The Second Moonrise Part 9: Safety at last

"What are you?" Karen was the first one to speak up.   The lizard cocked its head to one side. "I am the Salamander of the Dark Forest. And this is my Campgrounds." For some reason, I felt like Campgrounds was a proper noun.   "Are we safe here?"   "As safe as I can make it." The creature's gaze shifts towards the darkness we had emerged from. "Which, given that I was able to turn away a hungry grove, seems to be fairly safe." It flopped over on its back and wriggled into the ash at the bottom of its fire. "Go ahead. Ask it! I know you're dying to."   I started. I had been meaning to ask a question, but I didn't realize it showed so obviously. "Why is your fire purple?"   The Salamander stopped wriggling. Its face was unreadable, but I think it was disappointed. "Try again."   I did. "Why can you talk?"   The Salamander nodded eagerly and replied, "That's the one I was expecting. I am a storyteller. And in all of the best stories, animals can talk. Would you like to hear one?" It paused, looking down at the bow Bjorn had left next to its fire. "But I suppose I'm forgetting something. Do you have a token?"   I remembered what Soil had said about the sculpture. I dug into the remains of my coat, pulling out the small statuette. "This one?"   The lizard's eyes flashed in relief and it curled up. "Yes, that one. Give it here." When I began to move my hand towards the Salamander, it shouted, "No! Don't touch the fire! Just throw it in!" There was genuine panic in its voice. I stopped and tossed the sculpture into the fire. In seconds it was burning. The Salamander scurried over to it and ate the remains whole. Finally, it turned back towards us. "Now then, I have a story to tell."   Karen interrupted it. "What happened to our mom?"   The Salamander gave her a look of irritation. "Who?"   "Susanna. And our dad, Jerry!"   I realized what Karen was thinking. This creature appeared to live here. Soil had told us that it could answer our questions. Now might be our only chance to find out what happened.   "Can you save our parents? Stories here become reality right? That's what Ron told us."   The Salamander didn't respond immediately. Its gaze shifted around, before it finally turned its back on us. "Maybe I don't need to tell you a story."   I felt like we'd just lost something, but I didn't know what. "We don't want a story! We want our parents back! We want the rest of Lostling's Hope back from the Ashvine!"   "You'd prefer to live with a pleasant fantasy rather than a grim reality?" The Salamander was once again looking at us. I didn't know what it was talking about.   "No! We just want our friends and family back!" Karen had started to cry at this point. I hugged her but didn't break eye contact with the Salamander. "If you can do that, why don't you?"   "Who said I could do that? There are rules. I can bend them yes, but not break them." The Salamander bristled, taking a wider stance. "I don't even know anything about this 'Susanna' or 'Jerry', much less what Lostling's Hope is. How would I ever get the details right? And do you even understand how stories work? Do you know how the Dark Forest twists my stories? Do. You. Understand. What. You. Ask?" With each word the Salamander took a step forward in the fire. Its size increased with each step, until it was barely contained by the fire. Spines had erupted from its back, and its original black color had melted to a rippling magma. I began to get the feeling I was out of my depth.   "They don't." The voice came from above. All three of us looked up into the tree's canopy. Bjorn sat on a branch, with his back resting against a trunk. It seemed he'd calmed down now. "And they can't know. No one ever can." He had taken out a knife and began whittling down a stick, but he stopped and looked directly at me. "I think it's best if you didn't ask the Salamander any more questions. Listen to its story and move on with your life. Your parents are gone. Lostling's Hope is gone. The least you can do is live yourself."   The Salamander had shrunk down back to its original size and shape. It turned back to me and Karen. "Are you going to listen to his advice?"   "They will." It was a statement of fact. Bjorn had gone back to whittling.   "Good. Now then. Once upon-"   "I won't!" Karen shouted.   "Then you'll die with them." Soil strode out of the Dark Forest. Behind her, Ron followed, carefully avoiding stepping on her trail of Moonflowers. "Me and Ronnie-boy had an interesting talk. And now I also have some questions for you, Flamey. But first, I think it's time we sent these two home. Turns out they're long overdue." As she walked, her horns began to ice over. Her expression could only be described as disgust. "And this time, they will listen to your story." She shot a glance pointedly at Karen. "Won't you?"   Karen finally subsided. She mumbled something under her breath. "I'm sorry, what was that?"   "I said I would!" Karen bawled out.   "About damn time." Soil sat down on a log, crossed her bovine legs, and pointed directly up. "I have some questions about THAT after we're done." On queue, the Dark Forest's moon appeared above the Campgrounds. A shockwave rippled through the air. The wind tore through the trees, and it howled in response. "Oh? You don't like that?" Soil grinned. "I have a bunch of questions you'll hate before the end of this then."   Through all of this, the Salamander simply stared. It made no move to respond to Soil. Instead, it turned towards me and Karen. "And so, we can finally begin."