As she walked through the woods, Martha tossed the stolen sapphire in the air and caught it with the other hand. She was pleased with herself. The fools at the bank would never even notice it missing. They'd been too distracted by her long blonde hair and youthful looks. And if they did realise that the gem had disappeared, who cares? She'd be long gone.
She came to a clearing. The sunset light glimmered through the trees. Only a few hours before dark. She'd set up a place to rest now. Some of the people in the city said that these woods were haunted. Superstition didn't scare her though. More practical concerns did.
Martha thought she heard something behind her as she tossed a rope over a tree branch for her hammock. She whirled, pulling her dagger. But it had just been her imagination. She turned back to her work.
Something landed on her head. Martha startled and waved her hands. Whatever it was laughed in a high-pitched tone, and flew before her. It was a tiny woman, with wings. A fae. Glowing green. It laughed at Martha's startled expression.
The green faerie said, "Let me tell you a joke, human."
"Leave me be," growled Martha.
"Why did the thief..." started the faerie.
Martha tried to grab the faerie. It disappeared with an echo of laughter as her hand closed around where it had been.
Hopefully it wouldn't bother her again.
Martha continued setting up camp. Ten minutes later, she heard the flutter of wings hovering behind her.
A dozen or so fae fluttered in a cloud a few arm's reaches away. Each glowed with its own color.
"That's her!" Pouted a familiar voice, "the one that didn't want to hear my joke!"
"Oh dear," teased a more authoritative voice from another in the group, "is that right, human?"
Martha was above this nonsense. She pulled her dagger and approached. The fae scattered, each reacting with an exaggerated emotion, from mirth to mock-horror. They were making fun of her.
The fae were all around her now, each out of reach, at different levels. Martha turned, trying to decide which one seemed easiest to swipe at.
She felt a poke in the ribs. She buckled slightly and made a surprised noise. The faerie that had poked her swooped away laughing as Martha tried to slash it in revenge. The other fae seemed to find this all very funny. They were talking to each other excitedly in their fae language.
Another surprise poke. Martha twisted and made another noise. The fae clearly knew what they were doing. This was bad. She was out of her depth.
"Fine, I'll hear your damn joke."
The green faerie fluttered into view, "hmmm... too late!"
Martha lunged with the dagger. The faerie dipped and whirled around it with ease, laughing. With a busy fluttering of wings, four fae zipped to Martha's outstretched wrist. They were strong for their size.
"No!" Shouted Martha, trying to pull her wrist back. Her arm wheeled around as Martha struggled, but it was staying outstretched. The fae on her wrist shrieked like they were enjoying themselves.
More fae went to Martha's wrist. Eventually it was pulled above her, and she couldn't bring it back down. A faerie gave an exaggerated groan of effort as it tried to use its tiny hands to pry Martha's fingers from the dagger. It wasn't able to pull away all of them at once.
Another fae fluttered to Martha's exposed armpit. Martha tried protecting herself with her other hand. Fae went to that wrist and pulled it away. Martha looked into the devilishly smiling face of the fae by her armpit.
"No..." whimpered Martha. The fae giggled. It tickled her under her arm. Martha shrieked and dropped the dagger. The fae all celebrated and laughed. A faerie grabbed the dagger by the hilt and zipped away into the forest. The fae released her wrists and fluttered all around her as they had before. They weren't done with her yet.
"Wait!" Said Martha. But she was in no position to make demands. Two fae approached from behind, one on either side, and started to tickle her. She swatted at them, unsuccessfully. Her knees buckled, as she was forced to the ground, laughing.
