The Fairyhunter

Part 10

            Adrian whistled all the way back to the campsite, bouncing a bit to made the trip rougher on purpose. He couldn't help but laugh a little…she'd been so smug up until she realized she was in that crystal.

Of course, now he needed to plan his next move. He definitely had her, but keeping her prisoner wasn't exactly going to make her spill her guts about any tricks she knew. She was pretty tough, not to be losing it and passing out like most sprites did. By now, he thought, reaching in his pocket, any other sprite would be…laying in my pocket???

            Frantically, her started to grab for the tiny warm body amongst his coins and gems, but quickly restrained himself, remembering how delicate a sprite was. He withdrew his hand and found it coated with a white shiny dust. Rubbing it a little, he could see larger bits in the dust that resembled quartz…

She blew it up?, he thought in disbelief. But how? Slowly, he slipped his hand back in the pocket and traced the outline of her body, flushing a bit when he brushed over the lumps on her chest. She wasn't moving at all, which worried him. Was she even awake? He slipped his fingers under her and gently cradled her out in his hand. He opened his palm and she rolled out limply, making no effort to control her movements. Adrian found himself panicked now. Surely, he hadn't KILLED her?

"Hey…hey, sprite, come on…" He nudged her with a finger, still a bit nervous, then gently shook his hand. "Wake up now…come on, quit playing. Joke's over. Come on, come on..." He looked around, then leaned over and whispered. "Neena, please…I didn't mean it…PLEASE wake up…" She stirred slightly and he nearly gasped aloud. "Neena…?"

"Wha…'m out?" she murmured.

"Yeah, you, uh…shattered the crystal," he replied, trying to regain his composure. "You okay?"

"You p't me in ther'?" she slurred, gently running a tiny hand across his palm as she lay there.

"Uh, yeah…OWWWW!" A slight surge of magic went from her hand into his and coursed through him painfully, reminding him that he hadn't worn his magical protective gear today. He sank to his knees in agony, still holding her protectively. "You…little…!"

"Count on it," she replied with a smirk, apparently knowing the rest without needing to be told. He stared at her in shock, but she winced in pain and drifted off again, completely unconscious. With a deep and painful sigh, he sat back against a tree and let the hand with her in it rest face up on his leg. He'd just have to get her back when she woke up.

"I oughta kill you right now," he said aloud to her sleeping form. "Really! Zapping people…" He began to mutter to himself, irritated that he couldn't bring himself to be anything more than worried about her right now. He reached into his pocket again and pulled out an appraising glass, set it against his eye and checked her out.

The magic around her was no greater than any other sprite, although she had some items on her that seemed to have more magic than even she did. The little pouch at her side was glowing brightly enough to almost blind him. He thought about taking it and inspecting it, but if she was anything more like him, she was likely to wake up violently if he did. He decided to hold off for a bit and save that for last.

Another check of her little body determined her magic was fluctuating a bit, so he pulled out a stabilizing gem and laid it next to her. In a few moments, her magic stopped flickering and glowed an even pale blue, the kind of pale blue that most tree sprites gave off. Strange she wasn’t out guarding a tree somewhere instead of seeking out fairy hunters to annoy, but here she was.

He used a finger to gently brush her hair from her cheek and surprised himself with his tenderness. He wanted to brush away more, to touch a little more, but he'd never been one to take advantage of even human women in their sleep…he certainly wasn’t going to stoop to abusing his merchandise like some lonely sheepherder. He had even had ones unconscious in his grasp before and not done more than check their vitals before packing them up for delivery to buyers. He was used to handling sprites and knew they could take a lot worse than a brush of a finger.

But, then again, I also thought I knew they didn't speak human before, he thought morosely. Maybe it's her. Maybe it's still some spell she using to make me understand her. But why me?

He looked back at the curvaceous little body for a VERY long time. Her certainly didn't MIND talking to her. In fact, the way she looked, it was a shame she couldn't be bigger. He pondered the reasoning in this thought for a moment. It certainly wasn't as if he hadn't seen sprites before…in fact, he'd seen most of the others in the nude. This one was wearing a little shirt and leather vest and leggings…she looked like an adventurer. He shrugged…maybe there was something to his mother's old adage of "leaving something to be desired". He was definitely interested in finding out what was underneath all that garb.

He remembered her amulet and pulled it out to inspect as well. He couldn't tell what kind of spell was on it, but it was apparently a constant one. It hadn't lost any magic or anything since he'd had it. He slipped a finger through its chain curiously, then shrugged and slipped it off again. Nothing had happened to him…maybe it was a protective spell. Could that be what she wanted it for? She hadn't even asked about it yet. He'd have to ask her about it when she woke up.

Which clinched the strangeness for him…he was actually going to sit here and wait for her to wake up. " The gods know I must be hard to up to wait like this. You better be worth it, sprite," he said aloud to the slumbering form. Then again, she DID come looking for ME, he thought. Maybe she WANTS me! He grinned as the ego of 22 years of living with women falling at his feet took over. That's why she's hanging around! Oh, man…this is going to make getting her on my side easier than I thought!

Feeling good about this explanation, he sat back against the tree to wait.

 

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