To Catch a Crayk (Quill 'n Squish)

A smile spread across Clarence’s lips as he watched Marcus try out the spell.

“Very good! The first time is always the hardest, with any spell, so don’t worry.”

He listened to his question, and thought for a moment before answering.

“Well, it’s both and none at the same time. It is a burning flame, and it does burn, but not like a real candle. A real candle’s fire won’t go out if you touch it, this one will. It’s still a touchy point of debate amongst scholars if it’s actually real or not, since no one has been able to touch the flame, but no one has been able to prove the opposite, of it being an illusion. I personally prefer to think of it as something like Blue Fire.”

He turned his head upwards again, summoning a new flame and expecting the source of the leak.
It seemed like something had scraped past the stone ceiling, uncovering and damaging some pipes, out of which the water was leaking.

“That’s… not good.”

Either the crayk was bigger than they expected, or it was not the only thing on the loose in this wing.

“You didn’t apply here as a student?” Clarence asked. “You’re not that old yet, are you? I mean, not too old for being a student? You could always try following some classes on off-hours if you wanted to.”

Another drop of water on his head reminded him of the problem at hand.

“Right, we’d better get after this Crayk first. As you said, it could damage something much bigger than just a pipeline. If it damages the reservoir here, there might not even be classes for a while.”

He slowly moved his hand around to light the rest of the hallway around them.

“Now, which way could it have gone…?”

"You were accepted as staff member, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to follow classes here. Once we're done, I could write a letter of recommendation, if you'd like. Of course, you can always drop into my classes, perhaps you could learn a new spell or two." Clarence replied with a smile.

The crashing noise in the distance made him jump.

"Errr... That caught me by surprise." He muttered, coughing into his hand.

Soon, the noise was followed by the faint sound of running water hitting solid stone. Clarence paled at the sound, and hurried towards the end of the hall. Whatever it had been, it had hit something bad.

"I suppose that's our Crayk."

The rippling water casted strange shapes and shadows on their faces. Clarence shuddered slightly. Sloshing water had never sounded so ominous.

"I don't know..." He whispered back, as if talking out loud would disturb the creature hiding in the pool.

He stared at the water, trying to peer into the dark depths, but to no avail. Two small flames were not by far enough to illuminate the pool. Marcus had drawn a Magic Rod, which could aid them in combat should it come to that, and it almost definitely would, Clarence feared.

They somehow had to get the creature out of the water. In it, it would have too much of an advantage on the two Hylians, plus it would be nearly impossible to spot at the bottom of the pool, leaving open a chance for a surprise attack.

"I think... I think I may have an idea." He looked at Marcus, still not daring to raise his voice.

"I could try to lift part of the water, hopefully enough to get a good look at what's in it, that would leave you with a chance to attack. It's not much, but it's probably all we can do right now. What do you think?"

Clarence nodded, rolled back his sleeves and concentrated on the water.

The water in the pool started shifting, and slowly but surely a large blob rose from it, lowering the rest of the water. But it wasn't enough. If he could only focus enough and gather the willpower to lift more...

He had been training for so long to expand his ability to control and move water, but for some reason he hadn't been able to expand the amount of water he could move. At the time he blamed it on stress caused by his new job and the start of the new school year, but even after settling in it proved most difficult. Clarence gritted his teeth, thinking back to his training and trying to recall how he felt then.

'Come on... I can do this.'

He took a deep breath, willed with all his mind to lift more water, and raised his hands.

And the water moved.

Clarence stared at the floating blob of liquid in surprise before quickly regaining his wits and concentration, lest he drop it back into the pool. He glanced to the side, to Marcus, all while slowly raising the water.

"As soon as you see something, attack!"

Clarence's mind drew a blank at the question. For a moment he just stood on the edge of the pool, the water still floating above his head. To be honest, he had not expected the plan to work. He needed to come up with something quick, now the Crayk was stunned.

He moved the water over his head and behind him, dropping it in the hallway from which they came. At least the creature wouldn't be able to hide in that anymore. He would worry about cleaning the hallway later. Then he readied his hands for the next spell, a small bolt forming in his hand.

"I hope this works!"

He moved his hand forward with a throwing motion, unleashing a bright bolt of light at the Crayk. Unfortunately, the creature had just regained his wits, and threw the bolt back with a slam of its claw. Clarence could duck to the ground just in time, else the bolt would've hit him in the head. Instead it flew right over him, crashed into the wall and send a few bits of stone and woodchips flying.

They were going to need another plan.

"A-alright." Clarence said, trying his hardest to keep his composure and not panic. He sincerely hoped Marcus' plan would work, else the academy might have to search for a new headmaster and nurse.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, keeping his eyes on the Crayk, who was still shuffling closer. If they could somehow hit it in the head again... It had already worked once and hitting it again would probably do even more damage, it might perhaps even knock it out if they were very lucky.

"Okay, here it comes!"

Clarence summoned another bolt, flinging it at the Crayk, who reflected it with a swing of its huge claw.

"It's up to you now, Marcus!"

Suddenly Clarence was hit with an idea. The first blow of his arcane bolt had managed to wedge loose some chips of the stone wall.

He looked at the ceiling right above the stunned Crayk. It was made out of large rocks held together with mortar, but it was old, and perhaps not as sturdy as it once should have been... The last blow had gotten the Crayk good, it was not likely to move anytime soon. If any moment was a good one to strike, it was now.

Clarence moved over to Marcus, pointing at the ceiling.

"Listen, if we could both hit that huge rock at the same time, we could make it come down on the Crayk's head. It's a shame to waste such a specimen, but I don't see a lot of other possibilities anymore... I figure we could best use that magic rod of yours again and I'll cast another arcane bolt." He managed a small, nervous smile. "Any thoughts?"

A soft gasp of surprise escaped Clarence's lips when the rock tumbled down onto the unfortunate creature. He watched it for a moment to make sure it didn't move again, and then nodded.

"Right. I'll be right back." He muttered, before dashing out of the room.

He ran back the way from which they came, listening intently for any suspicious sounds behind him. But it stayed quiet, it seemed they really had defeated the Crayk.

Clarence arrived at the office of the Kokiri teacher, out of breath and looking slightly panicked from the whole ordeal. At first the teacher simply stared at him, waiting with a raised eyebrow for the headmaster to finish stammering to him what had happened in the aquarium.

"Hm. Well, let's get it out of there then, before it wakes up. ...If ever wakes up again. You have no idea how hard it will be to get another specimen like that."

The Kokiri got up from his desk, gave his fairy some orders and walked over to the door before turning around to face Clarence.

"I've send word to the janitor to help collect the creature. Are you coming, headmaster? I think it is best not to keep the young man waiting."

Clarence was relieved to hear that the monster hadn't moved anymore. The Kokiri teacher hopped down into the pool, walking over to the creature to examine it and nodded to Marcus.

"That's good. There should be someone to help move it soon. I think you two are about done here?" He said, eyeing the nurse and headmaster.

Clarence turned to Marcus.

"Yes, I think we've caused enough damage for the day? I think we can leave it to the experts now and head back."