Author: Sam

Story: The Never-ending Story: 6 of 33

Series: none

Setting: Summer 1986: The Realm of Dungeons & Dragons

Characters & Ages: Eric- 18, Surprise! You just guess.

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. samwise_baggins@yahoo.co.uk

Webpage: http://www.oocities.org/samwise_baggins/index.html

The sense of falling made his stomach turn over, and he would have been in danger of losing breakfast had he managed to choke it down that morning. Instead, almost worse, Eric was wracked with dry heaves. He rolled onto his front, eyes squeezed shut, almost wishing he'd never been born. Certainly he wished he'd gone home when he'd had the chance. His biggest consolations were that Hank would be just as sick as he was and that he'd happily throttle the Ranger once he could get the world to stop spinning.

After several long minutes, sheer exhaustion drove the Cavalier into blissful unconsciousness, ending the bout of illness... at least temporarily.

When next he awoke, Eric felt much better. He lay there, enjoying the sound of the babbling brook, the smell of flowers and clean grass, the feel of the warmth left over from the now set suns. When he chanced opening his eyes, he couldn't resist the smile in response to the near cloudless night sky. Stars dotted the heavens along with...

Eric sighed, the lazy joy evaporating as he realized he was, indeed, still in the Realm. Lifting a hand to run through raven locks, the teen turned his head to look for the others, and found himself having to desperately grab the ground below him as the world seemed to lurch and tilt.

"What the..." he groaned, closing his eyes and trying to steady his stomach once more. Why was he so dizzy? "That runty jerk! I'll kill him if I ever stop spinning!" His oath was followed by another groan as he lay there trying to stay still.

It was a long time before the world eased it's nauseating tumbling and Eric was once more able to open his eyes. He experimentally turned his head, fighting the vertigo, and taking in the darkened landscape around him. It was unfamiliar, but that could have been due to the night or his renewed exhaustion. The Cavalier looked carefully to the other side then frowned.

Next to him, arms wrapped around bent legs, chin on her knees, was a lone figure. Dressed in shimmering white, hair cascading down her back until it brushed the ground where she sat, the girl appeared to be perhaps ten or eleven, if that. It was certainly nobody he recognized, and it didn't bode well that no one else, his friends or hers, seemed to be anywhere in the vicinity. With a soft gulp, voice rasping at first, the teen asked, "Don't you have someone looking for you, kid?"

"Myeeah..." the girl turned to look at him, the single word strange enough it took the Cavalier several minutes to realize she'd been saying yes.

Gingerly the teen sat but groaned and clutched the ground as he was hit with another wave of dizziness. He leaned his flushed face into his hands and tried not to start heaving again. The cool touch of the girl's pale hand soothed while confused him. Carefully lifting his head, Eric settled wary brown eyes on the child.

"What..." he gulped the nausea down, "what's your... name, kid?" He tried to wipe at the cold sweat on his brow.

She blinked at him, and he found, suddenly, that he wished there were more light so he could see her clearly. "Yeanee..."

"Yeanee?" Eric tried to copy the odd sounding name and found it sounded more like a braying horse. Frowning, he realized that the girl had also sounded sort of like she was braying when she said it. Leaning closer to inspect her, he was overcome with a wave of dizziness and fell against her, passing out once more.

The child caught him with a bleat of shock, then whimpered helplessly as his dead weight threatened to pin her down. With fear tempering her voice, she cried out in a wordless sounding wail, "Meeyal!" Then, she fell backwards under the Cavalier, helpless and scared. She tried catching her breath, blowing through her lips in an odd sign of her efforts. The slight-framed girl pushed, repeatedly rocking the taller, heavier teen, until she finally rolled him off.

With a moan, she collapsed back against the ground again and blinked up at the stars. "Myull..." she complained to herself, then glanced at the youth beside her. Shaking her head slightly, she sighed again and looked back at the sky, letting herself drift a bit, knowing she needed to keep awake. However, the efforts she'd extended had been too much, and the girl fell into a discontented sleep.

The sounds of rustling in the nearby trees stirred the pair to consciousness. Eric was first to open his eyes, frowning and trying to identify what he heard. Suddenly, the girl was awake, letting out a bleat of shock and jumping almost inhumanly quickly into the trees. Eric frowned as he struggled to turn over, again fighting nausea, and wondering when he'd finally get rid of the dizziness. "Oh yeah, run when the going gets a bit tough, kid."

He didn't mean it of course. He would feel better if that kid were safe at home and he didn't have to worry about her. As it stood, now he had to protect the girl, and he knew he was in no condition to do so. "Never a break in this place. Stupid runt. Betcha he gave me the flu or something just so he could sit back and get some giggles."

Standing unsteadily, pale and weaving, the Cavalier fought his illness to try to concentrate on the rustling, which had grown rather than vanishing. After only moments of listening, he determined it was coming from all around... meaning whoever it was had surrounded them while he had been occupied with balance. Curling his lip in a sort of snarl, the Cavalier lifted his shield and called out, "Show yourselves."

"Show selves." The voice was guttural and very familiar, causing Eric to wish he'd run like the kid. He tried to set himself so he could stand steadier as several Orcs came out of the trees around his glade. They were grinning and laughing crudely, enjoying the fact that they'd finally caught one of the Young Ones off guard. "You pris'ner now." With a wave of his arm, the lead Orc signaled the group to attack the lone Human.

Eric was suddenly glad the kid had bolted. He knew he'd have a hard time staying still enough to repel the coming attack, even with the force in his shield. Desperately, he tried to think of a way to get away from the enemy, without drawing them towards the helpless child. His thoughts were cut short by the launching of several Orcs towards him, clubs and swords raised to attack.

Screaming, Eric stumbled backwards with the first slam of the Orcs. He lost his balance with the wave of vertigo, hitting one knee but raising the shield high to protect his head. Another Orc slammed against the shield, apparently uncaring that he was forced back, laughing as another flung himself and was thrust backwards.

What the heck was going on? Why were they toying... Eric's eyes opened wide. They were trying to wear him down! They sensed his weakness. He couldn't last just kneeling there; he'd grow too weak in the end fighting them and his own body. He had to...

All thoughts and plans were cut off as a war cry was heard. More like the sound of an enraged horse charging into battle, but the teen hardly cared who it was, as long as he could help. Unfortunately, it was the little girl, still shrouded in the misty pre-dawn darkness, and making her wordless horse cry as she leapt out like some avenger of nature. With another loud cry, she charged into the middle of the confused Orcs, head bent low as if she were going to butt them. She whirled at the center of the enemy and made a show of butting against one, knocking him into his surprised fellow and sending both to the ground.

"You crazy kid!" Eric pushed to his feet, fighting the wave again and determining that some ten-year-old nut with a horse fetish wouldn't outdo him. "Get out of here! They'll kill you, stupid!" He charged in, weaving on his feet, but remaining standing at least. The teen managed to take down three Orcs in one barreling attack, head on, pushing with his force field as he ran.

Amid shouts from the Orcs, odd sounds from the kid, and stifled groans and panting from the Cavalier, the fight became a confusing mass of dark-swept bodies clashing into one another. One Orc actually got so mixed up he started choking his fellow and had to be knocked out by his own leader. The leader, however, had more on his mind than stupid underlings. He turned towards the kid, whose back was turned towards him, and raised his sword high.

Seeing the danger the kid was in, and knowing that his dizziness and distance would prevent him diving in front of her in time, Eric tried something he'd never thought he'd ever do with his magic shield. He threw it away. More precisely, he threw it directly at the Head Orc, staying as still as he could so he could aim. "Yunay! Watch it, stupid!" He flung himself afterwards, hoping to reach her in time, despite what he knew of battles from three years in the Realm.

The girl looked up in time to see the shield slam into the Orc. With a scream, the girl's eyes widened and she stood stock still, paling considerably more than she had been. She passed out, unaware that the Orcs had a sudden reversal in morale and took off running, their decapitated leader left behind.

Eric fell into a tumble, ending up right next to the body of the Orc he'd killed. He pushed himself to his knees, hands planted on the torn ground where he'd slept only minutes before. Looking at the leader, his dizziness fading as he remained still, the Cavalier paled as much as his companion had. He'd never killed anything before, even an enemy bent on destroying him. In another wave of sickness, this one unrelated to his balancing problems, the teen doubled over and began retching, wishing somewhere in the back of his mind that he'd remained in bed that morning three years ago, instead of going to a stupid amusement park.

"Airrekkk..."

"Yeah, kid?"

"Nyair?"

"Whatever, kid."

Eric leaned heavily on the young girl, needing the support she provided to counter his balance problem. He'd finally figured out that the teleportation had screwed up his sense of balance, and that was why he was constantly dizzy. Not being diseased was small consolation, however, in the light of the battle they'd just had.

It was beginning to lighten in the east, and the pair had been stumbling along for the better part of an hour. After Eric had recovered sufficiently, he managed to pull himself over to his companion and check on her, fighting the weakness he'd acquired. Finding her alive and intact, he'd ruthlessly woken her up and demanded she help him find water to clean up. She'd done so without complaint, avoiding looking at the body they left behind.

Now they were walking, trying to find a town or village or even just a lonely cottage to settle in for some much deserved rest. The girl was still unintelligible in her odd speech, and Eric thought she might be speaking a foreign language. For his part, he was attempting to understand, but it was getting more and more annoying to be bothered with questions and comments he had no clue about. For all he knew she could be berating him and insulting him, and he didn't like that one bit.

"Airrekkk..." she tried again.

Sighing, he stopped and nearly fell as she continued on a couple of steps, unprepared for his sudden stop. "What?" His voice was impatient, strained. His hands were on his hips, feet spread, body swaying precariously as vertigo overcame him once more.

The girl looked up at him and tilted her head, blowing through her lips in the habit she apparently had to show annoyance. "Airrekkk... Airukk... Earrick..." Frustrated, she shook her head and stamped a foot. Her long hair rippled around her, sleek and silky.

Suddenly, Eric realized what she was trying to say. "Eric? Are you saying Eric?" He found himself grinning rather stupidly. So the kid was trying to say his name; why should that make him feel so proud? It wasn't as if it was one of the harder names in the book, after all. "Try again," he instructed encouragingly.

"Earrick... Airriik... Airk..." It sounded, finally, like she was saying Air but ending it with a k sound.

"Close enough, kiddo." He threw her another grin as he once more slipped an arm over her shoulder to let her help him. "Now, if I could figure out how to say your name without sounding like a horse in heat, we'd be doing great. Let me try..." Then he thought about it. "Uh, what's your name again, anyway, kid?"

Her answer was prompt and sounded every bit as encouraging as he had. "Yeanee." She turned a smile up at her savior.

Eric grinned and nodded, noticing that he could start making out her features... that is until he'd stupidly nodded like that. He was hit with a wave of dizziness, which made him stumble and drag her down to her knees along with him. Clutching at the ground, panting and fighting the nausea, Eric gasped out, "Stupid runt!"

"Myea?" She seemed indignant and pulled back.

The Cavalier froze suddenly. Slowly, he blinked his eyes and moved his head gingerly to look at the girl kneeling next to him. That sound... it couldn't be possible! With doubt in his eyes, he watched as the sun crested the hill behind them and showered light over the entire scene.

The girl was pale, extremely so, with maroon eyes and bright, fiery hair. She was graceful, almost Elvish in appearance, and so very slim she looked like she might blow away. Her clothes were made of softest suede, a form fitting trousers' suit that seemed almost to blend into her skin, with half boots to match. But it wasn't her appearance that had Eric so bewildered. It was her voice, her speech, her words, and right before he passed out again with the vertigo, he gasped out one word of his own...

"Uni?"

Special Note 1: Thanks to NL Rummi for your review of chapter five on 09-13-2003. As you will see, especially if rereading the story as now edited, I switched Presto back to seventeen (as per the Series Bible) and changed his pubescent ways to that of an older teen.

Special Note 2: Thanks to Esther-Channah for your review of Chapter 5 on 07-21-2004. In the script for “The Last Illusion” it lists Varla’s parents as John and Marinda. I have since learned that they are Jaref and Marinda, but it does sound like Lorinda, doesn’t it? Thanks for telling me, though, as I didn’t even have the static-filled episode in front of me to reference at the time. I appreciate the help!