The thick gray rat tail wound through the tunnels along the riverbed like a water snake, yet it did not stir up the slightest bit of mud. A closer look would reveal an extremely fine, thin film of water clinging to the tail, minimizing its impact on the riverbed environment.
That watery film extended all the way back to the "spoils" caught by the rat tail, becoming translucent membranes like soap bubbles.
Through the membranes, five young wizards could be seen, all pale-faced and tightly shut-eyed, their fate unknown.
Above the river's surface, a black tide surged from Deep within the Silent Forest, wave after wave, seemingly endless as it battered Beta Town's fragile defenses.
Beneath the river's surface, dark currents unfurled from the rat tail, one after another, vanishing along the riverbed tunnels into some distant unknown place, as though Beelzebub had opened its throat and was swallowing without end.
Silent River lay between the two, quietly gurgling as it had for decades, perhaps centuries, watching everything with cold patience.
Dragging its spoils behind it, the rat tail wound through the riverbed for a long time before finally coming ashore at a secluded inlet.
Deep within that inlet lay a small clearing.
At the far end of the clearing stood a short archway.
The archway was about a meter high, flanked by Roman columns. Olive branches and laurel twined around its crown, while a group of plump, naked little sprites stood bowed amid the lush foliage, humble smiles hanging on their faces.
Once it left the waters of Silent River, the watery film and membranes around the rat tail burst apart. Yet the young wizards bound by its coils remained unconscious, though their faces were no longer as pale as they had been underwater.
Like a giant python returning