hadn't scared me so, then the magic would probably have been much stronger!"
"But it wasn't him, so you just gave me a slight nudge. Calm down, little one."
She looked at him gratefully.
"Why are you here", she asked, "why did you follow me?"
"You're funny! Are you running straight into ruin and expecting me to just watch and drink tea?"
"To ruin, but why ...", she looked at him confused.
"Have you looked around properly?", He pointed to a particularly dark place in the forest, "do you have any idea how dangerous it is in this part of the forest?"
She looked at him with wide eyes: "Dangerous? But why is that? Do you think I am not able to defend myself against some wild animals?" She had to laugh. She felt slightly provoked again, but this time tried to control herself.
"You're not from this area, are you?""No, I'm from Nimm," she said firmly.
"From Nimm?", He looked at her in astonishment and furrowed his forehead, "I can't even imagine such a petite little figure like you."
She took an indignant breath and was just about to get started when he interrupted her a lot.
"Wait a minute, little one, just because I say I can't imagine it doesn't mean I don't believe you. I just find it a bit surprising to find someone here in the woods of Naarem."
"It's just the way it is, come to terms with it", irritably she reached for her bag again and stomped away, "and woe to you follow me again."
Without giving him another look, she disappeared into the deep shadows of the gloomy clearing that he had shown her a few minutes ago.
"I'll show him", she was extremely charged, "Little one, pah, let him call me little one again, then he can experience something."He stood rooted to the spot and looked after her with big, startled eyes.
"Crazy little thing," he muttered, and ran after her.

She sat down on a stone overgrown with moss, completely irritated and sad. Why did they think everyone they had met in their life was a helpless, little, skinny thing? Why was she so much underestimated by everyone.
Sure, she wasn't very tall and didn't look particularly strong, but despite her rebellious nature she had a big heart and there was a lot of strength in her.
She knew that you didn't necessarily look at it, but in a country like this you shouldn't underestimate anyone, really nobody, by nature.
She thought of the young elf from earlier and had to smile slightly. At least she assumed he was. He had something, she couldn't say exactly what, but he was sure to leave a lasting impression on her.But she should stop worrying about something that really didn't interest her. At least that's what she told herself.
Now that she was stuck somewhere in a forest she didn't even begin to know, she had to think about how to get out of here and find the shortest route to Ara.
She'd acted rashly when she'd just run away. She should have just marched on her planned route instead of just headlessly heading in any direction.
"Oh, damn it," she called into the forest, beating her fist on her knee. She listened to her words echoing softly through the otherwise quiet forest.
Only now did she realize how quiet it really was.
Again she thought of the situation before. Would he just surprise her like that again? What nonsense, she had made it clear to him that she wanted to be alone."Such an idiot! "
At the time she did not know that she would see him again sooner than she would have liked, because suddenly something tore violently at her skirt and dragged her through the bushes and growled incessantly.
Drops of drool kept flying into her face as she dragged the floor. She wanted to scream, but it all happened so suddenly that not a single sound escaped her throat out of surprise. Desperately she tried again and again to hold on to some bushes or blades of grass, or to ram her fingers into the earth, but everything kept slipping away from her.
She was not able to activate her magical powers either, because she had to have at least a second of rest, but this circumstance made it impossible for her.
"Now that idiot was fact right after all," she yelled out of breath. But she wouldn't scream for help, no, she wouldn't allow him that.She was strong, she could save herself all by herself. She didn't need some guy running around trying to scare her.
She tried to lift her head to see what exactly was dragging her across the forest. The only thing she could see, however, was brown, dirty fur. The creature had to be huge and incredibly strong.
She heard a short yowl from the front and noticed how the being swayed for a second and then sprinted on. Again she tried to get hold of something and suddenly noticed how something warm clasped her hand and held it tight.
The monster in front of her was hurled against a tree, howled loudly, and then disappeared into the forest.
She was now lying in the grass, breathing heavily, with her chest raised and lowered, and closed her eyes.
Then she suddenly tore it open in a panic and jerked herself up. Something had attacked the being and freed her from its clutches and this something must have been very strong, otherwise she would see herself dragging herself down a forest path somewhere.Perhaps this other creature just wanted to steal its prey from the hairy monster in order to eat it himself. She clenched her fist, but loosened it quickly when she saw the creature.
"You," she cried indignantly, "damn it, are you following me everywhere?"
The young elf looked at her angrily: "So you thank your savior, yes? Then stay where the pepper grows and leave me alone."
He turned and walked away angrily. Completely annoyed, he shouted to himself: "You run after her to protect her and what do you get as thanks? Something ungrateful. I've really never seen that before. As if I needed myself to be like that to give a little thing ... "
She looked after him rather puzzled. She was really surprised. She hadn't expected such a reaction. She felt guilty as hell.
“No, stop, wait,” she called and ran after him with her arm outstretched, “I'm sorry.I was scared, I was scared, I had to let off steam. Now stop at last! "
He paused in his steps but did not turn around.
"Please," desperately she looked at his broad shoulders. Only now did she notice how sturdy he was.
He stood in front of her and said nothing, still with his back turned to her.
He finally made signs that he wanted to turn around, but he just asked her softly: "Will you run away again if I stay with you?"
"No", a small glimmer of hope could be seen on her face, "I won't run away again."
"Promised? "
"Promised! "
"Well, do it," he finally turned around and smiled lovingly at her.
"But you have to promise me one thing," she replied timidly.
He raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Never say little one to me again," she grinned broadly, "my name is Tháleia!"

© Sarah Jakobeit 2004