Kordan was certain that the exit was not very far away, but if he was in the wrong corridor it could take another few hours. However, he was very sure that he had so far taken the correct route through the maze. When he turned the corner, he was convinced. He had reached the final part. If he got through here, he had made it. But, of course, this was not that simple. In front of him lay the Path of Truth. Huge black wolves, with yellow eyes and long sabre teeth, were sitting to the right and the left of the path. They were too strong to be fought. If they were to attack him, he would not get out of here alive. But, just like the krizzis before, the sable-toothed wolves reacted to a person’s disposition: only if he managed to stay completely calm, and if his heart was true, would they let him pass.
Kordan concentrated on his love for Lory. He had promised her that he would eat this strange doppel wubber, or whatever the things were called, and he intended to keep his promise. He slowly took one step after another. The sable-toothed wolves began to growl, but Kordan did not allow himself to be shaken. He imagined Lory’s laughter, her beautiful eyes, her mouth and her stubbornness. She was truly a worthy mate for him: the first woman that had ever stood up to him.
Only when he heard the doors close behind him and the crowd begin to cheer did he register that he had made it. He was alive and, apart from a few scratches, unscathed.
***
Lory thought she was going to faint. He had actually made it. All of the tension from the last few hours hit her now and she began to tremble all over. Charly took her in her arms and they both began to sob.
“He’s alive, Lory. Everything’s fine!”
“I know. I know. But if I have to go through that again, I’m sure to have a heart attack.”
“Come on! Let’s congratulate the hero,” said Amano and they got up from their seats.
It was not easy to get to Kordan through that crowd. He was completely surrounded by people full of curiosity. But then their eyes met and Lory’s heart leapt. She fought through the masses and Kordan, too, pushed on hard through the throng until they finally fell into one another’s arms. Lory was laughing and crying at the same time.
“If you come up with the idea of flying to Moron2 again, I’ll …”
“Castrate me and stick my dick in my rectum,” Kordan finished off, grinning.
They both laughed and then he kissed her and she was unaware of anything around her. Only the man in her arms counted: the fact that she had him back alive and almost unscathed. Now they could leave this damn planet. Forget about earth. So they would not go and eat double whoppers.
“I’m looking forward to going home,” said Charly. “We’re never coming here again.”
“I completely agree with you,” grumbled Lory.
They had handed in their room keys and were on their way to the lift. As they crossed the large hall they were accompanied by greetings of appreciation. Kordan had given the Moronians a good show and they were all in high spirits. Lory could still not bring herself to like them. She would be glad when they were back on the Cordelia, even though they had not found out where earth was.
They were about to get into the lift when a loud shout stopped them. They turned round slowly.
“General. My Lord General,” called a boy who was running towards them. He was holding a scroll in his hand.
Breathing heavily, the boy stopped in front of them.
“I am to give you this. It’s from Master Arahonoka.”
“This is unbelievable!” cried Lory in amazement. She exchanged a glance with Charly and then threw herself around her friend’s neck, laughing.
“Thank you, my boy,” said Kordan, taking the scroll. He removed the lid and pulled out a star chart. Enclosed was a letter with a guide and coordinates.
“Let me see it,” cried Lory in excitement. “Where is it? Where’s earth?”
Kordan and Amano studied the letter and the chart and finally pointed to a small blue circle.
“Here. This must be it. Do you recognize the planetary constellation?
Lory and Charly studied the chart.
“This is Saturn. This must be Mars. I was never any good at astronomy,” said Lory.
“I think that must be it. As Lory’s already said, this is definitely Saturn and the patterns all look very familiar to me. It’s been a few years since we learnt that at school, but yes - I’m sure, too,” explained Charly confidently.
“So let’s go and eat a dobbel wupper,” said Kordan, grinning, and they all laughed.
Epilogue
Earth, USA
New York
5th day of the month of Lumino in the year 7067
Federation Time
“Now I’m curious to see what you think of that,” said Lory with a smile.
“I’m curious, too,” said Kordan, looking at the double whopper in his hands. “It doesn’t look bad and it smells good, too. But it’s very big. How do you manage to bite into this with your little mouth?”
“Well, very easily. Like this!” said Lory, biting enthusiastically into her burger. Charly took a big gulp of coke and sighed.
“How good is that!” she said in raptures.
Kordan and Amano looked at one another, shrugged their shoulders and bit decisively into their burgers. They chewed, swallowed and took another bite.
“Good,” mumbled Amano with a full mouth.
“Hmm,” said Kordan, washing his bite down with coke.
“I like quick food,” said Amano, likewise taking a gulp of coke.
Lory and Charly laughed then Kordan and Amano joined in.
“And tomorrow we’ll go to an Italian restaurant. Then we’ll eat pizza,” suggested Charly.
“Great idea,” agreed Lory. “And we’ll go ice-skating.”
“Ice-skating?” asked Amano skeptically. “Whatever’s that?”
“Great fun, that’s what that will be. Great fun!” cried Charly enthusiastically. “It’ll definitely be fun seeing you two on skates. I just wonder whether they’ll have your size at the skate hire.”
“If necessary, they have sort of blades,” said Lory, “that you can strap on under your own shoes. We’ll manage somehow. I don’t want to miss out on that entertainment. We only have a few weeks to show you boys everything here, so brace yourselves.”
“As long as your plans also contain a few night time activities for two, I have no problem with that,” said Kordan, looking longingly into Lory’s eyes.
“Oh, I’ve got a whole load of ideas for night time activities,” murmured Lory seductively. “But first we’re going to go dancing.”
THE END
Fighting Lory (English Edition) (Lords Of Arr'Carthian 2) Page 15