Seelie and Unseemly

11. Trepidation Draws Trolls *

Elli's ears pricked as he heard a change in the sound of Jonas's breathing. His once steady inhale and exhale of breath had become husky, shallow... 

Almost panicked.

Elli listened longer, his heartbeat beginning to match pace with the human's strangled wheezes.

Forget "almost." This was panic.

Abandoning any natural wariness, Elli crawled out from between the folds of the blanket. He sat up on the warm fabric as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark.

Once he was able to see clearly, Elli could make out Jonas's slumped figure perched precariously on the edge of his cot. He took a step towards him then abruptly froze as a familiar scent drifted into his nostrils. A chill ran down his spine that set all of his feathers on end. His tail, which often swayed unbidden, stilled.

Taking a tentative sniff, and doing his best to ignore the smell of his human companion –friend's?– salty sweat and potent fear, Elli made out the vile musk of troll. And tangled beyond that foreboding stench was the faintest of traces left by a certain kelpie. 

The scent had invaded the shack from the cracks around the door. Similarly, the smell of Jonas and his violent trepidation must have leaked from the shabby structure and drawn the troll's attention. Elli could surmise this based on the fact that with each passing moment, the stench of the troll grew stronger.

Trolls were known for their sharp noses and vast appetite for human flesh seasoned by fear. And if Elli wasn't quick enough, even if he somehow managed to calm Jonas down, the troll might have drawn near enough to catch his scent. He needed to calm him down. He needed to calm him down fast.

"Hey, Jonas!" Hissed Elli as he rushed to the edge of the table.

The human didn't respond.

"Jonas!" He hissed again, louder this time.

Still no response.

"By King Oberon's antlers, human! Your stinking fear is attracting a troll. If you don't calm down it'll break down that piddly little door over there and eat us!"

Jonas twitched. A flinch, better than nothing, but the scent of fear was no less pungent. His ragged breathing no more deep.

Elli wrestled with his own mounting panic as the troll's stench drew ever closer. How many times in one day was he going to face the possibility of being eaten? The fae whimpered, but quieted when he read the expression on the face of the human opposite him. Panic. Horror. Helplessness. Sympathy bloomed in Elli's tiny spritely heart. That must have been the same expression he had worn after finding Mabuka's mutilated corpse. The expression he had worn while his wing snapped between Unseelie fangs. 

Elli realized that he hated to see such an expression worn on Jonas's face.

Praise the moon... He liked this human –more than that, he trusted him.

"Oh help..." sighed Elli, the ghost of humor gleaming in his glowing orange eyes, "Look at me, befriending a human. He better brag about this later."

Elli twisted and pulled his injured wing forward. As much as he hated destroying Jonas's delicate wrappings, Elli would need his wings –healed or not– in order to repay his life-debt.

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Jonas jerked upright as he felt a small mass crash into his belly. The mass yelped and landed on one of his legs. Still clutched by panic, Jonas failed to respond further than that. His breath continued to come in gasps as his eyes remained wide open and glazed. The sight and sounds of pain and death creating a cacophony of terror that imprisoned his mind and weighed heavily on his chest.