"Look, this is all a huge
mistake," said Neena, forcing herself to look tearfully at the face of the
merchant and the dark elf who'd nabbed her peered at her through the jar she
stood in. "I was on my way here to get those figurines you talked about
and this horrible man cast a spell on me causing me to shrink to this size. My
father the Duke of…
The merchant looked a little weak for a moment, but the cold voice of the dark elf wiped his doubt away almost immediately. "No self respecting noblewoman would be sneaking into your shop at night through windows or even back doors. And there's not a castle she could make it to in an hour with anything more than cobwebs and memories in it." He lifted the jar and tilted it up so that she slid back against one side, then peered at her appraisingly. "You're very good though, little one. I believe you've missed your calling as a performer."
Neena gave him a sour look, trying to hide the nagging fear that she might not be around to worry about missed career paths for long. "Why don't you just let me go before you get hurt?" she said to him, using elven to keep the merchant from understanding.
The dark elf smirked a bit, not even giving her the courtesy of a complete laugh. "You might look nice with that look frozen on your face," he said, ignoring her comment entirely. He brought a hand up, muttered a few words and pointed at her.
Suddenly, Neena felt her entire body collapsing in on itself in the most painful way imaginable. It was as if a giant invisible suction cup had been placed around her body and had begun drawing flaming blood through every pore on her skin. She opened her mouth to scream and felt the burning roar up her throat and past her tongue, coursing through her so hard and fast that she barely noticed the crushing feeling that went along with it…
As suddenly as it started, it all stopped.
"…her for the guild, remember?" she could hear the merchant saying. Her eyes stopped burning and refocused hazily on the giants in front of her. The elf looked torn between continuing or doing whatever the merchant had said. Neena blinked rapidly, trying to get her magic to cooperate so she could become alert again, but she could still see the barest hint of a familiar glow in the elf's thin white hand, swirling about a ring on his index finger. That's MY magic!, she thought, wondering if it would ever return to her, or if she'd continue to feel the half-alive sense she was feeling now. "Threnil?" the merchant added, apparently trying to get the elf's attention.
"The guild could just as easily display its catch by placing her crystal statue up with the others," Threnil replied, but even as he said it, Neena could see the magic slowly spiraling its way back down to her, reconnecting only half as painfully with its owner.
"I think they want to have some, uh…fun with her," the merchant said, still looking nervous. He waited, as Neena did, to be certain this elf was truly finished, then pulled out a small sack, which he offered to the elf as he cleared his throat. "Er…I believe we agreed upon the large ruby?"
Another uncomfortable silence took hold as the elf stared down at Neena in that maddeningly calm way that even the darkest of elves have. A glare would have been something she could counter, but this look told her how insignificant her life really was to this mage. It was the look of a predator that had already caught his prey and was now deciding how to eat it. Without a hint of a change, however, he snatched the bag away from the merchant and casually flipped the jar into the air.
"Very well," he said, not even watching to see if the jar made it to its owner, who floundered wildly to catch it. Neena tumbled wildly for a moment, only avoiding a truly serious concussion by fluttering into motion as the jar went up. She crashed into the side as the merchant caught her roughly, then flipped her right side up again. "I have other business to attend to." And with that, he swept from the room and out the door to the alleyway.
Both the merchant and Neena exchanged relieved glances, neither feeling awkward about their sudden connection. "I hate these artists," the merchant said, setting her jar onto the nearest counter and mopping his brow as she knelt down in a crouch. The back of her skull was throbbing from having hit the jar walls, so she began to heal herself as the merchant watched her with a half smile. "So you talk, do you? They mentioned you might. Said it was a trick some of you learned from being around so many fairy hunters." She rolled her eyes and he added, "Although I'm starting to think there's more to it than that."
"Why did you capture me?" she demanded.
"You lit up positive on the scope," he said, pointing to the small gem above the door. Neena groaned inwardly…how could she have missed seeing the magic sensor up there? "Only goes off when elves and other magic folk hit the door and you're no elf." He paused, then squinted questioningly at her. "How DO you talk?"
"With my mouth," she retorted.
"No, I mean, how do you know human language? I thought fairies did that tinkle sound all the time."
"There's so much wrong with what you just said, I don't even know where to start," Neena grumbled exasperatedly. "Can't you just let me go?"
The merchant shook his head and leaned back. "No, you're more valuable when you talk, little one. The guild prefers your kind."
"What guild?"
"The Fairyhunters, of course," shrugged the merchant. "They seem to like coming across you anomalies for some reason. Then again, I guess if a fisherman met a talking fish, he might be inclined to keep him around, too."
This was really too much. "Is it really THAT big a stretch to make your tiny human brain comprehend that I am a living being with feelings and intelligence?" Neena exploded. "Couldn't it be POSSIBLE that I might even be MORE intelligent than…"
"Well, that's enough of this, then," said the merchant. For a moment, she thought he was talking to her, but her heart sank when he picked up the bottle of wine from the table behind her. "Not another glass of YOU until you can make the little winged folks STOP talking to me." He stood up and threw the bottle out, then took up the jar she was in. "We'd best get you to the guild, little one, before my mind puts you into bed with me!" He laughed as Neena winced in disgust. "Yep, that's what any other woman would've done…even my imagination has good sense and taste!" He picked up a shoulder bag and slung it on, then lowered her into it, jar and all.
"No, wait…!" Neena started, but before she could protest any further, the top flap of the bag sealed off the light and she felt the rocking riding movement of his giant steps.
Angrily crouching again, she closed
her eyes, clasped her hands and began rubbing her thumbs together in an attempt
to concentrate. It was the best way for her not to fall prey to the normal
sense of sprite claustrophobia. A mere jar certainly wasn't enough to stop her,
anyway, since getting out would be far simpler than escaping the magic gems and
traps she'd disarmed before. Deciding what to do next was considerably more
difficult. If she waited until she got to the guild, which she'd never seen or
been in before, she'd have quite a bit of information to carry back home with
her. However, if they somehow overpowered her, or found out who she really was,
she'd never see the light of day again. She'd been a thorn in the side of this
and many other guilds for far longer than her traitorous
On the other hand, if they didn't
know who she was (which was highly probably, since the only one who'd ever
really looked right at her was
I'll
spill HIS guts when I find him, she thought. How could he…how could I let myself fall for all that crap? If I ever
find him, I'll…
And, suddenly, it was that clear. Of COURSE she'd find him…he'd be in the guild! The same guild that she was going to lay waste to once she got inside. It wasn't her original plan, but then again, her original plan hadn't included deception on his part.
But
two can play that game, she thought, eyes opening with a slight smirk. He doesn't KNOW twofaced until he's dealt
with me. And I am going to deal with that entire guild. Quickly, she took out her mithril dagger from its hiding place in her boot and
scratched a small circle big enough to climb through when she was ready. It
would take a little effort to push the piece of glass out, but it would be less
obvious than cutting the hole out right now. That done, she sat down to wait.
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