Chapter 10
Crystal
was thinking.
Actually,
she was, more or less, just having quality time alone.
She
slouched lazily in the center of a lady's slipper not far from camp, drumming
her tiny fingers on the petal that served as her right armrest. There had been
a lot of interesting things on her mind lately, most of which deserved
individual thought and consideration.
Such
as Magbert. Certainly if he was not the best thing that had happened in her
life, he was fairly high up there. A sprite could spend a considerable amount
of time with a gnome as wonderful as he, as long as he wanted her around. She
wasn't exactly known for her stability of emotion and general attitude. In
fact, she was quite the opposite: flighty, headstrong to the point of complete
stubborness, easily upset. Crystal frowned, mentally resolving to become a more
serious sprite in the future. It didn't sound at all natural for her kind, but
for love, she would do it, she thought determinedly.
Then
there was Drianna. Much as Crys enjoyed the feminine company, she wondered if
she hadn't brought a bit of a curse onto the party. Surely this Katherine was
pretty powerful if she could teach Drianna how to make magic as well as use it.
Or was that something Dri had come up with by herself?, she pondered. At
any rate, anybody who had the raw nerve to unfeelingly pluck (Crystal shuddered
at her own insensitive choice of words) a sprite's wings off had to be a cruel
and unusual person. What if she really did believe that Dri had been
captured and try to take her revenge out on the rest of the party? Surely Lokey
could protect himself as well as Ian and Magbert and no one would be after
Drianna, but the paralyzing thought of being dewinged lingered with Crystal.
She couldn't hide from such a woman, yet Crystal wasn't sure she had her
self-proclaimed bravery, either.
Crystal
slouched further into her floral recliner, little clumps of pollen rising up
around her as she did. Now she was definitely feeling sick. Pre-confrontation
cowardice tended to hit her more often and much harder than anyone assumed, if
she had time to think about it. She invisioned herself trapped in one hand by
Katherine, an ugly hag at best, while her beautiful gossamer wings were pinched
tightly between two of the hag's gnarled old fingers. The hag grinned a
toothless smile and made as if to yank Crystal and her wings in opposing directions,
much to Crystal's horror...
Crystal
started out of her imagined agony into reality. This was too much. She had to
tell somebody her fears. She quickly flew back to camp, where everyone lay
sound asleep (as the sun wouldn't be up for a while) and over to Magbert.
"Magbert,"
she whispered, hovering near his ear. Her wing motion disturbed him slightly
and he swatted at her in his sleep, murmuring something unintelligable. She
dodged quickly and called him again.
"What?"
he muttered irritably.
"I
can't sleep," she said. "Something's on my mind," she said,
looking around to make sure nobody was listening.
"What
is it?" he asked, rolling over on his back sleepily.
"I'm
just feeling kinda..." Crystal paused in mid-statement, looking around.
"You're
feeling what?" asked Magbert.
"Where's
Ian?" Crystal said.
Magbert
sat up and looked around, not really awake. "Probably just out for a walk
or something," he replied. Crystal alighted on his lap and began wringing
her hands, her previous worry and lack of sleep shifting from one problem to a
potential other.
"But
he doesn't go out late at night, Bert, and I'm sure if he did, he'd leave a
note or something; I mean, you don't just up and leave unless you're really
worried about something like me and then that's completely different; I just
needed to go out and have some time alone and think about things for a little
bit because I..."
Magbert,
eyes closing tiredly as he sighed, reached behind him for his bag and withdrew
his sleep rock. It was a chunk of a powdery white stone not much larger than
his thumbnail that he had found partially imbedded in the ground near his home.
He'd nearly drifted off himself upon taking it home and trying to assess its
nature. Hopefully, it would have the same effect on Crystal in less time.
He
handed it to Crystal and she, her mind clouded with other worries and extra
verbiage, took the rock and hugged it to her chest without even noticing she
held it. Magbert watched her ramble for a moment, her speech slowing down a
touch and eyelids heavy. Her wings, which had both been sticking straight up
like rabbit ears in her anxiety began to relax and he gently smoothed them
behind her back with his index finger. Suddenly, she stopped in mid-sentence,
dropped the rock and fell backward into Magbert's hand, sound asleep. He
tenderly set her atop his water skin, placed a leaf over her to keep her warm,
then put his rock away and went back to sleep himself, chuckling slightly at
the alluring naivete of his girlfriend. Ian in danger!, he thought,
his mind also blurred with sleep.
He'd
explain the folly of such an idea in the morning.
Drianna
felt the brush of wingtips against her cheek and sat up. A large crow sat
perched on the branches of the tree next to her. "Hello, Tifa," she
said, extending her hand. Katharine's familiar flapped down and perched on it
and stared at her with his glassy black eyes.
I
have sent Tifa to gather bargaining material for your release, came Katharine's
voice in her head. This was natural, for Tifa always relayed messages from
Katherine in this manner. But if anyone were to see Tifa, Drianna
thought. She looked around nervously to see if any of the others were awake and
the voice added, Do not worry. This message is dream sent to avoid suspicion.
"What
do you mean, mistress?" asked Drianna.
I
know of your kidnapping and will have you back before the day's end, came the
reply. I have seen through Tifa that one of your captors dotes upon the sprite
in your party. Tifa will bring it to me and we will use it to lure your captors
to my abode, where they can be more easily disposed of.
"But,
mistress, I..."
I
will see you on your return, came the voice. The bird rose in a sudden flurry
of wings and disappeared into the night...
Drianna
woke with a frightened start, the sound of wingbeats in her ears.
"Magbert!" she shouted, jumping up and waking him.
Magbert
groaned and rolled over. "What is it now?" he demanded.
"I can't have been asleep for more than a hour..."
"Nevet
mind that, where's Crystal?" she asked.
"She's
right here on my..." Magbert looked at the water skin and found her
missing. "She was right here." Next to where she had been was
the leaf. It was somewhat tattered, as if claws had punctured it. He held it up
and Drianna took it from him. "She can't have woken up and left this soon;
I just put her to sleep."
"Look
around for her," Drianna commanded, but Magbert had already scrambled to
his feet and begun calling her name.
"What's
going on?" asked Lokey, his rest disturbed by the sudden activity.
"Crystal's
missing," said Magbert.
Something
in his tone made Lokey hold back the urge to say, "Good ridance" and
brought a feeling of what could be described as worry in anyone else.
"Maybe she's out alone for a reason."
"Precisely,"
replied Drianna. This tone didn't make Lokey feel any better.
"Where
was she last?" he asked, getting up to help.
"On
my water skin," said Magbert, still hunting.
"Where's
Ian?" said Lokey.
Magbert
and Drianna stopped hunting to look in Ian's empty spot.
"Maybe
he woke up and found her gone and went to look for her," suggested
Drianna.
"Wait
a minute," Magbert began, "she was worrying about that the last time
I talked to her, too. She was all upset about something and then she noticed Ian
was gone and got off the subject."
"This
was tonight?" asked Lokey.
"Yeah."
"So
they're both missing."
"No,"
said Drianna, looking at the leaf in her hand again and sitting heavily on the
ground. "Only Ian's missing. I know where Crystal is."