The Night Raid

The Night Raid

I finally managed to drift off to sleep with the image of the House of the Serpents still engraved on my mind's eye. I had not bothered to put the items back into the bag, instead placing them all on a small table on the opposite side of the wagon.

I do not know how long I had been asleep when I was startled to consciousness by a bang, some foot shuffles and the muffled sound of whispered curses. I slowly turned the handle on a small lantern beside my bunk. As the light came up, I could make out a tiny hand, with long red finger tips, reaching for one of the stiletto shoes on the table.

“Hey!”

Two small creatures, one with a dark fuzzy mop of hair and the other with long streaky blond hair, shot up from behind the table, each holding a shoe by a pointed heel.

“Hey! Gimme those!” I shouted as I bolted from my bed. Pixies! Angry too by the looks of one of them.

The blond one tittered and giggled as she flitted up towards the ceiling of the wagon. “I can fly, I can fly!” she wailed.

The other one, with the dark fuzz of hair, glowered as she hissed, “Taffy, shut up! You’ll wake the rest of the camp.” The Dark One, shoe in hand, flew upward as well, heading towards the smoke opening in the ceiling.

I leaped as high as I could and grabbed Taffy by the leg.

A screech filled the wagon as Taffy began swatting me in the face with her free hand. Suddenly, I felt the wind get knocked out of me as the Dark One flew straight into my back, sending me sprawling on the floor. As I tumbled, I knocked over the table containing all the bag contents. Everything spilled to floor. The unicorn medallion fell directly before me, its gold face catching the light and shining brightly.

Both pixies screamed, dropping the shoes. As the shoes fell to the floor, so did the pixies with a loud thud. Realizing the importance of the medallion, I grabbed it and shook it in front of Taffy and her friend.

“You don’t like this, do you!” I taunted. “Tell me why you’re after my shoes!”

“Humans aren’t supposed to fly!” Taffy cried.

“Shut up, idiot” shouted the Dark One.

“Fly? These shoes will make me able to fly?”

“Of course not. Just give them to me. They’re of no use to you. You can’t possibly walk in them. So you might as well give them to me,” pleaded the Dark One.

I stepped forward and shoved the medallion in her face. “Tell me the truth!”

“Alright, alright. Anyone who puts them on can fly as fast and as far as they want. But, HUMANS should NOT have them. They’ll just go around making trouble for the rest of us!” The Dark One made a move towards the door behind her. As I followed her, I stepped into a shadow and the medallion’s brilliance faded for a moment. The binding spell broke long enough for Taffy and the Dark One to crash through the wagon door and race into the darkness.

I pulled the door shut and slid the bolt into place. I righted the table and put the contents back into the bag.

Flying shoes, huh? "Well, well, well", I smiled, "this indeed was going to be an interesting adventure."


Text and image: Lori Gloyd (c) May 2, 2006