Nicknames

"Havi?" Had this elf just called him Havi?! He looked up angrily. Since two days they had left the country border behind, to which he had still been able to teleport them. From then on, magic was over if their lives were dear to them, and Havir was very attached to himself and his life.  

"Havir! My name is Havir! Havir the magnificent, the beautiful, the..." 

"the conceited!" Insolently, she stuck her tongue out at him.  

"Unworthy one...!" Before he could really get going, however, she interrupted him again. 

"Which way do we have to go?" Have to, was exactly the right expression. Sullenly, he pointed to the second fork in the road and Phoenice hummed to herself with satisfaction. 

It was simply not to be believed. They were running around like lost sheep and the elf was humming happily to herself. He was about to offer himself to the council, to turn her to ashes as punishment. Not once had she admired his beauty or his kindness, not once! Normally, females lay at his feet with just a glance, begging for his attention! 

This trip gnawed at his self-confidence. At least if they finally came to a village where the human women could admire him. Longingly, he thought of a hot bath, a table full of stuffed birds, and a warm soft bed with a fueled fireplace, not to mention the prettiest village woman to flatter him.  

But the elf seemed to have no sense whatsoever of the pleasant things in life, instead she had been stubbornly tramping along the path he pointed her for hours. Stumbling, she always gave the impression that she was walking on two legs, just practicing, or that she had alcohol that she did not share with him. He would trust her with that.