Part 2
“You know the big lake on the road East of Nightcrest, right? Well rumour has it people have been going missing near it.” a man said to Harrod as he began his ale. “Tell people to stay away from it.”
“Going missing you say?” Harrod asked, intrigued.
“Yeah, just up and gone. No signs of a struggle.”
A fairy suddenly popped into view from under the counter, startling the man briefly.
“No signs of a struggle?” the fairy asked him, putting on his hat.
“Yeah that’s right Cricket. Their belongings at the side of the lake seem to be all that’s left of them.” the man said to the fairy.
“Belongings not taken either?” Cricket asked, a grave look on his face.
“Yeah, all left alone. You know what’s happening or something?”
“I’m afraid so. No signs of struggle. Belongings untouched. Large body of water. It’s a rusalka.” Cricket said, pacing on the counter.
“What’s a rusalka?” the man asked as he took another drink from his ale.
“I’m not surprised you’ve never heard of them, as they’re very rare.” Cricket replied, still pacing. “They’re a malicious if not downright malevolent water spirit. They have the form of a beautiful woman with long hair, and they lure creatures of all manners to watery deaths. I don’t know what they do with their victims but no bodies are ever found.”
“So what do we do?” Harrod asked. “This seems like it’s a big problem.”
“There’s not much we can do. You can’t exactly kill a rusalka, they’re spirits after all. Best we can hope for is figuring out some way of driving it off. I’ll have to send word to The University in Dragonpost.” Cricket replied with a sigh.
“What do we do in the meantime?” asked the patron as he finished his ale. “It’ll take some time for a mage to get here.”
“Warn off travellers from getting too close to the lake. Most people have either never heard of a rusalka or consider them a myth, so tell them there’s some sort of lake beast.” Cricket responded, gathering his thoughts. “How far is the lake from here?”
“About 2 days walk.”
“Good, I can get there in good time, then. Harrod, send word to Emma that I need her help. Have her meet me here.” Cricket flapped his wings, then took off through the front door of the Inn.
“I’ve never seen him so worked up before.” the patron said, motioning for another ale.
“Neither have I. This must really be serious.” Harrod said as he poured another mug.