The Prince and The Squirrel *A Miraculous Fairy Tail* by Summer Cheng

Chapter 14 14 Quest Left for You?

      Prince Adrien is worn out. He knows there is fourteen quest left to achieve.  He has no ideas how soon they will come.  He  does not know what all they will involve.  He just knows how many there are left to get done.  He does not have long to find out the answers.

    Two days go by...

      No more crazy things take place inside the castle or outside it.  The prince thinks, maybe the other quest will never happen.  One can only hope, right?   It so happens he is not right.  Not by a long shot.

    One day later, the old man comes back.  He scoffs at the prince.  He smirks. He remarks, "Today you shall have more fun!  More battles to prove your worth to me."  Just like that he appears and just like that he leaves.  It is the same as the previous times.

   Prince Adrien goes to fetch some water from town.  He brushes up against a young girl. The child is only five years old.  Dots are all over her skin.  He can tell by the way she looks that she appears to have a plague.  It must be dangerous as their is no one else around. Not even so much as a grown up to assist her.  He picks her up.   He helps her draw water from the well.  

    A  gold coin appears out of no where in front of his eyes.  Then, the girls dots vanish.  In place of her red sploshes is clear, clean, normal skin.  The skin of a healthy person.  The skin of someone no one would ever say, nor could tell has been sick only moments before.

    Another task is complete!

      A bell chimes in the far distance.  The prince fells himself drawn to it for some reason.  He rushes in the direction of the noise.  He sees a boy who is a cripple about to be beaten for the theft of an apple, and a few peaches.  The prince hands over the golden coin.  The man who owns the fruit stand seems to be feel it satisfies him for payment, and realeases the boy.   

   Next, A snake lashes out at him!  He pulls out his sword.  He cuts it in half.  He marks a spot for it on the dirt.  He digs a hole and buries the dead serpent, head and all.  He moves onto the next quest. 

      This time it is woman about to give birth.  She has no help!  She is in pain. She is afraid.  Very afraid!  He reassures she will be fine along with the little one.  The woman gives birth. The baby is a healthy, chubby, little boy.  She names him John.  The woman's health fails. She dies.  The prince decides he must take care of John and protect him. 

  Prince Adrien goes home, gives John over to the care of a few servants.  He leaves to go out again!  He takes enough supplies for a months journey.  This is because he has no idea how soon he will be back.  He leaves despite the protest Marinette  gives him!

  He arrives in an area where there is an abundance of  dragons!  Everyone cowers away when they see one. He can tell they worry for their lives, their homes, and their families.  He slays ten dragons.  The result is all the others flee the village.  The people cheer him on for they are grateful some one has rid them of these huge, scaly beast. 

   He sees a blind woman about to fall off a cliff.  He grabs her up and carries her away to safety.  Again the people clap for him!  They can tell he is a great hero, warrior even and a man of great worth!  They do not question his methods, or his presence here.

  Puff of smoke, a misty sort appears.  Out of this fog, the old man comes.  He is not to happy now.

    "Ugh, you have beaten five more things!  Due to this you now have only 9 quests now!"  The man sneers at  him.  He goes away soon afterwards. 

     Prince Adrien stops for a rest.  He begins to burn up.  Turns out he has gotten a sun burn from the heat.  The sun is rather hot today.   No wonder his skin begins to blister, and peel in a few places.   He drinks a few sips from his canteen of water.  He is glad he has this along.  It sure comes in handy at a time like this one.  

      He falls asleep under an old, oak tree.  He does not notice the owl who leaves on the branch above his head.  Nor does he see the wood pecker go inside the hole to the hallow part of the tree.  He does not pay any attention to the lizards, the ants, or the ladybugs.  He just continues to snore a slow, soft snore.  So soft that anyone near by can barely hear it.  

       When he awakens the next day, he is aware of his sunburns across his neck, face, shoulders, arms, and forehead.  He is glad for the boots since these kept him from any such hurt areas here.  He is also glad for the nice handkerchief, that the woman he loves insist he keeps.  This sweet, gesture encourages him to press on towards the goal of being the possible winner of all these peculiar tasks, or quest as the old man calls them.  

       Prince Adrien smiles when he remembers how lovely his damsel back home is and how he does this to set her free from life as half squirrel and half human. He smiles when he recalls the look the servants gave him when he told them John was an orphan without any father.  He smiles when he recalls the look that the person responsible for all this gave him since the very beginning.  

    *Author's  Note: Wow, it seems Prince Adrien is better at this than the grumpy, wicked, old man thought possible!  Will he be able to beat the quests, or tasks that remain?

      to be continued in Chapter  15 Close to the End