The voice came from right above us.
A scaly thin figure was greedily counting red tear-shaped crystals, whilst flitting about its six unevenly shaped wings. They looked like red and brown curled autumn leaves- the ones which gave satisfying crunch sounds when stepped on.
'Oh, those delightfully stupid humans all converging into one place to make my job easier!'
'If I save up half of the drips, I can pay off a few of my loans and still have enough to pay back that mean witch Hydra.' The creature began to spin in loops, giggling over all the damage it had caused.
'Uhm, excuse me.. who are you?'
I rolled my eyes. Of course, Yuri wasn't cowering in fear from an unknown creature, who had killed over 200 people but trying to converse with it.
The figure turned and sneered, 'Seems I missed a spot. Ah well, 2 drips won't make much of a difference. Consider your selves lucky it's me, Gia the generous and kind sprite, you're left in the mercy of, not some unforgiving hell-bent hag, like Hydra.'
'Generous?' I scoffed inwardly. I had my thoughts, but who was I to challenge a sprite who had singlehandedly slaughtered those people?
'Generous?! You just killed my friends! You make me laugh, does it make you feel good to discard lives for those 'precious' drips?!' Yuri challenged the sprite who had singlehandedly slaughtered those people.
The sprite seemed bemused.
It was 9:30 pm, too late for me to deal with her nonsense. 'C'mon let's go,' I mumbled to her.
'Maybe that 'old hag' of yours was right to be so demanding of you. You.. you... selfish jerk!'
Yuri... you need to reassess who you're taking you anger out on. Why must she be this way?
'Pfft. AHAHAHAHahah. I like you, young human. Wait till I post this on Monstagram. A mere human calling me, one of the 9 Disasters, a jerk!' Gia laughed. 'Hmm, but I can't just let you go after showing me this much disrespect... I could just crush you here and now, but that wouldn't be fun.. no, it wouldn't be.' It seemed to be more talking to itself now.
'Ooh yes! I propose a game. And the penalty for losing is death!' the sprite chuckled, revelling at its intelligence.
'Sure! Bring it!' Yuri shouted, jumping straight in. Urgh, I guess I had to be the practical one againn.
'We're not stupid. You only told us what the penalty would be. What do we get, if we win.' I said.
'Well, you're lives, of course.' Gia sneered.
'Not good enough. Just kill me now and forget about your entertainment.' I put on my poker face.
'AHAHAHAHA! ... oh.. you're serious. I guess humans have changed a lot in the past millennia. Very well, funny human. I'll give you a meteor sprite's blessing.' Gia doubled over in glee, 'Ooh this is going to be fun!'
...
Rules of the game:
I'll close my eyes and give you 10 minutes to hide, prepare or whatever you have in mind.
After 10 mins, I'll come to find you.
If I touch both of you between your shoulder blades, each within a 5-minute interval, I win, and you die.
However, if you both manage to touch my wings simultaneously before I reach you both, you win.
Also, I put a forcefield around the bottom of this hill, so don't even think about trying to run away.
Well, 10 minutes start now!
...
'Next to the sports field, there's a small forest with bushes and trees; they'll provide good coverage.' I said once we were out of Gia's earshot.
Yuri nodded. 'So what's the plan?'
'Why are you asking me? You're usually the outspoken one in charge.' I muttered.
Yuri laughed, 'I've been a reckless airhead since this whole thing began, I think it's better for you, who's clearheaded and calculating, to plan our course of action.'
'Fine. So listen up, I've got a plan, but the timing is important. How confident are you in your tree climbing skills?'