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SamuelYang

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bookcorpus

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there must have been more than ten of them gathered together .

they were parading around a blazing camp fire , mumbling and talking about things i couldnt hear over the flames .

some more emerged from the woods and joined them , their shadows dancing behind them .

then all of them suddenly broke out into an ominous song : he will rise to the heavens , from the very pits of hell .

to take control of our world , and the gift- less ones as well .

he will rule with a flaming torch , and save those who are worthy .

and for those who arent , well , you better watch out !

they all broke out in crazed laughs , which gave me the impression that each and every one of them was mad .

hell , i knew they were already mad .

they threw dirt at the fire and continued their wild laughs .

emily shuddered by me as they lifted their voices in another chorus .

he will rise to the heavens , from the very pits of hell , to crush all half-lings and to take their very souls .

for the king will rule all , with his cruelty and rage .

i wouldnt want to be that half-ling , that he spears through the head !

this time they were rolling on the floor , howling in laughter .

well , i didnt think this was very funny at all .

what was funny about getting speared through the head ?

i had a feeling the king they were talking about was kojas , and i really didnt want to be around to meet him , especially if it meant my head was going to become well acquainted with a weapon .

that is , if i was even a half-ling like the dwarfs claimed i was .

they laughed and sat in a tight circle mumbling things i didnt catch .

my hand slipped to my knife but emily grabbed my hand to keep me from drawing it from its leather case .

no jazell not yet , maybe we can learn a little more from them .

her voice was a hoarse whisper .

but emily , its awful to listen to .

cant we just destroy the camp ?

i went for my bow instead .

no , she said a little more clearly .

we have to wait and see what happens .

plus , we cant just randomly attack them .

i didnt really care .

the song was repeating itself in my head , like a taunt .

without thinking , i aimed and shot the nearest dwarf .

as soon as he went down , the whole camp was facing our direction .

i was standing up now where everyone could see me .

there was no point in hiding anymore .

emily stayed hidden behind the tree , and i could feel her glare trying to burn me into ashes .

youll wish you never shot one of his loyal servants .

a dwarf seemed to laugh at me .

kojas will destroy you , half-ling .

that is it , im sick of your riddles !

give me a darn straight answer or ill shoot every single one of you , i spat angrily , leveling my bow .

kill all you like half-ling , but that wont help you in the end .

you will pay heavily in a terrible death worth all the loyal lives youve slayed , the dwarf proclaimed , and his friends bellowed out an agreement .

i dont care what the heck you say about dying because nothing will stop me from killing all of you !

youre making no apparent sense at all , and i dont care what stupid message youre trying to send me !

i hissed so bad i think that i spit .

gross .

oh but you will care , half-ling .

the dwarf was now whispering and all the others had fallen silent so they could hear .

you will care because in the end , he will destroy you once hes done using you .

my arms were still tense and my muscles whined in protest as i held my arrow back in full draw .

use me to do what ?

i spoke , using the same tone as him .

the dwarfs eyes were twinkling in happiness .

he seemed happy to tell me the answer .

to take over the gift-less ones world , why else half-ling ?

youre the connection between igneeria and your world .

he needs you and he has made that clear .

the world had fallen to silence .

i spoke in barely a whisper , igneeria , thats your world isnt it ?

what does kojas want ?

the dwarf seemed to be getting extremely excited now , he wants your world and all other worlds because he is a mighty king who wishes to expand his kingdom .

so how would we help him do that ?

i asked , stalling .

we just exterminate the pests .

youre a half-ling !

youre the bridge to our world .

now if you dont mind we would like to finish you now , and bring you to the king .

the dwarf said politely and snickered , approaching me .

i backed up slowly .

uh , i mind a lot actually .

i said quickly but i guess they didnt really want my opinion .

emily jumped out from behind the trees and lifted a flame .

she twirled it around with the movement of her hands and shot it at the nearest dwarf .

that started what seemed like a war .

all the dwarfs scrambled towards us and i simply shot them and emily fried them .

then jason and seth dissolved from the shadows and entered the clearing .

what are you two doing here ?

i yelled across to them , annoyed that they hadnt made their presence known earlier .

seth fought his way over to me , why do you need to know ?

because you just randomly appeared and i would like to know what youre doing in emilys backyard in the middle of the night .

i pointed out and took down the last dwarf .

we gathered around the barely burning embers , after we had re-entered our own world .

emily and i quickly summed up what we had learned from the dwarfs .

jason listened and didnt speak , like usual , and for once seth didnt interrupt .

when we were finished nobody said a word as they soaked up everything that had happened .

it seemed like it was just too much for all of us to take in .

all of a sudden seth spoke up .

why are you wearing sun-tanning penguin pajamas , emily ?

emily glared at him , what do you have against penguins ?

and why cant i wear pajamas ?

its the middle of the night you know .

seth wasnt bothered by her glare .

so it wouldnt have been hard to change .

seth should have realized that he was pushing emilys limited patience too far and that he should shut up .

she reached down and grabbed a small stick .

then she smacked seth across the head with it .

live with it seth .

emily said every word apart and wacked him again .

seth made a small , ow .