Near Miss

For a moment, Brinn thought the boy must be talking to the spotted bug that had flown between herself and him. His wish for freedom was nice, even if the insect could never fulfill it.

But as the tiny creature flitted away, the boy's eyes remained determinedly fixed.

Right.

At.

Brinn.

The elf felt her body and looked down, but she was still invisible. Her magic had not run out.

Yet.

The child's irises turned almost grey. "You aren't going to help me, are you?" He said sadly. "And here I thought since you seemed so curious, you might actually listen to me."

The elf could suppress her curiosity no longer. "You can see me?"

His smile growing wide, the boy crouched down with his chin resting on the window sill until his face came even with the elf.

"Not exactly, but you put off a disturbance in the air that I find quite fascinating. How are you doing it?"

"Magic," Brinn answered quietly.

No one had ever been able to spot her before, except perhaps Aurora occasionally. Yet Brinn suspected that the Empress knew of the spymaster's presence more due to intuition than sight. This human boy was something else entirely!

"Magic? That makes sense then. I do not know of a way to do that trick otherwise." The boy stroked his chin, contemplating. "Quite impressive."

Brinn got up on one knee and peeked over the boy's shoulder. The old man was still sorting his book and pages, not looking their way.

The child sensed her movement and looked behind him momentarily. Then he turned back, shaking his head. "You don't have to worry about the professor. He is a little deaf. And when he gets distracted with one of his books, he may as well be in a different world. I have a couple of minutes before he calls me back."

The elf relaxed slightly. A few minutes was all she had left before needing to make a mad dash from the clearing. Her magical reserves were running dangerously low.

"So we better make this quick." Brinn answered.

The boy was pleased with her response. "Yes. My professor and I are being held captive by lizards. I am sure you saw them."

"I did." Brinn nodded, now wondering exactly how much the boy could see.

"You...you aren't with them, are you?" With the furrowing of his brow, the child scooted back a little in the window frame.

"What? No!" The elf was deeply offended.

Relaxing, the boy took a deep breath. "Of course you aren't. Those things hate magic and you are clearly magical."

"And you are clearly human." Brinn had no doubt about that. He had no magic permeating around him. Unless he had some way to hide his ability, the child was a mundane mortal. "So how did you get mixed up with this crowd?"

"That's a long story, but like the men before them, they claim to be working for my sister's friend." the child pursed his lips. "I think it is all a lie though."

Brinn pinched her nose. It was a lot to take in. "I want to hear more about your sister and her friend, but first we need to get you out of here."

"Then you will help me?" The child's eyes lit bright blue as he cupped his hands around his mouth to focus the sound. "That's good, because I have a plan. You see..." The young man was cut off as the professor finally seemed to find his writing pen.

"My boy, you have dallied by that window long enough. How much fresh air can a boy really need?"

The boy rubbed his face with his hand. "Coming!" he called back to his tutor. "Don't worry, I won't tell the professor about this just now. Can you come back later?"

"I will. And don't worry. I have a plan of how to get you out too," Brinn assured the captive. "Be ready whenever we come."

"We?" The boy looked around for other disturbances in the air, but saw none. "Is there someone with you?"

The elf shook her head, but realized the child probably could not see.

"I don't have time to explain. I need you to stay in this room."

The child rolled his eyes. "I don't have much choice in that matter, do I? They only let me out to relieve myself. It was a compromise."

"Good to know; that makes things easy. Very soon, I or someone with me will come for you. Be ready. My name is Brinn by the way. Just so you know who to look out for."

"Nice to meet you, Brinn. I am Jaymes. Don't worry, I will be ready."

Brinn reached out and squeezed the boy's hand, startling him slightly.

"It's cold," Jaymes chuckled.

"Well, now you know it wasn't a dream," Brinn laughed lightly. No one had ever told her how she felt when invisible. That was because she didn't touch people while trying to remain unseen.

But the elf's time was up. Her magic was critically low. Releasing Jaymes, she turned and ran as fast as she could away from the cabin. In her desire to stay with the boy as long as possible, Brinn had not managed her time well.

Racing across the clearing, she watched in horror as the lizards were returning from the frenzy. The few that got a piece of the meal were gloating while the others were licking at their wounds and muttering curses.

"Someone ought to catch us some food. There must be deer around here somewhere." One grumbled.

"I volunteer you. You haven't contributed anything all week!" Another said as he smugly brushed a feather from his shoulder. He was still quite covered in quills but wore them as a mark of honor for his struggle.

"How can you say I haven't been doing anything! I've been out looking for our white furry friend!"

"But you didn't find him! Go back to eating insects. I have seen your taste for them lately."

The first shoved the other roughly. "You've been eating them too. I've seen your tongue flick out at flies!"

The closer they came, the more the lizards began to argue. It would not take much for a new conflict to begin.

But Brinn was too focused on her own problem to pay much attention to theirs.

She could either enhance her speed for a few moments or continue to remain invisible for about half that time.

Since the elf knew there was no way to outrun the lizards, Brinn chose to remain unseen as long as possible in hopes of reaching the tree line without being noticed.

It might have worked, except…

The hungry lizard finally had had enough. He punched the feathery lizard, sending him to the ground with a mighty thud.

While Brinn had corrected her course to avoid the falling lizard, she could not escape the torrent of plumage hitting her in the face.

The feathers parted around her fleeing form in a soft rain, but not before tickling up against her nose.

'Drat!' Brinn could not stop the reaction. The sudden itch in her nose would be answered by her body.

Brinn sneezed.

The last second of invisibility was robbed from her as her golden form materialized in the clearing. Her time was up, and she would have to rely on her wits and physical skill to get her out of the situation.

However when the lizards looked toward the sneeze, all they saw was a subtle movement in the grass. They began to argue amongst themselves who had made the noise, and their ongoing fight was rekindled.

———-

Brinn landed in Alvar's arms. The portal overhead from which the she-elf had come quickly disappeared like it had never existed.

It was replaced by a vertical portal through which Reyan materialized.

"Got yourself in a little trouble there, didn't you princess?" The fairy smirked. "How wonderful that a handsome male was able to save your rear."

"A very handsome male indeed!" Brinn kissed her husband.

"What?! No, not Alvar. Me! I was the one who watched diligently from the trees to make sure you made it back. I opened the portal beneath your feet and I made sure you landed in the arms of your husband who isn't even supposed to be this close!" Reyan's cheeks burned bright red while he brushed off his hands at the indignation.

"Oh, I thought you said handsome, not horrible. My mistake." Brinn winked and gave a lopsided grin. "But really, thank you, Sir Greatness. I owe you one."

"I'm going to let the insult slide, but only because you had the sense to call me by my proper title." The curmudgeon tilted up his nose. "Anyway, we should get back to the others before those lizards sniff us out."

Alvar set down his wife. "Well, did you find what you were looking for?"

Brinn nodded, her face turning grim. "I did. Once I recover, we are staging a rescue."