COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 25: A Sprinkle of Pixie Dust (Part 3/4)

          She had slipped him a thick blindfold to ensure he could get close enough to snatch one without that risk. Phantom would just have to be his eyes.

          Ten minutes into walking was all it took, luck stroking his fate as he caught the distant flicker of emerald green, dancing like a glowing tissue paper above a small pond. A few steps closer and more lights sprang up, the ethereal glow spotting the air like embers of death waiting to be fed.

          "Okay, don't stare at them, don't touch them without gloves on, don't follow them, don't throw water at them, don't sniff them." Káel  counted his fingers with a frown. "Anything I'm missing?"

          "Don't make funny faces at them," Phantom snickered.

          Káel gently placed the candle on the ground, tying some cloth around Puff's eyes first before helping himself and blindly fumbling to find the candle again. After nearly setting the grass ablaze, he found its base, rising up to smile at the last area he remembered Phantom in. "Tell me when I'm close."

          Káel flinched when the response came from the opposite side in a whisper right next to his ear. "I will."

          The cloth blocked everything, his breaths coming back to him in hot puffs as he inched towards his destination. Soon he could hear the faintest noise, like dried leaves falling to the ground in a buzzing symphony, pixies swarming the nub of his candle to inspect the scent. Behind the unforgiving wall of black, he stuck to Phantom's directions, grabbing as fast as he could only to miss his target by a hair.

          He shot his hand out, feeling it hit something rag-like, yet failing once again to get a hold. "Stupid little-where are they?!" Káel growled, whipping his free hand around.

          "Like I said, they're everywhere!" Phantom snapped. "You're too slow!"

          Káel took a few breaths, stilling his frustration to use his only sense and listen to what was going on over the sound of his own breaths and Phantom's orders. The air was filled with a tingling buzz, the pixie's magic trying desperately to pierce his vision and take his mind. 

          He continued to listen to the strange chitters, noticing one strangely close to his ear.

          "Blindfold, Káel! They're trying to untie it!"

          Káel whipped his arm back, feeling his fist close around something shrieking. With a smile of success he pulled the object forwards, keeping its piercing shrieks from drilling his eardrums. "This one?"

          "Close your eyes and hold your breath." Phantom ordered, the hint of disappointment in his voice confusing Káel.

          Until he felt the blindfold slip right off his face.

          Just a glimpse of emerald green hit his vision before he squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, the pixie in his grip no longer shrieking at the top of its lungs. 

          It was singing a humming tune. 

          Káel couldn't help but focus on one thought flashing through his mind.

          Was he squeezing it too hard before?

          Was it actually friendly?

          Before he could even register the action, he had cracked his eyes open, fixed to the beautiful glow of the pixie singing in his hand. Its blackened eyes were looking up at him, attached to a tiny smile as it sat on his hand to splay its cloth-like cloak of a body over his glove.