Down and Up

The creature hurdling toward them had the body of a giant leopard and the head and tail of a serpent. It writhed as it fell from above like a cord not attached at either end. 

Mairwen and Eira scrambled out of the way across the branchy floor to escape the landing. As the creature hit the ground, the wood beneath their feet shook, knocking them to the ground.

Standing, the princess moved to run farther from the monster's vicious fangs. Though the thing had a neck long enough that it could easily shoot forward and snap her up with minimal effort, Mairwen would not give up without at least trying to escape.

An arm caught her mid-stride and pulled her to the side. She barely got a look at the male's golden face before the light was doused once more. The lid of the basket shut tightly.

"That's why you don't want to go up," he said calmly. "You never know what is going to come down. And more than that, the harpies don't take kindly to escape attempts." 

Pulling out of the male's grasp, Mairwen whispered. "We need to move!" 

"Why?" the male continued in the same casual voice. "Oh? Do you mean the Serpopard? He is out cold. The ladies up there have a way of knocking out their captives before depositing them into this penitentiary. He will not be awake for some time yet." 

"Then we should get somewhere safe before the...Serpopard," Mairwen tried out the word that she had heard, "before the Serpopard wakes up." 

"Don't worry about him. I am sure it is under control." The elf comforted her. Already the sounds of shuffling on the other side of the gargantuan basket were accompanied by chattering in the Ancient Tongue. Ignoring it, the he-elf shrugged. "Now if that creature were a Myrmecoleon, we might be in real trouble, but that critter is tame by comparison. The Sprites can handle him." 

The princess could not process all that she was hearing. Maybe if she had been Aurora, who had a vaster knowledge of magical creatures, she would be able to follow the conversation more easily. As it was, the only creature name she recognized of the three was 'sprite'." 

As her eyes adjusted, Mairwen could see an army of little beings covering the Serpopard. They were tying cords together in order to constrain it when it finally awoke. The Serpopard was not going anywhere.

"Why didn't they do that to you or me?" Mairwen wondered.

"They don't think we are a threat. Which is one of the reasons I stopped you from running. I don't want them to change their minds. I'm strong, but there are far more sprites than I can reasonably handle." The elf grunted at the end. "Speaking of running, what happened to your friend?"

"Eira!" In all the excitement, Mairwen had forgotten about her personal guard. The soldier had likely tried to run as well but hadn't had someone stop her. 

"Here, Your Highness!" Eira slowly picked her way through the darkness back toward the other two. 

"Your Highness?" the elf gave the woman a second look. "A little lost for a princess, aren't you?"

"You could say that..." Mairwen shrugged. "This is Eira."

"So I have heard." the shadowy elf tipped his head. "and you both humans? How in the world did you end up in the clutches of the harpies? Have they started going outside the barrier?" 

"No, we were inside the barrier. Looking for you, actually." Mairwen saw the elf stiffen. 

"Me? Why would you be looking for me?" 

"You are Uri, right?" Mairwen guessed at the elf's identity. "We were with Nath and Lilith before we were taken into the sky. They joined us on our trek to the Fates. We found your trail and sought you out, but the Harpies found us first." 

"I see," Uri furrowed his brow. "And Nath and Lilith..." 

"Are fine. They are probably trying to track us even as we speak." Mairwen was confident on this point.

The two elves wanted Uri and Renat and Alaron would most certainly try to save Mairwen and Eira before continuing onward. It was only a matter of time before they caught up.

"Uh, I don't mean to alarm you, but those things are nearly done over there," Eira had been paying close attention to the Sprites.

The creatures were around half the height of an adult human with skin in every shade and hue. They had no weapons, but by the way they had bound the monster, they were quite adept at capturing things if they so desired. 

"Remain calm and they won't bother you. They are harmless as long as they don't think you will hurt them." Uri assured them. He motioned for them to slowly back away. 

It was easier said than done. The uneven floor was not easy to navigate, especially in the darkness. Sensing Eira's discomfort with the situation, Uri continued to talk to fill the silence. 

"There are plenty of dangerous things in here. But the Sprites have bound them all. I am rather impressed with their work. I don't know how long they have been here, but they had already developed the system before I arrived. Smart little critters. But we came to an understanding early on. We leave each other alone."

Uri had quite a lengthy conversation with the Sprites when he woke up in the wooden cage, but he had avoided speaking with them much since then. He sensed they did not enjoy talking to those who were not their own kind. Like it was laborious to speak to those who did not understand. 

"Are they working with the Harpies or do they have their own agenda?" Mairwen wanted to gauge the level of caution she needed to have. 

Uri scratched the scuff on his chin. "I don't know, actually. I just assumed that they were making the best of the situation. Sprites are collaborative creatures, but usually only amongst themselves. I suppose they could be working with the Harpies. It would explain why the winged ladies are acting so out of character." 

"Out of character?" Eira found her voice enough to challenge his words. "Is this not how the Harpies always act?" 

"They are the watchers of the Land of Magic. They try to clear out things that don't belong. They will chase threats back over the ice barrier, or if that cannot be done, they will capture and imprison them until they decide what to do. On rare occasions, when they deem the threat is too great, they will kill the intruder. 

"It makes sense that they would capture humans. You clearly don't belong here. Not a magical bone in your body. But the rest of us? It is very odd." 

Uri brought them to the small camp he had made in the branches. The elf had cleared a wide enough spot of ground to make a fire without threatening to set the whole basket ablaze. He poked at the smoldering ash on the ground until it revealed a spark. Then he pulled a couple of loose branches from outside his circle and added them to his fire. 

They could finally see one another clearly. 

"Could we ask the Harpies about it? If we offended them in some way, surely we can make it right!" Mairwen did not like the idea of fighting their way out of the situation. If the Serpopard did not stand a chance against them, what right had she to hope?

"You can try to talk to them if you like, but you won't be able to do it in here. They only open the lid to throw in new victims and occasionally some food as well. I don't think they have ever captured a group of creatures on this scale. They are struggling to maintain those who are here and yet still adding more all the time. I am beginning to think they either mean to starve us to death or have us eat one another. I don't like either of those prospects..." Uri's voice trailed off. 

"Well then, we will change the prospects. Is there anyone else here who might be able to help us? Besides maybe the Sprites. I will try talking to them first..." 

"I doubt they will want to speak to you and even if they do, it is unlikely that they speak human-speak," Uri shook his head.

"Then you can translate for me. We will round up as many as are willing to help us and then we will all get out of here." Mairwen held up two fingers as if the steps were simple. 

"All of us?" Uri blinked at the princess before him before looking at Eira, "Is she serious?"

"Serious as the plague," Eira responded evenly. 

"Oh? Tell me, Your Highness. How do you plan on accomplishing all that?" Uri crossed his arms in disbelief.

Mairwen smiled gently. "We will go the way you showed me. Up!"