> A sweet little tale that I couldn’t get out of my head today. All characters are above the age of eighteen.
Frolicking in the pond and picking colourful wildflowers in the midmorning sun, the wood sprites did not see the hunter lurking in the trees. He thought they might have heard his heartbeat, which beat like a wardrum in his ears, but they did not – content to weave the bright snapdragons, larkspur, and bluebells into each other’s hair. Praying to the gods above for luck, he hurled himself into the glen.
The sprites scattered, girlish screams echoing through the woods. The wiser ones vanished into the branches of their trees, while the smallest one continued on foot, her golden hair streaming behind her like a beacon.
The hunter caught her before she escaped the glen, his strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she squealed as he lifted her off her feet. She wriggled and fought with an indignant fury, her delicate hands lashing out at him, cursing him in an ancient language, but it was useless. Inhumanly light in his arms, he held her tightly with one arm as he freed himself from his breeches.