“911, what’s your emergency?”
Hiz glanced up at the dispatch desk and swung booted feet off the desk. He unlocked the drawer and began buckling his gear as Callie murmured into the phone.
“Thank you for calling.” Callie hit a button on the console to disconnect the call and blew her bangs straight up. “They’re at it again.”
He grunted. “Not surprised. Annoyed, but surprised.”
She popped her gum and propped her pointed chin on one hand. “What is this, the fifth time this month, and we’re only five days in?”
Hiz glared at Callie and didn’t answer as he stomped out the door. The engine’s roar covered his grumbling during the short drive to the edge of the forest, but the crickets and snapping branches weren’t nearly loud enough enough to drown out his curses.
He could hear the taunting from half a mile away. Pixies and elves hated each other, but wouldn’t stay away from each other’s territory. And when riled, their voices had a quirk that made their voices carry for miles to human ears.
No matter that the largest of them were no more than four inches tall.
The clearing glowed with pink and yellow magic that shone through the forest greenery. Minuscule bodies swarmed the barrier he’d installed just. last. night.
“Enough!” Hiz snapped.
They ignored him.
An elf with pink hair swung from near the top of the chain link fence. Her blue boots bounced off a rung as she swung back and forth on gloves hands. “Tequila!” She howled, and the mob to Hiz’s right screamed agreement. “Bring back the tequila!”
From the ground, a stately pixie in a three piece suit and a gold pocketwatch managed to look down his nose at her. “Not until you bring back the rum you stole, young miss.”
Polite claps came from the group on the left, but Hiz wasn’t fooled. That pocketwatch was filled with poison dust, the walking canes concealed blades, and the suits were armored.
The screaming ratcheted up in intensity. Hiz buried his head in his hands and wondered if the town next door was hiring.
***
This week, Becky Jones prompted me with the pixies and elves going at it – again! My prompt went to Cedar Sanderson, about the titanium princess.
