Andrew was impressed by the elves’ hyper-efficiency, as they wasted no time or energy as they moved into formation as they moved to the first crate stack.
“There are over 5000 crates in this hold. As we do not have the numbers to tackle that number, we will focus on the 502 crates that the records indicate are currently unlocked. As this human does not currently have Okusiga. I doubt I must remind you that our Geald will hold us liable should this human escape or we permanently harm this specimen in any way,” said a tall elf whose voice sounded masculine, but from his vantage point and with the androgynous clothing it was hard for him to be certain.
The elves moved methodically from stack to stack, searching each unlocked container both physically and magically, before moving to the next one. The hiss of the door caught his attention and through the vent, he saw two more formations of three enter and in the same efficient way moved to join the first group. As the groups combined the glow around their hands caused the multicolor light of the room to tinge heavily toward red and the light in his crate to vary heavily as they moved in and out of sight of his crate. Stack by stack and create by crate, they moved closer and closer to his hiding spot. He wasn’t sure why, but their movements reminded him of cats toying with a mouse as they moved in and out of his view. His grip slowly tightened on the sword more and more, as the elves moved wordlessly closer. The only communication seemed to be the occasional pulse on mental connections.
So, what’s the plan Lather? Try not to piss myself or make any noise, that’s what. I mean it’s not like I could have taken three of them much less a whole squad of them. Crap I should lock the top!
[Mr. Lather, I do not recommend that action at this time. The noise is likely to alert the guards to your location. My recommendation is to give up now to avoid further injury.]
While I agree they’re going to find me at some point, I want to waste as much of their time as possible before they do.
[May I inquire on why you’re gripping the sword then?]
Well they said they aren’t allowed to cause permanent harm, so I was hoping to cause as much damage as I can manage before they take me.
[Bob would like me to remind you that the amount of pain they’re allowed to deal before it would cause you permanent harm is quite a lot.]
That’s a fair point, but I’m done being a harmless toy in their game.
The conversation stopped as the elves methodically approached and surrounded his crate stack. His body felt like a single giant knot of muscle and his heartbeat sounded like a war drum in his ears. His eyes burned as rivers of sweat had found their way into them, and the sweat rolling down his arms threatened to loosen his grip on the sword. He looked down at that sword and found that the knuckles on his right hand were a pale white from the force he was using to ensure he didn’t drop what he considered his only lifeline.
When they were about two meters away from his crate, he saw a purple line snake out of a tall elf’s head and connect to his crate. While he knew this moment would come Andrew felt immense horror as the lid started to open. Andrew knew this was the only possible outcome, he’d known it from the start. That knowledge didn’t comfort him as his one chance of freedom slipped through his grasp. All he could do now was make it as costly to take him back as he could. To that end, he tried to settle his nerves and prepared to take out the first elf he saw.
Before it came to that, the purple communications lines going to each of the elves pulsed wildly and the purple line going to his crate winked out of existence. Andrew almost yelled in relief as the lid to his crate reversed its motion and started to shut.
“They found him!!!” exclaimed what Andrew assumed was a female elf.
All nine elves turned and in formation, all but sprinted from the room. The light in Andrew’s crate moved and pulsed different colors wildly as they made their way to the exit.
Andrew’s relief was palpable as he bonelessly slumped in his crate. He only realized he had dropped his sword when the sound of it clanking against the bottom of his crate startled him into activating his blur ability. He laughed at himself and turned the power back off. The stress-induced nausea washed over him as tension flooded out of him. Only to return only a few moments later when another sound startled Andrew into action, it was the sound of the lid clicking in place, yet he punched the source nonetheless. Earning him a throbbing hand and a sound he worried might set off some alarm. He wasted no time in locking the lid before waiting a few antagonizing minutes to see if anybody showed up. When no one did he allowed the events of the day to take their due and he slipped into a restful slumber.
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An unknown time later, he was startled awake by the hiss of a door. As his mind pieced itself back together from his impromptu nap, he realized that this hiss was not only much larger but also came from far above his crate.
He couldn’t see the opening through the vents, but as he was trying, his crate was flooded with a bright pale tan light which spilled in through the vents and his crate started to lift off the ground. A short ride later, he could see that his crate was being lifted through a large cargo door and warm slightly moist air rushed in through the vents. He moved around and pushed his face against the vent trying to see where his crate was headed, but to no avail the angles just weren’t right.
As his upward momentum halted, his crate slowly spun, and the source of the magic came into view. He wasn’t sure what exactly he expected to see when it did, but one thing was sure what came into view was nothing close to what he had imagined. It was an enormous, winged snake that looked like it flew right out of an Aztec myth. He couldn’t see the entire beast, but by his best guess, he assumed that it was likely at least 100 meters in length. It was covered in beautiful semi-translucent multi-color scales each of which had an iridescent sheen. The wings were powerful eagle-like wings, the front edge of which was covered in deep electric blue feathers which appeared almost to be made of crystals. On the next row, the feathers also looked to be made of crystals, but these were the color of bright emeralds, and the feathers were also much longer. The third and final row were much the same, the only difference being instead of blue or green they looked to be made of an illuminated topaz. Though the most eye catching part of this snake was the lightning which crackled along its wings, sending beams of multicolored light shooting in all directions.
To his horror, the snake had its mouth open as if it were preparing to swallow prey and he was heading straight for it as the source of the magic was inside. It seemed that he was apparently the prey.
That has to be some transport ship. I really hope that’s not some creature that elves sacrifice treasure to in an attempt to appease its wrath.
[Bob would like to inform you that it is a top-of-the-line fast transport ship called a Gibki. Don’t worry, unlike some of its less evolved cousins, there has never been a recorded incident of it consuming its cargo.]
Wait that happens?
[According to Bob it does with less evolved transport vivosipi but has not happened with a Gibki to date. Though he does say with your luck he guesses there is a first for everything.]
Not helping Bob.
It didn’t take long for Andrew to get some relief, as his crate was not chewed up and digested, but it was a nerve-wracking few moments as the crates did float into the creature's mouth and down its gullet. Thankfully that is where his digestive tract adventure stopped, as before the crates entered what he assumed was the valve to the creature’s stomach another valve on the side of the esophageal wall opened and the crates were gently pulled with magic into another astonishingly large room. The dimensions of which seemed impossible as it had to be at least a few hundred meters in length and at least a hundred in width. Which even for an impossibly large creature it was still three times longer than his best guess for the length of this marvelous beast. The magenta tinge to the room belied what he guessed must be special distortion magic that allowed a room of this size to fit. Once inside the crates stacked themselves in tight orderly stacks starting at the back of the room and kept coming until the room was almost filled. His crate was closer to the back than the front and to his relief, his crate had been serendipitously set on the top of the stack he was in. He relaxed again waiting for the loading to finish.
When it finally did and the door shut, Andrew’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest when he saw a green field sweeping across the crates that he assumed was trying to scan for life or something similar. Unsure what to do, he activated his blur spell and tried to think dead thoughts. The field passed across him without any fanfare, but he doubted it would be that obvious and waited a minute or two expecting elves would storm into the room at any moment. After five minutes had passed, he let out a sigh, along with all of the tension he had not realized he had once again built up.
Once he regained his composure, Andrew started the sequence to open his lid. He was dismayed that once the lid swung open, he could see nothing other than a number of faint magical glows emanating from random places around the rooms and the walls. I guess there is no need to leave a light on for cargo. He tried to open the crates near him, but all seemed to be physically locked. He briefly considered still getting out and seeing what he could find, but the prospect of something going wrong as he fumbled in the dark or that he might not be able to find his way back to his crate or open another one kept him where he was. Instead, he shut the lid and got as comfortable as he could before he let sleep take him.