Euraus
Chapter One
The smoke curled upwards in a black column, escaping through the brown stone chimney. Red hot coals covered with white snowy ash filled the hut with a cozy warmth. The giant log on the fire split down the middle from its own weight. The last flame flickered and died leaving a wisp of smoke in the air.
Euraus stirred in his sleep making a soft scraping noise with his feet as they slid into the fire. His leather boots smoked and turned black. After five minutes the fire had effectively burnt a hole into his right sole. Euraus shifted again shoveling red coals into his boot. It took only a second to burn through his socks. Euraus's eyes snapped open and he stumbled screaming to the door.
It had been raining for three days straight. The massive stone on which Euraus's hut was built was washed clean of all vegetation. The storm water had amassed so much that the tiny stream in font of his hut was now a raging river. His porch was built into the rock about twenty feet above the ground. Below he could hear the water crashing into the stone cliff and see the water spraying up in mighty geysers.
His hut was about thirty feet in length and twenty feet in width. It was covered with thatched roofing and bamboo walls. The flooring was made out of thick slabs of oak nailed to the supports with large spikes. The supports were two-foot-thick oaken logs jammed into carved holes deep into the rock.
As Euraus stumbled outside, he hit his head on one of the low sagging parts of his porch roof. The reason it was low sagging was because of the several gallons of water water filling it. Unfortunately it split open down the middle drenching him with gallons of icy cold water.
The good thing was that his foot was cooled off because of the water. The bad thing was he was getting hypothermia. His lips and toes had already turned blue and he was shaking like a leaf.
He stumbled inside again and went for his blankets. He stripped off all of his clothing and hung them near the fireplace. Then he used one of his thick blankets to dry himself. Then he wrapped himself in another of his more thick blankets. After sitting in his chair for about twenty minutes he got up to put more wood on the fire. He had plenty of wood stored in the back room. The back room was approximately ten foot square, it was also filled to the limit with firewood.
Every year around autumn Euraus would climb through the rain forest to the higher country and cut down as many trees as he could that day. Then he would go back down to his hut and wait five days. After the five days were over he would go back pulling a big giant cart to the felled trees and cut them up. By then they were dry enough to burn so he would stay there for the night and have a bonfire.
The next day he would cut up the remainder of the trees and load the logs onto the sled to pull all of the logs back to the hut. This same process had been used by him for years so there was a suitable trail to pull his cart along. Every year he filled his back room to the ceiling and every year he ran out of wood right on the beginning of spring.
The rough bark felt hard against his bare skin as he carried his firewood. He was aware of the fact that he was naked but since he lived in the center of the rain forest and hardly anyone ever came around he didn't really care.
As he was bending over the fire he heard a feminine voice ask, "Are you always this informal?"
He spun around to see a woman sitting in his chair looking at him with no real concern.
He dived into his bedroom headfirst, coming out again with some suitable clothes on. "And now let me ask you a question. Do you always enter a house uninvited? If you hadn't notice I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion."
"You weren't dressed at all," she said.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mranda, if that helps you any. I don't think you've heard of me."
"You thought right Mranda," Euraus said. "Why is it you are here? Travelers rarely come this far out into the rain forest."
"Why are you here?"
"I'm here because I like the solitude and the rain forest. But you still haven't told me why you are here."
"I'm here for the same reason you came. I got tired of the world out there so I decided to take a vacation for a few years," She explained. "How long have you been here?"
"About seventeen years."
"Really!? Seventeen years? Don't you get lonely?"
"Do you think I would have come out here if I got lonely easily? The reason I came out here in the first place was so I could be alone."
"Then why haven't you thrown me out if you wanted to be alone so much?"
"Hey I'm solitary, not insensitive. Throwing you out in that weather would be inhumane, it will rain for at least another week; you would freeze to death."
"Probably not, I brought supplies enough for myself to last me all summer. I've found a cave just to the south of here."
"There is a bear living in that cave. He only lives there during summer. I don't imagine that you would want him for a roommate."
"Nor him with me. Would you let me stay here for the summer while I build my hut."
"Sounds fine to me. Where will you be planning to build it."
"I don't quite know yet. Would you be so kind as to recommend a spot for me?"
"I would but all of the spots are taken."
"Taken. By whom?"
"By me."
"How many places do you live?"
"Just here."
"Then where are the others."
"There are no others."
"None? There should be hundreds more in this forest."
"You can search all summer and you won't find anything. All of the low spots get flooded. The high ones you can't build on."
"Why not."
"Because the rains wash out your supports and you slide into the mud," Euraus explained. "It took me a whole summer to find this rock. It took me two months the next summer to chip out the support holes into the rocks, and it took the rest of the summer to find the oak grove at the far side of the forest. The next summer I built this," he explained looking around. "Believe me it was not easy."
"It took three years to build this?" Mranda asked glancing about.
"Yup and it hasn't moved an inch since."
"Where did you go during the first wintertime?"
"The same place you were. In the bears cave. I got quite a shock that first summer when he announced his presence. He gave me a reminder of the experience."
"Reminder?"
He lifted his shirt revealing four ugly scars across his belly. "Reminders. They hurt a bit when it happened. It was quite deep. A half of an inch in fact. And believe me its not fun to do surgery on yourself."
"You had to perform surgery?"
"Of course, he left a claw in me."
"Really!?"
"I still have it if you want to see it," he offered pulling on a leather necklace about his neck. He pulled it out revealing a long sharp claw attached to his necklace with a small hole. There were several other ornaments on the leather string including two large boar tusks and several needle-like fangs.
"Looks like you've had fun."
"You might want to call it that," Euraus said ,"Besides I don't think you would want to scar that body of yours."
"Why thank you."
Euraus hadn't noticed how beautiful Mranda was till then; and now he was practically staring at her. After all he had not seen a woman for seventeen years, and this was a woman. She had the deepest brown eyes and light brown hair down to her shoulders that shimmered in the firelight . She wore a plain brown tunic and a tight fitting hose and Euraus noticed that she was practically strutting in front of him displaying her womanly figure.
Euraus shook off the feeling and asked another question, "Where did you come from?"
"Rungdrolin." she said in an offhand way still staring into Euraus's hazel eyes.
"Where is Rungdrolin," Euraus asked.
"It's a small village in which I was born located just south of Trendis."
"How much has changed since I left."
"From what you say right after you left the prince disappeared. After he vanished the king took apart the whole kingdom looking for him. After ten years he gave up. Not just on finding the prince but also on life. For the last seven years he's sat on the throne wasting life as fast as he could. His aids won't let him near a knife. He always keeps a piece of paper in his pocket and doesn't let anyone see it. Everyone knows that it's his last will and testament."
"What about the queen."
"Oh the queen died ten years after the prince disappeared. She couldn't bear the thought of not having the prince around so she killed herself."
"What!" screamed Euraus tears coming to his eyes.
Mranda looked confused.
"Before I came here I had lived in the castle with my family. I had served the Queen for years and I was quite close to her."
Mranda came and sat close to Euraus. "I've never known anyone who knew the Queen." Euraus was weeping uncontrollably now. "You must have been very very close to the Queen." she said holding Euraus's shaking body against hers.
After Euraus had finished his crying he was asleep so Mranda put him to bed.
He didn't sleep well that night. He tossed and turned and woke up many times shaking.
In the morning Euraus found why he hadn't slept well that night. He was completely naked! Last night Mranda had striped his clothes off him and put him in bed. He called her name a few times but she didn't answer so he figured she was still asleep. He climbed out of bed to find his clothes lying on his dresser. He hurriedly dressed and went looking for her. It didn't take long at all, she was wrapped in blankets by the fire so he went and shook her awake.
She muttered a curse and said, "Lay off, Bueger it's too early!"
Euraus laughed and tried to wake her again. When she said the same thing he replied in a deep rough voice "Get up Mranda, I want my grub!"
She rolled over muttering curses again and said "I'll give you some grub you one-eyed s‹ Hey where am I!" She rolled over to see Euraus sitting in his chair laughing uproariously in the deep rough voice.
"Hey Mranda where's my grub!" He said now in his own voice. Euraus sat laughing at the confused humiliated expression on Mranda's face. After thinking about it Mranda too burst out laughing along with Euraus. They both laughed for a few minutes until their throats were sore.
"That was a mean trick," she accused.
"No meaner than what you did to me last night."
"What?"
"Striped me naked and put me to bed."
"I thought all men slept naked."
Euraus sounded incredulous, "Your kidding!"
"Nope, Bueger always slept naked."
"Was this Bueger your husband?"
"What are you kidding! He was my stepfather."
"You talk to your stepfather like that?"
"Of course. If he gets to go out and get drunk the least I get to do is yell at him for it."
"Do you really want to get drunk."
"Well, no."
"I don't think you would want to get drunk it feels awful after the effect is over."
"So that's why Bueger is always so Cranky in the morning. He really gets mad when you yell at him."
"That's because you always wake up with a splitting headache. And believe me, I know the feeling and you wouldn't like it at all," he explained. "Besides it put loads of fat on you if you drink too much and believe me you look great just like you are," Euraus said patting Mranda's slim waist.
"Why thank you." she said affectionately.
As Euraus had predicted it was still raining that day. The river beneath his hut still raged by. It was getting higher and some of the smaller trees were being swept away by the current. The murky brown water eddied around small trees pulling them from their roots and carrying them away. The rain forest was thick and the rain washed the leaves clean turning them bright green. The trees were of an average height of one hundred feet tall and his hut was well hidden, except for the black column of smoke rising from the chimney.
There were clouds of mist floating around the forest drenching anything dry. The monkeys ran along the vines jumping from tree to tree stopping under leaves and fighting each other for the driest spot. The birds stayed in their dens and covered their young ones.
Euraus scratched at his rough chin and went to get his razor. Euraus moved his chair outside and opened his shaving kit. He spent the morning shaving and cutting his hair.
When he was through Mranda asked him "Do you always cut your hair so short?"
"Of course. There are little bugs in the forest that lie in your hair to roost." Mranda suddenly grabbed her hair and checking it for anything. When Euraus saw this he chuckled and said, "Don't worry they don't come till summer."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Don't worry, years back I invented a cure for the stuff. You just slip a little of my potion into the food. After five weeks of it your cured. Your hair puts out a poison that kills the bugs. The poison is non-toxic to humans but it not only kills the bugs, it sends out an odor the bugs can't stand so they stay away. For two weeks after that you need to wash your hair to clean the bugs out."
"Oh gross."
"It's not that gross considering the alternative of putting oils in your hair every morning. After the treatment is over you don't have to worry about it anymore." Euraus explained.
"You said something about an odor?"
"Oh that, you can't smell it, but it drives the bugs crazy."
"How do you make it?"
"I don't. There was a plant called ralnus, the bugs wouldn't go near it. It's covered with a syrupy kind of sap. I wondered if that was the thing that made the bugs stay away from it so it took a sample of it and tried some in my food for two months. I saw that it was working and I wondered if I could stop so I stopped then and I haven't needed it since, that was fifteen years ago.
"You said was."
"You have sharp ears. Yes, the ralnus is gone. One summer we had a drought and nothing fell from the the sky from February through November."
"Do you have any for me?"
"Of course, I saved gallons of it."
There was a slight tone of excitement in her voice, "Where is it?"
Euraus turned and said, "Follow me." He led her to the far corner of the house into his bedroom. His room was immaculately clean. There was a window on the east wall with closed shutters and a large rug in the center of the room. He had a king sized bed on the west side of the room and a full length mirror on the south wall.
She sat on the bed and whispered, "This will do nicely."
"What?" Euraus asked kneeling to the floor and throwing aside the rug.
"Oh, nothing," she replied quickly.
Underneath the rug was a layer of dust about a quarter of an inch thick. Euraus brushed off the dust to reveal a trap door about two foot square so well hidden all you could see was the hinges. He lifted the door off the floor and a small breeze of stale air rushed out. It was completely dark in the hole as Euraus climbed down a ladder fastened to one side of the hole. Euraus felt along the wall until he found a pocket in the wall reached in and found a torch, lit it, and called Mranda down.
Mranda had also gotten a torch and lit the wall torches along the way. She began to see that these were a maze of tunnels. Euraus led her unfalteringly through the twists and turns. She noticed that the walls and ceilings were rough as though they had been chipped out. The walls were solid rock and the passage was about six feet tall. After about three minutes of walking through the tunnels she asked, "Who carved these tunnels?"
"Me, Who else?"
"How long did it take?"
"About thirteen years almost nonstop."
"Thirteen years?"
"Of course. What else would I be doing?"
"How far do they run?"
"Miles," He said absentmindedly.
"Miles?! Really? Into solid rock?"
"Yes," he said simply. "Thirteen years is along time." As Euraus came upon a cavern he said, "Here we are." As he went systematically around the cave lighting all the torches the room filled with an eerie light, revealing hundreds of bottles filled with a transparent liquid sitting on shelves.
"Is this the sap?" Mranda asked tapping her fingers on one of the bottles.
"No, this is the cure to the bug problem," Euraus explained.
"It comes off plants so its sap."
"If you want to be technical, it's slime," he said shaking one of the bottles to show it's slimelike qualities. "Does that make you happy."
"You mean I'm going to be eating slime?"
"Don't worry it's completely tasteless."
"So are you," She muttered softly.
"Huh what? I just put a quarter teaspoon of it into your food for five weeks. If you get started tonight you will be done before the bugs come."
"How much are in each of these," she asked picking up one of the bottles.
"One gallon, it's more than enough for ten people with a teaspoon each."
"I'll carry it."
"No you wont, I'll hold hold it and you'll lead. I need to watch you."
"So I don't get lost?"
"No, because I like to watch you."
She smiled and blushed then walked artistically ahead.
Euraus pulled out a black cloth and smothered the four torches in the room and hurried to catch up. He smothered all of the lighted torches along the way.
Mranda didn't have much trouble finding the way back because the torches were only lit on the path that they followed. Euraus made no effort to hide that he was looking at her and frequently she displayed herself by the entrance to another tunnel while she waited for Euraus to catch up. They made good time and were back to the hut in a few minutes.
By the time they got back it was noon and Euraus went into another room on the west side of the house. When Mranda joined him she saw that it was his kitchen. Euraus had begun to make lunch. He removed a loaf from the breadbox and cut four thin slices. The homemade bread was light brown and had a delicious flavor of wheat. He got some thin slices of meat from the shelf and a white paste from from another shelf. He spread the paste on the bread and put the ham in between the slices to make a sandwich.
They ate their lunch in silence looking each other over. It was the first time either of them had had to see who the other person really was.
From Euraus's point of view he saw an intelligent strikingly beautiful woman. She was wearing the same clothes she had worn when he first saw her. He could see intelligence in those deep brown eyes. She was about the same height as he was. From what he could tell she was about thirty, like him. She had the most beautiful face and when she smiled, Euraus couldn't help but smile back. She was slim and had a very nice body. He could tell that she didn't mind showing it off.
Mranda saw a face of understanding and confidence. His attractive hazel eyes touched something deep within her. She couldn't help but like him. She was amazed at some of the things he did and took so lightly. He looked handsome in his green tunic and hose. He was always relaxed and confident about the things he did and he made her feel safe when he was around. He was about five and a half feet tall. She could tell that he liked her and she showed that she liked him. He was clean shaven and his short brown hair went well with his hazel eyes. He had a marvelous personality, He was kind and gentle. He was very strong from the years of caving and hammering and he was mature.
Euraus finally broke the silence with a question, "How old are you?"
"I was about to ask the same question."
"I'm thirty two."
"Thirty."
They both paused looking into each other's eyes with a kind of lust.
"I just realized that I have no idea what your name is."
"Euraus." He said absentmindedly.
"That's a nice name."
"So is Mranda," he said dreamily.
They stared into each others eyes for minutes dreaming until finally the wind blew the door open and the spell was broken. Euraus stood and said, "I need to go get your things from the cave. The bear comes right after the rain stops."
"I'll go with you to show go where it is, it's a big cave and it saves time," she said starting for the door.
"Where are you going he asked? It's this way. He said pointing towards the bedroom."
"You have a tunnel to the cave?"
"Of course. That was the first one I made. I made it as an escape route."
"Well let's get going then, shall we?"
"Follow me."
They entered the maze of tunnels below the hut following the left wall the whole way and at the end they came upon another ladder that went up about fifty feet.
"Are we really that far down?" Mranda asked.
"Yes," Euraus said as he began to climb.
At the top of the ladder was a iron plated door about two feet square. It must have weighed about two hundred pounds because Euraus could barely lift it. At the top was a giant boulder sitting to the side of the portal. When Mranda got to the top she asked, "What's this for?" putting her delicate hand on the giant boulder.
"To put on top of the door if someone is chasing me; there is also a steel latch on the side of the door. No man alive could lift that door with the boulder on it, let alone the latch. Now where are your bags?" The cave was quite large and it was naturally formed. The ceiling was at least twenty feet up and there were side passages leading to other caves. The ground was covered with soft dirt and there were mud spots every once in a while. The cave mouth was about three feet wide and three feet tall but it widened out to about forty feet. It was dark so their torches came in handy.
"Follow me," She said as she walked into one of the side passages and into a large cave. Her bags were sitting in one corner in an undignified heap.
"Do you have anything breakable?" Euraus asked.
"Yes," she said walking over to one of her bags and opening it so Euraus could see. There were dozens of china plates, utensils, and bowls sitting in a pile in the sack.
He pointed to the other bags, "Do these have anything breakable?"
"No, Those are just clothes and food."
Euraus slung the bags over his shoulder and walked back towards the entrance to the maze of tunnels. As he turned the corner he saw a giant bear entering the cave he turned and dived back into the other cave without making a sound. Fortunately the bear did not see him and wandered around the cave. As it walked past the hole it saw the iron door and went to investigate.
Euraus went straight to Mranda and said, "The bear is back and he's sitting by the hole. I'll get the bear away from the hole and you creep to the hole, drop the unbreakable things to the bottom and then get the rest. I'll meet you back at the hut."
"Good luck."
"Oh, one more thing try not to make too much noise." With that he crept away.
The bear was still investigating the hole, so Euraus crept around the side wall and disappeared out the mouth of the cave. He emerged again holding some medium sized rocks. He threw one of the rocks and hit the bear on the paw. The bear answered with a cry of pain as he searched the walls for who threw the rock. When the bear finally saw Euraus he charged. Euraus threw a rock and yelled, "Now."
The bear easily dodged the rock and kept running after Euraus. Euraus disappeared out the mouth of the cave again.
Inside, Mranda had waited until the bear had disappeared in pursuit then ran to the hole and threw most of the bags down the hole and went back to get the china. When her body was most of the way into the hole she tried to shut the door with one hand, but she couldn't she tried several more times but her feeble strength couldn't lift it. Finally she climbed down to the bottom, set the bag down, and went back up. It took all of her strength to shut it and when it did it caught her hair. She screamed once and pushed it up a bit to pull her hair out. She climbed to the bottom and paused to rest for a second. She grabbed her torch in one hand and the bags slung over her shoulder in the other and set off down the passage.
Euraus struggled through the knee deep mud. He was thoroughly drenched from head to toe and he fought to keep ahead of the raging bear only yards behind him. The bear was having the same difficulties as Euraus. Since his legs were shorter Euraus was getting ahead of him at every step. Euraus tripped on a hidden root and fell face flat in the soft mud. The bear roared in triumph but as he leaped the whole slope gave way to a gigantic mud slide just above them sweeping them toward the river with astonishing speed. Luckily Euraus grabbed hold of a deep rooted palm tree and held on as the mud slide rushed by.
There were several other palm trees in the immediate vicinity. Some close enough to be able to jump to. Euraus rearranged himself to make the jump. The first one was easy, as he was getting ready to make the second he heard a loud splash followed by a roar. The slide had reached the river and changed it from muddy water into sludge. The bear was swept under the sludge by the current beneath fighting for air he panicked. Farther down Euraus could see the bears paws thrust through the sludge grasping at the air then sinking slowly beneath the surface. Euraus felt sorry for the mighty beast, but his position was in danger too.
The next jump was farther than the first but he had no choice he leaped into the air to land at the base of the tree. The slide pulled at his legs but he held on. The slide had lessened slightly since it started so Euraus was able to pull himself free. He was almost to the edge of the slide area, just two more small jumps and he was clear. The next two went ok and he started his way back to the hut. The mud wasn't so deep as before so it moved along quicker. It was about a mile back to the hut, but when he was about halfway the terrain became more rocky and he could move as fast as he wanted.
By the time he got back it was midafternoon and he was completely exhausted. As he stumbled in the door he heard Mranda gasp and run to his side. He almost put his full weight on her as she dragged him to his chair. As he fell back he fell asleep.
He slept soundly that night and woke to find Mranda kneeling on the floor by his bed with her hand on his forehead.
"Your lucky," she said simply.
"Why?"
"Normal people don't usually spend half an hour out in the pouring rain and don't catch a fever."
"Haven't you noticed yet that I'm not exactly a 'normal person.'"
"Yes, I suppose. What happened out there?"
"Oh, nothing much, the bear was chasing me through knee deep mud and the slope gave way to a mud slide. The bear was swept into the river and drown in the mud, but I grabbed onto a palm tree and escaped to the hut."
"You make it sound so unremarkable." Mranda sounded amazed.
Euraus shrugged, "I've dealt with worse."
"I made breakfast for you: bacon and eggs."
"Bacon? I didn't think I had any bacon."
"You didn't. I had some," she said stroking his hair, "I like your kitchen. Did you make it all by yourself?"
"Of course. Who else?"
She walked over to the dresser on the north wall and got the china plate that was sitting on it. She walked back and set it on Euraus's lap, bent over and kissed him on the cheek. "Enjoy," she said upon leaving.
Euraus touched the place she had kissed him. He hadn't been kissed in seventeen years and he had forgotten what it was like, even if it was on his cheek. He hungrily ate his breakfast.
When he was done he went looking for Mranda, He found her in the kitchen putting away her china. She was in the process of rearranging one of the shelves when he entered. She greeted him cheerfully and went back to arranging the shelves.
He went to the front room and sat in his chair. The mud had been cleaned up and Mranda had changed his clothes and washed them. She had also given him a bath while he was asleep. Euraus shivered at the though of that. He couldn't bear the thought of a woman taking off his clothes and bathing him. His clothes hung by the fire drying.
When Mranda finished organizing the kitchen she entered the room and sat on another chair.
Euraus looked over at her and asked, "What did you do before you came out here?"
"You really want to know?"
"Ya, I like you and I want to know more about you."
"Well," she sighed, "Lets see. I grew up in Rungdrolin with my mother and my father. We owned a farm there and we were happy for a long time. Then the great war brought father to fight. I was about ten and I loved my father and begged him not to go. He was at war two years and when he came back he was critically injured. He made a friend there named Bueger and Bueger stayed with us because he had no family. A year later my father died. My mother was still in mourning for a year after. Finally Bueger asked my mother to marry him and she accepted. They were happy for ten years and then my mother died. Bueger mourned a little but then he turned to beer. Bueger really treated me awful, he wouldn't let me leave the house and he would force me to do the dishes and clean up after him. For the next three years I put up with it but when I couldn't stand it any more I threatened to leave and when he thought about it he agreed to be nicer as long as I stayed. It was better from then on. Bueger may have been a slimy pig but he was an honest one. Two months ago I decided that things weren't good enough and I told him so; he was drunk so he threw me out. I broke in and took the things I brought with me and all of Beuger's money."
"I'd bet he woke up a bit extra cranky that morning," Euraus said.
"Anyway I bought all the food I could carry and a pack mule. I set out into the rain forest and got lost a lot."
"It took you two months to get here?"
"Remember, this was two months ago; it was pouring the whole way."
"Oh, I remember now you must have come with the storm. If you would have come a week earlier you would have missed it completely and been here before the first drop fell."
"Just lucky I guess," she said sarcastically. "What's your story?"
"I was born, raised, and lived in the castle all of my life when I was fifteen I decided not to be bullied by all of the laws associated with living in the castle so I took some things and left and I've told you what I've been doing for the last seventeen years."
"Could you be a little more specific about the first fifteen years. Like what kind of things you did for the royal family."
"I knew it was going to come to this."
"To what."
"Try to guess what I did in the castle. I was very close to the King and Queen, I was born in the castle, I lived in the castle all my life, and the prince disappeared the same time I did."
Mranda went from sitting to standing to pacing, all the while muttering to herself with a pale face stopping frequently to stare at Euraus.
"Your Majesty?" she finally said with a shaky voice and bowing.
Chapter Two
"Please don't do that; that's why I left the palace in the first place, to escape all the formalities of princehood."
"As you wish your highness."
"And stop calling me 'Your Majesty' or 'Your Highness' I am just like everyone else except I got born to different parents. So I would rather like it if you called me Euraus instead."
"Ok, Euraus, what do we do now? I mean things are just a bit different than they were a minute ago."
"They are? I am still the same Euraus that I was a minute ago, aren't I?"
"No, now you are the crown prince of Rathendon. A minute ago you were an old hermit that time forgot."
"I wish my father would have forgotten. He's been living for the past seven years in mourning for me and my mother. I have to go to Trendis and see him."
"If you go he won't let you go back."
"You're right of course. But I can sneak in and talk to him and he'll see that I'm safe and not to worry. I'll also tell him to put a note in his will telling them where I am. As long as he knows I'm alive he'll be happier. The reason he wanted to die before was because he thought his line was ended. Now that he knows that he'll be a good king again."
"If he dies you'll be king and you'll have twice as many duties than you had before."
"I like the idea of responsibility more than I like the idea of war."
"War?"
"Of course, all of the other kingdoms surrounding Rathendon have always been jealous of it. If they see no heir to the throne they'll march on Rathendon and without a king it will surely fall."
"That sounds like a plan, Euraus. When do we start?"
It was the first time she had used his name and he smiled, "We'll have to wait until the beginning of summer, unless you want to trudge through mud and rain for twenty miles."
"No, I tried that on the way up."
"Did you start your treatment?" Euraus asked changing the subject.
"Yes, a quarter teaspoon."
"Good we'll start as soon as it's over."
The rest of the day was spend doing unimportant things like keeping the fire burning and making lunch. It was still raining outside and the fire kept the chill away. About midafternoon there was nothing to do so they sat by the fire warming their feet. Finally Mranda asked, "Do you have any books?"
Euraus's eyes sprung to life, "I was just waiting for you to ask that." He rose and said, "Follow me." He led her into the maze of tunnels beneath the hut and went on another path. It was not even a minute until they came to a large room. When Euraus had lit the several torches along the walls Mranda could see row upon row of books. This room was not like the other rooms she had been in. All of the walls and ceiling had been sanded smooth as glass.
There was a table and a couch at the far end of the room. As soon as Euraus had finished lighting all of the torches he spread his arms wide and said, "Well? Do you like it?"
"Yes, How long did it take you to make this?"
"About a half year."
"Where did you get all of these books?" she asked taking one of the books off of the shelf and flipping through it.
"It's one of the things I took with me."
"How did you get them all here?"
"I also took a team of horses and a wagon."
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
"About what?"
"About you being the prince of Rathendon."
"Because you would treat me differently because I was prince. You said it yourself that I was different because I was prince."
"Well, it's just the sense of being around someone so powerful."
"Exactly."
"People just do what you say so you don't punish them."
"That's why I left, because I was tired of people groveling at my feet. I don't like people fearing me. You know that I would never do anything to harm you. It is plain and simple that we like each other. I wouldn't do anything to try and change that."
"I know."
"I knew that this would happen, so I tried to stop it by hiding my true identity," He said with a sorry look on his face. Euraus walked over to Mranda and held her.
"Now lets get off this subject and do what we came here to do," he said leading her over to a silver box sitting on the table. "This is a list of all of the books in the library. It's listed alphabetically. The bookcases are listed by author so you just look up the book in here," he said pointing to the silver box, "or if you don't know the name but you know the authors name you can look at the bookcases."
"That sounds like a good system."
"Where did you learn how to read?"
"At the public library in Trendis, sometimes Beuger would let me go away for a few weeks while he stayed at someone else's house," she explained. "A librarian taught me how. I'm quite good at it really."
"Do you have a preference?"
"Poems."
"Any favorite authors?"
"Tophan."
They talked and read for the rest of the day and into the night. Euraus was delighted that Mranda knew how to read. He showed Mranda the books that he had written about philosophy and poetry. Mranda found a new interest in philosophy and liked Euraus's books. They both sat on the soft couch deeply entwined in a their books. Finally they got tired and went back to the hut with the book they were reading.
For dinner they had some chicken vegetable soup and settled down in their chairs with their favorite books.
The next morning when Mranda got up, she went to look for Euraus. When she couldn't find him she was worried and she went into his room to think.
It was still pouring outside and she knew Euraus good enough to know that he wouldn't get wet for no good reason. Then the thought hit her, he was probably down in the tunnels doing something.
She opened the trap door to see the nearest wall torch flaming. When she had gone down the ladder she saw that there was a trail leading down a passageway that she didn't recognize. As she followed the trail of torches she heard the sound off metal striking iron. She figured that Euraus must be working on a tunnel. Farther down the trail the tunnel turned sharply into a room. It was similar to the library with the smoothed walls and ceiling. There were figures standing in that room, all gray and motionless and in the middle was Euraus, hammer and chisel in hand, working on another figure. When Euraus stepped aside, she could see her face on the statue. When she saw this she slipped back behind the corner and peeked around to watch. The face on the statue was hers, it was a perfect work of art. The cheeks and all of the curves on her face had been captured so brilliantly in the stone. From the look on Euraus's face she could tell that he had been up all night. Her body was not complete yet; he would need about another hour to finish, so she slipped back down the passageway on silent feet.
About two hours later Euraus crept up the ladder and climbed into bed. Mranda was in her bed in the front room reading her book. When Euraus came up she arose and walked into the kitchen. She got out a pot for boiling some eggs and started the fire in the oven. Then she went into the front room and started building the fire. When she had the fire started Euraus entered, stretched and flopped into his chair. "What's for breakfast?" he asked yawning.
"I've got some eggs boiling now."
"Yum, boiled eggs my favorite."
"I like fried personally."
They sat by the fire warming the morning thaw off of them. It had been extra cold that morning because the wind had been blowing and the kitchen window was left open.
"Sure is cold this morning." Euraus remarked.
"The kitchen window was left open last night."
"Oh."
"You look extra tired this morning."
"Ya, I didn't sleep well this last night."
"I know," She muttered quietly.
"What?" he asked distantly.
"I didn't sleep too well either."
"Are the eggs almost done yet?"
"I don't know; I'll check," she said as she left the room. She returned again and answered, "Almost."
"Good, I'm hungry."
They ate breakfast a minute a minute later and sat in their chairs, reading their books. Euraus was reading a different book than he was the day before and when Mranda noticed this she said, "When did you go to get that book?"
"Last night."
"I didn't know you went to the library last night."
"I did and I stayed down there all night."
"What'd you do all night, read?"
"Nope, I made something for you."
"What?"
Euraus rose and said, "Follow me and you'll see." He led her into the tunnels and into the room where he was making the statue.
When she saw it she put her hand over her mouth and stopped. It was different than it was when she saw him making it. It was polished down to a mirror shine and it was as smooth as glass. It's mouth was curved into a loving grin and it's arms were extended outward in a gesture of friendship. It was life sized and it was kneeling. She wore a flowing gown tucked under her knees and puffs on her shoulders.
"Do you like it?"
"Like it? I love it. It's so beautiful and lifelike," she exclaimed running over to the statue. "Oh, I love you," she ran to Euraus embracing him tightly.
"I know, I love you too," He said kissing her full on the lips. They held each other making silent oaths.
"Who are all of these people?"
"People I know," he said. "These are my parents," he said. walking over to a pair of figures holding hands."
"Your mother was very beautiful."
"I know," he said in a sad voice, "She was."
"They look very happy."
"Yes, they were. I must have shattered my father's heart when she died." There were tears standing in his eyes as he stared into his mothers eyes. Mranda wiped his eyes with her handkerchief and hugged him. Euraus wept freely on her shoulder for some time.
There was a couch by the far wall and Euraus and Mranda stumbled to it. Euraus was already exhausted from not sleeping that night and the fatigue from crying pushed him over the edge. There was a fireplace on the far wall and Mranda built a fire so Euraus would be warm through the night. He slept the rest of the day and through the night.
The next morning he woke to Mranda's smiling face shining down on him. His stomach rumbled from the long period of time without food. "Hungry?" she asked holding a plate of pancakes in front of him.
Euraus sat up and began to wolf down the pancakes. After two had disappeared Mranda offered some syrup for his pancakes. He gratefully accepted and practically poured it on his pancakes. "You're a good cook," he remarked.
"Thank you," she said kissing him lightly on the lips.
Euraus smiled and went back to eating.
An hour later Euraus was up and stretching his tired back. Mranda was admiring the other statues in the gallery. "You're very good at sculpture," she said. "Do you have any other hobbies."
"As a matter of fact I do." he said walking over to her. "May I?" he asked offering his arm in a polite manner. She accepted and they linked elbows and strode down the passageway.
He led her down another passageway and into another room like the others he had shown her with polished, smooth walls. This one however was not a square room. It was a circular room with a massive column in the center shaped like an ancient tree. The column was about twenty feet thick and had small tendrils sticking out in different places that had pictures hanging on them.
Most of the pictures were of parts of the rain forest. There were beautifully painted pictures of sunrises, of sunsets, of brightly colored birds, of all of the animals of the forest. Then she came to a different section of the gallery where there were portraits of friends and family and of almost everyone in the sculpture gallery.
At the other side of the gallery there was a small tunnel leading to a small oval room that was illuminated by a strange blue light. As she looked into the room she saw a large pyramid shaped block of stone sitting on a beautifully carved table. The table was stained with all different colors of the rainbow. But that is not what caught her eye, the room was completely opened to the outside. There were ornately carved pillars around the edge of the room and the windows between revealed the rain forest in it's full splendor. The opening came out about halfway up an enormous cliff. From here she could see a wide canyon overgrown by the rain forest. The vines had crept up the sheer walls of the canyon and the palm trees had grown so tall they had almost reached the stone balcony upon which she stood. Red and blue colored birds flew among the tall trees singing their happy song. It had stopped raining and the animals were out and they were restless. Monkeys climbed those trees and jumped from tree to tree ignoring the hundred foot drop. Mranda was taken back by the view this point had. All of the colors anyone could only dream of were standing before her eyes.
She was startled when she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder and she spun around to see Euraus's smiling face. "Do you like the view?"
"Of course, who wouldn't? This is the most marvelous thing I've ever seen. Have you taken anyone else here before?" she asked excitedly.
"Not a soul. I guess I was waiting for you."
"Oh, Euraus. I love you," she said kissing him soundly on the lips.
Euraus knelt and a look of seriousness came over his face and he said, "Mranda, will you marry me?"
A look of surprise came over Mranda's gentile face, then it turned to awe, and finally a face of pure love. "Oh, Euraus, I will, I will. Oh, I love you Euraus, crown prince of Rathendon, I really do love you," she said in a voice so overjoyed she was almost to tears as she ran to him and hugged him.
"I love you too," he said holding her tightly. He separated himself from her long enough to slip a gold ring with the largest diamonds Mranda had ever seen encrusted upon it.
"Oh my word," she exclaimed as she held her hand out to look at the ring, "I've never seen diamonds this big before in my life!" she exclaimed.
"That's your engagement ring, just wait until you see your wedding ring."
"Did you make this?" she said still admiring the ring.
"With my own hands."
"Where did you come by these diamonds and this gold?"
"When you've done as much mining as I have you're bound to run across something valuable."
"This isn't just valuable it's priceless," she said looking at the ring. Then she looked at Euraus, "And so are you," she said jumping into his arms and kissing him deeply.
"We'll go to a remote chapel and get married just like we've done thing's so far alone. That way no one will know that I exist."
"Alone?"
"Of course. Who would you invite anyway, Beuger? I don't think he'd be very willing to come considering the amount of money you took from him?"
"Yes, I suppose you're right. But what about your family? I'm sure your father would insist that he come."
"Then we won't tell him. I'll tell him after the wedding is over."
"Oh, you're so conniving, Euraus. I love you and nothing can stop that. Alone it will be," she said kissing him deeply again.
"I love you too, Mranda." he said. Then he carried her back to the hut and set her on his bed while he shut the trap door and moved the rug back into place.
"Are there any other of your hobbies that I should know about?"
"Oh, lets see," he said sitting beside her on his bed, "I'm a miner, sculptor, artist, author‹ oh, I'm also a spy and a thief."
"Those are two unsavory habits."
"Not really. They're quite useful in tight situations."
"You mean for killing."
"Not if I don't have to I don't like killing people for fun like some thieves, I only kill when I have to."
"Have to?"
"Like when I'm cornered and outnumbered. I can see that you don't take well to thieves."
"My mother was killed by a thief."
"Really? I'm sorry."
"She was walking down an alley and the thief jumped out behind her, stabbed her in the back and ran with her bag of money." By the time she had finished relating her story she was sobbing uncontrollably.
"I'm so very very sorry," he said holding her shaking body close to his.
Mranda cried herself to sleep that night. and Euraus knew that she had stayed awake most of last night watching him. Euraus put her into his bed and went to eat lunch. It had been an eventful day and Euraus was tired. After he finished his lunch he remembered that he hadn't put out the torches yet in the tunnels.
He entered the tunnels and grabbed a torch. He went all the way to the statue gallery and put out the fire; then he extinguished the the torches in that room and began on the torches in the halls. He repeated the process with the art gallery and it's tunnel. By the time he got back he was exhausted from running from torch to torch and smothering each as he got to them. He climbed in bed pausing only long enough to kick off his shoes.
Euraus slept well that night. He dreamed about Mranda's pretty face and her look of pure love when he asked her to marry him. He dreamed of her face when he saw the statue he had carved for her. He saw every time that she had said 'I love you' and heard the sweet words from her lips. He had been in love from the first time he saw her and he hoped she did too. He loved her more than life itself and he would show it to her.
Mranda's dreams were haunted by the form of thief jumping from the doorway. She had not told Euraus that she was there when the thief had killed her mother. Told him that she wept for hours afterward over her mothers body. Or about the five years in mourning for her. That she had worn black and not spoken a word in that five years. That she had secretly trained herself to be a thief and a spy to get revenge for her mother. She had not told him any of those things because it hurt too much to talk about.
Euraus woke abruptly that morning because Mranda was standing over him beating his chest as hard as she could with her eyes closed. Euraus restrained her easily and shook her until she woke up screaming and struggling against his grip. When she finally opened her eyes and saw what she was doing she burst into tears and collapsed in his arms. Euraus held her against his aching chest and kissed her forehead.
After several minutes he finally got her calmed down enough to talk. "You were having a nightmare now tell me what it was about," he said calmly.
"I was chasing the thief and I caught him and I was stabbing him to death," she said still sobbing.
"Oh, Mranda it was just a dream," he said holding her tightly.
"But it was so real," she objected.
"It was just a dream," he repeated.
"I know but I wanted to kill him so bad, but when he turned into you‹" she burst into tears again.
"It's all right," he said, "I'm Ok."
"I'll never forgive myself."
"No, no, you were never at fault. I don't blame you for hating the thief and wanting to kill him. When you told me that my mother killed herself because of me, I hated myself, I wanted to kill myself because it was my fault that she killed herself. Then I reconsidered and decide that I had to see my father before I killed myself. But now I can't kill myself because I love you too much. We will find this thief and I'll hold him down while you make him pay for your grief."
"Oh thank you, Euraus, but I won't need you to hold him down. I will make him pay double. First I'll beat him at his own game and completely humiliate him for my grief. Then I'll gut him like a fish for my mother," she said with a certain satisfaction.
"How are you planning to beat him at his own game?"
"I didn't tell you this but I spend years after my mother died training to be a spy and a thief. In that time I also always wore black and never said a word."
"Never? For how many years?"
"Five."
"Looks like I'm marrying a woman who holds a grudge. That will secure your happiness as long as your with me. I would never do anything to risk your love. Now that I love you I cannot live without you."
"Oh, Euraus, that's so beautiful," she said with tears coming to her eyes.
"Come now, I think enough tears have been shed today. Lets go eat breakfast."
They ate breakfast hungrily and sat in their chairs contemplating the events of the past few days. So much of the time was spent sleeping so it was almost difficult to distinguish real life from dreams.
The rain had stopped the day before and the sun was shining so they decided to move to the porch. The sunlight filtered through the leaves painting shadow pictures on the receding river below the hut. It was a beautiful day and the animals were restless. The monkeys scampered up trees, jumping across air, and leaping from tree to tree. The birds flew around in circles, up down, and all around in pairs of two. It was mating season and all of the animals knew it.
Euraus was in a good mood and so was Mranda. They sat watching all of the animals romp and play, pointing things out to the other and laughing at the animals.
Once, a giant tiger strode down to the bank and all of the animals scattered. The monkeys climbed up the trees and screamed down at the tiger. The birds flew to their nests and cawed at the tiger. The whole thing made an ear splitting noise and finally drove the tiger off.
"That tiger looks just like the one you painted in one of your paintings," she remarked after the tiger had left.
"It was," he said. "It always comes there to drink."
"Really? And all of the animals scream like that too?"
"Yup."
"Don't you get tired of it sometimes?"
"Of course but there's really nothing I can do about it, is there?"
"I guess not," she replied in a slightly ashamed voice.
Euraus leaned over and kissed her and she smiled. Then she back over and kissed him soundly they both fell backwards in their chairs. At first they sat with smiles on their faces then they burst into laughter and hugged each other lying on the floor.
"I love this solitude. And I love you crown prince of Rathendon," she said with fake dignity and they both burst into laughter.
They set the chairs right and sat holding hands and dreaming. "I want to stay here for the rest of our lives." Euraus said.
"It's so beautiful here. I want to stay right here forever and just leave the whole world behind."
"Oh, yes," he said with his eyes closed dreaming.
They sat dreaming for hours and they didn't see the black clouds creeping over the sky from the south. All of the sudden a huge blast of wind knocked their chairs backwards and sent them skidding into the side of the house. Euraus stood up and helped Mranda up.
"What's wrong," she asked in a frightened voice.
"There is a hurricane blown in from the southern coast; we'll get the edges of it."
"What about the hut?"
"I built it hurricane proof, but we need to stay below until it blows past. The winds can blow so fast they tear the bark off of trees."
"What do we need to do?"
"Get all of the food and bring it into the tunnels. I'll tie up the windows and doors; if were lucky the wind won't even get in."
"What if it does."
"It will blow everything all over the place."
With that she ran off into the kitchen and began gathering food. Euraus used some leather strips to tie the door to the frame and the windows to their frames. As soon as he was done, he went down the trap door and saw Mranda sitting by the intersection of tunnels with several bags.
"Which way?" she asked.
"Follow me," he said picking up the bags and walking down a passageway she had not been before. It ended shortly and she saw a medium sized room with a low ceiling and a fireplace. Close to the fireplace was a large bed, the size of his other bed.
"Why are all of your beds king sized?"
"I figured if you've got the time why not live in comfort."
"And you had a lot of time."
"That I did," He said as he walked over to a small passageway and disappeared for a second before emerging with a few logs and some kindling.
It only took a minute to get a nice fire started and he turned around to see Mranda lying in the bed and the sheets folded over. She was patting the spot that was open and she had a mischievous smile on her face. "Hold that thought," he said, "I have a little more hurricane proofing to do."
Then he disappeared into the tunnel. Mranda waited for about ten minutes and Euraus reappeared and said, "Now let that thought go and let it run wild."
Chapter Three
The hurricane had not succeeded in breaking through Euraus's protection; the leather strips held the windows and doors tightly shut were still fastened securely. The pieces of leather had worn thin from the constant beating of sand thrashing at it with incredible speed.
There were piles of dry sand in all of the corners and leaves littered the floor. Mranda found a broom in the kitchen and began to sweep it into piles.
The kitchen was a mess; the shelves were all blown open and sand covered the dishes. The bowls were completely filled with light brown sand. Two of the strips of leather had worn through on the bottom of the kitchen window and the floor had two inches of soft sand looking like a miniature desert on the floor.
Euraus was inspecting the fireplace. It was filled with sand and had many brownish bricks in the center. He had figured that the chimney had collapsed under the beating of the winds. He began to untie the leather strips holding the doors to see how extensive the damage was. As he opened the door the porch roof collapsed showering him with gallons of soft brown sand.
It made quite a loud noise and Mranda rushed in to see Euraus sitting in a pile of sand up to his neck laughing. Sand still sifted down out of the air and covered Mranda with a light brown coating.
"What happened?" she asked.
"The porch roof collapsed," he said rising and brushing off the sand. "It piled onto the roof and finally fell."
"Onto you?"
"Just lucky I guess," he said chuckling. "This storm was a smaller one but it blew alot of sand around."
"A smaller one? It looked pretty bad to me."
"In the second summer I was here, A hurricane came. I hadn't seen a hurricane before so I just thought it to be a tropical storm. That hurricane was a big one. I had barely started to make the tunnels so I went down into them until it blew over. After it was over the only thing left of the hut was the base that was stuck into the rock."
"Really?"
"Yes, and it took me another year to fix it again and hurricane proof it."
"Sounds like you've had a pretty amazing life."
Euraus smiled and started moving the wreckage from the porch roof out of the way to get outside.
After he had disappeared from sight Mranda heard a groan from outside. Euraus appeared again and said. "The wind blew the chimney over it will take me a month to rebuild it."
"A month?"
"Yes, the wind also blew all of the bricks away so I have to go get some new ones."
"At the village?"
"No, there is a sandstone quarry to the east of here. I have to go cut the bricks out of the rock."
"When?"
"As soon as we've cleaned up here."
"Ok," she said turning around and disappearing into the kitchen again.
It took Euraus several hours to clear the porch of the debris. He cut up the wood and piled it in the back room for firewood. He swept the sand and the leaves off of the porch into the river.
The storm had done about what Euraus had expected it to do. Most of the trees were completely bare of bark and were leafless. The animals were running and flying about collecting branches and debris for shelter. Some of the trees had even been knocked over by the wind. All of the ground was covered with sand and the river had shrunk down to it's normal size of a stream. The wind was blowing the direction of the current and it sped the river along faster.
By the time Euraus had finished, the sun was sinking below the horizon and it was getting colder.
Mranda had finished dinner and was building the fire when Euraus came in. "Is the porch cleared?"
"Yes," he said stretching and sinking into his chair.
Mranda went to the kitchen and came back with two steaming bowls of vegetable soup.
After tasting the soup he said, "You're a very good cook."
"I know," she said airily.
Euraus chuckled and smiled.
"You have a very nice kitchen."
"I know," he mimicked.
They both smiled and chuckled.
"Did you put the antidote into your food?"
"Yes."
They ate their food in silence and got to bed early. Tomorrow Euraus would have to cut bricks from the quary to build the porch and it would take him several hours.
Euraus slept dreamlessly that night and awoke early. It was still quite dark outside and Mranda was not yet awake so Euraus lay in bed thinking of the events of the past few days. Of Mranda and all of the emotions they had gone through since he had first seen her. He felt her warm body beside his and smiled.
He remembered the first time he had seen her, she was wearing a dark brown tunic and loose hose. She was wet from the journey to his hut and her hose stuck to her body revealing the details of her feature. The light from the fire reflected from her damp hair giving her an almost a glowing look and her brown eyes shone like miniature suns cutting through a thick fog.
Everything had gone so fast since he had met her he had barely had any time to think. In all of the time he had been away from man he had grown to be able to easily handle anything that had come up. But the last few days since he had met her had been so different from the rest he had almost not been able to handle it. But he had Mranda to help him pull through. Mranda had also had a hard time dealing with her feelings too and he had enjoyed helping her. It had been so long since he had had a friend and it felt wonderful.
Morning went swiftly after Mranda got up and before she knew it Euraus was starting off to the east with his hammer and his mallet in a medium sized handcart. After cleaning up breakfast she opened the secret door to the tunnels and went into the tunnels below. She went to the wall to grab a torch and something stung her on the hand.
Euraus trudged through the jungle dragging his cart behind him. He had cleared a trail to the quarry some time ago. It had slightly overgrown on itself since. The trail opened into the quarry about a mile ahead. The broad expanse of brownish red rock was blurred by the heat. In the center of the quarry was a large greenish blue pool. With water rushing in from a hot spring. The pool made a nice spot for relaxing. He had forgotten to tell Mranda about it. Usually after a long hot day of chiseling bricks his muscles ached and he would strip and climb into to the pool to relax for a while before he pulled the handcart home. Now that he though of it he wished he would have thought to bring Mranda.
As he reached a smooth spot of sandstone he sat down to begin chiseling out the bricks. Then he got a strange feeling. A feeling like Mranda was in trouble. He shook it off. As he set his chisel on the stone he got the feeling again except stronger. He began to shake it off again but he wondered if she really was in trouble. Then he was suddenly afraid; he was terrified.
He sprung up and started for the pathway, but stopped and remembered something. He had made a tunnel to the quarry some time ago as an escape route. He ran over to the opening to find the door sitting agape. He wondered for a second but hurried down when his foot hit the floor he heard a sickening crunch. He hurried and lit a torch from a small hole in the wall. When he saw it he knew it instantly. It was hairy and it had a small tentacle sticking out with a needle on it. It was a quarry scorpion. It was a kind of scorpion that lived primarily in the quarries of the jungle. It sting was deadly poisonous. It must had fallen into the tunnel.
He closed the door and started down the tunnel watching for scorpions as he went. Every so often he would find one and kill it with his mallet. It took a long time to get back to the hut and when he turned the corner at the end he gasped. Mranda was sprawled out on the passage floor with a scorpion sitting on her chest sleeping.
He couldn't kill it while it was on her chest and if he woke it it would probably sting her again. He finally decided to knock it off of her quickly and kill it. He knocked it off as hard as he could and sent it skittering off down the passageway. It came running back at him kind of lopsidedly and he missed it with his mallet but smashed it savagely with his foot.
He knelt beside her and pulled open her eyes they had rolled back. He put his ear to her mouth; she was still breathing slightly in tight wispy breaths. She had a pulse, but the rest of her muscles were strained tightly. He easily lifted her petite body and hurried down the tunnel, running in the dark, guided only by memory to the room where they had spent the time while the hurricane blew through. He layed her on the bed and lit the torches in the room.
Then Euraus sat down and thought. How long had it been since she had been stung? It had to be since he saw her, so what time was it. It is kind of hard to tell the time in a cave, so he ran through the art gallery to the balcony. There was a little debris and sand there but he hadn't the time to think. It was around noon. he ran back into the tunnels, but this time he took a wrong turn and got lost. He hurriedly lit a torch on the wall and continued lighting every other torch around him to gain his bearings.
He was in an unfinished part of the tunnel and one way went back to the enterance and the other continued for around a mile. He unfastened a lighted wall torch and extinguished the others. Then he took off his bear claw necklace and tossed it in the air. It hit the ground and the claw pointed directly down one of the directions of the passage, so he grabbed the necklace and started running. He was running so fast that he almost collided into a wall when the tunnel merged with another. He finally reached the enterance quickly headed off down another passage. He ended up in the room of the bug antidote. He hefted down a bottle and ran more carefully back to where Mranda lay.
She was in about the same condition. He thought for a moment. He left around midmorning and so it must have been maximum of around four hours since she could possibly have been stung. It had to be less than four and a half hours ago for this possible cure to work, so this was cutting it close.
Euraus ran to the hut as fast as his legs could carry him and fetched a measuring cup. He got back fast and poured about three teaspoons of the slimy clear sap into the cup. When he brought it to her mouth he found that her jaw was tightened. It was not completely locked but it was starting. He massaged her jaw muscles trying to loosen it to administer the medicine to her. After a minute or so had passed her jaw loosened a bit. He forced it open a bit more to slide the cup in. He sat her up so she would not choke, but she choked anyway. It finally went down and she almost collapsed. He really did not know what to expect because he had never tried that large of a dose on anyone for treatment of poison, so he just layed her on the bed and covered her with blankets. Fever was sure to follow, so he returned to the hut and gathered materials.
He gathered a bucket, a rag, and went outside to get some water. After this he hurried back to the hurricane room to her side. After seeing that she was all right he went into the firewood room and retreived some wood for a fire. He used his torch and started it quickly. Soon the room was warm and cozy. He sat on the side of the bed holding her hand and looking for some sign of life in her beautiful pale face. He reached up and felt her forehead. She was hot so he dipped the rag in the bucket and placed it on her forehead.
He loved her. He really did. He could not bear the thought of not having her, even though he had only known her for a few days. It had been like magic, it was the feeling of having her near whenever he needed someone to hold him close. He could not lose her. He had not had anyone like that since he left the palace, years ago.
He sat by her side for around an hour until it was time to give her another dose. Her hand had begun to swell up and when he examined it he found she had been stung on the back of the hand. It had turned red and purple and had formed scabs around the wound. He cleaned the wound and wrapped it.
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