Page 23 of Chased By the Fairy

Mr Toad smirked, stepping forward once more, like Sorrel’s demand was meaningless.

Fuck this! I am done biding my damn time.Curling his right hand into a tight fist, he refused to think about the worst that could happen and instead focused on hope. He could do this.

When the malevolent sprite got close, Sorrel smashed his knuckles into his nose. Mr Toad let out a sharp yelp, right before Sorrel slammed his elbow into his cheek. Not expecting the attack nor the strength that was hidden in Sorrel’s slim body, spittle sprayed from Mr Toad’s mouth as he collapsed.

Without thinking twice about it, Sorrel opened the door to the office and bolted past the guards.I just need to get outside.Hemight be able to find someone out there who would be willing to help him.

“Get him!” Mr Toad yelled, but Sorrel was already running through the ballroom.

He could see the cold winter light through the doorway.

Before he could make it, Sorrel was tackled from behind and his chest slammed against the ground. A different guard had grabbed him. He threw his elbow back, shoving the hard point of it into his nose, and he heard a satisfying crack.

The fuzzy white moth sprite wailed, reaching for his long, curly nose.

Sorrel got out from under him and sprinted towards freedom.

The harsh, cold air greeted him. It felt like needles in his lungs and razors against his skin. He ignored it as he scanned his surroundings, seeing he needed to bank left to go towards the town.

He was tackled once more, but before he even needed to fight, someone came to his rescue. A man, who looked like a swallow sprite, dragged one of the toad guards off Sorrel. The swallow tossed him to the side and then shoved him over the railing of the ship.

“Hey, are you okay?” the swallow asked, grabbing ahold of Sorrel’s forearm to pull him to his feet.

“No!” he blurted out. “I’ve been kidnapped and I’m trying to get away.”

“I thought you looked uncomfortable on stage,” he whispered to him. “You’re lucky I saw you running.”

“Why were you in there?” Could Sorrel even trust him then?

Mr Toad burst through the doorway. “Get back inside.”

The swallow stepped in front of Sorrel and spread a singular wing to cover him like a shield.Sorrel moved away slightly as he took in the back of his feathered head. Then his gaze drifted past Mr Toad and into the dim ballroom.

“I’m a migrating sprite.” His feathery brows knitted together. “I was separated from my flock, and I needed a warm place to stay for the night. This was the only place available that wasn’t a hollow tree. Not really my particular place of fancy, but when you’re hiding from the cold, you’ll take what you can get.”

“This has nothing to do with you, stranger,” Mr Toad said, seeming to wait for his guards, who slowly came to stand next to him. “Step aside.”

The swallow lifted an arm to point at him, his wings flapping in irritation. “Justice alone is enough for me to step in. You shouldn’t keep people against their will.”

Sorrel eased into his feathery back. His rescuer was bigger than he was, and right now, he just needed someone on his side.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you so much.”

“Get them,” Mr Toad snapped to the guards flanking him before he directed his gaze to the swallow sprite. “You’ll regret this.”

A moth sprite, lizard sprite, and a toad sprite surged forward, while the other toad from the duo appeared at the top of the ship’s outer stairs.

“Five against two?” the swallow scoffed, adding the boss of this crew in his count. “I think our chances of running are better than fighting.”

Before Sorrel could say anything, his feathered saviour spun around and scooped him into his arms. With three flaps of his wings, he was in the air.

The moth took flight, and the swallow dipped to the ground to evade him when he shot forward to attack. It brought them so close to the pond’s edge that Mr Toad himself was able to leap into the air and grab Sorrel by the long strands of his hair and tug.

Sorrel yelped when he was yanked from the swallow’s arms and crashed against the hard ground. Pain lanced his scalp, andagony shot from his side where it took the worst of his fall. His shoulder and ribs on that side immediately felt bruised as the impact knocked the wind out of him.

He rolled against the dirt before he shakily attempted to get to his feet.Ouch.

“Sir!” The swallow dived for Sorrel, intending to grab him before anyone else.

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