150. Tia - The Nightmare Weaver

Tia is up to no good...
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Running for what to her tiny body felt like miles, Pina didn’t dare look back. She knew that creature behind her was still in pursuit and she didn’t want to die. Not like this, a slave to an ungrateful troll who forced her to kill. She wanted o be free and if running away from the creature meant her freedom, then she was going to do it.

She didn’t get a glimpse at the creature really. She could hear its breathing, long, eager breaths, and she saw hints of blue and pink behind her, but not once did she dare to look behind her, so she just ran.

A sword appeared in front of her, dug into the dirt. Odd, thought Pina, but she reached for it anyway. Maybe the answer wasn’t to run away but to face her problems. Her small goblin hands reached for the sword and as soon as she touched the hilt, she heard a thunderous “NO.” The goblin fell back, her feet unstable on the shaking ground and she nervously looked around. The creature could find her and finish her off at any moment. She had to try again, so she reached for the sword and once more, the word no came rumbling at her.

Her heart was pounding and sweat was drenching her outfit. She heard a sound, like a shuffled slither against the dirt. It was the creature. She was sure of it. Pina stumbled onto the ground and looked around desperately. “Get away,” she tried to say, but the words never left her mouth. There was a glance of that blue and pink between the trees and shrugs around her. Then another. Pina pushed back, trying to avoid the creature. Her eyes were filled with tears and sweat, which stung her now, as she tried to make sure she knew where the creature slithered off.

She backed away more and was stopped by a soft yet cool scaly surface. Shocked, Pina turned to her right and noticed a rather large snake staring at her. The slitted gray eyes were huge and glaring at her while the head swayed from side to side. A long, black, thin tongue reached out to touch Pina’s face and it almost appeared that the snake was grinning at her. Pina shuddered and noticed that the snake opened its mouth, and as two enormous fangs aimed to strike at Pina, she screamed.

This time, she was able to scream loudly. Her eyes opened and she found herself soaked on her tiny cot in the corner of Tia’Zula’s hut. It was then that she heard the low, dark chuckle she dreaded the most. Sitting up, she noticed that the troll was sitting at the table, with her arms crossed, and she was leaning against the table, with her face over the bowl. There was something about the contents of the bowl that made her face glow in the darkness that surrounded her. “Joo ‘ave nightmare, Pina?” the troll asked. She bore the same maleficent grin that the snake in the dream did.

 “Y-yeah,” Pina stuttered and she fanned herself, trying to dry the sweat that had engulfed her body.

 “Joo runnin’ from snakes, eh?” Tia’Zula laughed and leaned back against her seat, her gray eyes looking at the bowl.

 “How…did you know?”

The troll leaned over the bowl and Pina winced away when the troll’s face turned into a snake in the bright, fluorescent light. Tia laughed, moving away from the bowl and Pina peeked only to notice that her face was back to normal. She had something to do with this, Pina thought as she leaned her head against the hut’s wall.

 “Dis be perfect.”

“What are you doing now?” Pina asked. She was starting to face Tia and ask her things she would have never asked before.

 “I be enterin’ joor nightmares.” The troll waved a hand over the bowl and he blue light diminished. The hut’s candles lit up and Tia placed the bowl on a counter. “Dis be gud. Joo be travellin’ for Tia. I be needin’ a few tings.” She walked back to the chair and moved her long pink braids back. “Joo be afraid of me?” She smirked as she glared at the goblin.

Pina didn’t look at her but replied, “Wouldn’t you be?”

The troll smirked waved her hand, immediately turning off all the candles and making the hut dark again, with some moonlight creeping in through the windows. Tia had disappeared in the darkness once more, with her voice in a soft whisper saying, “Go back ta sleep.”