Elethea Elders—Grasslands
I was still feeling irritated by the girl's stupidity.
"Next time, keep your own eyes on the grass. It might keep you from dying immediately."
She scowled slightly and seemed to ignore me. We passed under the branches of a giant acacia and she plucked a knob of resin from the trunk, stuffing it into her mouth. I spun with a bad-tempered hiss. "You maniac! Do you want every fea in the grasslands down upon our—" The cicadas were silent. There was a bad wind in the air; I could feel it.
"I hope you can fight," I snarled, pulling out my dagger. Nuru clawed the gum out of her mouth and picked up a dry branch. "Sure I can," she retorted.
The wind swelled. The sky was darkening rapidly. The acacia swayed, then its edges blurred and the fea appeared. "Mortals," she rasped, bending over us.
"We apologise for disturbing you," I gasped. "We did not realise that we were passing your dwelling."
"Hmmm," she sighed. "What brings you here to my tree?"
"We are on a mission for the Aquamarine Kingdom, to retrieve their lost child," Nuru stated eloquently. I held my breath.
"Pass, mortals," the fea said. "You are spared—today."
We tiptoed past the living tree and started to run as soon as it was polite.
"Well done for that," I grabbed Nuru's shirt aggressively. "Get your act together or we will both be dead before the end of the day."
We were nose to nose when I sensed it. Something, or someone, was in the bushes.
