Running

The bus is careening down the mountains as redcaps follow. Nick is going as fast as he can without careening off the windy road. However that's not nearly fast enough. The redcaps are gaining on the pair, and some are even running alongside the bus.

A crude spear pierces the driver's window shattering it. The spear brushes past Nick's face scaring the living daylights out of him. A warm breeze flutters in the broken window and the smell of mold tickles into Nick's nose. He finds it strange but doesn't have time to focus on the smell at this point. He just continues driving.

A wolfs howl rings out and fog begins flooding the scene from an unknown source. A goblin leaping towards the open window is intercepted by a horse size wolf. They both crash to the ground and the wolf tears the goblin apart. Nick looks to his left and right Seeing many similar scenes.

Returning his face to the road, Nick slams on the brakes. In front of him is a roughly ten foot tall humanoid being. The figure is covered in moss and has horns on it. Two yellow wolf eyes peer out from under its brow.

"THIS IS THE ONLY TIME I WILL HELP YOU! MY INHERITOR, I WILL LEAVE WITH YOU A MEANS TO FIGHT, THE REST IS UP TO YOU!" A voice like rustling leaves booms out.

[Detected foreign energy. Do you wish to absorb?] The system rings out.

Nick pauses then shouts to the receding figure shrouded in fog,

"Who are you!"

The figure stops then turns slightly and replies,

"CERNUNOSS! THE ONE WHO HAD THAT SYSTEM BEFORE YOU! BE CAREFUL YOUNG ONE!"

Cernunoss walks away disappearing into the mist, as do the wolves that arrived with him. They leave behind the corpses of many redcaps and as they are all out of sight, the fog recedes. Nick is in a daze thinking about the words left behind by the horned god. He goes over them and panics realizing what was said.

Nick looks over at Madeline hoping she hadn't heard anything about the system. She's passed out, snoring in the seat behind him. Only a few moments later she wakes up with a snort. Looking around she's astonished.

"What happened? Why are we stopped? Why are the goblins dead?!?" Madeline questions Nick.

Nick ponders a bit, deciding to go with the easiest explanation.

"A mysterious wolf pack killed them all."

"I remember a fog rolling in and a wolf howl. When I breathed in the fog I passed out." Madeline looks puzzled, "Why didn't you pass out? Don't tell me! You're one of those creatures! I think Mr. Botl mentioned something about 'changelings'."

"I just might be a changeling!" Nick says with a smile on his face.

"Gahh, don't mess with me like that." Madeline replies.

[Detected foreign essence. Do you wish to absorb?] the system chimes again.

(Yes I do.)

[Cernunoss' inheritance has given you a skill: Master Tongue.]

[Master Tongue: allows user to understand and speak all languages.]

(What a useful skill! Welp time to get out of this death valley.)

[Received basic weapon techniques.]

Knowledge floods into his mind. Knowledge about how to defend himself and dispatch of enemies with multiple weapons. He's astonished

(Two things from one essence! Incredible!)

The pair drive into the city with their battered bus. They head over to a police station and report what happened. Both are taken in for questioning. However the police have no reason to keep them and they are released after a few hours. The police dispatch people to investigate the scene hoping to get more information about these new creatures on earth.

Nick and Madeline head back and turn the radio on to listen to the news. It reports about the confirmation of new creatures with intelligence on earth. They relate to legends around the world about fairies, demons, and magical beasts. The news covers that they can use magic, turning invisible at will and not all of them are friendly. Missing people are described in hopes that they may be found.

They both shake their heads at the world turning its head over. Nick comes to a decision after the event experienced earlier today. He invites Madeline to study Arthur Spiderwick's field book with him. They study each page from the beginning going to the end.

As they reach the last page a circle shaped stone with a hole in the middle falls out of the book. It's tied to the cover and hangs down. The last page describes it as an adder. A naturally occurring stone that appears in streams and rivers and allows one to see through the magic creatures invisibility. After reading the page, Nick and Madeline search the house for Mr. Botl. As they turn into the living area, Madeline with the adder to her eye sees Mr. Botl lounging next to the radio listening to country rock.

"Cause I'm as free as a bird noow!" Mr. Botl sings along in a warbly tone.

"I can really see him!" Madeline exclaims.

She takes the adder away from her eye. Mr. Botl disappears. Putting it back to her eye he reappears. At this point Mr. Botl is attracted to the racket and looks over. He shows shock and jumps up.

"How did you get an adder?!?" Mr. Botl questions.

Madeline looks at Nick and he nods.

"We found it in an old book that illustrates and describes creatures from your world." Madeline replies.

"Well where did you find the book?" Mr. Botl asks.

Madeline turns to Nick inquisitively surprised she didn't think of that question earlier. He looks around not meeting either of their eyes.

"I stole it from someone..." Nick says shamelessly.

Mr. Botl waggles his finger at Nick while saying,

"You need to be careful when you steal. That type of book is really valuable!"

"Hey, we should post this book online! Like photocopy and release it so people know what they're up against!" Madeline bursts out her eyes bright.

"Hey, you're right! But to photocopy a whole book is going to be expensive..."

"It's okay! I have some savings. It should be enough to at least release one book online."

So Madeline grabs her wallet and the pair head over to their local Fed-Ex and photocopy the book into a usb driver. They then head to the local library to release it as neither of them have a computer. They post it on multiple websites and the book soon becomes a viral sensation.

At first many doubted its authenticity. But soon people who have had interactions with these creatures verified multiple pages. The whole book was soon taken as true and the posters hailed as heroes. The last page created some controversy as no one had heard of an adder. But when someone searched a stream near their house and found one, people everywhere began looking.

Soon a whole new world was released to the public. Those who found adders made contraptions for wearing them or to put over their phones and cameras. Pictures of fairies, elves, and even dragons were soon released.

Quickly governments all over the world began cordoning off the rivers and streams of their countries. However not one found an adder. It seemed up to fate. Soon they reopened them back to the public and more people were finding them. The only way governments could get an adder was to confiscate them, or offer astronomical amounts. When confiscated they were soon mysteriously lost to never be found again.

The second thing of interest was ways to ward off these creatures as there have been reports of people being killed and towns destroyed. Ways to ward off these creatures were very popular. Iron, the most effective method was chosen as the chief way to deal with them. Iron fences were constructed around villages and cities had walls with iron in them erected.

As this storm happened around the world, Nick and Madeline were oblivious, heading back to their orphanage. Mr. Botl gives a Nick a lesson on the basic principles of magic. Madeline cries to herself softly in her room lamenting over the loss of life earlier today. She stops after a while and prepares to go to sleep.

As they went to bed Madeline sprinkled salt under hers, another way to repel evil creatures found in the book. She had a restless night without a wink of sleep. Nick however, surprisingly got some sleep, but his dreams were filled with nightmares.