Somerville

The trickster



An eager jingle of bells sounded down the hall. But the one making the sounds was nowhere to be seen. Even so, everyone knew it was Somerville, up to his old tricks. The invisibility cloak he had found only a few days prior had quickly become his new favorite item. At the same time, it had quickly become everyone else’s least favorite.

Somerville snickered to himself as he bounded through the lair. There were so many pranks he could pull from under his invisibility cloak and he had just barely scratched the surface. As he pranced, he noticed Hess wandering nearby. The Guardian hadn’t been the same since his last hunting excursion, but his recent distracted nature made him the perfect target. Slowing so that his bells made less noise, Somerville crept closer.

Hess was muttering under his breath, as he often had been these days, and didn’t notice Somerville’s approach. The mischievous Pearlcatcher could barely contain his laughter. “He could be anywhere,” Hess mumbled, his eyes darting around the room. “Just because you can’t see him now doesn’t mean he’s not here.”

For a moment, Somerville thought, brewing the perfect response in his mind. “Oh, I’m here alright,” he whispered back. “And I see exactly what you’re doing.” He chuckled as Hess jerked back. He had never seen a Guardian move so quickly.

With a panicked expression spreading across his face, Hess scrambled back until he was flattened against a nearby wall. “You’re being paranoid,” he berated himself, shaking his head and stepping away from the wall. “He’s not here. He doesn’t stay invisible for long.”

“What makes you so sure?” Somerville prompted, inching closer to Hess. “You know what I’m capable of.”

“No, no, I know how you work,” Hess insisted, shaking his head wildly. “You… you’re just trying to scare me, aren’t you? You can’t do anything to me.”

Slinking as close as he dared, “Somerville whispered, “Is that so?”

“Stay back!” Hess bellowed, swiping his claws through the empty air just in front of Somerville’s snout. “I won’t be bothered like this any longer!” Without a second’s hesitation, he turned and fled from the lair.

Somerville stood there for a moment in utter shock. Pulling the invisibility cloak away from his face, he wondered aloud, “Gee, I wonder what’s up with him.” Shaking his head, he shrugged. “Eh, it’s probably nothing.” With one smooth motion, he pulled the cloak back into its original position and wandered off to find a new victim.