Dangros moved quickly. Angel had rested in the Illusion Cottage for less than ten minutes when Ermi, standing guard outside, sent word that elemental sprites had arrived.
When Angel stepped outside, he saw an earthfire worm about the size of an adult's calf slowly wriggling its way up to the cave entrance.
This earthfire worm was an elemental sprite and possessed little intelligence, so Angel did not greet it. He merely watched quietly to see what it would do.
The earthfire worm moved by "humping" itself forward, and it was not particularly slow.
It first peered curiously at the cave entrance, seeming somewhat repulsed by the frosty aura drifting from within. Yet Dangros's flames inside its body were telling it to enter.
The earthfire worm hesitated for a moment, then still wriggled inside.
The moment it entered the cave of ice and flame, the earthfire worm shuddered from the cold. Forcing down its instinct to flee, it humped its way over to Angel.
The earthfire worm lifted its flaming head with its mung-bean eyes and glanced sidelong at Angel. It seemed to be saying, Is this the person Big Brother wanted me to meet?
Angel did not know what impression the earthfire worm had of him, but he clearly saw it spit a mouthful of slightly gray flames onto the ground at his feet. Then it turned around and sped away at an astonishing pace, vanishing from sight.
Angel stood at the cave entrance, feeling somewhat disheveled in the wind. What had just happened gave him the illusion that a bratty child had been forced to meet his parents' friend, only to spit at them the instant they met and swagger off.
The feeling was subtle, and it happened more than once.
Not long after the earthfire worm left, a