The Slayer

Chapter 14 - ^^

Sumaey took the flowers gratefully, her smile widening in amusement.

The stilted man bowed awkwardly to her as the suspended man gave a flourish of his hand, before swiftly climbing back up the silk. Sumaey watched him go, before turning back to the stilted man, now walking away from her in his great strides.

Sumaey grinned to herself, taking her first step forwards onto the wooden path. It was only a few steps she walked until another figure approached her, a man dressed in vibrant colours and dyed hair and a heavily painted face.

He took the flowers from Sumaey, scrunching them up in his hands and cupping them to his lips. He breathed over them, tossing them into the air quickly. The scrunched up petals of the tulips had swiftly changed into many little dragonflies made of glowing red light, they fluttered and danced away, flying low over the glassy sea, their beautiful reflections beside that of the moon upon the water. Sumaey laughed out loud at this, and the man grinning widely bowed low to her, tipping his brightly coloured hat, before moving on.

'I think...' Sumaey muttered quietly to herself as she breathed in the sweet and salty air around her, '...I am going to like it here very much.'

*

*

Far away in some unknown and unremarkable place, Waltz trudged through muck that reached up to his knees.

His mood was sour, and he grumbled to himself as he moved along.

'....I hate everything...'

*

*

Sumaey moved into the heart of the town made of lights. Hanging within every shop, on strings over the heads of the moving crowd and on the top of every building, were little glass jars, shining brightly of many colours. On closer inspection of one of these jars, Sumaey discovered that each jar contained a little fairy, pretty and happy little creatures they were. One of them waved to her merrily, and she smiled back.

'Hey pretty lady!' a voice called to her. 'Come to my bar and let me give you a drink!'

Sumaey turned, seeing through the crowd a podgy man waving at her.

'I haven't any money' she told him flatly.

'Don't be silly' the man laughed at her. 'It's free! Everything is free here! Come and sit. What's a pretty lady like you doing alone?'

Sumaey moved across the wooden path, weaving slowly between the bodies as she stepped closer to the man.

'I am waiting for a friend' she told him.

'What better place to wait then at a bar, with a drink?!' the man sang happily to her, pulling forth several bottles and mixing them in a large beaker.

He poured this beaker into a smaller glass. Sumaey saw there bright pink and bubbly liquid.

'What is it?' she asked curiously.

'We call it Heaven's Taste. It's sweet yet with a sharp bite. Try it! I think you'll find it delicious. Everyone does!'

Sumaey took the glass, bowing her head she smelt the liquid. It indeed had a sharp scent to it as the man said, yet something delicate alongside.

Sumaey brought it to her lips, taking a small sip.

'Oh goodness' she said, hand going to her mouth. 'It's delicious.'

The barman simply grinned at her, picking up one of the wet glasses he had recently washed and drying it.

'Stay here as long as you need' he told her, 'and drink as much as you want.'

Sumaey leant forwards on the bar, resting on her elbows and swirling the liquid in the glass with a hand.

'I wonder what Waltz is doing now?' she mumbled to herself.

*

*

At that particular moment, in the area that Waltz happened to be, it conveniently started to rain.

'Oh great' Waltz grumbled under his breath. 'Bloody perfect. Just what I needed about now.'

He clambered awkwardly up the rocky slope before him, the mud causing him to slip several times. It was a precarious climb, and he regretfully dared himself to glance down to the fall below him.

His stomach churned, and he began to feel a little sick.

Waltz sighed wearily, continuing his ascent to top of the rocky hill.

*

*

It was several hours later when Waltz returned to the place he had been taken from. As usual however, he was not as gracefully placed in the exact same location as he had vanished from.

There were several people on the edge of the bright town looking out at the sea when they saw a figure suddenly appear in the air several feet above the water. His brief wail was cut short as he fell like a stone, landing ungracefully in the water. Picking himself up, he made his way towards the town.

Several of the people backed away as he hauled himself up onto the wooden platform. Some were a little nervous of his sudden appearance, others were downright amused.

The mud had been cleaned from him when he fell into the water, and many whisperings would circulate through the town quickly after that, all muttering about the white-blonde haired man that had fallen from the sky.

It was the rumours about Waltz's sudden appearance that reached Sumaey first, before the actual man did.

'Oh there you are' she said to him, after he had been randomly wandering the town for several hours, hoping to stumble across Sumaey eventually. 'Is it true you fell from the sky?'

Waltz took a seat sullenly next to Sumaey, leaning forwards on the bar.

'Yeah' he grumbled miserably at her. 'That witch has a sense of humour that suits her alone.'

Sumaey passed a drink to him, and Waltz took it gratefully.

He sipped the pink bubbly liquid.

'Hmmm' he said. 'This is really nice. It's delicious in fact.'

'Yeah' Sumaey beamed. 'That's what I said when I first tried it.'

He turned to her, resting his chin on his palm.

'So how do we find this door to the wizard's home' he said.

Sumaey smirked then. 'You know I completely forgot about that.'

'What even is this place?' Waltz mumbled to himself, leaning back in his chair and taking in the scenes around them, the happy people, the lights, the bright colours.

'I don't know' Sumaey replied meekly. 'But I do know this......it is beautiful here. I almost don't want to leave.'

'Yeah' Waltz said leaning over his drink. 'I feel the same. Hopefully the witch won't summon me again in ages.' He stared down at the bubbles in the glass. 'What a pain' he grumbled. 'I wish I'd never met her.'

[END OF CHAPTER]