I broke from the shadows, snatching the two nearest me from the air. The vines drooped when their buzzing stopped. They shook as the lingering effects wore off then stretchedtaught, their teeth gnashing in search of their next meal. The other pixies took to the sky, and more joined them from other corridors. I watched from above as they spun a circle over my head. I could feel the magic building before I could see it. The hairs on my body tingled and rose above my skin.
“Roth!”
My head snapped in Mergle’s direction as a sheer bubble formed around me.
One after the other, the pixies dropped from the sky and bobbed up and down as they circled. Energy pricked the skin through my glove when I neared its perimeter. This was beyond my experience.
I raised the pixies to eye level. Terror and satisfaction filled their expressions. “What happens if I breach the ward?”
They remained silent, except for the tips of their wings trying to flutter.
“Why are you here!”
They fluttered harder.
“What do you want from us?” I seethed. Still nothing. My attention went to the pixies outside the ward. Orbs formed in my palms, encasing the two I captured. “Release me. We will discuss why you are here, and I will set them free.” I had no intention of allowing them to remain free if I didn’t like their response. I tossed them up and down awaiting their reaction. They didn’t like it in the slightest.
The bubble brightened, energy crackled along the membrane, and they came together on the outside touching the spot in front of me. It caused a ripple effect that ebbed along the surface. White light blazed around me and almost brought me to my knees. I pulled back my arm and launched the orb at them. Simultaneously, the orb incinerated on impact and the ward burst, sending a wave of energy in all directions. I fell back on the sandy bricks as the pixie exploded into a mist of fine pinkdust. I covered my face with the neck of my shirt, uncertain if they were as toxic as the pollen of the Bluebell.
The other pixies were gone, save the one clutched against my chest.
“Astaroth!” Mergle skidded to a halt at my hip and looked me over. “Are you alright?”
I pushed myself up and gauged my reflexes. Whatever it was those damn pixies did, it replenished me. I felt more alive and stronger than I ever had before.
The pixie watched me as I hung it from a vine. It beat on the orb, its wings blurring here and there as they moved.
“You had your chance,” I said, then turned to Mergle. “We will catch them. Every last one of them.”
