In Exchange for Magic

"Rose?" I heard Ez whisper. "Rose?"

He was softly poking my arm.

"Mmmm?"
"Can you... Uh... Can you move, sweet?"

"What did you just call me?"
"I... I think I called you sweet."
"Why?"
"Your hand, Rose. Please!"

I realized that, in the middle of the night, I'd rested my hand on his arm. I flushed and noticed that his own hands were clenched into very tight fists. I scooted away from him and he relaxed a bit. I could see crescent-shaped markings where he'd dug his fingernails into his palms.

"You okay?" I asked, scratching my head and squinting up at the beam up sunlight pouring through the top of the tent.

He nodded, his lips pressed into a tight line.

"Y-You sure?" I asked, noticing his odd behavior.
"Yes," he answered sharply. "Just... Can you get out of the tent?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. First this "sweet" business, and now he's back to crabby old Ez? Well, if he wanted to be schizophrenic, then I didn't care.

"Fine. Whatever, Mr. Bossy-Pants."

I ducked my head under the tent flap, and heard him breathe a distinct sigh of relief.

He just stayed in the tent, breathing deeply... As if trying to calm himself. It was very confusing... Although, that is Ez's style.

I combed my hair with my fingers and prepared myself mentally for the long journey ahead of me.

"Okay, Rose..." I told myself, trying to get hyped. "You're totally ready for this. You're going to have to travel a long way... But you can do it! All you have to do is find someone who knows how to get back to Earth! That shouldn't be too hard! Right...?"

Ez's white-blonde head poked out from the tent flap.

"I'll give you some food, but I can't spare too much. You need-"
I interrupted. "What was with last night?"

He started. "W-What?"
"Last night," I repeated slowly. "Your nightmare."
"I have no earthly clue what you are talking about."

Oh, so he wanted to play this game, huh?

"Ez, you are being so-"
"It doesn't matter what I'm being, does it? Because you're leaving now."

I was about to call him an evil name and bid him good riddance, but he cut me off with a gasp.

I whorled around to see Dolores, the tree creature that we'd met yesterday, hobbling towards us. Her dress made of bark and leaves hung ragged off of her branch-like body.

"Dolores?" Ez cried. "What's wrong?"

And that's when she began speaking in a clicking, hissing language that I'd never heard before. She trilled once or twice in a manner that made my ears twinge with pain. Ex just nodded his head slowly, as if he understood her random babbling.

Stranger still, his face kept getting graver and graver... Like Dolores was imparting bad news! But... Ez was human... Well, human-ish... Right?

There's no way he could be a... What had he called Dolores? Oh, that's right... There's no way he could be a tree-nymph, right?

He nodded again, with finality, and crouched down to match Dolores' three-foot stature.

"I understand. Thank you," he told her.

She chattered and hissed a bit more, and then sprang away, running back into the forest on all fours. Ez started rubbing his temples in anxiety.

"Ez?" I questioned cautiously. "You okay?"
"No," he answered promptly and grumpily.
"Okay... Why not?"
"Because Dolores was off hunting and she came across our Shade friends."

I swallowed hard. "And...?"

"And they're still looking for you. They aren't going to stop. The King has offered a pretty reward for you," he said.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to conceal my interest.
"Immortality."
"Immortality?"
He nodded once, his face set into a grim scowl. "The Shades would live forever... Able to destroy everything in their path. There'd be a Shade empire... Imagine... All magical creatures in slavery. Working their hands to the bone, being lashed and beaten... By an enemy that will never die..."

"Well, somebody's Mr. Rain-Cloud today!"
"Rose! This is serious!"

"Yeah, well... Whatever. Good luck with keeping the Shades off your ass. I'm going to leave now."
Ez winced. "No... No you're not."
I slowly turned to face him, taking a menacing step in his direction. "What was that?"
He sighed in defeat. "You're staying here. With me."

This statement made me laugh. "No way!"
He scowled. "I'm not too happy about it either."
"Why do I have to stay... here?" I whined.
"I'll protect you," Ez simply stated, as if that was the natural order of things.

"Oh, yeah! That makes sense! You Tarzan, me Jane! Real good logic, elf-boy."
He rolled his eyes. "Well, it makes more sense than you running off by yourself. The Shades will hunt you down in a matter of minutes."
"So?" I scoffed. "Why would you care?"

He looked me straight in the eyes.
"I care because... Before they turn you in to the King, they'll torture you. They'll find ways to make you talk."
"W-What? What kind of information would they want from me?"
"My name," Ezekiel Sullivan answered, as if it were plain as day.

"Your name?" I snorted. "Your name? What's so special about your name?"

Ez straightened, and his eyes widened. "I've said too much."
"No! No, no, no! You aren't getting off that easy!"
"Just forget it."
"Why would the Shades want your name? Ooh! Are you on the run from the law?" I teased.

"Drop it, Rose."
"What did you do? Make them... dun, dun, duuuh... Angry?"
"Rose! Drop it!"

I folded my arms across my chest. "I won't leave if you tell me why they'd want your name."
He laughed at me. "You're not in a position to make that kind of threat, sweet."
"I'm serious! I'll leave right now! The likes of you can't stop me!"
"You aren't leaving."
"Tell me why the Shades are interested in you. Tell me what kind of creature you are!"
"No."
"Then I'm leaving!"
"No, you are not!" he shouted in my face.

I opened and closed my mouth several times, trying to make sound come out of it. Between you and me, Ez is really scary when he's mad.

It figures that this would happen to me. I land in a beautiful, wonderful and exciting magical world... But I'm stuck here with an asshole boy and a few thousand magical creatures who want to put my head on a stick.

"Okay..." I said, backing away from him and taking a different approach. "Okay... Just calm down..."
He rubbed his forehead in anxiety, a habit that he'd recently taken up.
"Sorry," he muttered.

And that's when I made up my mind. I was leaving.

Tonight.