Page 14 of Magic Cursed

A tinkling fills the air and Elsie, a pixie with deep brown eyes, set against a skin tone a few shades lighter flies down to meet us. Elsie, Tuuk, and I are the only ones who were brought to Hydenglen as children, so as children do, we gravitated to one another, growing up more like siblings. Although I doubt either of them would ever have picked to spend their time with me if they’d had more options. But they do make me laugh and we’ve managed to find ways to keep entertained together throughout the years.

“You saw pixies?” Elsie asks. Her tightly spiraled, black hair frames her striking features; high round apple cheekbones, full lips, and large eyes, which are currently wider than normal. “Oh, what were their names? Do you think they will come this way so I can meet them?”

I walk onto the bridge, my boots clanking loudly on the wooden slots. “Well, let’s see, they were trying tokillme, so I didn’t get a chance to chat.” I point to my arm. “But they did leave a nice parting gift. Stings like hell.”

“What have I instructed you?” Elsie shakes her head and places her hand on a hip. “Look for the warning signs and keep far away from their territory. It’s not the pixie's fault you strayed into their hunting grounds.”

Tuuk nods his head in agreement. “Everyone knows that. Beaks and feathers hanging from a tree, black eyes and fangs, a pixie’s prey you will be,” he says in a singsong voice.

Great, the first thing I get coming home is a scolding. “I didn’t see the feathers and beaks hanging from trees until it was too late,” I say and walk faster, hoping the two of them will get the hint and leave me be.

They both pick up their pace, keeping up with me. “Well, I guarantee they were there. We are not an uncivilized society after all.”

“My arm says otherwise,” I grumble.

“You getting sloppy?” Tuuk asks. “It’s not like you to miss the signs.”

“Too right.” Elsie flies in front of me causing me to halt my steps. Her brows are creased, and her eyes run over my body. “What is wrong with you? Are you sick or something?”

I walk around her. “Nothing’s wrong.” I shrug. “I guess I was just distracted.”

Elsie flies in front of me, again causing me to stop. “By what?” She comes closer and smells me, then gasps.

I shove her to the side with one arm. “Stop it. That’s rude.”

“You stink!” She wrinkles her nose. “And is that malehumanI smell mixed in with your sweat?”

Tuuk recoils from me. “Human? Disgusting.”

“I’mhuman, you know.”

He gives me a crooked smile. “I know.”

I roll my eyes and turn to finish my walk home. The waterfall’s roar is like a beacon, calling me to sanctuary, but Elsie is in my path,again. Her beautiful, luminescent wings fluttering away, keeping her aloft.

“Oh, he must have been quite charming,” Elsie says like a purr. She smiles, showing her deadly fangs. “A handsome one to be sure, or you wouldn’t have given him two seconds of your time. Oh wait, maybe you found your fated?”

Fated is when a male and female are meant for no one else but each other. It’s also referred to as God’s Touched, or Spirits Blessed, depending on who you ask. If the fated couple’s love is nurtured, it’s so strong that it has certain magical qualities to it that are a mystery to others. A fated match is never questioned, or one would be questioning the will of the gods above and below. It’s extremely rare for someone to be fated. And even rarer that it happens outside one’s own race. To be honest, I’d question whether or not it’s real, except that my father told me he was fated to my mother.

Great, I’ll never hear the end of this if I don’t say or do something to prove to them I wasn’t a ridiculous lovestruck maiden. I sigh. “Fated, me? And to a full-blooded human? Oh, come on. If you must know,” I pull out the bracelet. “I was only fated to steal his gold.”

“Good girl,” Madam Desmira says, walking out from between two trees. “I’ve taught you quite well.” She’s six feet tall, has red hair past her waist, twisted into a beautiful braid with pointed ears peeking through, and wears a flowing gown of soft green. Des has an ageless, ethereal beauty––in fact, I don’t really know how old she is.

I give them all a cat-like smile. “Oh, that’s nothing.” I pull the dragon scale from my other pocket and Tuuk and Elsie gasp.

“Spirits!” Elsie says. “She actually did it.”

“Pay up,” Tuuk says to Elsie, holding out his stubby-fingered hand.

“Really? You bet against me?” I glare at her. “It’s as if you don’t know me at all.”

Elsie shrugs. “I didn’t bet that you would perish––though the same can’t be said for a couple of the water sprites––I just questioned your ability to procure the scale. Itwasa dragon after all. Even pixies stay far from them.”

I re-pocket the items. “I hope you lost a lot.”

Tuuk chuckles. “Five silver piecesanddessert for a week.”

Elsie growls at him. “You swine! You don’t even appreciate dessert as I do, you swallow it whole.”

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