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Date Posted: 01:15:39 02/20/02 Wed
Author: Laurel Goldleaf
Subject: In my element
In reply to: Marz 's message, "I'm hungry" on 10:50:12 02/19/02 Tue

Laurel knew what manner of creature they faced the second the Elemental appeared. It was a water Elemental, of course, and thus doubly foreign to her as she had always felt a more natural kinship with earth and air Elementals. She had, in fact, a small contingent of sylphs whom she had cajoled into aiding her in the upkeep of her small cottage in the woods. They were whimsical, silly creatures, given to short bursts of unruliness and a tendency to lose all sense of duty if one were not careful. Strangely enough, she had more luck with them than with the natural creatures of her own element, earth.

For that was how one dealt with Elementals: Persuasion. A gentle, coaxing command, during which a magic-user had to almost assume the role of parent to her rambunctious children. The magic in this water Elemental was alien to her, since its very nature prevented her from outright manipulation. And, although she technically knew the steps one would take to begin persuading it to do her bidding, water was just not one of her stronger elements. It was as simple as that.

She was annoyed when it immediately gave them a sort of task; or rather, more of a gamble, really, the promise of treasures to come looming in the distance, hand in hand with some nasty dilemma if they should fail somehow. Jade showed off the spunkiness Laurel had sensed within her, wasting no time in casting in her vote to hear the riddle.

Perhaps she was relying on her magical abilities, whatever they might be, to dig her out of any trouble—but, after all, her even having magic was only a guess on Laurel’s part, since she had easily sensed from the stone manacle that the contraption had been created to hold practitioners of magic. Whether Jade proved to be a mage or not would remain to be seen. Laurel suspected it had been a touch imprudent of her to even inquire about the girl’s magic. Still, she thought in her mind that if Erlic had suspected such a thing, he would have wasted no time in investigating the matter. This eased her mind, though only somewhat.

Isobel, too, agreed, also not surprisingly. The woman was a warrior, both in body and in heart, and did not seem to be the type to back down from anything. Clever, cheerful Tia was close on her heels, her eyes glittering with the promise of treasures to come. Laurel sighed and nodded, reluctantly. Not in a thousand years would she let these three headstrong women leap into the mouth of danger while she promptly went and turned her back on them. It was simply inconceivable.

The riddle, when it came, was predictably vague. A series of answers leapt immediately to Laurel’s mind, all of which would fit if one chose to see them in a certain light. Abstract concepts, like Love, or Compassion, were often practiced with a gentle touch, and could assist the unfortunate on the streets. She suspected the Elemental sought a more concrete answer, however; and she fixed her thoughts on a particular phrase in the riddle, were I not a friend at hand, growing more and more certain that therein surely lay the key.

“Ahh,” she said, smiling ever so slightly. She couldn’t quite be sure of her sudden inspiration, though, and didn’t wish to risk the life of one of her companions by blurting out something she was not one hundred percent sure of. Cautiously, she stretched out her magic toward the water Elemental, doing everything in her power to speak to it, persuade it, cajole it to respond to her wishes. Just as a favor to her, no more, a favor to a mistress of the arts, which would surely one day be returned.

But the creature was having none of it. Its magic slipped through her fingers like the water it resembled, making her sigh with frustration. On a whim, she tried an alternate approach, probing its liquid-like psyche, on the off chance that it held the answer close at hand in expectation.

Elementals possessed unsurprisingly simple minds, and she was not unused to working with such beings, either. To her great delight, the image of a gold key flitted briefly through her mind as she probed the creature—but seconds later, the other possibility flashed past, making her gasp and thank the gods that they did in fact have the correct answer at hand.

“You are a vain, insipid creature, as is natural to your kind,” she said, her voice sounding a touch irritated as she stared up at the shimmering Elemental. “And your riddle is not surprisingly vague. However, since the answer you are looking for is key, then you must now keep your end of the bargain and reveal to us the promised treasures.”

She continued to regard the watery creature, her gaze unflinching, her stance perfectly poised, hands clasped neatly behind her back. Rarely did she ever affect a manner of not being completely sure of herself, and now was no exception. Many would consider it a touch of arrogance on her part, but really, she simply possessed a healthy meassure of self-assuredness that few attained and many discovered envious despite themselves.

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