Arthur 4 : The return of the prince

Chapter 9

"Oh no, it's water! At this rate, everything will be flooded!" exclaimed Betameche frightened by seeing the water pouring at high speed into the hole dug.

"And we will not be able to extract the moon ore from the tunnel, we must stop the leak immediately!" Eldarion continued before Selenia replied.

"Great idea, autarch! But can you explain how will y...? "

She had no time to finish her sentence, for Eldarion transformed his cloak into his pair of magical wings. Then he leaned on his legs and propelled himself in the air towards the damaged tube.

Selenia, offended by this new proof of indifference, turned her back on Eldarion with her arms crossed, as usual when she was faced with a situation she did not appreciate. Suddenly, she had a strange sensation in her head, as if a voice was speaking in her. In truth, it was real, and the voice she heard in her head was that of Eldarion.

"Instead of sulking, you could start organizing pumping operations, just to empty the tunnel of its water so we can extract the moon ore." suggested to Selena by telepathy as he worked to push the broken piece of straw towards the nearest wall, his wings keeping it in the air.

Selenia turned around and stared at Eldarion with angry, surprised by his voice in her mind and furious to see he keep giving her orders. However, she admitted that Eldarion was right. So she turned back again to face the workers.

"Bring an anti-innondation team right now! Let it empty this tunnel! " Selenia ordered with an imperious and angry voice before responding to Eldarion by shouting:

"I don't need anyone to take initiative, autarch! I'm old enough to do it alone like an adult, so mind your own business!"

While Eldarion briefly amused himself with this attempt of childish reply, the workers began to run in all directions in order to fulfill the mission that Selena had entrusted to them. It was then that he used his hammer to cut into holes in the wall made of rock and earth. At the same time, he used his magic to dam the water that continued to flow into the chasm containing the moon ore, limiting the amount of water that fell into it.

After a quarter of an hour of effort, Eldarion estimated that his tunnel in the wall was deep and wide enough to place the straw in it. He then came out of his wall "burrow" with his wings extended and then placed himself under the gigantic straw before placing his hands on it in order to rotate it in the direction of the hole in the wall. Even with his great strength and magic, Eldarion struggled to carry out his task. Finally, thanks to his efforts, he finally manages to insert the water spillway into the wall and stem the waterfall. Exhausted, Eldarion congratulated himself on his work. From the air, he began to look a few "meters" down.

He noticed that the anti-innondation team had arrived. It consisted of three caterpillars. Each of these tracks had on its back a platform incorporating a long tube connected to a large empty tank. This tube would probably be used to pump water into the tank. A real gem of technology very practical.

And here they are pumping the water from the hole. After two hours, the tunnel had been emptied in half, even if there was enough water left to drown a minimoy. However, the water did not flow from above, explaining the fact that Eldarion landed, so that to see the progress of the work. He had taken care not to stand beside Selenia to avoid further counter-productive quarrels. The quarrels soon came, however, even though Eldarion was not one of them. Instead, it was between brother and sister:

"Stop being afraid like that, Betameche! The situation is getting better. Then it's just water." rebuked Selenia to her brother who trembled like a leaf.

"Just water? We are talking about this water that almost drowned us several times, aren't we? Need I remind you what happened with Arthur when he saved us with the shoelace of..."

"I FORBID YOU TO TALK ABOUT THIS IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!" Selenia yelled, mixing embarrassment and anger after throwing herself on a Betameche who now had trouble expressing himself since Selenia's two hands closed on his neck.

"Selenia, you strangle me!!" Betameshes articulated with difficulty before the astonished eyes of the people who were before them.

"Yes! I'm aware of that! It's to make sure you don't say anything stupid next time!" Selenia replied with fury.

Realizing that her sister was not letting him go, Betameche instinctively pushed her, wanting to force her to loosen her grip. When he felt Selena's hands leave his neck, he knew he had succeeded. However, he realized too late that his action had precipitated Selenia into the tunnel still filled with water. The screams were silenced when Selenia plunged into the water before her head rose to the surface and the screams resumed.

"HELP!!! I CAN'T SWIM, HELP!!!" she yelled at the bottom of the hole.

Eldarion had the palm of his hand on his face, frustrated by the pathetic scene that has just occurred before his eyes.

"And they are both the pride of the royal family? Real kids fighting for nothing?" he thought before he stepped back.

After taking his momentum, he sprinted towards the hole while exhorting the other minimoys to clear the passage. Then he threw his head first into this tunnel. A few seconds later, Eldarion ascended, his magic wings deployed with Selenia in his arms. He seemed even more frustrated at the sight of the situation since he thought he was perpetuating one of the clichés of the human world he had heard of: the cliché of the knight saving the princess.

With her feet firmly on the ground, Eldarion hastened to rest Selena on the ground. The latter saw her brother throw himself into her arms.

"Selenia, I beg your forgiveness for what happened! Thank you very much Brother-autarque for saving my sister!" Betamesh sobbed.

"Yeah yeah, it's all right... He did everything that a gallant gentleman would have done." Selena grumbled, wanting to hide her embarrassment.

It was too much! Eldarion was fed up with this presumptuous and arrogant princess. He turned around and replied angrily:

"I am neither your gentleman nor your nanny, and I have much better things to do than to waste my time on your whims! You said you were old enough to behave like an adult, SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR TO PROVE YOURSELF RIGHT?!"

Once again, Selenia was stunned by Eldarion, who was fulminating before her. It wasn't the first time he was packing it up, but this time it was different. It was no longer well-constructed punchlines intended to destroy each of her points, but genuine reprimands, and it was the first time she saw Eldarion so expressive. He who used to behave with her with disdain and coldness, she had never seen Eldarion express his emotions so much.

Eldarion's furious gaze then stared at Betameche, who stiffened before him.

"This rebuke also concerns you, Betameche," added Eldarion, whose voice made it clear that he was not joking.

Eager to bring the situation back to normal, he manages to calm down in order to be able to give relevant orders to all those present in the huge room.

"We will finish pumping the water and harvesting the moon ore. The deposit may be low in ore, but it will be enough to move our project forward. All at your posts,' he said in a calm voice.

Everyone returned to their occupation calmly, without uttering a single word. It must be said that Eldarion knows how to be convincing. Only Selena and Betamesh remained behind him to observe him, always stunned by the words he had told them. Eldarion saw it and turned his head towards them.

"At your posts." he insisted to them, making them understand that there was not to discuss for the moment.

Even if Selenia was once again outraged that she was given orders, she did not try to argue. She simply went to her temporary quarters in Necropolis to dry up before returning to her occupations. However, the bitterness she was feeling at the time further inflamed the animosity she felt towards Eldarion. The war seemed to be definitely declared between him and her, but she was content to suppress this anger that was growling inside her. She'd settle the score with him another time.