Egg Thief

Egg Thief (253 Words)

“You had one job,” said the fairy. “One job! Watch the nest. And did you do it?”

The three trolls squinted at each other. They had watched the nest—sometimes. But they could see how from the fairy’s point-of-view, that perspective could be somewhat skewed.

The fairy glared into the empty nest. She had promised the two dragons, Burntt and Embyr, that she would protect their eggs until they returned from the Fire Council. Now she had failed them. This was as much her fault as it was the trolls’.

Taking a deep breath, the fairy closed her eyes. After a moment’s darkness and rush, she saw the thief in her mind.

He was moving quickly through the woods. The fairy couldn’t see the eggs with him and guessed they were in the pack on his back. The thief looked young and very scared. That fear surprised the fairy.

“Human,” she said. “Why would a human steal dragon eggs?”

Her eyes opened. The trolls were looking at her anxiously, unhappily.

“Two of you will stand guard here,” said the fairy. “The other will come with me. Let’s catch this thief.”

“But—” protested the trolls.

With a motion of the fairy’s hand, two trolls were turned to hard stone. The third stared at the fairy open-mouthed.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “They’ll wake up when Burntt and Embyr come up. They can explain what’s happened.”

“You could explain yourself,” grumbled the troll.

The fairy shook her head vigorously. “Have you ever seen an angry dragon?”

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Written in response to Sue Vincent’s Thursday Photo Prompt. Check it out! Also written tangentially in response to the Daily Post’s Daily Prompt.