“How long can you keep this up?” the teenager asked him, as if sensing his thoughts.

  “Not much longer. We need to find Mina and fast. Hold on, I have an idea how to buy us a little time.”

  Steve dropped his arms to his sides and then brought them up, cupping them together as though he was holding a basketball. He generated a huge chaser and flung it down the right-hand tunnel. He did the same for the left. He then eyed the tunnel Lissa had been attacking and did the same for it.

  “That should keep them occupied for a few minutes. Come on, we need to start searching.”

  “Are you going to douse these flames?”

  Steve looked down at his engulfed body and then at Lissa’s flaming arm.

  “Best to leave it like this for a little bit. It’s added incentive for those cretins to leave us alone.”

  “Where should we look for Mina?” Lissa wondered.

  “You said there might be someplace where they dispose the carcasses? Think you can find it?”

  Lissa sniffed the air. The air was already foul but it was even more so coming from the left tunnel.

  “Let’s go that way,” she suggested. “It smells really bad that way.”

  They headed down the tunnel, following their noses as they tried to find where the griskis dumped that which they didn’t want to eat. Steve didn’t want to know what fell into that category. They passed several offshoots and hesitated only long enough to verify no one was hiding inside.

  They arrived at a subterranean cliff. The stench was so foul that Steve could swear he could see noxious gas rising up from below.

  “This has to be it,” Steve told the girl. “But I don’t see anyone lurking about.”

  A pebble clattered noisily along the floor. The two of them whirled around. A thin, scrawny girl with matted black hair was standing behind them. She stared at them with wide, unblinking eyes. Her clothes were tattered and torn, and unbelievably filthy. She had sores all over her pale face and arms.

  Not wanting to scare the girl, Steve reduced the amount of jhorun fueling the protective blanket of fire encompassing both him and Lissa until his face and most of his torso appeared.

  “Mina?” Steve inquired. “Is your name Mina?”

  The girl was silent and motionless for at least ten seconds before she gave a barely perceptible nod.

  “I’m a friend of your brother. Would you like to get out of here, Mina? If you’ll let us, we’ll help you escape. Would you like that?”

  The girl nodded again, faster this time.

  “Good. By any chance do you know the way out of here? Can you lead us back to the surface?”

  A look of sheer terror appeared on the girl’s face.

  “They won’t touch you,” Steve promised. “Do you know the way out or not?”

  The trembling girl gave a barely perceptible nod.

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Lead the way. I’ll be right behind you. If you see one of those griski things then drop down to the ground and lay as flat as you can, okay? Let me handle the rest.”

  Mina turned and with surprising assuredness, led them down the tunnel, back toward the main cavern.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Steve muttered uneasily. His jhorun was growing more tired by the second. He wouldn’t be able to get more than a few blasts out before he’d keel over from sheer exhaustion.

  They reached the main cavern just as the griskis were regrouping to try again. They spotted the three humans and screeched their anger. Mina was absolutely terrified. She nervously inched closer to Steve, who waved his fiery arms a few times go get her attention.

  “Mina! Which way do we go?”

  Mina pointed at the tunnel they had previously headed to, the one with the fresh air coming from it.

  “Good. Run. Run!”

  Mina sprinted into the new tunnel. Steve struggled to keep up. Even though Lissa was a slight girl and didn’t weigh more than a ninety pounds soaking wet, she was dead weight on his back. He could feel every jarring footfall, every wheezing breath he took.

  “Here they come!” Lissa warned, pointing back the way they had come. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Blast ‘em!” Steve promptly told her. “Keep them off our backs!”

  Lissa fired off a blast, forcing the advancing monsters to reverse course and flee. On and on they ran, up one tunnel, then across a narrow stone bridge spanning a deep chasm, and then up another tunnel. The griskis followed them every step of the way, screeching and snarling their displeasure.

  “I don’t have many blasts left,” Steve wheezed out as they emerged from the sixth or seventh tunnel Mina had guided them to. He had lost count. “Use my jhorun sparingly.”

  Steve rounded a bend and almost cried with relief. He could see daylight coming from a narrow opening in the rock wall. He ran up to the large crack in the rocks and looked through. He could see the woods! Tall evergreen trees were everywhere. The sun was shining. He could hear birds chirping. Everything he had taken for granted outside now appealed to him more than he could ever remember.

  Steve turned back to the dark tunnel, his face grim. Griskis were everywhere. They howled with rage at the sight of the sunlight and tried one last time to overtake them. He extinguished the flames that had been protecting the two of them.

  “Okay, it’s my turn. Lissa, I need you to get down.”

  “But…”

  “No buts. Hurry!”

  “But I’m not –”

  “Now, Lissa! We’re running out of time! You and Mina need to get out of here!”

  The girl reluctantly climbed off his back. Steve called up his emergency reserves of jhorun and channeled every drop of power he had left into this final blast. He snorted. It was time to repay their gracious hosts for the wonderful hospitality they had been shown during their delightful stay underground.

  He waited as long as he could. The griskis were now close enough where he could see their blood-red eyes. He risked a glance behind him to see if the girls were still there. They weren’t. They were safe! A smug smile appeared.

  “A present. From me to you, you little pukes.”

  Steve’s hands sprang open. A concussive blast rivaling that which killed the guur queen all those years ago ripped through the tunnel, incinerating everything in its path. It also knocked Steve through the opening in the wall and out into the woods.

  A loud rumbling started and grew progressively louder. Steve painfully rolled to his feet and spat out a few pine needles that had found their way into his mouth. He blindly stumbled away from the jagged crack as several large stones broke off from the mountainside and fell dangerously close to where he had been lying. The rumblings grew louder. He risked a glance behind him and saw that the entire hillside was collapsing. Several thousand metric tons of rock came crashing down, as though a giant had mistakenly thought the small mountain was a button and had pushed it.

  Steve detected movement in his peripheral vision and automatically moved towards it. He saw a flash of skin as a figure leapt out of the trees and latched onto his back. Two arms fastened around his neck and held on.

  “Oof! Lissa, what are you doing? Why are you on my back again?”

  “I’m sorry, I have to!”

  “What? Why?”

  “My clothes are gone!”

  “You took off your clothes? Why in the world would you do that?”

  “I didn’t! They must have burned off during the battle. That’s not fair! Why didn’t your clothes burn off, too?”

  “My clothes are immune to the fire,” Steve explained as he kept his eyes straight ahead. “My jhorun knows not to burn my clothes.”

  “So why did they burn mine?”

  “I’m not sure,” Steve admitted. “I asked my jhorun to protect you the same way it was protecting me.”

  “So you are okay with my clothes burning off?”

  “Uh... I don’t suppose saying ‘I’m sorry’ would cut it, huh?”

  Mina appeared. She actually smiled at him. It was a start, Steve decided.

  “Get off my back, Lissa. I’ll give you my shirt, okay?”

  A loud voice startled all three of them.

  “Steve? Lissa? Are you there?”

  “It’s Cecil!” Lissa squeaked in terror. “I can’t let him see me like this!”

  “If you’re not careful then I’ll see you like this,” Steve cautioned. “Stay behind me. Here.” He peeled off his shirt and held it out behind his back.

  Cecil and Quinn appeared just as Steve’s shirt slid into place past Lissa’s hips. Cecil eyed the girl’s bare legs and spun around to face the other direction. Still somewhat hunched over, Quinn mimicked him.

  “Have we, er, interrupted something? Do we need to say something to your wife?”

  “Nope,” Steve answered. “Why? Because nothing happened. She lost her clothes and I’m just giving her my shirt until we can get her some more, okay?”

  Cecil grinned. “She lost her clothes, you say?”

  “They were burned off during our escape. Nothing more.”

  “So you say,” Cecil chortled, clearly enjoying Steve’s embarrassment.”

  Steve shook a finger at his companion. “You aren’t gonna say a damn thing. Am I right?”

  Cecil smiled and held a finger to his lips.

  “Your secret is safe with me.”

  “It’d better be, pal.”

  Chapter 3 – Runs in the Family

  The door banged open in the small three bedroom cottage, kicking up a thick layer of dust. Four separate people sneezed. They all peered intently at the comfort of the small house and then looked at the sorry condition they were in. Steve was bare chested and doing his best to suck in his gut. Cecil’s business attire looked as though it had tangled with a wildcat. Quinn’s clothes were so torn and filthy that they barely resembled rags. The only thing Lissa was wearing was Steve’s shirt. Thankfully Steve’s 3XL tunic fell all the way down to a few inches above the young girl’s knees.

  “What a quaint house,” Quinn observed. “Looks perfectly comfortable.”

  Steve harrumphed. “Based on what we’ve just been through it looks like a freakin’ Hilton to me.”

  “What is a ‘hilton’?” Cecil wanted to know.

  “A nice hotel,” Steve translated.

  Lissa noticed the home’s rightful owner appeared to be doubled over, as if in pain. She laid a hand on Mina’s thin shoulder and gave her a friendly shake.

  “You’re home. You’re safe here.”

  Mina lifted her head and stared at Lissa with her tear stained eyes. She was rapidly blinking her eyes in a feeble attempt to clear her vision. Her eyes darted from one corner of the house to the other. She laid a trembling hand on the door frame and gave a heart wrenching sob. Lissa was instantly sympathetic.

  “Here,” she told the girl as she draped her arm across Mina’s shoulders, “let’s get you cleaned up. I think we could all use a bath after that ordeal.”

  “Is there a place to get cleaned up around here?” Quinn hopefully asked. He was almost back to walking fully upright. Clearly the exercise was working wonders on his body. “Somewhere outside? I wouldn’t dare soil anything in this lovely house until I’m clean.”

  Steve glanced down at his chest and noted the layers of dirt and grime that were caked on.

  “I definitely second that notion. Mina, is there a river nearby? Perhaps a tub or something where we could clean up?”

  Mina turned to point back outside.

  “There’s…” Mina’s voice broke. She angrily cleared her throat and tried again. “There’s a large basin in the back of the house, next to the well. There’s a pump nearby. You may bathe there.”

  Steve shook his head. “This is your house. You’ve been through the most. I say you have first dibs. Lissa, perhaps you could give her a hand?”

  Lissa nodded. “Of course. Mina, can you show me where it is? We’ll get it ready for you.”

  The girls vanished around the back of the house. Quinn sniffed his shirt and recoiled with disgust. He noticed a large fire pit sitting just outside the cottage with several logs arranged in a circle for seating. Quinn peeled off his shirt and tossed it into the pit. He looked over at Steve.

  “Think you could burn that for me?”

  “You don’t want to try and wash it?”

  Quinn shook his head. “I’d rather walk around as naked as the day I was born before I put that shirt back on. In fact…” He pulled the rest of his grubby attire off, leaving on a thin set of grimy underclothes. He tossed the decrepit pile into the pit. It landed in a sodden heap on top of what used to be his shirt. “Please. Do me another favor. Burn that. Burn it all.”

  Steve shrugged. “If we’re all going to take baths then it’d be a good idea if we got a fire going. Cecil, see if there’s a wood shed nearby. I’d like to –”

  They all heard a loud shrill scream. It was definitely a woman’s voice. Steve bolted around the house, heading for the girls. Had the griskis followed them here? Would they be bold enough to try and recapture the girls in broad daylight?

  Steve rounded the corner of Mina’s house and came to a sudden stop. Both eyes snapped closed. Mina was trying to lower herself into a large tub of water and evidently it was cold.

  “What is it?” Cecil asked, trying to peer around Steve. “What has happened?”

  Alerted to their presence, Mina screamed again, this time from embarrassment and quickly submerged herself in the frigid water. The water sloshed over the edge as Mina thrashed about in the icy water.

  “You shouldn’t be back here,” Lissa scolded. “Shoo! Go away!”

  Following Steve’s example, Cecil and Quinn both had their eyes closed. Steve spun in place and had retreated two steps when Lissa pulled him back.

  “Wait a moment. You can stay.”

  “Excuse me? I shouldn’t be staying. I don’t want to stay. You can’t make me stay. I’m married!”

  Lissa giggled as Steve tried to pull his arm free.

  “Don’t be silly. We need your help. Do you think you could warm up the water? It’s terribly cold.”

  “Oh. Uh, sure. I’m not opening my eyes so you’ll have to lead the way.”

  “Sure. Take my hand.”

  “Nuh uh. Guide my arm.”

  Lissa giggled again, enjoying Steve’s discomfort. She guided him over to the large metal basin and pulled him to a stop.

  “We’re there. Stoop down. There you go. Can you feel the water?”

  Steve nodded. “I’d say so. You just shoved my hand in it.”

  “Do your thing. Heat it up.”

  “Mina’s in it now, right?”

  “Aye.”

  “Okay. I’m going to go slow. Let me know if it gets too warm, alright?”

  This time he heard Mina’s reply.

  “I will. Thank you.”

  Several minutes later Steve returned to the front of the house and sank down onto one of the logs. He noticed that Cecil had loaded several split pieces of wood in the pit and had set them directly on Quinn’s soiled clothes.

  “Would you do the honors?”

  Steve looked up as Quinn sat down next to him. He was still only wearing his underpants.

  “Aren’t you cold?”

  “I won’t be as soon as you light that fire.”

  “Ah.” Steve’s jhorun barely stirred. There’d be no more physical manifestations of his power until he had a chance to rest. However, he could still start a fire with minimal jhorun.

  He eyed the fire pit and then focused on one of the pieces of wood. Within moments it burst into flame and rapidly spread to the other tinder. Quinn nodded approvingly.

  Ten minutes later Mina came around the corner, wrapped in a thick, albeit dusty brown towel. She shyly smiled at Steve and then blushed when she saw Quinn’s state of attire. She hurried into the house. Another ten minutes passed when Lissa hurried by, wrapped in a blanket.

  “The bathtub is free,” she informed the men with a giggle. “It has been drained and refilled.”

  It was nearly an hour before everyone had successfully scrubbed the grime from the griski cavern off their skin. Steve and Cecil had chosen to keep their clothes and scrubbed them clean as best as they could. Shirts and trousers were draped over one of the logs in front of the fire.

  Steve tightened his hold on the thin blanket Mina had provided for him. Ordinarily he never had to worry about being cold; his jhorun saw to that. Now, however, he was fairly certain his jhorun was snoozing contentedly away somewhere in the recesses of his brain, so he was on his own with regards to keeping himself warm. He scooted a little closer to the fire.

  “I can’t even remember the last time I was cold,” Steve remarked drowsily.

  He yawned noisily and stretched out his muscles. The sun had set moments before and with it came an instant drop in temperature. Lissa emerged from the house holding several small wooden bowls.

  “What do you have there?” Cecil inquired. He stifled his own yawn and pulled up a corner of his blanket that had dropped low, exposing his shoulder. Running out of blankets, Mina had let the demure stranger use the quilt from her bed to wrap around himself. It was bright pink.

  “I made a salve to treat the sores on Mina’s arms. They’re just simple lacerations and abrasions, but they had been left untreated. They became infected.” The teenager hefted a bowl. “This will clear them up.”

  Steve nodded his approval. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

  “It’s the least I can do. What about you, Quinn? I made a bowl for you, too.”

  Quinn took the proffered bowl and inspected the contents. He brought the bowl up to his face and sniffed.

  “Hediondilla?”

  Lissa brightened. “Aye! It’s perfect for cuts, sores, and bruises on your skin. I found several plants outside.”

  “Impressive, young lady. You have become quite the healer. I don’t know if you remember me but I was once your teacher.”

  Lissa shook her head and set the final bowl down between Cecil and Steve. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember you. I was probably too busy studying to pay attention to anything else around me. There’s still much I don’t know. I hope to travel to R’Tal someday and ask for the king’s permission to access the medicinal tomes in his library. They are equal to none. I could learn so much!”

 

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