The Final Prophecy by W. D. Newman
*****
“Now!” Gabriel cried.
Ben held up the staff and yelled, “Shazam!”
The entrance to the pathway popped up near the shoreline and the three castaways scrambled into the black hole. They sprinted across the black expanse and leapt through the opening onto the banks of the mainland. Nob had recovered from his fainting spell and Gob was dabbing his forehead with a wet rag. Casey was down at the edge of the water poking at something with a long stick.
“Casey!” Ben yelled. “Get away from the water!”
“It’s okay, Ben. She’s frozen solid.”
“This is our chance to get her out of the lake,” said Gabriel. “Ben, open a pathway to the cabin. You and Casey go through to the cabin with Hob and find a container that will hold her when she thaws. Wait for us by the opening. Gob and Nob, help me get her out of the water, quickly now, before she melts.”
The nymph was not as big they had thought, but it was still difficult to fish her out of the lake. The ice was very slippery and already starting to melt. Once they got her onto dry land they hurried through the pathway to the cabin, where everyone was in the yard waiting for them. Ben let the pathway close and directed Gabriel and the two dwarves over to a nearby rain barrel that Hob had just emptied. They eased the frozen nymph into the barrel and then carried the barrel up onto the cabin’s porch.
“Set it on the end of the porch where the sun will shine upon her. Make sure the spigot is hanging over the edge,” said Gabriel.
“Why is that?” asked Hob. “What are we going to do? Let her melt and then run her out on dry land?”
“No,” Gabriel answered. “But as she melts, we are going to divide her into smaller containers.”
“How come?” asked Ben. With the nymph frozen solid, he was able to take a really close look at her. It was hard to believe that such a beautiful creature could be so wicked.
“Two reasons. She gets her strength from the water that she inhabits; the greater the body of water, the greater her strength. There is no way we could have rescued you from that island with boats and she knew it. Long Lake is so much larger and deeper than the lake in Kahzidar that she would have been practically invincible. So, the first reason we are doing this is to weaken her further. The second reason is that we are taking her with us and this will make it easy to transport her.”
“What are you going to do with her?” asked Louise.
“Nymphs are not evil creatures by nature. Something made her this way. I hope that once Marcus is rescued and Bellator has been defeated that we can find a new home for her in Faerie and rehabilitate her. Anyhow, that is the plan.”
“Good,” said Ben. “Now that I’ve seen her up close, I’ve got a feeling about her that I just can’t explain. I don’t want any harm to come to her.”
“Well,” said Hob, “I think we should put her in a kettle, light a fire underneath it, and let her boil until every last drop has evaporated into nothingness.”
“We can’t do that,” said Amos, “but we do need to get her melted as soon as possible.” The big man shaded his eyes and glanced up at the sun. “It’s going to be a hot day today, but that’s a lot of ice and it will take a while to melt down. Is there anything we can do to speed it up?”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Casey. “Build a fire like Hob suggested and when it burns down, rake the coals into a frying pan and then hold the pan on top of her head. That won’t hurt her, will it?”
“That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Gabriel. “It won’t hurt her at all and it will definitely speed things up a bit. Let’s do this. Hob, Gob, and Nob; you three get a fire going out here in the yard. Amos, you get a frying pan and take charge of holding the hot coals over her head. Ben and I will go back to Castle Twilight to retrieve some water bags in which we can carry her. Louise and Casey come with us. When we all get back to the castle, we need to immediately begin plans for helping Marcus.”
Louise and Casey remained at the castle while Gabriel and Ben collected three large animal skins in which to collect the melting nymph. By the time they arrived back at the dwarves’ cabin, they discovered that Casey’s idea of using a frying pan full of hot coals was working better than expected; Arinya was half melted. Gabriel hurriedly uncorked one of the skins and opened the spigot. Within a couple of hours, the nymph was completely melted and neatly divided among the three water skins.
“Are you sure she is okay?” asked Ben. “I haven’t seen the skins move at all.”
“I’ve been watching the water closely,” Amos added. “I haven’t seen any movement in the water either. I don’t think she is alive.”
“Trust, me,” said Gabriel, “she is very much alive. She wants us to think she is dead so that we’ll pour her out and then she can escape.”
“Escape to where? There is nowhere for her to go. Doesn’t she need water to survive?”
“Yes, but unless we pour her out in a desert she will trickle along the ground until she finds water.”
“But I thought she was bound to the water she inhabits,” said Hob.
“She is,” Gabriel answered, “but she does not inhabit any specific body of water at the moment. We removed her from the lake and that broke the magic that bound her there. Once she relocates to a new place, the magic that makes her what she is will bind her there until she is displaced again. Let’s get back to the castle. Louise and Casey are waiting on us.”
Gabriel picked up one of the water skins and slung it across his shoulders. All three dwarves refused to touch them, so Amos grabbed the second skin and Ben grabbed the last one.
Back at the castle, Louise and Casey had been busy in the kitchens and, with some help from the elfin cooks, had spread a big feast in the great hall. When the others returned from the cabin, the smell of roasted pork and fresh baked bread greeted them at the doors. Hob took one sniff of the tantalizing aromas and a crazy dazed expression fell across his face. Gob and Nob immediately started for the tables, for they were hungry too, but Hob bowled them over in a mad dash to the food. However, his two friends quickly recovered and, before the others could set down the water skins, all three of the dwarves were shoveling food into their mouths as if it were their very last meal.
“I know how we can rescue Marcus,” said Amos, watching the hungry dwarves plow through the food.
“How is that?” Gabriel asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Lock those three up without food for a couple of days and then throw some gravy on Bellator.”
Gabriel and Ben laughed. “You might be on to something there, Amos,” the elf remarked. “I think I’d rather face Bellator than to be around those three after they had been without food for a couple of days.”
The meal was both refreshing and filling. After seconds and thirds, everyone retired to the Keeper’s study with Gabriel to discuss the situation with Marcus and Bellator. Gabriel retrieved an ornate golden box from a nearby shelf and removed the lid. Inside of the box was a small slip of parchment, neatly framed in a wooden case and protected with a glass covering. The elf reverently lifted the case from the box and laid it on the table for all to see.
“Behold, the final prophecy of Venus.”
*****