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1203 Words
Liz thankfully didn’t play dumb. “Eh. This hurts a bit, but nothing I wasn’t prepared for.” She patted his arm with her free hand. “I’ll be fine. Really.”
They had a light dinner together. Neither of them really wanted to separate, so Matt hung out with her as she started to talk to the other teams. He tried to ingratiate himself with them as well, but it took effort, and he wasn’t half as good as her.
Liz walked up to nearly any group, and after a little introduction, was chatting as if she had grown up with them. Once she did that, it was easy for him to talk to them as well. But when a second group sat next to the one they were talking to, Matt’s attempts to do the same yielded lukewarm results. Where Liz got a firm yes to her proposal, he got maybe’s.
When he asked her, Liz said, “You needed to look at them, and their body language. I’m avoiding the unapproachable teams. They either don’t like us, or they don’t agree with our ideas. The worst thing we could do is get into an argument with someone. We don’t need everyone’s support, just a decent amount of them. So, I’m going for the low-hanging fruit first.”
She surveyed the room, and as she pulled him forward, said, “You’ll pick it up as we go. Don’t worry.”
I hope not. This political s**t’s exhausting. When can I sneak away?
13
Matt swung his sword back and forth. Blow after blow carved through the enemies before him. As he killed one, two replaced them. He tried to escape, but his feet felt stuck in the ground.
The crab monsters slowly morphed into horses with teeth of fire. He stood his ground and continued to cut through them all. In the distance, he heard a faint cry, and fought in that direction. He just couldn’t move.
He and his blade were one as they mowed through the thousands of winged rats that replaced the crabs turned horses. With his skills fully charged, Matt made quick work of them, but the more enemies he killed, the farther away the voice sounded. Soon, he was unable to move, and the voice seemed to be moving away from him.
As he looked on, the landscape beyond was just a flat, blank slate full of monsters—an endless struggle against faceless obstacles.
Unable to move, Matt stood his ground and slaughtered anything that approached him. He desperately searched for the pull in his spirit that seemed to lead him toward the distant voice. He tried to drive himself forward to no avail, failing to find the source of the noise in the endless sea of enemies.
Liz retreated through her parent’s home. They were nearly upon her. A hard left turn led her to the hall that connected to her parents’ second dining hall. She was panting, and a quick glance behind her told her she’d escaped.
Her heaving breaths sounded far too loud in the empty corridors. Each step on the polished wood flooring sounded like weights being dropped. Every echoing sound added to Liz’s growing dread of being found again.
Another noise caused her to take off running again, pushing through the sore and aching muscles. The pain was nothing, and she would prevail. If she found her parents, everything would be okay.
She paused. That wasn’t right. She didn’t want her parents’ help. She was strong on her own.
Liz opened the nearest door to find Kelly, the young girl from two apartments down.
“Kelly!! Have you seen my parents?”
“No, but can you help my parents? They just need a little money. Mommy’s potion shop isn’t doing well.”
She looked around for her parents. They told her to always find them if someone mentioned money. But she liked Kelly, so she offered up her allowance of a few dozen credits.
“Is that it? It’s not enough!” There were tears running down her face. “If she doesn’t get more, the bad men are going to take her store away. Aren’t you rich? Why won’t you help my mommy?”
Kelly threw the small, glowing currency down, and stomped on it as she turned large and angry. Flames escaped from her eyes as she screamed that it wasn’t enough.
Liz ran through the door and slammed it shut. She breathed heavily into the cool wood. Before she could process what had just happened, she was already opening the next one.
Dominic, her hairdresser, snipped her hair shorter on one side after she saw it in a movie.
“You know, the preserve of Jastor Nath fish is nearly extinct. That means they will be all gone soon.”
Liz gasped in the boosted chair. Extinction was bad. She had learned that word in school last week!
“That’s not good!”
“Yeah, it’s really bad. I’m a part of a charity that’s trying to save them.”
“That’s so cool! Can I help?”
“Yes. You just need to get your parents to donate.”
Liz tried to find her mother, but she was gone. She had to find her. She got up and ran toward the exit. Again, she found herself in the long hallway.
The next door had gold filigree around the edges, and when she opened it, she wound up playing with some blocks that she found at the edge of a party.
“Aren’t you just the sweetest little thing!”
Liz looked up at a matronly woman. “Thank you!”
She didn’t know what she had done to earn the compliment, and she was slightly miffed that it wasn’t about her blocks. She had a perfectly presentable tower halfway built. Her work was what deserved to be complimented, but her dad always said to be polite, so she thanked the lady.
“Not like those common rabble. When I ruled my house, they didn’t let the filthy commoners into the capital. No, it was well kept, and only for those of the peerage. Those of superior blood and breeding. You should come with me. I have a nephew your age who would be perfect for you.”
The woman reached for Liz’s hand. Liz was scared. She didn’t like this woman.
She pulled her hand away and ran, noticing that she was suddenly taller as she crashed into the arms of a handsome young man on a ballroom floor.
Liz leaned into the chest of a sixteen year old Hedon. She stared up at him, eyes fluttering. He was handsome, charming, and soo dreamy. All the other girls were jealous that she was dancing with him. And at twelve Liz was smitten.
“So, you’ll come to the autumn ball for society youth with me?”
Liz wanted to frown but refrained herself. She hated social events, but for Hedon she agreed. “Of course. I just need to tell my parents about the change of plans.”
Hedon laughed. “Oh, no it’s okay. We can sneak out. It will be great fun.”
- Writer
