In Exchange for Magic
10
Ez was fast asleep in the tent. He pitched another fit, telling me that the moon was too bright, and insisted on sleeping inside.
I couldn't figure him out! He seemed to have at least three completely different personalities!
I could hear him whimpering in his sleep... Thrashing about in his blankets and such. Another nightmare, I guessed.
I cleared my thoughts. It didn't matter, anyway. I would be kicking out of this place in a matter of minutes. Shades or no Shades, it wasn't worth it to stick around here.
I rolled off of the make-shift pile of blankets and Ez called a bed, and began gathering provisions. I piled a day or two's worth of food into a small sack, along with a "borrowed" knife from Ez's personal weapon collection, and a change of clothes that I pulled off the clothesline.
I was ready to go.
I took a deep breath of the night air and headed off into the strange forest, with only the clicking calls of the night-crawlers to comfort me.
-_-_-_-_-
"Ouch!" I cried, and smacked away the thistles of a thorny branch that, I think, had just moved on its own to scratch me.
I'd been walking for several hours now. Dawn had long since passed, and I begun to long for Ez's immense knowledge of the forest. He'd know what to do. He'd know if I was supposed to go left or right on that fork in the path back there. He'd know how to-
I stopped suddenly.
Oh shit.
There was a single, solitary Shade on the path ahead of me. He was standing upright, with his legs apart... Oh sick! Not only had I stumbled upon a Shade... I'd stumbled upon a peeing Shade!
I tried to stay quiet, but my nausea overwhelmed me, and I backed up quickly to hide in the small shrubs off the path. The Shade instantly became aware of the noise I had made, finished his business, and called out to the rest of his gang in a hissing, screeching manner.
My heart leapt into my throat and I attempted to push back further into the foliage, but the plants were thorny, and they caught in my hair and skin. I realized that going back wasn't an option, so, with a choked cry, I flung myself forwards. The razor thorns left stinging scorch marks across my calves.
I could hear the swoosh-ing sound that the Shade's swords made as they cut through the dense shrubbery. The peeing Shade, I guess, had gathered the whole gang. They were approaching fast, and, by the jittery uproar they were making, they were excited.
Panicking, I couldn't decide where to go. There was only one obvious choice: Away, but my brain couldn't seem to communicate that to my legs, which had taken on the unfortunate feeling of being made purely out of silly-putty.
I started to work myself up into a nervous fit of crying as I stumbled for my life. Back down the same path I had come, my vision tunneled, and it felt as though I was running sideways. Tears of confusion and fear welled up in my eyes, making the whole "seeing-where-you-are-going" aspect of "escape" quite difficult.
Oh God, Rose! This is no time for sarcasm! Run!
The Shades had broken into the clearing, unfortunately, opting to go through the trees, rather than take the long way around them. They could see my slow and frustrating progress down the path, and I, distantly, heard them laugh collectively.
In a decisive stride, the head Shade, who I seem to remember being called "Bane," stepped forward, and grabbed me by the hair.
I wiped my eyes angrily, and slapped his hand away from my locks.
Surprised, he jumped back.
"That's right!" I snarled. "Stay away from me, perv! I don't know if you have balls, but I can kick you so hard, your shadow will need an ice pack!"
He laughed. Okay... Obviously Shades didn't have balls.
"Ah... She speaks!" he mused.
"Oh, she does a lot more than speak!" I threatened.
"Strange," he said to his comrades, ignoring me. "We are close... But we can't detect her."
"Is she an Imp?" called out a particularly ugly looking Shade in the back.
"Imps do not bleed red," Bane retorted.
I looked at my legs. Small cuts from the thorns were oozing crimson blood down my calves.
Great.
"Elf's Gold," he observed, reaching for the necklace.
I backed away, but he grabbed an entire fist full of my hair this time. I winced, but refused to cry out in pain. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
He snapped the delicate chain that held the small glimmering locket to my neck, and I wanted to cry with grief. I'd lost Ez's precious necklace...
"The boy is brilliant!" Bane marveled. "Elf's Gold! Ha! It's so simple that we would have never thought of it, and so rare that it would have been overlooked if we had!"
He shoved the work of art into his pocket like it was a piece of trash.
Then, with a satisfied smile, Bane rose the butt of his curved sword. I cringed as he brought it down upon the top of my head with a ringing crack!
And, viola!
Out like a light.
I couldn't figure him out! He seemed to have at least three completely different personalities!
I could hear him whimpering in his sleep... Thrashing about in his blankets and such. Another nightmare, I guessed.
I cleared my thoughts. It didn't matter, anyway. I would be kicking out of this place in a matter of minutes. Shades or no Shades, it wasn't worth it to stick around here.
I rolled off of the make-shift pile of blankets and Ez called a bed, and began gathering provisions. I piled a day or two's worth of food into a small sack, along with a "borrowed" knife from Ez's personal weapon collection, and a change of clothes that I pulled off the clothesline.
I was ready to go.
I took a deep breath of the night air and headed off into the strange forest, with only the clicking calls of the night-crawlers to comfort me.
-_-_-_-_-
"Ouch!" I cried, and smacked away the thistles of a thorny branch that, I think, had just moved on its own to scratch me.
I'd been walking for several hours now. Dawn had long since passed, and I begun to long for Ez's immense knowledge of the forest. He'd know what to do. He'd know if I was supposed to go left or right on that fork in the path back there. He'd know how to-
I stopped suddenly.
Oh shit.
There was a single, solitary Shade on the path ahead of me. He was standing upright, with his legs apart... Oh sick! Not only had I stumbled upon a Shade... I'd stumbled upon a peeing Shade!
I tried to stay quiet, but my nausea overwhelmed me, and I backed up quickly to hide in the small shrubs off the path. The Shade instantly became aware of the noise I had made, finished his business, and called out to the rest of his gang in a hissing, screeching manner.
My heart leapt into my throat and I attempted to push back further into the foliage, but the plants were thorny, and they caught in my hair and skin. I realized that going back wasn't an option, so, with a choked cry, I flung myself forwards. The razor thorns left stinging scorch marks across my calves.
I could hear the swoosh-ing sound that the Shade's swords made as they cut through the dense shrubbery. The peeing Shade, I guess, had gathered the whole gang. They were approaching fast, and, by the jittery uproar they were making, they were excited.
Panicking, I couldn't decide where to go. There was only one obvious choice: Away, but my brain couldn't seem to communicate that to my legs, which had taken on the unfortunate feeling of being made purely out of silly-putty.
I started to work myself up into a nervous fit of crying as I stumbled for my life. Back down the same path I had come, my vision tunneled, and it felt as though I was running sideways. Tears of confusion and fear welled up in my eyes, making the whole "seeing-where-you-are-going" aspect of "escape" quite difficult.
Oh God, Rose! This is no time for sarcasm! Run!
The Shades had broken into the clearing, unfortunately, opting to go through the trees, rather than take the long way around them. They could see my slow and frustrating progress down the path, and I, distantly, heard them laugh collectively.
In a decisive stride, the head Shade, who I seem to remember being called "Bane," stepped forward, and grabbed me by the hair.
I wiped my eyes angrily, and slapped his hand away from my locks.
Surprised, he jumped back.
"That's right!" I snarled. "Stay away from me, perv! I don't know if you have balls, but I can kick you so hard, your shadow will need an ice pack!"
He laughed. Okay... Obviously Shades didn't have balls.
"Ah... She speaks!" he mused.
"Oh, she does a lot more than speak!" I threatened.
"Strange," he said to his comrades, ignoring me. "We are close... But we can't detect her."
"Is she an Imp?" called out a particularly ugly looking Shade in the back.
"Imps do not bleed red," Bane retorted.
I looked at my legs. Small cuts from the thorns were oozing crimson blood down my calves.
Great.
"Elf's Gold," he observed, reaching for the necklace.
I backed away, but he grabbed an entire fist full of my hair this time. I winced, but refused to cry out in pain. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
He snapped the delicate chain that held the small glimmering locket to my neck, and I wanted to cry with grief. I'd lost Ez's precious necklace...
"The boy is brilliant!" Bane marveled. "Elf's Gold! Ha! It's so simple that we would have never thought of it, and so rare that it would have been overlooked if we had!"
He shoved the work of art into his pocket like it was a piece of trash.
Then, with a satisfied smile, Bane rose the butt of his curved sword. I cringed as he brought it down upon the top of my head with a ringing crack!
And, viola!
Out like a light.