fortunately was a rarity but still not rare enough to be worth taking chances, Erasiel intended to keep all the students alive; his own survival was secondary due to his reincarnation; which was a luxury the others didn't have.
The swamp itself though was as unruly of an adversary as the Goblins were, in that it was trying its best to make them lose their sense of direction and get them hopelessly lost, unfortunately for the swamp Erasiel was all too aware of where he was going, while he himself couldn't risk flying high and being seen Kerborg could but didn't need to as he spoke telepathically to Erasiel guiding them to him and Winx. They ran into each other within a half-hour but not literally and Bloom approached Erasiel. "We were looking for you girls, Professor Gelt noticed you were missing and I volunteered us to look for you, Mr. Darkar what are you doing here and with the Trix" Bloom asked noticing additional people.
"The same reason you're here; looking for alchemical ingredients, also please call me Nathan, Mr. Darkar is my father; well technically he is Lord Darkar but that is beside the point call me Nathan from now on, secondly we need to move fast, the Goblins are following us and we need to move now if we are going to stand any chance of beating them" Erasiel responded, however as if on cue Goblins came roaring from the brush charging them, Erasiel cast a barrier of fire in their path which bought the Winx time to transform into Charmix, apart from Bloom.
"I've never transformed before" Bloom responded to Erasiel.
"It's simple Bloom, just yell Charmix and focus on it, you'll transform it's that simple" Erasiel stated, after he said that a goblin arrow bounced of his armor and he responded to that with a barrage of fireballs in the general direction which was followed by more Goblins screaming in agony, Bloom still hesitated and but then cleared her head and yelled "MAGIC WINX! CHARMIX!"
("It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, its easy if you try, it's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky it's easy if you try. If you wanna go far, never give up on your dreams, because you know you're wonderful, just the way you are, deep inside your heart, there's a power of a Winx, just close your eyes and let it shine. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, its easy if you try. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. Every day at the edge you know what you got to do, just give your best and you will see, you'll never be unknown, We are all for one, shining brighter than the Sun, just close your eyes and we will shine. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. This is what you are and now you're a powerful fairy, irresistible, you can be the star, come fly with the Winx. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. It's the power of CHARMIX!")
Bloom's body coursed with energy, her clothing faded and soon flames bathed her body in certain parts, and in the corner of her eye she saw the fiery image of a serpentine dragon curl around her, the flames turned into blue clothes, a blue cropped top and skirt, as we as blue boots, an oval yellow gem resided on her neck, her wings were small and blue squares, she felt her hair which now had a small golden tiara in it, she noted her hands had sleeveless gloves wrapped around her hands, then the world turned to normal and she noticed the other Winx in their Charmix Forms, she recognized Stella's from when she first met her in Gardenia but took in Flora's form as well those of Musa and Tecna: Flora's Charmix outfit was primarily fuchsia and orchid in color, and consisted of a sparkling one piece, bare shouldered top that concealed a pair of mini shorts of the same color, and ankle-high boots also the same color. A green choker with a pink colored four petal flower adorns her neck, and she had wrist length fingerless gloves covering her arms. Her wings are lime green and shaped like leaves. Tecna's Charmix outfit was unarguably the most distinctive of all the fairies she could currently see, as it covered most of her body. The outfit was a full-body suit of a sparkling lavender color covering the torso and legs. She has powder blue sleeves which cover her hands and blue knee-high boots. She wore a lavender helmet which had a lime green tear-shaped brooch on it, similar to the one on her chest. Her wings are green bars which can form small squares on her back, in the shape of a glider, oddly they didn't flutter which meant they were more like a glider then the wings of a Bird. Last there was Musa's Charmix outfit was a sparkling red top with translucent pink fabric at the middle, a red mini skirt, and knee-high wedge red boots. She also wore purple headphones atop her head and purple ribbons around her forearms (the one on her left arm has loose ends hanging from it). Her wings are translucent and bright blue with purple bands in the middle. She had magenta shorts on under her skirt. Bloom had been so distracted that when a Goblin came charging her direction she didn't know how to respond, fortunately a lightning bolt struck the Goblin leaving it a fried green body that smelled somewhere between hamburgers and pork mixed in with a bit of mushrooms to Bloom.
"Hey Bloom, keep your eyes straight and keep focused on the fight" Stormy shouted to Bloom who immediately leapt up startled then realized she wasn't falling back down because she was just hovering in the air, an arrow flew in Bloom's direction and Stormy yelled "Dodge!" and Bloom dodge to the side with the limberness of an acrobat. "Stick close to me if you want to stay alive freshman" Stormy shouted, and Bloom came to her side. "Well don't just stay floating around send some spells in the Goblin's direction, you're a Fire Fairy use your fire powers" Stormy ordered.
"Fireball!" Bloom shouted and a fireball leapt from her hand into the nearest goblin and turned him into a pile of ash, Bloom was taken aback by her new powers but didn't have time to question it and began to send more fireballs in the direction of the goblins, her aim was off initially not hitting the goblins she aimed at but there were enough of them not to matter, Bloom's aim improved and soon the spells were hitting where she intended them to, she also noted the spells from the others; Flora left goblins tangled in vines or pierced by barbs and thorns, Musa sent out blasts of sound in the direction causing the goblins to cover their ears in pain, Stella sent blasts of light the in direction of the goblins and each of them turned into skeletons on a hit, Tecna sent blasts of focused energy as well as nets of energy which trapped and destroyed goblins on contact, Ice came from Icy and Jennifer, tangled dark energy came out from Darcy as well as duplicates of said witch, Stormy was consistently hurling lightning but also wind and rock, Amaryl was sending spheres of starlight into the goblin ranks and which landed to deadly effect, while Francine caused tides of water to pull goblins away and drown them in the bogs, Emily sent out blasts of red energy that caused the goblins to freeze up paralyzed as well as blasts of what looked like blood to Bloom to consume the goblins, and Erasiel well he was unleashed a variety of spells few of which belonged to the same lore of magic they were joined Professor Gelt and the Other students who heard the fighting.
"Gehanna's golden hounds!" Gelt casted and series of molten hounds routed and chased a number of the Goblins off, while ripping others to shreds. "Golden blades of Shakur!" Gelt casted, a series of spinning golden blades shredded Goblins like knifes thru butter.
The fight continued on, but the noise had attracted more attention, that of more goblins and rather large goblin in armor riding a large Squig clad in armor he had a large axe in his hands and roared his WAAGH louder than any of the other Goblins, chants went up of "Raktooth!" from the goblins and he came charging in Bloom's direction. Raktooth then noted an aura of fire from the fairy and he stared at her like someone looks at an oncoming train they have no power to stop; suddenly vines tangled his squig and sent him flying of, Raktooth roared "Faeriez I will smash you gits!" he aimed for Bloom but suddenly he felt pain burning agonizing flame Bloom had sent a fireball at him, and he cooked inside his armor and fell to the ground striking his head on hard rock as the fire melted him inside the confines of his armor, he looked and saw his squig Gnawy struggle at the vines that bound him and the last thing he heard was a cry of loss from his old pet. The Goblins fled, from a nearby tree hung the remains of their Hexer who had been singled out by Erasiel dragged into the air and had his neck snapped by the Phoenix in question, their Warboss had been killed, and his pet Squig which had gone mad with grief broke from the vines that trapped it and was now chasing them down.
"That was insane" Bloom responded after they had gotten the chance to recover from the attack.
"Trust me you have only just been in your first fight Bloom, there is much ahead for you" Erasiel responded.
"Well thanks for your help, I don't think we would have been able to handle the goblins without you" Bloom thanked then turned to Stormy "Thanks for saving my life"
"No problem, just making sure you didn't die, you may be a fairy, but nobody deserves to die because they're not paying attention to what is going on around them" Stormy responded. The Group left and soon met up with the rest of the Class, where Professor Gelt was quick to thank Erasiel and the Trix for finding his missing students, Erasiel and Trix left after that and returned to Cloud Tower.
Later at Cloud Tower… Erasiel brooded over a cauldron which he now had filled with ingredients gathered in the swamp, he oversaw the mixture while the Trix let off steam doing whatever they felt like doing, soon the mixture was done and Erasiel bottled it.
"And it's done, a standard power potion, drink it tomorrow morning and you will be full of strength and energy" Erasiel stated handing the Trix each a potion. "You three have done the important part and now I can see to teaching you some more advanced spells, mind you tomorrow morning, and this time we will test them on goblins" Erasiel continued and the Trix laughed at the last part.