The iridescent light waned dizzily in my palm.

The sensation of depleting my mana has always disturbed me. It’s as if the magnificent gushing of a waterfall was caught haphazardly in a bottle, the air bubbles sloshing through my veins. But it just proves the necessity of this task even more.

I reached for my thighs, guiding my hand with the last sputterings of Illuminate. My fingers felt soft flesh, and I eased them upwards until it met the anticipated cloth binding around my leg. Moving towards the inner femur, fingernails clinking along two empty vials, I finally discover my target. With practiced precision, I lift the slightly weighted bottle between my middle and ring finger, and position my thumb and index to open its contents.

 Angling my neck upward, I levy a swift swing to ready its contents with momentum to efficiently slide down. In one arced motion, the vial meets my lips, and I pop its top. The tumbling of wings and glass reach my ears, but the fairy inside deftly catches my lips with their lilliputian hands. The remaining light from Illuminate comes to my detriment, giving the little living mana pill time to prepare.

I circularly swivel the vial at a changing pace, hoping to loosen its grip without giving it room to sprite away. I dart my tongue out, pushing its muscled, viscous figure against and around their arm. Given the feminine shrieks barely registering even to my superior elven ears, I assume this immature scuffle will soon conclude.

Finally tasting the flaxen softness of the fairy’s hair, I suck in air and pucker my lips, ushering them in with my tongue. This elicits a shiver from its gangly frame, followed by a reckless thrashing of its limbs. Nonetheless, having finally coaxed it out of its container, I replace the glass amongst its equivalents, and use my newly freed hand to fold the papery wings of my mouth’s new guest to fit. Having no further obstructions, I crudely cram the fairy’s legs in, being careful not to get spit on my fingers.

Its familiar taste hardly registering, I ruminate its feebly struggling shape. I’d rather not choke halfway through a routine pickup mission. Rocking my head back and forth, the fairy is gently lulled to my gullet. Detecting a delicacy, it sighs open, and mashes it inside. One, two, three careful swallows later, and the only sign of the preceding events was the tiredness of my tongue.

Flicking my wrist in circles and caressing my exposed midriff, I await the excess mana of the consumed fairy to trickle in. Unfortunately, the process was rather slow, unless I wanted a mouth full of busted teeth at the risk of a mana explosion after breaking open a fairy inside of it. Surely, the unnatural wisteria hue of Illuminate returned to my fingertips.

Having proper lighting, I resumed my trek towards the back of the briny cave. Its scent was nostalgic, having made this trip innumerable times. I recognize the reflections of crystal ore that surrounds me, and I know that I’m close to my destination.

At the end of this yawning grotto lay an abnormality - a cute picnic basket. Any traveler would rightfully question why this would be here, but thankfully, fairies do not have such pretenses. The only thoughts that provoke them are the presence of magical crystals that make them oh so comfortable, and the possibility of food.

I lean down, smoothing my skirt over my legs for no one in particular, and reveal the contents of the container. Lilac, shining chains hiss and strike at my fingers from inside, but recognizing its owner's mana signature, they recede back. Having disarmed the trap, I fully exposed its insides. Brushing my dark raven hair aside, I spot five fairies, not unlike the one I just absorbed, string the basket along its chains, an amiable sight in such a dank cave. With such a gratifying result, I closed the basket’s lid, and cheerfully set off for my real destination.