Ix's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Ix was two feet tall, green, and very good at pretending to be a baby. He lay in his sleek black pram and sucked his thumb while a gnome girl cooed over him. His new home was his sister's house in this little woods village, and he already had a plan to pay for it. Rob the locals blind. Nobody suspects a baby. The gnome girl leaned close under her wide red mushroom hat. This was Saoirse Macadoon, and Ix had picked her because her hand wore a golden ring. Her curly blond hair brushed his cheek. She smiled with big green eyes and did not notice his mouth full of sharp teeth. "Look how sweet he is," Saoirse said. Behind her stood a large green orc with tusks and a red cloth headband. Blythgore folded her arms and grunted. Ix gurgled and reached up with tiny hands. He grabbed Saoirse's finger. He squeezed. He tugged. The ring slid free into his fist. He tucked it under his blanket and giggled a real baby giggle. Saoirse laughed. "He likes me!" Then a boom shook the trees. Somewhere close, a workshop coughed black smoke into the sky. Ix knew that sound. Dust, his best friend, had blown something up again. The tall faun in the red scarf never could keep a machine from exploding. Saoirse and Blythgore spun toward the noise. Ix did not waste the gift. He kicked his boots against the pram and it rolled. The sturdy wheels caught the dirt and carried him off fast and quiet. He waved a chubby goodbye they never saw. Behind him, Saoirse looked down at her bare hand. "My ring," she said. Her voice climbed. "My grandmother's ring. It's gone." Blythgore's head snapped from the smoke to the empty ground where the pram had sat. But Ix was already through the trees, laughing, the ring warm in his fist. At home he dumped his spoils on the floor and sorted them. Three coin purses. A silver spoon. A brooch. And the golden ring, best of all. He held it to the light and grinned. The door opened. His sister walked in. Thresha stood two feet tall like him, pink ponytail high, a red heart marked under her eye. She looked at the pile, then at him, and her happy face did not fool her one bit. "You've been busy," Thresha said. She crouched and picked up the ring. She turned it slowly. "A gnome's family ring. Half this village will come looking, and they know a baby was near." Ix shrugged and reached for the ring. Thresha held it away. "You live under my roof now," she said. "So your mess is my mess." She pocketed the ring. "And that gnome girl is smarter than you think." Outside, footsteps crunched toward the house. Someone was already at the door.