Page 25 of Mushy Stuff
I cough as it goes into my mouth and nose. I don’t feel right. I feel weak and dizzy. I look at the female again, and then I collapse as everything goes dark.
Chapter 17
Iwaitoutsidethelittledressing room, as Lydia called it. I am very stressed about being separated, even this much. I know she is just on the other side of this flap, and is safe, but I just cannot turn off the fear of something happening to her.
I hear a faint noise that sounds like a gasp from Lydia. I step closer to the flap to listen.
Just then, the merchant comes to my side. “Is there anything else you would like to look at for your woman?”
I notice that she keeps referring to Lydia as a ‘woman’ instead of a female. She must know that Lydia is human. Instantly my heart drops and I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. Something is happening.
The merchant is still speaking as my mind races with panic. “We have this lovely, flavored body powder thatis great for intimate…” Then she blows a puff of powder in my face. I sneeze and shake my head…then I realize…
I rasp, “No!” Then I collapse as everything goes dark.
***
When I wake, the sun is rising. My head is pounding and even the smallest amount of light sears my eyes.
I blink rapidly, trying to figure out what happened and where I am. This isn’t my home, and Lydia isn’t curled up next to me…
Oh gods, Lydia!
I remember what happened now. I get up as quickly as I am able, and stagger to thedressing room. I rip open the flap with my claws.
Lydia isn’t there.
I can barely scent her, but my head is full of the smell of whatever they used to drug me. Her bag and clothes are lying there on the floor, and on the other side of the room, another flap is open.
There was a second way in.
Lydia is gone.
Someone took her.
My sweet little sprite.
My heart starts racing, and I hear the blood pounding in my ears. My muscles burn with the urge to destroy whoever took her. I bellow in anger and begin tearing through everything while screaming Lydia’s name. I’m desperate to find some small hint of where she was taken.
It doesn’t take me long to completely destroy the clothing and the tent. I’m standing in the shreds of what is left.
Most customers have left already, but there are still merchants there, and many of them are coming out of their tents now to see what the noise is.
A few curious merchants are watching me, but most quickly look away and continue what they were doing. I yell, “Lydia!! Did anyone see where they took her?” A few people shake their heads.
Just then I catch a faint thread of Lydia’s scent. It is mixed with the scent of two females. One is the dress merchant, and the other is similar, but younger.
I roar with rage. Then I spring out of the tent wreckage and run as hard as I can chasing Lydia’s scent. The scent is so faint that she must have been taken hours ago. Please, gods, let me find her.
I race across the ground until I get to the woods, and then I spring from tree to tree. It is faster than running along the ground, and it will allow me a good vantage point when I do get to her.
Lydia, I am coming for you.
Chapter 18
IgroanasIwake up, eyes crusted shut. Oh gods, I feel awful. My head is pounding, and my stomach feels terrible.
What happened? I remember the market. I remember eating the pies. The pretty Guardian that I didn’t like. That dress and the creepy dressing room. I gasp…THAT PRETTY GUARDIAN!
