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Okles heard his children at the bedroom door but pretended they were still sleeping. For a moment, he was reminded of the days when his children didn't control every minute of his schedule. Pepper and Flower tell him through the door to wake up! It's time to watch Bull! But he knows it's too early to start the festival. He was tired after all, his whole body ached from training the new recruits with spears. Some of the injuries were pretty good, with multiple bruises on his body.
So he ignored them for now, even though he knew they would find a way in sooner or later. But he heard a little girl's voice. Oh yes, his daughter. She wants to go too. She said louder and louder through the door: "Wake up! Please don't die. Please wake up." Then she appeared in his room and shook him awake.
As he came to, his room began to slip away and he realized he wasn't in it at all. He is still alive. What was he talking about? The ground was hard, except that his lower back felt like a broken leg. He sat up in horror, making sure all the parts were still there. Yes, thanks Sewell. The place was dark, but not too dark to see. He seemed to be in a cave. Or more accurately, in a pit at the back of the cave. He could see light coming in from above, illuminating the rocky ceiling. It flickers like a lantern's light in the breeze.
He looked back and saw that he had been lying on a rotting horse. He was startled and hurried away, only to realize that part of the dream was true: he was indeed sore all over. No wonder, after being held by the Cyclops, she felt like a doll in the arms of an enthusiastic child.
A weak voice said: "You are still alive! Oh, you are still alive!" He turned around in surprise and saw a little girl with light-colored hair reaching her shoulders, wearing a shabby woolen smock, dressed head to toe. dirty. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alive!" she said, putting her hands on top of her head. Then she folded them over her chest. Then she knelt forward and placed them on the ground. She couldn't sit still, little thing.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Ga
Bi, I am seven years old this year and I am a girl. I have been in this pit for a long, long time. I am in it because of her.
Talo puts here what he wants to eat later, so he puts me here, but he can't reach me, so he can't eat me. Whenever he comes to me, I have to hide. "
"I understand. I am the son of Palamonos of Decaya, far south of here." A
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okles doesn't have much experience with girls, especially little girls. Are they all like this?
She continued: "When Tartalo put you here, I could see your chest moving so I knew you were breathing, wolfsca
Said you were still alive so I made this for you when you woke up but it took so long I thought you were going to die anyway. But this is what I made for you. she said, handing the astonished Andruk a small necklace made of some kind of hair, with a stone attached to it, probably from a dead horse. It wasn't big enough to go around his head, so she put it on It sat in his hair like a garland.
"I did it so you could save me," she said. She looked at him expectantly, her eyes blurring.
"I see," he said. The gods weren't done playing with him yet. Even though he was sure he knew the answer, he asked, "Where are your parents?"
"It ate them," she whispered. Then she kept staring at him, eyes wide with horror, wondering what he would do.
Ankrex glared at the ceiling and the gods above and muttered to himself, "This is my life now? A down and out filthy orphan?" He then gave the little girl an unintentional mean look.
When she saw it, a look of utter defeat crossed her face and she slowly hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry into them.
Androx immediately felt like a complete asshole. "Wait, calm down, calm down. Of course I'm going to help you. I didn't mean to look at you like that. It's just that I did it once before. I feel like the gods are playing games with me. But I'm going to help you."
She looked up, breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded. "I prayed to the orphan over and over again that he would send me someone. I knew he would," she said. "But I'm still worried." Then she reached out and stroked the ring of horse hair on his head, as if to remind him that the hair was still there.
"What did you eat?" he asked, looking at the rotting carcasses with disgust.
"Wolf Scar brings me food. Sometimes he can't find it for a while, or he forgets for a while, so I can only wait hungry. But I once tried to bite a small animal, but it was too disgusting , I couldn't eat. So I thought if he didn't bring me something to eat, I would starve to death, but he did." As she talked, she kept fidgeting and moving. Keep looking at him and then quickly looking away, over and over again. He thought she looked healthy.
"Wolfsca
Who is it?" he asked.
"He... um," then her eyes widened, as if she had just remembered something, "he, um... it doesn't matter."
Androx gave her a stern look and said, "Really?"
"He...oh, he...um..." Okay..."
"Look, I'm going to get you out whether you tell me the truth or not. But I'll like you better if you tell me the truth."
She frowned deeply as she thought. She said: "Well, he...he made me promise not to tell anyone else about him. He's my friend too. But...I guess I have to tell you because you can save..."
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okles interrupted her. "Wait a minute. Did you swear on your honor? Did you really promise not to mention him?"
She nodded.
"Then don't say anything. I like best people who keep their word. Do me a favor: Next time you see him, make sure he introduces himself. Got it? And not, you know, with his teeth .”
She breathed a sigh of relief, then sat up, shaking a little. She gave him a friendly smile in return, which he found charming. He wondered what she would look like after her bath. Wolf Scar could be some kind of animal, probably a big dog, as you can guess from the name. Hopefully it was friendly and not slit his throat as a greeting. But he would have to deal with it later.
"So is the Cyclops up there now? Is he here?" he asked.
"You mean tartare tart?" I think so. I didn't hear him leave after he dropped you, but I didn't hear him do anything and I didn't hear him sleep. He snores while sleeping. Sometimes I don't hear his voice for a long time," she said.
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Okles stood up quietly and looked around the pit. His scabbard was empty and his sword was gone. His shield and bag of goods were also missing. He still had his coin purse with him, however, for he kept it beside his loincloth for safekeeping. Most of the tie on the robe had been torn off, leaving it barely hanging on his shoulders. The belt was still around his waist though; that might come in handy. His sandals were also undamaged.
He folded his robe into a peasant-style triangle, draped it over his shoulders and draped it diagonally across his chest. That's it for now. "Did that thing throw anything around me? Xiphos, shield? Bag?"
"Is a sword a sword?"
"Yes, it's a sword, shaped like a long, narrow leaf. Is it down here?"
"No, I just thought I knew the sword was a type of sword. I don't think he threw anything in here. But I wasn't looking, so maybe. But if he had, I would have seen it."
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Okles sighed. What would he do without a sword? Carefully, he moved around the bodies on the ground and groped along the walls, looking for the best place to climb. However, he found almost nothing. Every time he tried to hold on tight, the smooth stone walls grew weaker. If he had run from the start, he might have been able to run up to the wall and jump high enough to grab the edge, but he didn't want to try until he knew the thing wasn't sitting there waiting to eat him.
"Did anyone come in with you?" he asked her.
Gabby replied: "Not since mom came back. When he pulled her out and ate her, it was just me and the wolf scab
. But he wasn't always here. "
"That must be terrible," he said, looking at her intently. "Did she... make a lot of noise?" He could picture the scene: the little girl cowering in horror, listening to her mother scream in pain as she was torn to pieces and slowly eaten. This will be an unforgettable memory for the rest of her life.
"No, because when it brought us here, she said it didn't hurt, it was just another way to get closer to the gods. May the gods welcome us home and all be well there. So when it grabs When I was holding her, she just said, 'Remember what I said. It doesn't hurt. I love you,' and then I could hear it chewing, but she wasn't screaming like daddy was."
This girl matches well with the boys. How did Andros, with the blessing of the god Sulos, keep finding these orphans? "This sounds... difficult to handle," he said.
He didn't expect her to answer, but she said, "Well, at first I was so scared, I couldn't even think or move or anything, and I thought I was going to die before it ate me. But then Scar found me, He did something. Then I could. I felt better, even though I was still sad. Sometimes I still get sad because I miss my mom and dad. I feel so alone."
This girl has courage and perseverance. She didn't cry on his shoulder like some other people he could think of.
"I guess I need to get you out of here so you're not so alone," he said. "But for now, I think we'd better wait so we can leave while he's gone."
Gabby thought for a moment and then said, "Well, I think that's a good idea. Because if we go up there while he's there, he might catch us. So let's wait."
Andrew looked around, looking for an open space large enough to sit down. He swept some bones and old skin from a good spot, then crossed his legs and relaxed.
"I bet it must be boring here," he said after a moment of silence, wondering why he felt obligated to entertain her. Habit, no doubt.
"Yeah, but sometimes I can scare the wolf
play games. Sometimes I practice how long I can stand on one leg," she demonstrates, standing with her arms and other leg outstretched. "I do it like a dancer. Sometimes I practice dancing. I sing. "
He noticed that she actually had good balance. She was almost motionless, impressively stable. This gave him an idea and he stood up.
"Come here, I want to try." He said, waving to her.
"What's the matter?" she asked. She jumped a foot towards him, ready to do his bidding.
"I bet if I lifted you up and you could stand on my hand, you could see the rest of the cave. Come here, let's try it."
"Can you lift me up?"
"Of course I can, you stupid little thing. Look at me. Now go," he said, waving to her again.
She jumped up to him and held out her arms, not sure what to do. He knelt down, stretched out his hands and said: "Grab my head for balance, and then stand on your hands. I will slowly lift you up, and you just let go and stand still. Do you understand? Once I lift you You lift it up and you can look around.”
She obeyed and stood on his hand. When he started lifting, she almost lost her balance, so she hunched over and stayed still in a squat. She stood up slowly, barely swaying, as he stretched his arms fully over her head, lifting her as high as he could.
"First time and everything. Well done, girl. Now, tell me what you saw. Tell me everything."
She took a moment, probably deciding where to start; Androx was sure he would get it all. "I saw Tartalo. He wasn't looking at me. He was sitting at the table in a chair, facing the wall, and I felt like he had a pole on his back, but I didn't know what it was. He didn't have that before. He There were some bones on the table, and I think some stones, and he had some gold cups. He had a bed, and some wood, and a lamp, actually a lot of lamps. There were six lamps. He had a big A shield, big enough for him. Or it could have been a table, but I thought it was a shield. I think there was more, but I couldn't see clearly because there were rocks in the way."
"Good. Are you ready to come down?" he asked.
She didn't answer for a moment. He guessed she was admiring the new scenery. Finally she said, "Yeah," and looked down, seemingly nervous about how to get down. He put her down, grabbed her armpits, and set her down.
"Can we do it again?" she asked. She thought for a while and then said: "After a while? Maybe... Tartalo will move around." She looked up at the window sill, with longing and regret on her face. She had been here too long, seeing nothing but the pit, and he allowed her a brief taste of freedom.
"Of course, I'll lift you up in a moment," he said. How was he going to get her out then? The wall was too thin for her to hang around his neck as he climbed out. Could he still jump out with her on his back? He'd have to try it once or twice without her to know for sure, but he doubted it. Maybe he could throw her out, or lift her somewhere else and let her crawl out.
Alternatively, the Cyclops might have a rope to work with, or a long plank of wood or a piece of furniture that he could use to make a ramp. He didn't expect a table, so who knows what else was up there? Maybe it had a ladder for some reason. But if he can find a hammer and nails, he can...
"Did you know I could dance?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.
