The
Sprite
Part
3
Neena examined the magic sensor in front of
her intently. This was a much more expensive model,
she had to admit, but still subject to the same shortcomings as the older and
cheaper ones. It was trained to pick up any trace of magic that passed by it
and when placed in groups around a camp, the set acted like a perimeter,
encircling the area in a magic shield. Anything that was made of magic could
get by them, but the sensors would take note of the being’s magic signature,
pass that reading to the other sensors and prevent the being from getting back
out again with a disruptive beam.
Any good thief, however, had a talisman that
disrupted the sensors ability to send to the others, making it easy to leave as
long as you left in a difference direction than you came. The best thieves even
had a stronger talisman that cloaked your magic so that NONE of the sensors
knew you had come or gone. Neena wore hers around her neck and she toyed with
it idly as she flew past the sensor. As long as no one recalibrated the sensors
while she was in, she’d be fine. And judging from the snoring she heard in the
clearing, she gathered she wouldn’t be disturbed tonight.
Quickly, she zoomed into the first tent she
saw, the one with all the snoring. A human lay curled up on a cot, surrounded
by tons of fairy hunting equipment. His one hand was tight around a handheld
magic disrupter, the other curled around what must have been his favorite magic
net.
Neena grinned…she LOVED it when they CARED
about their stuff.
She fluttered in first to make sure he’d
stay asleep. This was easily accomplished by a quick fairy kiss. She’d found
out ages ago that humans didn’t react to magic the same way as other creatures
did, so the same comforting kiss on the nose that every sprite child received from
his or her parents to calm them down was enough to knock out a human for a
week, if enough magic was put into it. This guy was just in for a long nap
tonight, as she wanted to conserve her magic for the equipment.
After seeing the goofy smile settle in on
the human’s slumbering face, Neena turned to reset the disrupter beam.
Afterward, she pulled out a gem and laid it on the net gingerly. She waited
until the gem glowed bright red, showing that all magic had been drained from
it, then turned to attack the rest of the equipment.
Within minutes, everything in the tent had be disengaged, disarmed,
reconfigured for human attack, or just plain broken.
If this is what passes for a hotshot wingseller these days, she thought with a smug look, I’m even better than I thought!
She shook her head in pity, then zipped out to go to
the other tent.
This one had a human in it, but had a lot
less equipment. She frowned, searching for this guy’s bag of tricks, then realized he must have stored it all in the other tent
with his disrupter beam buddy. Either that, or he was
a gem user. They always kept those gems hidden in the weirdest places,
she thought. She fluttered in to look at him and raised an interested eyebrow. Okay,
he’s cute, so he probably thinks he’s quite a stud. I’m bettin’
he’s got a sack of gems hidden right by his…
She grinned again, seeing the abnormal bulge
just above the human’s groin. Perfect, she thought. "We love
ourselves so MUCH, don’t we?" she whispered toward the human, a sarcastic
lilt in her tone. She fluttered up to give him the fairy kiss, then fluttered
back to cut the fabric around the bulge with her stiletto. She let the contents
spill out, careful not to let any part of it touch her as it slid down his leg
to the cot. A lone sapphire lay at her feet on the cot and she smirked again. So
good we only keep the one gem, huh? Well aren’t we special?
A twinge of sprite interest hit her as she
mentally noted this sapphire was bigger than her head, but she quickly
refocused. She would have the gem, but she was going to have to be careful. She
pulled out her own magic gem again and laid it carefully on the larger one,
waiting for it to drain the magic. A moment passed, then
the smaller gem exploded in a tiny flash of light.
"Well, DAMN!" she snarled, glaring
up at the prone body. "Can’t just use a normal one, can
you!" She shook her head angrily, but had to smile inwardly. If she
had been a fairy hunter, she’dve used the same
thing…why mess with an inferior gem spell when your livelihood depended on
catching magic creatures?
This, however, meant doing things the hard
way. With a sigh, she reached in her bag and pulled out another gem, this one a
large ruby. Clasping it firmly in both hands, she gingerly sat on the giant
sapphire. A rush of magic whirled past her and she suddenly was enveloped in a
sea of deep blue half light. She was inside the gem, with no way out except the
counterspelled ruby in her hand. She waited for it to
balk at being enshrouded inside the lesser spelled sapphire, then clutched it
even tighter as the magic swirled about her again, wreaking havoc on the magic
in her own body as it absorbed the magic of the sapphire she was in. This
wasn’t working as quickly as she was used to and she could feel the instinctive
fear welling up in her. Just as she was about to scream, a sudden jerking
motion upward found her stumbling onto the cot again, still between his legs,
but just outside the gem. The glow in both her ruby and the sapphire had died
out, but she was still a little weak from the energy used. She sat a moment to
catch her breath, then clutched the sapphire to her chest, put the ruby away
and fluttered up again to check on the sleeping human.
He was definitely still asleep, having
missed all the excitement. She smirked at him a little wearily. She had to give
him respect…he had had quite a powerful little trinket, but it was hers now. He
really was cute, she had to admit that, too. She
fluttered in to hover near his face and glared at him. The
dumbass. Stupid human with his stupid
gem that just about killed her and his stupid friend with his stupid fairy
hunting crap and…and…
She rolled her eyes…damn if she didn’t have
a crush!
Slowly, she hovered above his nose and
sighed. "Too bad you’re human," she said. "I woulda
mated with you in a heartbeat."
That was all she could say before she heard
the slight movement behind her. She bolted upward, but not fast enough to avoid
the powerful clamp of the human’s hand on her leg…
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