Oozle blinked. He was on Albia again, he was
alive
again! He felt a warm balmy wind. Oozle took in his
surroundings, he was at the top of the observation tower.
Wait, wasn't he dead? He remembered being killed at the
hands of Umaumaarg! Why was he alive again? Then he
remembered the pact he had made with the creature in the
realm of the dead.
How was he going to destroy the hand like he promised?
Confused, Oozle sat down next to the Laburnum bush and
thought.
****************************
Aaron woke up and wearily trudged to the bathroom
mirror. Yup, he was still an old, bald Purple Mountain
norn. He sighed, some nights, he couldn't tell the
difference between a dream and reality. That was starting
to scare him because it was happening more often. He didn't
like that one bit. He didn't want to end his days like his
father, feeble and not remembering anyones' names.
He began his daily ritual of remembering who his family
was. Let's see, there was his mate, the beautiful red, bald,
Annabel. Well, at least he wasn't the only one in his family
who was bald as a billyard ball! He had children, what were
their names? Oh yes! His son was Fren and his daughter was
Glory. Where were they? It took Aaron awhile to realize
that they had grown up and had started families of their own.
A pained cry from the bedroom reminded him that Annabel
needed assitance to do even the most basic of tasks now. He
felt guilty for forgetting about her. As fast as his old bones
would let him go, he rushed to help his mate.
****************************************
Umaumaarg had had enough of being confined to his dungeon
cell! He had been in here for years! He wanted out, he wanted
to feel the sun again, he wanted to see his youngest son! So
help him, nothing on or off the face of Albia was going to stop
him from doing just that!
Then, he heard the foot steps of the guard coming with his
daily meal, this was his chance! Waiting while the guard slid
the key into the keyhole was painfully long. Just as the guard
opened the cell door, he pounced on the gren-norn, knocking him
cold. Then, he made good his escape.
*****************************************
Joya the ettin and Chaarg the grendel were smitten. They had
spent about half their young lives together. (Both were about 2
hours, they met when they were an hour old.) They were strolling
about, arm in arm, as young couples are wont to do. They were in
the garden when Joya suddenly stopped and screamed in pain.
"What's wrong, Joya?", Chaarg asked, worry written all
over his
face and in his body language.
"The egg! It's coming!", she gritted out.
Chaarg was dumbfounded. They were going to parents? This came
as a huge surprize to him. He'd have to think of baby names! He'd
have to tell his parents! He'd have to... then the egg arrived.
It was blue with green dots splattered all over the shell. The
new parents, exhausted, sat and admired the egg.
******************************************
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