Shades Of Green (2 page)

Shoving his fingers through his hair, Gaige glanced at Kiran. “Bloody hell.”

Thal glanced around her small cell, hoping to find a way out. She didn’t hold out much hope that she would escape before the ogre came back. She tried not to take deep breaths. The stench of the place was nearly unbearable. The ogre and its family were gassy, to say the least.

“I could die here, from the smell alone.” She wrinkled her nose and waved her hand in front of her face.

“Thal, is that you?” The muffled sound of her mother’s voice came from somewhere beyond the walls of her cell.

Leaning against the door, Thal pressed her ear against the thick wood. “Yes, Mother.”

“I had hoped...” Her mother sighed. “I wish they hadn’t captured you, too.”

“It doesn’t matter now, Mother.” Thal’s eyes burned and her vision blurred. “I think I was the last. Soon, everything will die, and us with it. Perhaps it is better if we go quickly. Do you think they will try to eat us?”

“No. I do not. They have already killed Jilly Greenleaf.” The sound of her mother’s soft sobs wrenched Thal’s heart. “They already know our flavor is unpalatable.”

“They killed Jilly?” Turning, Thal put her back to the wall and slowly slid to the floor, giving way to tears. Jilly had been her best friend. Not only would they die the slow death of starvation, she would do so knowing that the ogres had murdered Jilly. Hugging her knees, she closed her eyes and wished there was something she could do to save the rest of them.

“How often do they stop by to check on us, Mother?”

“They come in the evening. After that, they retire for the night. In the morning, they hunt anew.”

If only there were a way to escape. If only she could make herself huge, she could escape from this cage and overpower the ogres, but she couldn’t. She had two sizes only. Her working size, which was similar to that of a human, and her evening size which made her small enough to live in the hole of the tree.

With the ogres only checking on them once a day, they would have almost twenty-four hours to run before the beasts discovered their disappearance. Thal patted her legs for reassurance. Just as she’d hoped, the ogres had only found the knife at her waistband. The beasts hadn’t been bright enough to check her for other weapons. The knife had surprised them, because nymphs generally didn’t carry iron.

She smiled as she thought of the faery who had given her the useful tools. The knives weren’t made of iron. They were made of something the fae warrior had called steel. If there was iron in the steel, it wasn’t enough to interfere with a nymph’s magical powers, and the knives had proven useful. Perhaps they would be even more useful today.

Pushing her emotions aside, Thal reached up and felt along the cold door, hoping to find the latch. Maybe she could use one of the knives to cut the door open or wiggle the catch loose. Whatever she managed to do, it was certainly better than doing nothing while she waited to die.

As she shifted her size to her working height, her fingers found three large bumps along the length of one side of the door and one small hole on the other.

“What are those things?” A better question. What held the door closed?

What felt like an eternity later, Thal sat down, exhausted and thirsty. Her stomach growled noisily, reminding her that the ogres had grabbed her before breakfast and it was now dark. She didn’t know how she knew, but all Nymphs could tell the moment the sun set.

Shifting her size to her smaller evening size, Thal leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Bringing her legs up, she wrapped her arms around them, rested her head on her knees and cried.

“Who’s cryin’? You still in there, Nymph?” The deep growling voice of an ogre shot into her cell. The sound wasn’t muffled at all. It was as though he stood in the room with her.

Thal glanced up. Light from the other side of the door shone through a small opening in the center of the door that she hadn’t realized was there.

What an idiot she’d been. Not once had she thought to check up so far in the middle of the door. She’d only checked the crack and crevices along the outer edge.

Stupid, stupid, nymph. Now, think of a way to use that to your advantage.

“I’m still here, ogre.” She thought it rude to call each other by their species and not their names, but she didn’t know if ogres even had names, and she refused to give the brutes hers. “You know we’re too small to force our way out of here and too large to fit through the cracks. Did you expect us to turn into mist and float away?”

Her mind kicked into gear as she tried to think of a way to reach the small window in the door after she shifted her size.

“When do you plan to feed us, or are you going to starve us to death?”

“Nymphs don’t eat.”

Boy, they really
are
stupid, aren’t they?
Thal took a deep breath. “Yes we do, and we need water, too. Otherwise, we’ll all die. Is that what you want?”

“No. We don’t want you to die. You smell nice.”

“Not after they’re dead, they don’t,” another ogre added.

At least she thought it was another ogre. They all sounded alike. Either that, or this one was crazier than that hatter she’d met all those years ago. There was something in the way he made his hats that had driven him mad.

“That’s true.” The muffled sound of shuffling feet came through the door.

“We’ll bring you something to eat in a minute.” The corridor was silent for a moment, then, “What do nymphs eat?”

Mainly they ate vegetables and fruit. However, as long as the ground lay dormant, the ogres wouldn’t find anything that wasn’t rotten. “We-we like to eat nuts. Do you think you can find enough for us?”

“We can get nuts. We can get berries, too!”

“No berries! Just the nuts, thank you.”

Thal closed her eyes and prayed the intelligence-challenged ogres wouldn’t bring back the berries they, themselves, had been eating. They would all be too drunk to escape. She wrinkled her nose. They would also be extremely flatulent.

With luck, any of the nuts they found would be dried, not fermented. The others needed them for strength.

Time ticked by as it always did. Just when Thal decided the ogres weren’t going to return with a meal, two walnuts hit the floor with a loud crack. More noise came from the other cells as the ogres threw more nuts into the other rooms. The sound gave her cause for hope.

Listening closely, she counted. Unless she was mistaken, the ogres dropped fifty-two more nuts, all together. Did that mean they held twenty-six of her kin prisoner?

“There’s only one way to find out,” she whispered to herself.

Hurrying over to the walnuts they’d dropped before her, Thal finished cracking open the already damaged nuts, quickly eating one. The other, she removed from its shell. Ripping the sleeves from her top, Thal tied together one end of a sleeve, stuffed the meat of the nut into it and tied it closed. She then used the other sleeve to fasten her makeshift pouch to her belt.

Feeling her way back to the door, she pressed her ear against the thick metal and listened. The sound of distant snoring greeted her. With any luck, all of the ogres were now asleep. Shifting her size to her working size once more, she felt the door and hooked her fingers in the small window. She had an idea—she only hoped it worked. If it did, all she’d have to do was crawl through the small opening and drop to the floor on the other side. She only hoped she managed the feat without breaking her neck.

“I dinnae know what these three expect tae do if we
do
find the nymphs and those who have taken them. They’re only two-feet tall, for Christ’s sake.” Kiran glared at the three tiny beings who led them through the barren wood.

“They
do
hae their magic.” Gaige shrugged as they headed for the craggy hills where their three magical companions swore the ogres had taken the nymphs.

“I dinnae like it. They shouldn’t be here. There are no leprechauns in Scotland.” Kiran crossed his arms. “We hae the ugly, wee men, but not these oddly dressed buffoons.”

Gaige shook his head with a grin. “Larin, what do ye expect us tae do when we find those responsible for taking the nymphs?”

Larin spun around, his face almost as red as his hair. “Are ya both as daft as ya look?” He glared at them with a snort. “Yar both polar bear shifters. If anyone in this forest can strike down a scent-struck ogre, it should be you two.”

Kiran glanced at Gaige. “Aren’t ogres huge?”

“And polar bears aren’t?” Ian shook his head, his little round belly jiggling. “The two of you can easily take on a whole pack o’ ogres.”

“A whole pack? No one said anything about an entire group of the drooling monsters. Kiran imagined the giant wart-covered creatures who weren’t quite human chasing them with clubs. “Maybe those are trolls,” he said thinking aloud.

“Nope. The ogres took ‘em. No doubt about that.”

One thing was certain, they wouldn’t have any privacy until they found the creatures in question and freed any nymphs they might by holding against their will.

“C’mon, ya slow movin’ nits!” We have the nymphs to save, unless, o’ course, ya like the idea of suffocating slowly as the planet dies.” Ian turned to them, his silver-green eyes practically shooting sparks. “I don’t know about you two big lugs, but I don’t want to die.”

“Neither do we,” Larin spoke up, wrapping his arm around Ian. “We’re only one thousand years old. To the old ones, we’re little more than babies.”

Kiran met Gaige’s gaze. They both rolled their eyes.

“
Only
one thousand, eh?” Kiran asked.

“Don’t you patronize us!” Liam shook his finger at them. “You people
expect
to die after only two-hundred years, or so.” He brought his hand to his chest. “While
we
live to be thousands of years old.”

“Tens of thousands.” Ian puffed his chest out.

“Who knew the wee folk could get so testy?” Gaige shook his head with a grin.

“O’ course we’re angry. The fate o’ the world is in our hands. Doesn’t that do anything for ya, man?”

Kiran sighed. It
did
do something for him, but what did the little men want them to do besides take on a pack of ogres?

“Shut your holes, now.” Liam held his hand up. “We’re nearing their cave. We’ll need to watch them for a bit before we attempt to mount a rescue, since we don’t know how many of them there are.”

“I thought you said we could take on an entire pack?” Crossing his arms, Gaige raised a brow.

“You can. But the question is, how many packs are sleeping in that cave?” Ian waggled his brows. “There could be two or three packs, if their females are willing to take on more than one male. If they are, they won’t accept a male of the same pack.”

“I didn’t know ogres did that kind of thing.” Kiran glanced at Gaige. Just because their people had menage relationships, it didn’t have them believing that others lived the same way. In fact, they were aware that humans rarely did such things.

“Well, your people aren’t the only kind that likes a little spice in their life,” Larin said with a smirk.

“We never thought we were, though triad relationships aren’t the norm in any world, especially with humans. In the human world, triads are almost as rare as unicorns.”

“You should see the fae folk. They’re as bad as the proverbial rabbits.” Liam snorted. “They have no feelings of remorse. They only wish to fulfill whatever desire they have, at the moment.”

Sitting on the ground, they all settled in for what might prove to be a long wait.

“What’s that?” Kiran pointed toward something he couldn’t quite make out.

“It’s the nymphs! They seem to have rescued themselves.” Liam moved out into the open and waved his hands. “Over here! Come on, Kalysis. We’ve come to help.”

A wave of movement headed their way. Little women, all dressed in greens and browns, ran to them, stopping roughly twenty-feet away from them.

“Who are they?” One tiny female pointed at Kiran and Gaige. “We refuse to be captured again.” She held up a small knife and brandished it before her. “We just want to go home.”

“And who will protect ye after ye get there, wee lass?” Gaige bent at the waist and addressed the group. “We,” he paused, gesturing to Kiran, “know who you are and what you do. We’re willing to protect you until you can bring life back to the forest.”

“And just what do two puny humans intend to do to save us from ogres? They are very real, and very addicted to our scent. Ogres are easily three times your size.” She eyed them, her gaze filled with barely hidden contempt. “They would eat you for breakfast and then turn their attention back to us. Go home and forget you ever saw us. It’s the best thing you can do.”

Kiran eyed the nymph with shock. “For the love of everything holy, I hope this nymph isn’t who I think she is.”

Her chest puffed out, drawing his attention to her tiny breasts heaving beneath her equally small blouse.

“She’s too small.” He turned his gaze to Gaige and shook his head. Waving his arm toward the wee lass, he snarled. “She’s too fucking small!”

He started to shake. How could the fates play such a horrible trick on them?

“What in the hell is the matter with you two lads?” Larin glared at them. “She’s a nymph. O’ course she’s small.”

Gaige turned to the little man and pinned him with a stare. “Why have you brought us here to her knowing full well she’s too small for us?”

“Look here, you two idiots. I’m a nymph. Nymphs are small. I’m sure you knew that before if you knew about us. I’m offended that our size rubs you the wrong way, but you should have realized before seeing us that we are small in stature.”

“For a wood nymph, your size is as it should be.” Kiran sat on a log and lowered his head to his hands. “However, you’re a bit small to be our mate.”

“Mate?” Thal glanced at the brownies, who really weren’t brown at all. They had taken on more of the appearance of leprechauns in her opinion, but she knew the little people could change their appearance at will.