Dizzy

Summoned

 

Pinkie was on her way back to the palace when she saw the strange contraption spilling from the tree. Her back was tired from stooping and looking for the special mushrooms His Majesty so loved and all she wanted was to get back to the kitchens and put her feet up on a stool while the dinner soup stewed. But she was a hob and hobs are curious creatures by nature, so when she saw the foreign shape, she couldn't help but be drawn towards it.

She took tentative steps as she neared the bulky but so far lifeless form and stretched out a nervous hand to touch the chipping blue paint. She drew it back quickly to herself as though the cold metal had burned her. "Iron" she said to herself. "His Majesty would not be very happy to find so much iron in one spot. Pinkie will go tell him and hes can send it far away." She decided aloud. She circled the grand pile of junk, her eyes focused on it incase it decided to spring to life and fly away. She was just about to turn around and tell her king what she'd found when her foot brushed against something squishy and warm.

"By the gods!" Before her lay the bleeding form of a woman who seemed to have been spit out of the iron death-trap and was only barely clinging to life. The lass made no sound when Pinkie reached out her hand again and brushed the hair from her face. "Don't worry, deary, Pinkie's be here now."

The hob put down her basket full of delicious mushrooms and put her hand on the chest of the broken woman, a new sense of dread coming to her as she felt how shallow her breaths were. She closed her eyes and, summoning as much magic as her little form could muster, thought of the palace foyer, and popped out of existence. She needed to get the pretty lady to the fae doctors as quickly as possible and, besides, with her aging back, she'd never be able to carry her to the castle.

When she popped back into the world less than a flutter of a butterfly's wing later, she opened her eyes to the bright blues and reds of the palace entryway and congratulated herself on a successful transport before looking down at the woman she'd brought along. Her chest barely moved as she breathed in and out, and the blood from her head and cuts along her arms was starting to seep into the red carpets. Pinkie quickly scurried off, calling for help. When the guards saw the woman, they rushed to her aid and picked her up, ready to carry her to the closest physician.

Pinkie, quite content with herself, picked up her basket and began counting the mushrooms she'd collected and thought what an excellent little hob she'd been this afternoon, saving the pretty woman, discovering the poisonous iron beast that had harmed her, and finding so many mushrooms for the king's stew. Yes, she thought, it had been a marvelous afternoon, all the other kitchen staff would be eager to hear her tale and the king would be happy with his dinner. She only hoped, as she headed down the servant stairs towards the bustling bowls of the castle, that the lady would be alright.

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"Ahem," the gnome cleared his throat, not wanting to disturb the king who so single-mindedly stared into the clear sphere in his hand, his legs draped comfortably over the arm of his throne. "Sire?" he piped up, his voice an octave higher with fear. The Goblin King was known throughout he Underground as a man who's temper was swift and undiscerning. "I have a message for you, your Majesty, from the High King--"

The Goblin King finally sighed and his hand holding the crystal fell to his lap, "Fine, make it quick." He didn't have time for this. All morning, he'd had an ominous feeling and the Labyrinth had been practically buzzing with a strange energy, the source of which he had not yet located. The gnome sent from the High Court was just an annoying fly buzzing around his smaller throne room; he needed to swat at him before he could fully concentrate on the feeling at the pit of his stomach that something was wrong.

"His Majesty, High King Alberon, ruler of the Underground requests your presence at the High Court immediately. It is a matter of great urgency."

He sat up straighter in his throne and finally gave the gnome his full attention. Maybe this had something to do with the extra magic that seemed to be humming in the air today. "Fine," he stood from his chair and towered over the small creature who was relieved to have finally delivered his message. "I'll leave momentarily."

The gnome gratefully popped out of the throne room to deliver the message that the Goblin King was on his way. Meanwhile, said king rubbed his chin in thought as he crossed to the window overlooking his great maze. He would get to the bottom of this sooner or later--he only hoped his summons meant it would be sooner. He looked once more at the crystal in his hand before it floated out of his hand and through the open window as though light as a bubble. He smirked and, with a final glance across the vast walls and hedgerows below, he vanished to meet the summons sent to him.