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there must have been more than ten of them gathered together . |
they were parading around a blazing camp fire , mumbling and talking about things i couldnt hear over the flames . |
some more emerged from the woods and joined them , their shadows dancing behind them . |
then all of them suddenly broke out into an ominous song : he will rise to the heavens , from the very pits of hell . |
to take control of our world , and the gift- less ones as well . |
he will rule with a flaming torch , and save those who are worthy . |
and for those who arent , well , you better watch out ! |
they all broke out in crazed laughs , which gave me the impression that each and every one of them was mad . |
hell , i knew they were already mad . |
they threw dirt at the fire and continued their wild laughs . |
emily shuddered by me as they lifted their voices in another chorus . |
he will rise to the heavens , from the very pits of hell , to crush all half-lings and to take their very souls . |
for the king will rule all , with his cruelty and rage . |
i wouldnt want to be that half-ling , that he spears through the head ! |
this time they were rolling on the floor , howling in laughter . |
well , i didnt think this was very funny at all . |
what was funny about getting speared through the head ? |
i had a feeling the king they were talking about was kojas , and i really didnt want to be around to meet him , especially if it meant my head was going to become well acquainted with a weapon . |
that is , if i was even a half-ling like the dwarfs claimed i was . |
they laughed and sat in a tight circle mumbling things i didnt catch . |
my hand slipped to my knife but emily grabbed my hand to keep me from drawing it from its leather case . |
no jazell not yet , maybe we can learn a little more from them . |
her voice was a hoarse whisper . |
but emily , its awful to listen to . |
cant we just destroy the camp ? |
i went for my bow instead . |
no , she said a little more clearly . |
we have to wait and see what happens . |
plus , we cant just randomly attack them . |
i didnt really care . |
the song was repeating itself in my head , like a taunt . |
without thinking , i aimed and shot the nearest dwarf . |
as soon as he went down , the whole camp was facing our direction . |
i was standing up now where everyone could see me . |
there was no point in hiding anymore . |
emily stayed hidden behind the tree , and i could feel her glare trying to burn me into ashes . |
youll wish you never shot one of his loyal servants . |
a dwarf seemed to laugh at me . |
kojas will destroy you , half-ling . |
that is it , im sick of your riddles ! |
give me a darn straight answer or ill shoot every single one of you , i spat angrily , leveling my bow . |
kill all you like half-ling , but that wont help you in the end . |
you will pay heavily in a terrible death worth all the loyal lives youve slayed , the dwarf proclaimed , and his friends bellowed out an agreement . |
i dont care what the heck you say about dying because nothing will stop me from killing all of you ! |
youre making no apparent sense at all , and i dont care what stupid message youre trying to send me ! |
i hissed so bad i think that i spit . |
gross . |
oh but you will care , half-ling . |
the dwarf was now whispering and all the others had fallen silent so they could hear . |
you will care because in the end , he will destroy you once hes done using you . |
my arms were still tense and my muscles whined in protest as i held my arrow back in full draw . |
use me to do what ? |
i spoke , using the same tone as him . |
the dwarfs eyes were twinkling in happiness . |
he seemed happy to tell me the answer . |
to take over the gift-less ones world , why else half-ling ? |
youre the connection between igneeria and your world . |
he needs you and he has made that clear . |
the world had fallen to silence . |
i spoke in barely a whisper , igneeria , thats your world isnt it ? |
what does kojas want ? |
the dwarf seemed to be getting extremely excited now , he wants your world and all other worlds because he is a mighty king who wishes to expand his kingdom . |
so how would we help him do that ? |
i asked , stalling . |
we just exterminate the pests . |
youre a half-ling ! |
youre the bridge to our world . |
now if you dont mind we would like to finish you now , and bring you to the king . |
the dwarf said politely and snickered , approaching me . |
i backed up slowly . |
uh , i mind a lot actually . |
i said quickly but i guess they didnt really want my opinion . |
emily jumped out from behind the trees and lifted a flame . |
she twirled it around with the movement of her hands and shot it at the nearest dwarf . |
that started what seemed like a war . |
all the dwarfs scrambled towards us and i simply shot them and emily fried them . |
then jason and seth dissolved from the shadows and entered the clearing . |
what are you two doing here ? |
i yelled across to them , annoyed that they hadnt made their presence known earlier . |
seth fought his way over to me , why do you need to know ? |
because you just randomly appeared and i would like to know what youre doing in emilys backyard in the middle of the night . |
i pointed out and took down the last dwarf . |
we gathered around the barely burning embers , after we had re-entered our own world . |
emily and i quickly summed up what we had learned from the dwarfs . |
jason listened and didnt speak , like usual , and for once seth didnt interrupt . |
when we were finished nobody said a word as they soaked up everything that had happened . |
it seemed like it was just too much for all of us to take in . |
all of a sudden seth spoke up . |
why are you wearing sun-tanning penguin pajamas , emily ? |
emily glared at him , what do you have against penguins ? |
and why cant i wear pajamas ? |
its the middle of the night you know . |
seth wasnt bothered by her glare . |
so it wouldnt have been hard to change . |
seth should have realized that he was pushing emilys limited patience too far and that he should shut up . |
she reached down and grabbed a small stick . |
then she smacked seth across the head with it . |
live with it seth . |
emily said every word apart and wacked him again . |
seth made a small , ow . |
Subsets and Splits