Milltown Stories: Agreements

Milltown Stories

Agreements

T

he man in the long green robe paced back and forth in the small laboratory with a glowing green crystal pressed to his ear. He appears to be listening intently to it. The lab has an open door to his right (or left when he turns around), benches along the other walls with beakers, burners, baskets, and other paraphernalia associated with the practice of magic.
         “I ...” he says.
         “No, that is ...”
         “You got every …”
         “You can’t do that! We have an agree ...”
         “Hello? Hello?” the man stops pacing, pulls the crystal from his ear, looks at it and sighs. The glow is gone. He places it in its holder on the small table near the doorway. He starts pacing again, a look of anger on his face, his hands clenched in fists. He stops after 4 rounds and sighs, his shoulders slumping.
         “Leroy, Leroy, Leroy,” he says softly.
         There is loud pop accompanied by the scent of burnt lavender and fresh strawberries. Standing in front of the man is a long, very thin androgynous figure dressed in purple and red. The face is long and thin with close-set eyes and a thin slash of a mouth. The hair is jet black set against pale, almost translucent skin.
         “We good, Marnus?” Leroy asks.
         “No we are not good. She refuses to pay up,” Marnus says, frowning.
         “What?! But the agreement! You can’t just break an agreement!”
         “Apparently she thinks she powerful enough that she can.”
         “After all we risked to get that ruby to and she pulls this ...” Leroy started pacing, then adds. “This is the last straw.”
         He stops, looks at Marnus, smile, and evil smile, and says “I got an idea ...”