The Sprite & The Fairyhunter
The Hunter
& The Hunted
The Fairyhunter (Part 10)
Frantically, Adrian
ransacked the entire area around the stage trying to find anything resembling
the tethered end of the magic manacle. He had to get her out of here before she
panicked herself to death. In truth, he wasn’t far from feeling that right now.
Seeing her upset this way was far worse than had she calmly let him go and
search. Never in the entire time they’d been together had he seen such fear in
her eyes. He had to figure a way out of this for both of them or die trying.
“Adrian, lad!” Turlock’s voice cut through the roar of the
flames and the smoke. “I’ve found it!”
Coughing, he made his way across the room to where the
Highlander crouched near a box set into the floor. “This is it!” he yelled.
“It’s got magic radiating off it in her direction.”
Quickly, Adrian
withdrew the wand he’d used to get rid of the spell that bound the sprites in
Fairyland and waved it over the box. “Well?”
Turlock
looked at the box and shook his head. “Nothing! I can
still see the trail leadin’ to her.” Adrian tried
again and Turlock
shook his head once more. “Still nothin’,
lad.”
Adrian
began to sweat, more from fear than heat. He couldn’t leave her, but the idea
of them all burning to death…
Quickly, he grabbed a chair and with a vicious swing
crashed it into the box. It looked like it hadn’t suffered a scratch. He drew
his longsword next and still, the box suffered no
damage. “Dammit!”
he shouted. “I don’t know what to do! If this thing is indestructible…”
Turlock
reached his hand out toward him. “Give me the wand again!”
“But we already tried…”
“Just give it to me, lad!” Adrian
handed it over, then watched as Turlock
held it high, then drove it into the box like a stake
through a vampire’s heart. The box shattered on contact, as did the wand. “Just needed something magical, that’s all. Let’s get her
out of here.”
The smoke was blinding now, making both men cough as
they nearly waded through the smoke to the stage. Adrian stumbled blindly onto it, then felt around until his hand brushed Neena’s
prone body. “Oh, gods…she’s out!” He scooped her up in his arms as Turlock took him by the
shoulders. “She’s not even breathing!”
“I’ll steer you out, just hold on ta her!”
“But…”
“We need to get us all to safety first, lad…just do
as I tell ye!” Slowly, the three made for the doorway, dodging the burning
beams and smoky debris all around them. The moment they got outside, Adrian tried to sit, but Turlock continued to steer him away until
they left the patchy bit of forest the burning guild had been in and finally
found a black war stallion waiting patiently for his master next to a nervously
prancing strawberry roan.
“The roan’s for you, lad,” Turlock
said, taking Neena from Adrian’s
arms so that he could mount the steed. He passed Neena up to him once he was
situated on the horse’s back, then quickly ran a hand
above her whole body. A thin trail of smoke escaped her lips as his hand passed
her chest and throat and she began to cough a little, much to Adrian’s relief. “No significant burns, just
needs to get some fresh air in her,” said Turlock.
“She’ll be alright, but we can all still get pinched out here. We want ta be as far from retribution as possible…don’t need
vengeful fairyhunters followin’
us back home.” Turlock
gave him a significant look. “Ye ARE coming home, right?”
Adrian
looked back in the direction of the burning guild, then down at Neena, taking
her amulet off to let her get sprite sized again. He looked his little sprite
and nodded with certainty. “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go home.”
Back to The Sprite & the Fairyhunter
page
Home
