Chapter Text
Saffron gripped the hilt of her wooden sword too tight. Wizard had told her that the only monsters in the secret woods were slimes, but those were bad enough. The reason it took her nearly two years to gain the steel axe necessary to get past the natural barrier was because she had barely explored the mines. She'd bought the ore from Clint in addition to having him upgrade her tools, and that took a lot of money.
There was an icy blue slime bobbing about twenty yards in front of her. Her heart rate shot up, and she deliberately took deep breaths, blowing plumes of mist, in an effort to calm herself down. In the end, she beat it to death, but she probably used too much energy in doing it.
She picked up the slime residue it dropped -- waste not, want not -- and went further in to find the valuable hardwood stumps. There was holly, too. Leah liked decorating for the seasons.
Goddamn fucking slime slipped up on her and stung her leg while she was chopping the hardwood. She wildly swiped at it with the axe, enough to get it to back away long enough to switch axe for wooden sword and beating that to death.
There was a picturesque pond still unfrozen under the trees, the shadows giving it a romantic mystique that was ruined for her by a pair of more slimes at the water's edge. She made sure to look around and saw the broken columns poking out from the snow and a huge stone statue.
It took her more time and energy than perhaps was prudent to sweep all the snow off it and the inscription. Master Cannoli, huh? Was he a dwarf? A wizard type who preferred walking hunched and obnoxiously billowy capes?
And then some fucking ass slime cannoned into her leg, stinging her again. Fucking bitch ass motherfucker goddamn shit fuck. She definitely used up too much stamina chasing and beating that one to death, angry at it and herself. She stuffed a field snack in her mouth. She needed to leave before she got herself in trouble.
But some little rustling in the barren bushes made her snatch up her bludgeon again. She whapped at the bush, hoping to scare it away, but what fell out wasn't a slime. It was a tiny little...person?
They had slime burns on their clothing, and barely enough energy to stagger upright again, braced on a skewer of a spear.
Another slime barreled out of the undergrowth, looking damaged but pissed, and Saffron made a snap decision to grab this strange little injured creature and hoof it the fuck outta there.
A motherfucking elf? This person clamped against her shoulder with one hand was perhaps sixteen inches tall, thin and delicate. They'd dropped their spear. She was exhausted, but Wizard's tower wasn't that far off.
Privately she thought M. Rasmodius was a bit up his own ass, but he did know his shit. And at least his weird green fire was warm. He virtually ignored her after he realized what she brought, muttering to himself fast and rather incoherent, but that was okay. She just wanted to sit at the hearth for awhile.
"Who are you?" the elf demanded abruptly. "Stop touching me!"At least they were okay now.
"I know your kind, human wizard. You'll demand a ransom for me!"
"Now, now, nothing of the sort. I just want to study you. Very few people see elves nowadays. We know so little about you or your magic." He was trying to sound reassuring, but that smile was just nope. "You do owe me a favor for healing you, right?"
"Whoa, creepy," Saffron said, trying to intercede. "Don't make it sound like you're blackmailing her."
"Oh, Farmer Saffron. I'll give you a little reward for giving me such an opportunity."
"No, that's okay."
"You there!" the elf demanded, stomping to the edge of the table. "Take me away from this place, or I'll curse your descendants to the third generation."
"But what will you do about the debt you owe me?" Wizard said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want you to answer a few questions and take a sample of your magic for study."
"I'm not telling you where my people are," the elf said flatly, "but I will give you some of my magic as long as that giant over there promises to take me away from you and return me to my people."
"I accept," Wizard said promptly and made an impatient gesture at Saffron.
"Okay, I guess."
He also pulled me aside under the guise of helping to carry his magical tools from the shelf. "Be careful," he said. "You only have a touch of magic, but it's enough that she can manipulate you with. Don't ask her her name. Ask what you may call her. Don't give your name, tell her what she may call you. And it's better to use a pseudonym. Don't promise anything else if you can help it. Elves have a longstanding grudge against us 'giants.'"