āWhat seems to be the matter?ā asked the Elf, in that same insufferably airy tone that would have made it a fortune doing voiceovers for shampoo commercials.
Khalil sighed miserably. āPhoneās dead,ā he said, scowling at the shimmering city. āFigures. Of course it lets me take a thousand blurry cat pictures and then konks out on me the moment I find something worth photographing.ā
The Elf laughed. Khalil suspected it was meant to be a scornful laugh, but his companion had the emotional inflection of an automated voice messaging system, and it lacked punch.
āFoolish human,ā said the Elf. āYour āphoneā will not work here. No technology functions past the borders of Faerie.ā
If Khalil let his eyes unfocus and used his imagination, the expression it wore could almost pass for smugness. āNow hang on,ā he said. āThatās a fucking lie. No way is that true.ā
āFoolish human, I cannot tell a lāā
āOh, shut up. You say no technology works here, but youāre clearly wearing some kind of ritzy elf sword. Are you gonna try to tell me that they grow on trees here? Obviously youāve got smelting and forges and metallurgy. Youāre wearing woven fabric, and you stole a bunch of medicine from that pharmacy in Detroit. We rode my bike over that troll bridge and it didnāt stop working.ā
āThatās different,ā protested the Elf, a shallow groove between itās eyebrows betraying profound distress. āThatās not technology.ā
āIt is, though! āTechnologyā doesnāt just mean guns and electronāā
There was a hand clamped tight over his mouth, smothering him before he had even registered movement. āHold your tongue before I cut it out of your head,ā hissed the Elf in his ear. āYou donāt know what youāre messing with.ā
It released him, and Khalil stumbled back, staring wildly. It had moved terrifyingly quickly. No doubt it could make good on its threat if it cared toāsix years of boxing and he still had no hope of defending himself against something that could move like that.
āWhat magic doesnāt know canāt hurt it,ā said the Elf in a low and strangely unsteady voice, sounding for the first time like a living being. āBe careful what ideas you give it. Some things seem right, and thatās what matters.ā
The Elf must have grabbed him hard, Khalil realized, tasting the tang of blood where his lip had been torn open on his teeth. He swallowed, and stared at the Elf in horror. āAre you telling me,ā he said slowly, āThat your entire magical system, the physics of your entire world⦠is based⦠on vibes?ā
The Elf grimaced and did not meet his eyes.