Trapped by the Nixies

We ran into an interesting problem today. Our scout, a devoted, but rather odd creature named Nobbley, sent word that the king's men were close behind us again. Naturally, we immediately left our makeshift camp behind. Edric rode off on his horse, Endellion, and I flew away on Bellamy (Edric and Bellamy do not trust one another, so we find it best for Edric to stick to his horse, even though Bellamy is much faster). We stopped a few hours later, when we reached an area that seemed safe. It was a quiet glade in the midst of a very attractive, deep forest, with a little brook running through it. We thought it would be a perfect place to rest for a time.

Goodness, were we wrong! The glade turned out to be inhabited by nixies. Have you ever heard of nixies? They're little wingless faeries, about ten inches in height, with pointy heads, shiny faces, and extremely long, thin fingers. They have a rather unusual effect on people; they make you do whatever comes into your head, just by whistling in their strange little manner. And, owing to their odd senses of humor, nixies like to plant ridiculous ideas in people's minds. They're never malevolent; just silly and often a bit annoying. The only defense against them is plug your ears and cross your fingers, while concentrating on remaining serious.

So, much to my amusement, Edric was forced against his will to tap-dance in a crazy tight circle, waving a tree branch over his head. I laughed so hard that I completely forgot to defend myself against the nixies. The next thing I knew, I was turning back handsprings while singing loudly off-key. Edric started laughing at me, and pretty soon he was turning very graceful pirouettes through the air. Well, it went on in like fashion for over two hours. It was exhausting! If Bellamy hadn't sneezed and roasted half of the nixies, which scared off the other half, I don't know how Edric and I would have escaped!

Whew; I think we'll be sleeping well tonight!