“Let me out!” it shrieked, the pitch rising impressively even higher. “Let me out! You useless sacks of flesh and dirt! Thieves! Thieves who want to steal Io! Let me out! Let me out, let me out, letmeoutletmeout!”
“Kohna. Tredd, couldn't you have included a silencing matrix?” Axis asked, pressing his hands over his ears at the ever escalating racket the creature was making.
Tredd gave him the stink eye. “You think making rune matrixes is easy? Next time you can do it and include your silencing matrix. I really want to see it explode in your face.”
“It was your idea,” Solitus pointed out rather blandly.
“Hey, stop talking! What are you even talking about? Io wants to understand, too! Let me ooooouuuuut!”
“I'll let you out,” Tredd interrupted the next high pitched tirade. “If you give me some answers in return.”
The sudden silence resonated like a ringing bell. The creature stopped flailing, seemed frozen. Only the glittering dust coming from its back, seemingly forming some type of wings, kept moving.
“You,” it yelled, pointing its finger at Tredd rather aggressively, “do not get to have answers! You imprisoned me!”
“It's not my fault you flew right into the trap.”
That stopped the creature short once again. It honestly looked kind of hilarious. Tredd didn't bother to hide his grin.
“Besides,” Tredd continued, “It's not like it's too bad. There's a whole cup of sweet cream right there.”
The creature whirled around to where Tredd was pointing, giving off a squeal as soon as it saw the cup. It lunged forward, only to tumble back when it reached the edge of the inner rune circle. With flailing limbs it fell on its ass. Tredd barked a laugh.
“That's not fair!” the creature wailed.
“Life isn't fair,” Tredd said.
“You!” It jumped back on its feet, hair bristling like it was an angry cat. “You are worse than the Lionheart!”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
The huff the creature released was enough to sprinkle its glittery dust everywhere. It sparkled in every colour of the rainbow in the half-shadows of a late afternoon. “That wasn't a compliment.”
“Oh, I know. But I don't want compliments from you, I want answers.”
Tiny blue arms were crossed in front of a tiny blue chest. This creature couldn't be taller than Tredd's forearm. “Answers are expensive. And I will make you pay double for trapping me in this!”
Tredd exchanged a look with the other three standing a few paces back. This was not going quite like expected. For one, this creature, this Good Neighbour, was acting more emotional than any self-respecting fihrie ever would. With maybe the exception of Nyx Ulric, but that man was a special case anyway. Luche actually had the audacity to roll his eyes as if to say 'it was your idea, you deal with it'. Tredd snorted and focussed all his attention back onto the creature.
“I'll pay half. Your own carelessness got you caught. I have nothing to do with that.” He pointed at the small cup of sweet cream. “One of those for each answered question. But only if that answer is to my satisfaction.”
Grey eyes focussed on the sweat cream with all the ferocity of a predator about to make a kill. “Agreed!”
With a satisfied smirk Tredd crossed his arms in front of his chest. The creature – from its earlier ramblings Tredd thought its name might be Io, not that he cared overly much, but it might be useful – tried to once more leap towards the cup, but was repelled once again by the crackling flare of the runes. A true work of art, if Tredd said so himself.
“Fine then!” it said, glittering dust floating every which way. “Tell me what answers you want. But once this is over I'll turn your fallen hair into needles!”
Well, that was certainly a unique threat. Tredd had to give it that. He shifted his weight slightly in thought before he answered. “Tell me everything you know about the one known as Cor Leonis.”
“That's worth at least two cups!”
“Oh? You didn't even start to fulfil our deal and already want to renegotiate? Not very cunning now, is it?”
The thing pouted, lower lip jutted forward and cheeks puffed up. Tredd grinned, showing as many teeth as he could. It released the air with a high pitched sound that reminded him of a balloon.
“Fine then! You are no fun, fire-head.” It sat down, crossing stick thin legs. “The Lionheart is the strongest of us here, so he makes us all be sneaky and not obvious. That's a fun game, but sometimes there is someone stupid and Io really wants to turn their bones into salt. Playing with children is the most fun, but Lionheart forbid it. Pax really doesn't like that. The time and joy children have really is the best!”
Tredd interrupted the wall of words with a sudden snarl. “You dare harm one of our children and I will end you.”
Sparkling dust burst around the tiny blue figure, if in fear or something else Tredd could not say. “You can't do that!” it exclaimed.
“I'll trade a favour, if I must,” Tredd said, voice low and hard.
Behind him he could hear someone release a hissing breath. He could practically imagine the silent conversation going on between the three. Axis would never let him trade a favour, should it come to it, and Luche would never even let it go that far. Though the only one he would ever trade a favour with was Nyx, not that anybody needed to know that.
Silver eyes stared at Tredd through sparkling dust. Then the tiny creature grinned, mean and sharp teethed. “It would be interesting to see you lose yourself for a favour. But the Lionheart doesn't like it when his humans do that. He then gets all grumpy and mean. When he first came here he tore a poor fae to shreds because he became grumpy and mean.”
Finally they were starting to get somewhere.
