A Vain Pursuit
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 9245
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The red-glowing hellhound ran down the tunnel with Fred in pursuit. He
hoped to
catch it and kill it before it could revert to its draconic form. But
before he
had gone very far, he tripped on the uneven floor of the tunnel and fell
full-length.
By the time he had struggled to his feet again, the hellhound was out of
sight.
Fred decided that his priority now had to be to go back and try to free the princess, all the more so because through her bravery she had probably saved his life. It was lucky that there had been enough slack in her chains for her to intervene as she had. Since the tunnel was now in darkness, the only light since Fred's torch had been blown out having been the hellhound's glow, he had to feel his way back along the tunnel. He was afraid that in the darkness he might go right past the princess, so he kept one hand against the wall to which she had been chained, whilst keeping the other hand in front of him. Thus it was that he suddenly felt something soft, followed a moment later by hearing the princess's voice say: "Hey, watch where you're putting your hand!" "I'm sorry," said Fred. "I was afraid of missing you." "I've heard some good excuses from men who thought they could risk a grope, but never that one before. Some of those men now have to go through life with only one hand." Fred gulped. The princess heard him. "Don't worry," she said, just a hint of amusement in her voice. "If you can't free me, then I won't be in a position to do anything to you. And if you can free me, then I'm hardly likely to bear a grudge, am I? Now, assuming you couldn't catch the hellhound, then I suggest that we get a move on before he returns, perhaps in an even more deadly form. If you could just find and relight your torch, and then get to work on my chains." Fred found and relit his torch without too much difficulty. The princess's flaming red hair looked especially fine as it reflected the torchlight. She appeared to be none the worse for having been flung against the wall by the hellhound, apart from a few minor bruises. As Fred once more prepared to strike at the princess's chains with his sword, they - a little belatedly - introduced themselves. The warrior-woman's name was Astra and, as Fred had been assuming - she was a princess.
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JH (an other woman would have screamed if touched unexpectedly by a hand out of the darkness, but Astra is made of sterner stuff :)
5/8/2000 2:07:55 PM
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