I awoke with a splitting headache and what felt to be a lump as I reached my hand back to touch my head. I couldn't seem to remember what had happened or why my head hurt. As I opened my eyes, Stell and Kade were sitting beside the bed.
"Are you alright?" Stell asked me with a worried look on his face.
"I think so, my head still hurts something fierce,"
I sat up, still feeling the goose egg on the back of my head. What the hell happened there? I was talking to a lady and then...
"Bargailius hit you hard, but he said it was necessary to break the hold the Mishraka had on you! Sorry!"
Kade was looking back towards Bargailius. He was sitting away from the bed on another chair reading a book that had a cover in a language I couldn't understand. Noticing his name, Bargailius closed his book and sat up slowly, and then turned to me.
"I told you not to touch anything," He chastised me, but then modulated his tone. "I guess I didn't say anything about looking. I keep forgetting what that little viper is like and how bad she might want to get away,BWAHAHA!"
After Bargailius's laughter stopped, my head finally stopped pounding. We were invited to sit in his kitchen, so we talked for a while about the different things he collected, like the lost amulet of Targe. I got told off by Bargailius for pointing out the fact that he had it so it technically wasn't lost.
After giving me a good tongue lashing, Bargailius made mention of looking for something. An object that could hold some of the magic from this plane, so he would be able to add it to his collection.
"We have crystals, but you can't take them from the trees. They have to be presented to you at the coming of age ceremony. We don't give the crystals away to just anyone."
Bargailius deflated, and he let out an audible sigh.
"Wait, Kade; would we be able to give him a crystal that was taken from your people?"
I could see her thinking, and after a small deliberation, Kade said that that would be alright.
"Splendid, now I trust you, fine travelers, so I have a gift for you. Call it a partial payment and a sorry for leaving that mark, if you would."
With a chuckle he handed me the small vial. It was a small glass tube with a cork on the end of it, with a little light moving around inside. It moved around the bottle sporadically, spinning in tiny golden spirals of light.
"What is it?" Kade asked Bargailius, looking at the bottle in my hand.
"This is a pathfinder sprite from a place long forgotten. She is the last of her kind, she is also very faithful, and once you let her out, she will follow you wherever you go, forever," He said with a smile on his face. "They do tend to be mischievous, but they mean no true harm and know this if you are ever lost, she will be your guiding light in the darkest place."
We sat and talked for a while longer, but then got ourselves ready to go. Bargailius led us to his front entrance. I looked over to the same window, and it was still the night sky.
"Why is it always night here?"
Bargailius looked at me with a quizzical look, but then laughed and started to push us out the door. Looks like we weren't going to get any more out of him this time, but how would we find him again
"Wait, how do we find you?"
"I am always where I need to be, don't worry my boy! We will meet again in the near future. Maybe you will have more interesting things to trade with me? Who knows? Not me! Now get out! BWAHAHA!
As the door closed, we could hear his laughter fading.
We walked in silence the rest of the way down the tunnel until we reached the cave entrance. The storm outside had stopped. As I looked around, the grass didn't even look wet.
I turned back to see that where the door was, now was just a stone wall with no markings or any sign that anything had ever been there. I looked to Stell and Kade, but they shook their heads, and shrugged. No point in trying to explain something that doesn't want to be.
Once we were back on the plains heading west again, I reached in my robe and pulled out the small bottle we had been given. What should I do with this? Do I open it now?
Stell noticed me holding the bottle and walked over to me. He looked at me with that look of "what are you waiting for," looks, and then reached down and pulled the stopper out. Just no chill at all, just go all the time with this guy, and yet he was always so damn quiet!
I jumped back and dropped the bottle, as a bright light shot out of the bottle. The sprite spun around Stell's head, squealing in delight. She was only about four inches tall with a small glowing yellow leaf dress on and small little pointed ears, but her wings were like a thing of marvel and wonder.
When she finally landed on Stell's shoulder, her wings stopped moving. They were translucent, but they glowed luminously with intricate patterns running through them. This angel was a thing of beauty, but she tucked herself behind Stell's large ear to hide.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you," Kade said with her eyes glowing. " You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Do you have a name?" The little sprite cupped her hands and whispered into Stell's ear. Stell nodded his head and then looked back at us.
"She is very timid, and has been in that bottle for a very long time. She hasn't seen anyone, but the crotchety old man, so she is a little peevish about strangers," Stell said, nodding his head as she said more. "She also says her name is Silk."
"Well, you can tell her that we won't hurt her, but we won't force her to be uncomfortable. Silk can stay with you for now, Stell, she seems to like you. Though, if we want to make it to the chasm by nightfall, we had better hurry up."
I turned, and we started back off across the plains with a new friend and towards what? I didn't know what would happen once we got to the chasm, but nothing could have prepared us.