Episode 008: A ‘Little’ Elven Child

That he said he would help me was oddly reassuring. Then again, considering the situation I was in, even an AI that was freely looting my brain would be welcome at this point. I could do with any help offered, no matter if it were useful or not.

At the least, it soothed my nerves a little.

Pocketing the phone again, I shifted to sit on the floor before trying to tackle the knots again. It was slow work, mostly since I was a growing child (I’m still growing at 20! … maybe.) and my hunger was distracting me. An annoying quirk of my body: I could go long periods without eating because I was focused on something but once it was brought to attention I needed food, my stomach would not be silenced until it was fed and watered.

I was moments from just calling it quits and taking a nap to save my limited energy when I heard soft, quick footsteps drawing near my cell. Bracing myself for trouble, I was not expecting a cute little girl to be seen through the web of roots.

“Ing, just keep it short with him, alright?” a guard gruffly reminded, sounding all kinds of reluctant.

An illicit visit, then. Gravy.

“I understand. Go, I will be fine!” the bell-like voice intoned with a cute, slightly imperious tone—like she was used to being listened to.

Since I was facing the voices, I finally managed to witness the tree prison moving. I’m not sure how I missed the soft green glow before—

[Vision Adjusted to See Energy Flow - Filtered]

—Oh, okay. Thanks.

Whatever she was doing, it looked like fireflies danced around the roots. Little motes of light infused with the organic prison and then the roots shifted like a curtain, revealing Ing. Her lips moved with the murmured chanting, which I finally (rationally) did not understand, the syllables sounding like a murmuring brook or breeze sweeping over long grass.

Visually, I saw a child with wheat-blonde hair that swept tiny shoulders. She looked maybe 11 years old but I figured that might be deceptive, considering the different race factor.

[Elves have ten times the lifespan of humans. Ing is essentially a late-blooming teenager.]

I was curious about whether that meant they stopped aging after a certain point or was slow-aging but was brought back when the elven ‘child’ addressed me.

“Wow, they really just threw you in here without asking anything, didn’t they? To call Big Sister ‘he,’” she walked into the small space before sitting primly before me. “I’m Ing, Apprentice to Shamaness Verk and I know you weren’t responsible for her disappearance.”

Yeah. Sure, whatever.

Instead of straightening out the pronoun confusion, I was more focused on the fact this was the first elve that was not antagonistic to me. Not the ideal elve considering Eti was greedy for leadership and Ing would probably not have the backing to take over (there would be no “meeting” later about it if she did have the reputation), but it was always good to have at least one of them on my side!

Or, at the least, not against me.

Once I registered her proclamation though, I noticed a peculiarity that might help me get out of this mess. Or maybe some answers, if not.

“Ing, was it?” I continued when her small blonde head nodded up and down energetically, skin rosy in the look of a healthy child. “Why do you know I’m not responsible for your Master’s disappearance?”