The imp seethed with indignant fury, his long, stubby ears quivering at her words. In a single sentence, the imp had already decided he despised the new apprentice. He was already panting and huffing from the exertion of trying to pry the creaking door open. The imp leaned its stubby hands on its knees as it tried to catch its breath, staring at his feet. “T-Those are felguards, you stupid tart,” the imp slowly stood up again, catching a glimpse of the new apprentice. “Are you sure they sent me a w--” the imp’s jaw fell limp as he gasped, his yellow eyes bulging in disbelief. T-T-That’s… no elf!” He managed to sputter out in his high-pitched cackle.<br/><br/>The imp reached for a small piece of crumpled parchment from a pouch hanging at his side, pointing it angrily at the girl. “This letter says expect an<b>elf</b>! Yer no elf!” The imp hopped from foot to foot angrily, as if he had been fooled. Zilos flipped the letter over, squinting as he read the scrawled letters on the page aloud. “...Please expect a Sin’dorei lady to seek an apprenticeship…” The imp’s eyes arched over the page, taking another glance at the woman, squinting. “Yer no elf! Not the purple kind either!” The imp scampered over towards her, circling around her and eyeing her up and down, reaching out and tugging at the ill-fitting fabric. “Too fat! Big and plump elf, yer like a giant gnome!”<br/><br/>The imp tried to hop up and swat her hand away from the chalice, but found itself falling pitifully short. “No touch!” Zilos snarled, before quickly changing his mind. “I mean, touch whatever you want, elf. Good for learning, yes. Curious elf will make good apprentice for Master!” The imp smiled its deep ingratiating smile, before pushing, or attempting to push, the girl towards a small side corridor.<br/><br/>The hallway was dark and damp, and the sound of dripping water echoed through the unlit halls. There were occasional growls, punctuated by squeals that seemed to come from nowhere, yet everywhere at once. Neither of which seemed human. Zilos led the new apprentice down the corridor, the sconces on the wall bursting into life as he hobbled in front, occasionally looking over his shoulder to explain.<br/><br/>“These are your new quarters, you understand?” The imp kicked in a flimsy door that nearly swung off the hinge as it slammed open. The room resembled a dungeon cell more than any habitable living quarter; a small table stood in the corner opposite an empty and decaying bookshelf. A tiny bed with a moldy mattress was strewn haphazardly on the floor. A bleached skeleton was beneath the covers, curled over to the side.<br/><br/>“That’s yer new roommate,” the imp cackled in delight. “That’s Rosa -- pretty elf girl, not like ya. She was a very bad, naughty girl, displeased Master. He said to Zilos, lock her up, no dinner for tonight!” The imp cackled again in maniacal glee. The imp pointed to the floor. “She sleeps in bed, ya sleep on floor, got it?”<br/><br/>The imp pointed to the dresser opposite the room. There was a message written in dried blood that had etched itself into the rough wood of the dresser. Zilos gestured toward a single dark-hued robe hanging crookedly. There were dark-red blotches on the fabric that ran down in rivulets; the fabric was torn and worn to shreds, and had all the warmth and comfort of a leaf. “That yer new uniform too, got it? Ya and Rosa share that one.”<br/><br/>The imp trod out of the room, gesturing for her to follow as he stepped back into the hallway. Next door is the felhound kennels, got it?” The imp gestured towards a heavy iron door that had more than its fair share of dents and gnash marks imbued into the metal. “Get yerself cleaned up, then you feed ‘em everyday, got it? That’s yer new job. Ya feed ‘em yer mana, and don’t ya forget, or they get real angry,” the imp warned. Zilos pondered how many weeks it had been since the last apprentice had fed them.<br/><br/>“Finally, ya leave Master alone. Ya need anything, come to me first. I’m his steward.” The imp beamed brightly as he pumped his chest. “Ya don’t tell Master<i>anything</i>without checking with me first! That clear?” The imp grinned as he posed his rhetorical question. He was clearly eager to rid himself of yet another troublesome apprentice...<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>