XiphiasX10A
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A "little" something that I wrote a little while ago and posted onto AVGDID. The release of Space Damsels 3 prompted me to share it here, as well - I figured that the content was relevent to the interests of you guys, too 😉
Disclaimer: Fantasy Frontier and all associated characters are the property of LostOneZero and Goldlust
~*~*~*~*~*
The boots were really starting to get to her. A few metres later, she remembered why she felt it necessary to wear them. Ahead of her was another stretch of shallow but murky water. She reached out with the stick she held, poking under the surface of the water and testing the swamp bed.
“Ugh, this disgusting swamp is so damn… um…” Elvina stomped to a halt, “What’s the word…”
“Swampy?” Serena replied, taking a tentative step into the water. The sole of her boot sank into the muddy ground, but the water rose to just above her ankles, well short of the tops of her boots. She looked back at the disgruntled princess with a smirk.
Elvina surveyed the swamp ahead with a scowl. Her ankle boots were ruined from the last water crossing they’d made, and her kneesocks had soaked right to the top of her embroidered breeches. She scowled deeper as she recalled Serena instructing her not to be too rough with her steps while in the water. “I don’t care about the splash,” she’d said, “I wanna get to that artifact!”
“I’m going to leave you behind, great princess,” Serena called back, sidestepping a dip in the swamp bed discretely. This’ll be funny to watch her fall into… she thought with a snicker.
“Like you’d dare!” Elvina yelled, looking at the water before looking down at her boots. “Wait a minute, you stupid swamp elf!”
“Who’s a swamp elf!?” Serena huffed, watching as Elvina sat down to remove her already ruined boots, “Besides, you look more like a swamp princess right now!”
“Could the two of you possibly make any more noise?”
The cold and sudden voice made both girls start, and they looked up to the source.
Perched effortlessly on the branch of a mangrove, Fuyu sighed. Why she had agreed to help the two of them on their ‘adventurous quest’ into the Herehan swamps was beyond her – especially since she was certain that Syrielle and Nadia certainly never approved it – but in hindsight, following them was much safer than allowing them here alone.
“Keep moving, and quietly. The bog dwellers don’t react well to loud whining noises,” Fuyu commanded.
“You won’t scare me with that,” Elvina replied, “There aren’t any bog dwellers here, otherwise we would have seen them by now.”
“Oh?” Fuyu smiled, pointing, “Then what’s that?”
“What’s what?” Elvina looked around, and promptly screamed.
Startled more than she was, the dripping humanoid creature raised its leafy arms and wailed loudly. Elvina screamed again, picked up her boots and ran into the water towards Serena. Two black blurs zipped past her, and she looked back. She had time to see an irrelevant tree before her foot sank into the swamp bed, and with a third scream she stumbled, gasping as her face slapped into the water.
Serena watched as the pair of kunai Fuyu had thrown struck the creature, one in the arm, the other in the chest. The damage was negligible, mostly absorbed by the mossy layer of leaves that was its outer layer of skin, but it was enough to force it to turn away and shamble back into the depths of the swamp. She squealed as something caught her ankle, and she looked down, panicking when she saw a smaller bog dweller clutching itself to her legs, rising out the of the water with gurgled hisses, hair matted to its face. She raised her stick to hit it, before realising with amusement that it was Elvina.
“Get off me, swamp princess.” She peeled Elvina’s arms away from her, stepping back and curling her nose in disdain, “Wow you even smell like a swamp princess.”
Elvina opened her mouth for a retort but Fuyu interrupted her quickly.
“If you’ve had enough of playing around,” she said wearily, “Can we keep moving?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elvina grumbled as she trudged behind Serena, painfully aware of the squishing noises her poor boots made as they pressed against her socks when she walked. Her hair was finally dry, but that was no comfort considering it felt like an ogre had sneezed on it.
I should leave her tied up somewhere, she thought as she stared intently at Serena’s back, Then that artifact would be all mine. Sis would be so happy that I retrieved it for her before that other elf got to it. She bumped into Serena, abruptly bringing her back to her senses.
“What are you stopping fo-“ she started, but Serena held up a hand to silence her. “What?”
“Can’t you tell?” Serena replied, “Fuyu’s missing.”
“She’s a ninja,” Elvina said, although she noticed some truth in what Serena had said. Up until now, the ninja had kept her presence unhidden.
“Doesn’t matter, I guess,” Serena continued, “I know my way out of here.” Why did I say that… I have no idea where we are!!
Serena smiled, pointing at the cave nearby. “Oh hey, look!”
“A cave!” Elvina grinned, forgetting about their missing guide, “Think the artifact is in there?”
“Dark artifacts are always in caves,” Serena replied confidently, making her way towards it.
A hand clapped over her mouth, and an arm wrapped itself around her body. “Not so fast,” Elvina said victoriously, “That artifact is mine!”
“Mmph!?” And what are you gonna do about it!?
Serena had reached the hilt of her Ifrit knife, but Elvina was faster, having already recited a low level holding spell. Serena cursed as her body froze, her fingers an inch away from the hilt of her knife. Elvina pushed Serena to the ground, looking around and grabbing a number of vines that conveniently hung from a branch next to her. She bound the elf quickly, unable to contain her triumph. That spell had been so easy to learn, and it was so useful!
“Nice boots,” Elvina noted, pulling them from Serena’s feet, “I think I’ll take them.”
Elvina finished tying Serena, leaving her hogtied on the ground. She pulled off her own boots, tugging off her socks as well before pulling on Serena’s, savouring the dry leather against her bare feet.
“Hey! Get your swampy feet out of my boots!” Serena protested.
“Remember what Fuyu said?” Elvina grinned, tying a knot in one damp sock and bunching up the other, “Bog dwellers don’t react well to loud, whiny noises.”
“You’re a loud whiny noi-mmph.”
It was a tight fit, but Elvina managed to stuff one of her socks into Serena’s mouth, tying the other over the top and leaving the elf squirming.
“There. Now sit there quietly while I get that artifact.”
She stood up, continuing to grin proudly until she noticed the look of fear in Serena’s eyes. She turned around slowly. “U-uhm… H-hi…”
A tall figure draped in a dark green cloak stood behind her. A deep, wretched hiss came from under the hood. “Who intrudes here?”
“I-I am the g-great pr-princ…” Elvina stammered nervously. I am the great princess Elvina of Darbor! I’ve said this thousands of times! “I am… Elvina.”
The figure took a step closer, revealing a gnarled pair of hands from the sleeves of its cloak. “Why do you intrude here?”
Elvina straightened her back, gathered as much of her confidence as she could and pointed at the bound Serena, “This elf sought to plunder the artifact within this swamp,” she said, “And in order to foil her plot, I followed her here.”
A low growl drifted from beneath the hood, and the man’s voice rose like thunder. “Lies!!” The figure raised his arms angrily, the area quaking with a loud boom.
Elvina cowered to the ground with a shriek, looking up meekly. This guy must be a druid or something…
Vines from the tree behind her began snaking towards Elvina, and by the time she noticed them, they had yanked her back into the tree’s trunk. Her arms were pulled behind it, and a vine bound itself around her wrists and thumbs. Her legs were pulled back, one to each side of the trunk, and the vines pulled off Serena’s boots before her ankles were bound together, and she was lowered down so that she rested on her knees. The druid strode towards her, bending down to take Serena’s Ifrit knife but otherwise ignoring her struggling form. He thrust the dagger into the tree just above Elvina’s head, and the princess squeaked feebly as she tried to tug her way out of her natural bonds. The druid crouched down, leaning his hooded face closer. Elvina turned her head away, both because the proximity of his face was creepy, and because he smelt as if the swamp had been bottled and allowed to ferment for a month.
“I gave you a chance,” he said, “Now I will have to use more… pervasive methods to get an answer from you.” He held up a gnarled hand, allowing Elvina to see the long nails growing from the ends of the fingers.
“Please don’t do anything to me,” Elvina stuttered nervously, “I swear I was telling the truth!”
“We’ll see.”
He had moved behind the tree, dropping down next to Elvina’s bare soles, raking the hooked nails of one hand down one of them. Elvina choked out a giggle immediately, and he tutted to himself.
“Sensitive feet like these do not belong to any seasoned adventurer,” he said, lightly dragging his fingers down both soles, “Who are you?”
“I… haha, please stop that, I am…” Elvina struggled to speak, but the druid’s brutal looking hands were ridiculously good at tickling her.
“Well?” The druid tickled harder.
“Elvina,” she blurted through bursts of laughter, “Princess… Darbor… stopititticklesahahahahahah.”
“What is a princess of Darbor doing here?” he pressed, changing tack and dropping one hand to the backs of Elvina’s toes, keeping the other raking horizontally across the arches of her feet.
Elvina’s voice shook, “Nnnn…not my toes… noo….”
Keeping a slower but painfully methodical pattern, the druid leaned closer. “Well?”
“I… we… we heard of,” Elvina gulped to contain her hysteria so she could form a coherent sentence, “Of… a mystic staff that was in… in this swamp. We seek to retrieve it for princess Nadia so that she can keep it safe.” She let out her laughter with a sobbed gasp, “That’s the truth! Please stop tickling my fee-ugh!”
The druid pulled a ragged length of cloth from his baggy robe sleeve, pulling it tight across Elvina’s mouth and knotting it off behind the tree, holding her head to the trunk. He rose, moving around the tree and looming over Serena. Looking up, he waved his fingers at the vines drooping from the tree’s branch, taking control of them and looping several around the elf’s wrists and ankles before lifting her off the ground. Reaching out, he untied Elvina’s sock from Serena’s mouth, and she promptly spat out the other with a revulsive gag.
“Gah! That tasted disgusting! Serves you right for getting tickl-mph?!”
The druid clapped his hand over Serena’s mouth, sighing from under his hood. “When I release my hand, you will tell me whether this… princess’ story is true.” He held up his other hand, emphasising his fingers, “Do you understand?”
“Mmhmm.” Serena nodded, gulping nervously. She really didn’t want to be tickled by those hands. The druid released his hand, and Serena breathed in deeply. “Her story is a lie.”
“Mmmargh!!” Elvina tugged at the vines holding her to the tree, yelling into her gag in disbelief. That damn elf!!
The druid chuckled – a slightly discomforting noise – and cradled Serena’s chin in his hand. “Then would you be so kind as to tell me just what you are doing here?”
Serena forced back a snicker. “Parts of her story are true. She did hear of a mystic staff in this swamp, but she wanted to keep it all for herself so she could be stronger than her sister. Once she caught word that I knew of the staff, she forced me to guide her here.”
The druid sighed, picking up Elvina’s sock and gagging Serena with it again. “That’s an even less believable lie than hers,” he said, stepping back and reaching out to the earth again.
Serena bucked at her vines, struggling against them but only managing to swing herself helplessly. But… my story was so believable!
“I’ll come back in an hour,” the druid continued, turning to walk away.
Roots sprouted from the ground behind Elvina’s feet, a pair of vines dropping from the tree and settling next to her armpits and ribs. Stiffer vines dropped down from the tree branch to hover above Serena’s soles, several more dropping down to her sides, exposed because of the top she was wearing. The two girls eyed the additions with dread, protesting into their gags and dissolving into laughter as they began to tickle their areas.
“I’ll come back in an hour,” the druid repeated, tugging Serena’s Ifrit knife from the tree and walking away, taking it with him. “I’ll see how your stories differ then.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Leaving his struggling captives behind but staying within earshot of their desperate laughter, the druid came to a stop at a clearing, pulling back his hood to reveal a sharp featured, handsome face. He turned to the two figures waiting for him.
“Looks like you win, Syrielle,” he said, shaking out his hands and returning them to their usual – and far from grotesque – form. His voice had returned to his natural one, deep and brooding. “Your sister has a long while to go before she can withstand interrogation. Especially since I was being nice to her.”
Syrielle laughed despite herself, patting Nadia on the shoulder. “Well, you can’t win ‘em all. Now cough it up.”
Sighing as she dug into her pocket, Nadia shook her head. “And I was hoping those books I left lying around would help.” She pulled a pouch from under her coat, handing it to the dark elf with a pout. “At least she learnt that holding spell.”
The druid laughed. “Your sister has a while to go before she can stop getting herself captured, especially considering the half-trained weasel – no offence – that managed to do it.”
“None taken,” Nadia murmured with a smile, and Syrielle frowned.
“Shut up, Armad.” She turned to the side slightly, muttering to herself, “I’m going to have to tie her down and punish her good for this…”
“And they both have a long way to go with keeping quiet in a swamp,” Fuyu said suddenly, dropping from the tree branch she’d been perched upon since the beginning of the meeting. “And had they had more than three seconds attention span they would have noticed me as well. It’s not like I was really trying to be invisible.”
“So we agree then,” Armad said with a shrug, “That they both have a while to go?”
The others nodded in agreement.
“So we shouldn’t let them go for a while?”
The others shook their heads.
Armad grinned, rubbing his hands together. “Perfect. Come, let me treat you ladies to some wine and a casual chat in the peace of my swamp…”
Disclaimer: Fantasy Frontier and all associated characters are the property of LostOneZero and Goldlust
~*~*~*~*~*
The boots were really starting to get to her. A few metres later, she remembered why she felt it necessary to wear them. Ahead of her was another stretch of shallow but murky water. She reached out with the stick she held, poking under the surface of the water and testing the swamp bed.
“Ugh, this disgusting swamp is so damn… um…” Elvina stomped to a halt, “What’s the word…”
“Swampy?” Serena replied, taking a tentative step into the water. The sole of her boot sank into the muddy ground, but the water rose to just above her ankles, well short of the tops of her boots. She looked back at the disgruntled princess with a smirk.
Elvina surveyed the swamp ahead with a scowl. Her ankle boots were ruined from the last water crossing they’d made, and her kneesocks had soaked right to the top of her embroidered breeches. She scowled deeper as she recalled Serena instructing her not to be too rough with her steps while in the water. “I don’t care about the splash,” she’d said, “I wanna get to that artifact!”
“I’m going to leave you behind, great princess,” Serena called back, sidestepping a dip in the swamp bed discretely. This’ll be funny to watch her fall into… she thought with a snicker.
“Like you’d dare!” Elvina yelled, looking at the water before looking down at her boots. “Wait a minute, you stupid swamp elf!”
“Who’s a swamp elf!?” Serena huffed, watching as Elvina sat down to remove her already ruined boots, “Besides, you look more like a swamp princess right now!”
“Could the two of you possibly make any more noise?”
The cold and sudden voice made both girls start, and they looked up to the source.
Perched effortlessly on the branch of a mangrove, Fuyu sighed. Why she had agreed to help the two of them on their ‘adventurous quest’ into the Herehan swamps was beyond her – especially since she was certain that Syrielle and Nadia certainly never approved it – but in hindsight, following them was much safer than allowing them here alone.
“Keep moving, and quietly. The bog dwellers don’t react well to loud whining noises,” Fuyu commanded.
“You won’t scare me with that,” Elvina replied, “There aren’t any bog dwellers here, otherwise we would have seen them by now.”
“Oh?” Fuyu smiled, pointing, “Then what’s that?”
“What’s what?” Elvina looked around, and promptly screamed.
Startled more than she was, the dripping humanoid creature raised its leafy arms and wailed loudly. Elvina screamed again, picked up her boots and ran into the water towards Serena. Two black blurs zipped past her, and she looked back. She had time to see an irrelevant tree before her foot sank into the swamp bed, and with a third scream she stumbled, gasping as her face slapped into the water.
Serena watched as the pair of kunai Fuyu had thrown struck the creature, one in the arm, the other in the chest. The damage was negligible, mostly absorbed by the mossy layer of leaves that was its outer layer of skin, but it was enough to force it to turn away and shamble back into the depths of the swamp. She squealed as something caught her ankle, and she looked down, panicking when she saw a smaller bog dweller clutching itself to her legs, rising out the of the water with gurgled hisses, hair matted to its face. She raised her stick to hit it, before realising with amusement that it was Elvina.
“Get off me, swamp princess.” She peeled Elvina’s arms away from her, stepping back and curling her nose in disdain, “Wow you even smell like a swamp princess.”
Elvina opened her mouth for a retort but Fuyu interrupted her quickly.
“If you’ve had enough of playing around,” she said wearily, “Can we keep moving?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elvina grumbled as she trudged behind Serena, painfully aware of the squishing noises her poor boots made as they pressed against her socks when she walked. Her hair was finally dry, but that was no comfort considering it felt like an ogre had sneezed on it.
I should leave her tied up somewhere, she thought as she stared intently at Serena’s back, Then that artifact would be all mine. Sis would be so happy that I retrieved it for her before that other elf got to it. She bumped into Serena, abruptly bringing her back to her senses.
“What are you stopping fo-“ she started, but Serena held up a hand to silence her. “What?”
“Can’t you tell?” Serena replied, “Fuyu’s missing.”
“She’s a ninja,” Elvina said, although she noticed some truth in what Serena had said. Up until now, the ninja had kept her presence unhidden.
“Doesn’t matter, I guess,” Serena continued, “I know my way out of here.” Why did I say that… I have no idea where we are!!
Serena smiled, pointing at the cave nearby. “Oh hey, look!”
“A cave!” Elvina grinned, forgetting about their missing guide, “Think the artifact is in there?”
“Dark artifacts are always in caves,” Serena replied confidently, making her way towards it.
A hand clapped over her mouth, and an arm wrapped itself around her body. “Not so fast,” Elvina said victoriously, “That artifact is mine!”
“Mmph!?” And what are you gonna do about it!?
Serena had reached the hilt of her Ifrit knife, but Elvina was faster, having already recited a low level holding spell. Serena cursed as her body froze, her fingers an inch away from the hilt of her knife. Elvina pushed Serena to the ground, looking around and grabbing a number of vines that conveniently hung from a branch next to her. She bound the elf quickly, unable to contain her triumph. That spell had been so easy to learn, and it was so useful!
“Nice boots,” Elvina noted, pulling them from Serena’s feet, “I think I’ll take them.”
Elvina finished tying Serena, leaving her hogtied on the ground. She pulled off her own boots, tugging off her socks as well before pulling on Serena’s, savouring the dry leather against her bare feet.
“Hey! Get your swampy feet out of my boots!” Serena protested.
“Remember what Fuyu said?” Elvina grinned, tying a knot in one damp sock and bunching up the other, “Bog dwellers don’t react well to loud, whiny noises.”
“You’re a loud whiny noi-mmph.”
It was a tight fit, but Elvina managed to stuff one of her socks into Serena’s mouth, tying the other over the top and leaving the elf squirming.
“There. Now sit there quietly while I get that artifact.”
She stood up, continuing to grin proudly until she noticed the look of fear in Serena’s eyes. She turned around slowly. “U-uhm… H-hi…”
A tall figure draped in a dark green cloak stood behind her. A deep, wretched hiss came from under the hood. “Who intrudes here?”
“I-I am the g-great pr-princ…” Elvina stammered nervously. I am the great princess Elvina of Darbor! I’ve said this thousands of times! “I am… Elvina.”
The figure took a step closer, revealing a gnarled pair of hands from the sleeves of its cloak. “Why do you intrude here?”
Elvina straightened her back, gathered as much of her confidence as she could and pointed at the bound Serena, “This elf sought to plunder the artifact within this swamp,” she said, “And in order to foil her plot, I followed her here.”
A low growl drifted from beneath the hood, and the man’s voice rose like thunder. “Lies!!” The figure raised his arms angrily, the area quaking with a loud boom.
Elvina cowered to the ground with a shriek, looking up meekly. This guy must be a druid or something…
Vines from the tree behind her began snaking towards Elvina, and by the time she noticed them, they had yanked her back into the tree’s trunk. Her arms were pulled behind it, and a vine bound itself around her wrists and thumbs. Her legs were pulled back, one to each side of the trunk, and the vines pulled off Serena’s boots before her ankles were bound together, and she was lowered down so that she rested on her knees. The druid strode towards her, bending down to take Serena’s Ifrit knife but otherwise ignoring her struggling form. He thrust the dagger into the tree just above Elvina’s head, and the princess squeaked feebly as she tried to tug her way out of her natural bonds. The druid crouched down, leaning his hooded face closer. Elvina turned her head away, both because the proximity of his face was creepy, and because he smelt as if the swamp had been bottled and allowed to ferment for a month.
“I gave you a chance,” he said, “Now I will have to use more… pervasive methods to get an answer from you.” He held up a gnarled hand, allowing Elvina to see the long nails growing from the ends of the fingers.
“Please don’t do anything to me,” Elvina stuttered nervously, “I swear I was telling the truth!”
“We’ll see.”
He had moved behind the tree, dropping down next to Elvina’s bare soles, raking the hooked nails of one hand down one of them. Elvina choked out a giggle immediately, and he tutted to himself.
“Sensitive feet like these do not belong to any seasoned adventurer,” he said, lightly dragging his fingers down both soles, “Who are you?”
“I… haha, please stop that, I am…” Elvina struggled to speak, but the druid’s brutal looking hands were ridiculously good at tickling her.
“Well?” The druid tickled harder.
“Elvina,” she blurted through bursts of laughter, “Princess… Darbor… stopititticklesahahahahahah.”
“What is a princess of Darbor doing here?” he pressed, changing tack and dropping one hand to the backs of Elvina’s toes, keeping the other raking horizontally across the arches of her feet.
Elvina’s voice shook, “Nnnn…not my toes… noo….”
Keeping a slower but painfully methodical pattern, the druid leaned closer. “Well?”
“I… we… we heard of,” Elvina gulped to contain her hysteria so she could form a coherent sentence, “Of… a mystic staff that was in… in this swamp. We seek to retrieve it for princess Nadia so that she can keep it safe.” She let out her laughter with a sobbed gasp, “That’s the truth! Please stop tickling my fee-ugh!”
The druid pulled a ragged length of cloth from his baggy robe sleeve, pulling it tight across Elvina’s mouth and knotting it off behind the tree, holding her head to the trunk. He rose, moving around the tree and looming over Serena. Looking up, he waved his fingers at the vines drooping from the tree’s branch, taking control of them and looping several around the elf’s wrists and ankles before lifting her off the ground. Reaching out, he untied Elvina’s sock from Serena’s mouth, and she promptly spat out the other with a revulsive gag.
“Gah! That tasted disgusting! Serves you right for getting tickl-mph?!”
The druid clapped his hand over Serena’s mouth, sighing from under his hood. “When I release my hand, you will tell me whether this… princess’ story is true.” He held up his other hand, emphasising his fingers, “Do you understand?”
“Mmhmm.” Serena nodded, gulping nervously. She really didn’t want to be tickled by those hands. The druid released his hand, and Serena breathed in deeply. “Her story is a lie.”
“Mmmargh!!” Elvina tugged at the vines holding her to the tree, yelling into her gag in disbelief. That damn elf!!
The druid chuckled – a slightly discomforting noise – and cradled Serena’s chin in his hand. “Then would you be so kind as to tell me just what you are doing here?”
Serena forced back a snicker. “Parts of her story are true. She did hear of a mystic staff in this swamp, but she wanted to keep it all for herself so she could be stronger than her sister. Once she caught word that I knew of the staff, she forced me to guide her here.”
The druid sighed, picking up Elvina’s sock and gagging Serena with it again. “That’s an even less believable lie than hers,” he said, stepping back and reaching out to the earth again.
Serena bucked at her vines, struggling against them but only managing to swing herself helplessly. But… my story was so believable!
“I’ll come back in an hour,” the druid continued, turning to walk away.
Roots sprouted from the ground behind Elvina’s feet, a pair of vines dropping from the tree and settling next to her armpits and ribs. Stiffer vines dropped down from the tree branch to hover above Serena’s soles, several more dropping down to her sides, exposed because of the top she was wearing. The two girls eyed the additions with dread, protesting into their gags and dissolving into laughter as they began to tickle their areas.
“I’ll come back in an hour,” the druid repeated, tugging Serena’s Ifrit knife from the tree and walking away, taking it with him. “I’ll see how your stories differ then.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Leaving his struggling captives behind but staying within earshot of their desperate laughter, the druid came to a stop at a clearing, pulling back his hood to reveal a sharp featured, handsome face. He turned to the two figures waiting for him.
“Looks like you win, Syrielle,” he said, shaking out his hands and returning them to their usual – and far from grotesque – form. His voice had returned to his natural one, deep and brooding. “Your sister has a long while to go before she can withstand interrogation. Especially since I was being nice to her.”
Syrielle laughed despite herself, patting Nadia on the shoulder. “Well, you can’t win ‘em all. Now cough it up.”
Sighing as she dug into her pocket, Nadia shook her head. “And I was hoping those books I left lying around would help.” She pulled a pouch from under her coat, handing it to the dark elf with a pout. “At least she learnt that holding spell.”
The druid laughed. “Your sister has a while to go before she can stop getting herself captured, especially considering the half-trained weasel – no offence – that managed to do it.”
“None taken,” Nadia murmured with a smile, and Syrielle frowned.
“Shut up, Armad.” She turned to the side slightly, muttering to herself, “I’m going to have to tie her down and punish her good for this…”
“And they both have a long way to go with keeping quiet in a swamp,” Fuyu said suddenly, dropping from the tree branch she’d been perched upon since the beginning of the meeting. “And had they had more than three seconds attention span they would have noticed me as well. It’s not like I was really trying to be invisible.”
“So we agree then,” Armad said with a shrug, “That they both have a while to go?”
The others nodded in agreement.
“So we shouldn’t let them go for a while?”
The others shook their heads.
Armad grinned, rubbing his hands together. “Perfect. Come, let me treat you ladies to some wine and a casual chat in the peace of my swamp…”
