Passion of the Liger

Chapter 4

Twenty-five years before…

Standing atop a sheer, craggy cliff face overlooking the ocean, were two people. One was a tall rugged looking man with scruffy dark brown hair and a strong face. Standing beside him was a strikingly attractive girl, with red hair tied up in a ponytail.

The man was standing close to the edge, unable to take his eyes off the massive waves below. They were crashing hard on the base of the cliff. It did not look pleasant. He feared very few things in this life, but it would have been a lie to say he wasn’t scared at the moment. Although scared might not have been the best word; apprehensive was probably a closer fit to how he was feeling.

“The water looks really cold,” said the man.

“You don’t have to do this, Anton,” said the girl, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“You really should know me by now, Maruska,” said the man, whose name was indeed Anton DiManlen, “I already made up my mind a long time ago that I was going to do this.”

He finally tore his gaze from the monstrous waves below and looked around at the view around him. It was sometime in the afternoon and the sky was full of pale grey clouds. There was no blue in sight. It was a dreary day and there was a bitterly cold wind blowing.

“I guess I’d better get this done,” said Anton. He took off his tunic and pulled off his boots and now he was standing in his underwear in the freezing cold.

Although she had seen it many times before, Maruska could not help marvelling at his muscular frame. Which at the moment was shivering slightly.

“You look cold,” said Maruska.

Anton reached down to one of his boots and pulled out a knife that he kept sheathed on the side of it.

“Not as cold as I am about to be,” he said, “Um, tell me again what it is that I am looking for?”

“It’s called Dahrion’s Tear,” said Maruska, “Down there, you will see some giant clams. If you pry them open, one of them may contain a light bluey-green coloured pearl.”

“And you need this to make those potions of yours,” said Anton.

“Well I don’t need it,” said Maruska, “But it would allow me to make some of the more powerful formulas. I didn’t realise it would be so dangerous! We could ask around, maybe there’s another place where we can find these clams.”

“No,” said Anton, “That guy said here is the surest bet to find them. And we’re here already. I’ll see you when I’m done.”

He put the knife between his teeth, took in a deep breath and then leaped off the cliff face!

Down….. down…..down…. towards the tumultuous ocean.

Splooooooosh!

Maruska, standing up on the cliff, watched the surface of the water. She was holding her breath.

Sunddenly Anton came to the surface, he was kicking around in place as giant waves were tossing him up and down. He looked up at Maruska, and waved.

It put her a little more at ease to see he was okay. She could breathe again. Then she saw Anton dive back under the waves and disappear.

Maruska stood there watching the waves, waiting to see Anton. She was counting in her head, to time how long he had been under there for. He had told her that when he was a kid, he used to compete with his friends, to see who could stay under water the longest. He told her he could hold his breath for over two minutes.