On the run in a strange world after pirates kill her parents, Elise plows into Dorothy Blainwick, a young and powerful witch with a monster inside her. Like fire and water, the two have to learn to get along as they try to escape the law, ancient ma...
The spirit pointed at the ladder, and then the hole.
"Is this the way out? Will I be caught?"
It shook its head.
"All right, well... thanks," said Dorothy. She looked up at the large, spry, and peculiar being. "And by the way, I forgive ya for throwin' things at me and trippin' me... I guess. Friends, eh?"
She held out a hand. The creature didn't know what to do with it, since it didn't have hands, but touched hers with its arm. It beamed as she went on her way.
Halfway out of sight, Dorothy peered back down. "When I tell stories about ya, what do I call you?"
Promptly the spirit reached out one of its arms and gracefully drew in the dust, in her own alphabet:
RAFIKI
"Rafiki... All right, mate." She looked at the flower he had given her, which sat in her belt. Gently she took it out. "Guess there ain't a way you could teach me that trick you pulled back there, eh?"
Slyly, the spirit Rafiki withdrew from the room, only twisting its head and producing a wink. After that he was gone, and when Dorothy looked down at the flower once more she found that it too had disappeared. Shrugging, she turned her attention to the next chapter of her story and began to climb.
The rungs went on and on, although being a fantastic climber, as you already know, it didn't fatigue her as it might have others, and after ten stories it ended at a trap door, which she pushed open with renewed energy. Like a gymnast then, hoisting herself up with her hands, the witch pivoted her body out of the hole in one single motion. She rolled onto her belly and closed the lid behind her.
Below her grew thick grass, and in the air she smelled something beloved: flowers. In fact, purple hyacinths, aqua hydrangea, and amaryllis the color of ocean sunset surrounded her in neatly arranged beds, each with a beautifully cut hedge at its locus. There were dozens of beds interconnected by a path of red brown stones. She couldn't see the whole garden from her perspective, but she could see that the walls of the Onaime, rising for another sixty stories into the air at least, boxed it in. High above she saw the night sky full of twinkling stars. This was a courtyard, and she heard the party all around her, muffled. In the center there, on her belly, she felt quite solitary. It was dark, lit only by fireflies with real fire.
Considering the number of windows and balconies that could see her from above, Dorothy made for cover as quickly as all fours would carry her. Despite several aggressive swats, one firefly continued bugging her as she tried to escape, and as she approached the shrub, her destination, it landed on her posterior. Speeding up considerably, Dorothy made it to cover in half the time, and with one angry clap extinguished the bug. She massaged her singed rear as she made herself comfortable. It was time to plan her next step.
The soapy smells of lilac, of lavender and bluebell. She inhaled deeply and sat back. No. Dorothy had no intention of returning to her 'job'. Wherever Elise was, she would find her. She would dream of finding her alone; that Elise would be happy to see her and smile. Yet reality had a way of making daydreamers jump. When talking erupted nearby, she twitched involuntarily. Restraining her breath, she observed two figures moving close by.
One was a woman, a beautiful willowy woman with reddish brown skin, red hair, and vibrant green eyes. Nude save a curtain of leaves, she looked like something you could only see in the fey depths of an old world forest. The other figure was a gangly male, over six feet tall, who had short, dark hair and substantial sideburns to complete a sharp if not especially (or at least traditionally) attractive face. A similarly fair ethnicity to those on Unum, he wore a mustard blazer with tan slacks, chewed a cigarette, and looked like trouble. He rubbed a hairy knuckle with a pink handkerchief and then the gold clip on his tie. The woman didn't like the way he didn't look at her.
"So where is it?" the nature spirit asked, on the verge of outrage. "I didn't want you in there in the first place, and now...? Where is it?" The man took a puff without making eye contact. She went on. "We come here, thousands of sea lengths from my home, to enjoy the food and the comfort, and this is what you do to me? Where is it?! Are you even listening to me?"
The man looked up. Nodded.
"Well say something then!"
When he spoke, it sounded as dead as the back of a saucepan. "I lost it."
"You lost all of it?"
He nodded. Rummaged his pockets for another cigarette; got one. He had a harder time finding a lighter.
"You—you're insufferable!"
"I said I was sorry, nectar cups."
"No you didn't!"
"I didn't? Oops."
She slapped him on the face, hard, and walked away.
"Hrm." The wily gentleman felt his cheek, which turned red instantly. Shrugging back his shoulders as if fixing his coat, he moseyed off the opposite direction. He never did find his lighter.
Taking a deep breath, Dorothy allowed her muscles to relax. After both sets of footsteps had disappeared, she felt safe enough to move to the edge of cover and scan the area. Just before she could stick her head out, though, the face of the man dropped down in front of hers.
"Boo."
Йой! Нажаль, це зображення не відповідає нашим правилам. Щоб продовжити публікацію, будь ласка, видаліть його або завантажте інше.
