Invisible

Brinn held her breath as the creature's beady eyes looked deep into her soul.

Or were they looking through her? Wait, was she still invisible?

Brinn looked down. All she could see was the grass on the ground.

"I wanna piece of that bird! Don't you dare hog it!" The lizard walked straight into the space Brinn was occupying.

Only by a hair's breadth and a little luck was she able to step aside to let him pass before he slammed his body into hers.

The lizard probably felt Brinn's protective barrier as he passed by, but mistook it for the wind. He was far too concentrated on the fresh meat being devoured to think about the slight chill.

In fact, all the lizards seemed suddenly whipped into a frenzy. Other than the three that had sniffed around the trunk of the tree, the lizards had seemed rather docile as they lazed about.

But seeing them swarm around the unfortunate fowl, Brinn realized she had been very mistaken. The brutality and bloodlust were all too clear.

The creature's eyes seemed to fill entirely with blind rage as they became black as pitch. The she-elf eventually had to turn away, disgusted by the sight before her as the creatures tore at their prey—and each other.

'Repulsive. Were they like this as humans?' Brinn swallowed her disgust and turned her attention to more pressing matters: the cabin.

It was why she had come, after all. The feeding frenzy had almost distracted her. Turning toward the small house, Brinn continued on a more direct path to see what was inside.

For a moment, she debated whether she should actually enter the cabin or only peek in from the windows. That was when the door flung open and made the decision for her.

Out of the cabin came the lizard with the club, swinging it wildly as he cursed at the monstrous horde.

"Calm down you idiots! It's just a few stringy birds. Don't make me bash your head to get you to come to your senses!"

While Brinn could have slipped in behind the lizard who appeared to be in charge, she didn't like the idea of possibly being trapped in the house with him and his club.

After realizing just how lax her skills had become, the elf was not confident in how she might fair against such a formidable foe if she were discovered.

Instead, while the abominable leader berated his crew, Brinn slipped over to the closest window to peer inside. Even with a cursory glance, the elf realized the cabin was deceptive in its size.

She had expected the inside to be one large room, but it was in fact divided into many smaller ones. So the first window yielded nothing but a small entry, a cot, and a blank wall.

'Very curious.'

The next window yielded a similar result, though this half-wall seemed to be hastily built and only temporary.

Had it been constructed to keep in the child which Gela had mentioned?

The third and fourth window did not give any clue of the inside either. The elf was beginning to get discouraged.

'How many windows are there in this place?! Perhaps I should have gone inside after all,' she chided herself.

Her sensitive ears picked up a voice unlike any she had heard in the clearing. It was not airy or hissing like the lizards. It actually sounded …human.

"Please professor, now is our chance! No one is paying attention," the voice begged.

"Sh! Someone will hear you!" A second, deeper voice whispered.

Narrowing her eyes, Brinn rushed to the window from which the sound had come. She had spent a lot of her magic staying invisible for so long, but it appeared her searching might not have been in vain.

Peering into the window on the far side of the house from which she had approached, Brinn finally saw what she was after. This area was small, but contained a table, two chairs and two squabbling humans.

The boy was incredibly slender but also tall enough that his age was indiscernible. On top of this the child was quite enthusiastic about his plans, making him look like a toddler with a piece of candy.

Brinn was never good at guessing human ages anyway, but she could see that the man with the boy was much older. His wisps of grey hair were dangling around his shoulders while the top of his balding head was covered in a knit woolen cap.

The older man was in a dark robe with long sleeves, but the outfit itself was quite worn. The man had been wearing his clothes for many weeks or longer. The child was in slightly better shape. He had a fresh knitted woolen scarf wrapped around his neck, and the holes in his clothing were patched.

"Just trust me, I have a plan. You only need to follow me," the boy tried to pull his elder from the table which they shared.

However the old man would not budge. "Let us just focus on our studies. We will go back to school soon enough once things are safe. They said they are protecting us, after all."

"You can't really believe that! We are prisoners and you know it!" The boy's accusation made his tutor flinch.

"What I know is you have a brilliant mind and I would hate for anything in the wilderness out there to harm it. Now, focus on your lesson before they hear you." The teacher sent a furtive glance toward the entryway.

The boy sighed, but did not point out that the tutor was defying his own logic. If the creatures were indeed protecting them, why was the old man so afraid of them?

"It was a solid plan, if you just would have listened. You see when I got out to use relieve myself…"

"The less I know, the better, my boy." The tutor pressed his lips together as his eyes watered slightly. There was obviously more he wanted to say but could not.

"Don't you miss the fresh air? A few minutes a day are not nearly enough. I am tired of being cooped up here." The boy stared toward the window, his eyes full of longing.

The chilly outside air was superior to the inside stuffiness. The curtains of the window were thrown wide to let in as much air and sunlight as possible, which was not a lot.

"I will let the tattooed lizard know that you require more sunshine. I am sure that we can work something out that will be amenable to all." The tutor tried to hide the concern on his face, and failed miserably.

"Fine, talk to him if you like, but I know it will do no good." The boy's gaze did not stray from the window. Brinn watched as his eyes seemed to turn from a dark green to blue.

At last the child released his grasp on his tutor's arm. The old man rolled his shoulder, quite relieved at having the range of motion once again.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to handle you roughly. I was just excited." The child spared his tutor a penitent bow.

"It's alright. I know how enthusiastic you can be." The tutor smiled warmly at his charge. "I do hope you are not angry at me for our disagreement."

The boy shook his head and patted the old man's hand gently. "I was perhaps too rash in my haste just now. We do need to be careful. So as long as you let me continue with my plans and schemes, I have no qualms with you, professor."

"As long as your plans include finishing this lesson, I have no qualms with you either, my boy." The old man patted the wooden chair next to him, but the child didn't see.

Even if he had, Brinn did not think the child would have obliged. His mind was not in the cabin at all.

"I will join you in a moment, if it is all the same to you."

The old man grunted a reluctant agreement and began to shift his focus to setting up for the boy's return. Papers were stacked and shuffled as he mumbled something to himself about needing more ink.

The child, whose eyes were now bright blue almost to the point of shimmering, came to the window, his head full of dreams. Brinn was so mesmerized by the gleam in his eye that she nearly missed his sudden lean to rest his elbows on the sill.

She leaned back to give him space, ducking slightly as she sat on the ground to observe him. Biting his lip, the boy looked at the tree line with an inscrutable expression. His sandy hair was uncropped and the locks fell across his forehead, giving him an untamed look.

"If only the professor would listen to me," he whispered with a solemn expression, "things would be so much better." His eyes suddenly shifted to right below the sill. "But you'll help me, won't you?"