said.
“Look at them.”
Kayden’s eyes widen when he saw
what I was referring to, and a sense of foreboding filled me when I realized
that I had never seen Kayden react like that before. My eyes went back to the
tiny Pixies, who had stopped their busy work at the flowers and were simply
suspended in the air, shimmery wings gone still and useless. The looked very
much like little lanterns hung from invisible strings. I noticed that then that
the air around us had gone preternaturally still as well, as if a cold-less
freeze had fallen over the Outlands. I swallowed a lump I hadn’t known was in
my throat. “What’s wrong with them?” I whispered, as if it would be a crime to
speak so loudly in such silence.
Kayden’s voice was flat now, and
I recognized it as the tone he used when he was preparing for a battle.
“They’re under a spell,” he said.
“What? Whose spell?”
“I don’t know, but I have a
feeling we’re going to find out.”
Suddenly the Pixies broke free
from their suspension, but their movements were jerky and zombie-like; a
complete contradiction to the grace that I had always seemed them move with.
They darted and shambled here and there, and a high-pitched buzzing sound
filled the air, and it took me a moment to realize that the Pixies were
speaking.
I concentrated on the sound and
found that I could understand them, and that they were saying two words: Sun
Warrior.
My eyebrows shot up and I glanced
over at Kayden, who shook his head. I could tell by the tense set of his
shoulders that he could understand them, too. Now I retrieved my Gladius from
its hiding spot but kept the blade in its sheath. This was starting to
seriously freak me out, and I’m not someone who freaks out easily.
“They want me,” I said, and as if
I had rung a dinner bell, hundreds of Pixies turned toward me and darted in
like tiny colorfully bats out of hell.
There were so many of them, and
though they were small, the onslaught was no less terrifying. It was very much
like watching a huge horde of lit of bees come flying at me in unison, and I
only had time to shield my face with my arm and duck as though that was going
to make a difference. I’m not sure what I expected, maybe tiny stings or bites
or burns from the lights that the Pixies glowed with, but I got none of that.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that they were simply landing on me. They were
landing on me everywhere.
When I looked down, I saw that my
skin was no longer visible, nor my clothes. My entire body, save for my head,
was covered in hundreds of colorful little Pixies. When I looked up again, my
eyes wide and my throat dry, I saw that Kayden’s face betrayed his emotions,
which were wonder and curiosity and horror.
“What the f—” I began, but didn’t
get a chance to finish because now I was being moved forward, seemingly shoved
along by the hundreds of little bodies that had attached themselves to me. I
felt my feet moving on their own accord, leading me down the red path with no
input from me whatsoever. It was an oddly violating feeling, and now a little
bit of anger rose in my and I began swiping at the Pixies in an effort to get
free. Kayden was moving beside me, and he took my Gladius from my hand, which
was swarmed with Pixies up to the blade, without asking.
“Tell your blade to release for
me, Warrior,” he said. “I will cut them off of you.”
I looked over at my sword in
Kayden’s hand and without second though the blade slid out of the handle
silently. Kayden raised it slowly, strain on his face as he prepared to cut
them down without injuring me. We were moving rather quickly down the path now,
and it was not going to be easy. “Wait,” I said, glancing down at the Pixies in
their entranced state. “You said they’re under a spell, right? They don’t know
what they’re doing. We can’t kill them.”
Kayden hesitated and eventually
lowered the blade. “Then, what?” he said.
I continued to pluck them off
“Look at them.”
Kayden’s eyes widen when he saw
what I was referring to, and a sense of foreboding filled me when I realized
that I had never seen Kayden react like that before. My eyes went back to the
tiny Pixies, who had stopped their busy work at the flowers and were simply
suspended in the air, shimmery wings gone still and useless. The looked very
much like little lanterns hung from invisible strings. I noticed that then that
the air around us had gone preternaturally still as well, as if a cold-less
freeze had fallen over the Outlands. I swallowed a lump I hadn’t known was in
my throat. “What’s wrong with them?” I whispered, as if it would be a crime to
speak so loudly in such silence.
Kayden’s voice was flat now, and
I recognized it as the tone he used when he was preparing for a battle.
“They’re under a spell,” he said.
“What? Whose spell?”
“I don’t know, but I have a
feeling we’re going to find out.”
Suddenly the Pixies broke free
from their suspension, but their movements were jerky and zombie-like; a
complete contradiction to the grace that I had always seemed them move with.
They darted and shambled here and there, and a high-pitched buzzing sound
filled the air, and it took me a moment to realize that the Pixies were
speaking.
I concentrated on the sound and
found that I could understand them, and that they were saying two words: Sun
Warrior.
My eyebrows shot up and I glanced
over at Kayden, who shook his head. I could tell by the tense set of his
shoulders that he could understand them, too. Now I retrieved my Gladius from
its hiding spot but kept the blade in its sheath. This was starting to
seriously freak me out, and I’m not someone who freaks out easily.
“They want me,” I said, and as if
I had rung a dinner bell, hundreds of Pixies turned toward me and darted in
like tiny colorfully bats out of hell.
There were so many of them, and
though they were small, the onslaught was no less terrifying. It was very much
like watching a huge horde of lit of bees come flying at me in unison, and I
only had time to shield my face with my arm and duck as though that was going
to make a difference. I’m not sure what I expected, maybe tiny stings or bites
or burns from the lights that the Pixies glowed with, but I got none of that.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that they were simply landing on me. They were
landing on me everywhere.
When I looked down, I saw that my
skin was no longer visible, nor my clothes. My entire body, save for my head,
was covered in hundreds of colorful little Pixies. When I looked up again, my
eyes wide and my throat dry, I saw that Kayden’s face betrayed his emotions,
which were wonder and curiosity and horror.
“What the f—” I began, but didn’t
get a chance to finish because now I was being moved forward, seemingly shoved
along by the hundreds of little bodies that had attached themselves to me. I
felt my feet moving on their own accord, leading me down the red path with no
input from me whatsoever. It was an oddly violating feeling, and now a little
bit of anger rose in my and I began swiping at the Pixies in an effort to get
free. Kayden was moving beside me, and he took my Gladius from my hand, which
was swarmed with Pixies up to the blade, without asking.
“Tell your blade to release for
me, Warrior,” he said. “I will cut them off of you.”
I looked over at my sword in
Kayden’s hand and without second though the blade slid out of the handle
silently. Kayden raised it slowly, strain on his face as he prepared to cut
them down without injuring me. We were moving rather quickly down the path now,
and it was not going to be easy. “Wait,” I said, glancing down at the Pixies in
their entranced state. “You said they’re under a spell, right? They don’t know
what they’re doing. We can’t kill them.”
Kayden hesitated and eventually
lowered the blade. “Then, what?” he said.
I continued to pluck them off
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