Like the Drop of a Tear

Like the drop of a tear
You have fallen, my dear
Sink deeper into the
darkness of your fear
~

---

A bead of sweat trickled down Merlon's forehead. In front of him was a plate with a bit of parsley on it. It was no ordinary bit of parsley, however; it was the last remaining bite of the Saffron Special Galactic Meal. Saffron leaned on the counter nearby, twirling her ladle idly and smirking with amusement. "Go on, sugar, you're almost there," she said.

Merlon glanced at her, then quickly looked away again, blushing under his beard. Come on, he could do this, it was only a little parsley. His stomach groaned painfully in protest. He didn't think he'd ever been this full in his life; he hoped he wouldn't throw up. All he had to do was eat this last bite and that beautiful and kind lady over there would go on a date with him.

With a shaking hand, he picked up his fork and carefully speared it through the parsley. He was in the process of raising it to his mouth when a loud BANG startled him and caused him to drop the fork on the floor. "Shoot!" he cursed, looking up to see that someone had thrown open the door of Sweet Smiles in a hurry.

"M-M-Master M-Merlon! H-Help!"

Instantly, he forgot all about the failed challenge and his upset stomach. "What is it, Skeet? What's happened?"

"It's terrible!" the blue-skinned Flipsidean shouted. "One minute, I was looking up at the tower, the next, there was a girl lying there right in front of me!"

"What? Do you know where she came from?" Merlon asked, paling slightly.

"No idea! But you need to hurry up to the third floor! I think she's hurt pretty bad!" Skeet exclaimed, already going back out the door.

Merlon followed, hot on his heels. Saffron came along as well, eager to help.

The three of them hurried over to the elevator, pushing the button and impatiently waiting as it slowly rose up to the floor above. There, in front of the tower, was a heap of turquoise fabric crumpled on the ground. It was indeed a young woman, and she was quite unconscious.

"Oh dear..." Saffron murmured, brushing the girl's light-brown hair out of her face. She was pale, and very, very thin, her dress pooling loosely around her. Her face was gaunt and worn, dark shadows blooming under her closed eyes. She looked like she'd been to the Underwhere and back again.

Merlon stooped to check her pulse. He was relieved to find it was there, though it was weak. "We need to get her to my house, right away!" he said. But, just as they moved to pick her up, she began to glow. Her expression grew pained, and she whimpered.

"W-What's this?" Merlon gasped, taking a step back.

"She's disappearing...!" Saffron said quietly, her hands covering her mouth in shock.

Unthinkingly, the old sage lunged forward and firmly grasped the girl's hand with both of his. He closed his eyes in concentration, summoning up his energy to determine what spell was affecting this poor soul. The dimensions began to bend around them; he quickly put up a counter-spell to try and reverse it. Gritting his teeth, he strained to combat what was turning out to be a very powerful and dreadful curse.

The girl's hand started to slip from his hold. It wasn't enough, he was already at the end of his strength... But, he couldn't let this happen! He was this town's leader, the people trusted him to protect and guide them! Even though she was a stranger, she was here now, and that meant he had to protect her too!