8

CHAPTER 8

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All of a sudden Newark started coughing. Elena quickly tried hiding her worry behind a stern expression. Newark opened his eyes and smiled at Elena, “That was fun” he said in a low voice.

Elena got up at once, “Now that you’re okay, we must move on”. She helped Newark get on his feet and they headed towards the mosaic of woods lying ahead. The setting sun filled the woods with little patches of light. A cool breeze started to blow the dead leaves and Newark began whistling a tune. “It’s getting nice and cool. Can we rest for a while?” he said.

Elena nodded in approval. They found an empty patch of land somewhere ahead, where they sat down among the shrubs. “So what do you know about the Ferodiums?” asked Newark.

“Ferodiums are the guardians of fire watching over the sacred core, just like we are the guardians of water watching over the fountain of life” said Elena as she polished her sword. After a brief gap, Elena continued “Ferodiums had been our allies, depending on us for water in exchange for their dust of fire. A drop from the fountain of life, gave them a never-ending reserve of water for a year and the dust of fire gave us fire without cutting our trees”.

Newark listened with the curiosity of a child. “Tell me more! This is so interesting!” he cried.

Elena was busy cleaning her artillery and gave into Newark’s request, “Existence comprises of 3 groups. The people of fire, the people of water and….”

A sudden movement interrupted Elena as something rose behind them. Elena got up to her feet and Newark fell on his back. He stared at a one-eyed creature with an oval-shaped mouth filled with canines. It had two horns and a dark red eye. A drop of drool fell from the creature’s mouth on Newark’s cheek.

“Awwww” squeaked Newark.

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Love at first sight? Maybe Newark finally gets laid, for the last time.