Ah, Bat Droppings!!!

~~Pooh!~~ thought the Lord of Suffex. ~~Now what?~~

Lord Frederigo's ponderings were quickly forgotten as the floot gave way, dumping everything (and I mean everything!) into a room-sized chute.

Lord Fred clamored at the stones of the far wall (yet it is ever so difficult to resist the pull of gravity); he fell downwards into the chute with the shepherd-boy Velus following. All was dark and musty and permeated by the rank odor of Dragon bloodmist. Frederigo landed in something soft, his armored buttocks nearly sinking a meter into it! He grabbed the 'stuff' with his hands and brought some of it towards his face. There was a low luminescence coming off the wall and by it he was able to see that the matter was grey and white. It had a strange smell, one that was mostly masked by the odor of the overwhelmingly fierce Dragon- gas. It had the consistency of dirty cotton and Frederigo was certain he had seen the substance before, but he just couldn't quite remember where.

Then, all of a sudden he heard sneezing! Velus, the shepherd-boy, had awoken and was suffering a fit of nasal discomfort. "Aaaaaaaah choooooooo!" he sneezed out. "Aaaaaaah choooooooooooooooo!" The boy looked wildly about. "Aaaah chooooooooooo!" His eyes were wide in horror and stark fear. "Help me!" he cried. "Hel-- aaaaaaah choooo! --me! I'm allergic to this stuff!"

Frederigo was flabergasted. He had heard of allergies, but had never suffered one, nor seen any of his royal friends and comrades suffer such a malady either - he had once thought it was a faerytale that his dear mother had invented to keep him away from the poppy fields.

"Help meeeeee!" cried out Velus. "I ca--- ahhhhhh chooooooooooo! --stand it any more!"

"What is it, boy?" yelled out Frederigo. "What causes you such pain?"

"Where are--- chooo! ---we?" came his bedraggled response. "I only know that-- aaaaaahhhh choo! -- I cannot stand the scent of the-- chooo! -- guano. The bat guano!!!"

Bat guano. Indeed. It seems that the Dragon's Lair was built within and old subterranean maze once used by the ancient Makedonion Bat that lived almost exclusively upon the Purple Mushrooms of Makedonia. Over the years the bats had accumulated quite a large amount of their intestinal waste and soon were forced to flee the caverns in search of a new dark roost. It is said that such a roost was eventually found in the wild lands of the Nom Malbra, but no one in the Great Kingdom had seen the Makedonion Bat for atleast five generations.

History lessons aside, poor Frederigo had the problem of finding an exit in a darkened underground cavern of recent discovery while poor, poor Velus had the problem of breathing, with each and every breath getting more and more strained.

1. Suddenly, Frederigo had a wonderfully simple idea!

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree