From the underground part of the temple, he managed to wander to the lighthouse. He decided to stay at the place above the island. He would be safe for a little while.
-----
"Annemarie, you aren't going to find that grendel. He'll kill you, if he's not dead by now!" Darrel exclaimed.
"I am going to look for him, and you can't stop me!" Annemarie shouted.
"I'll kill him if he comes back, I'm warning you," Darrel said.
"Then I'll stay with him!" Annemarie screeched, smacked Darrel, and stormed off to the temple lifts.
"But yo-" Darrel started, but Annemarie cut him off.
"Shut up, Darrel!" she screamed. She couldn't stand how he treated Urg, and had decided that she had to find him as soon as she could. She felt drawn to him...
-----
Annemarie had wandered a fair distance from the garden, and it was dark. She was at the lighthouse, and she was extremely tired. Carefully, she lowered herself to the ground. She had just dozed off when voices of grendels awakened her. She quickly stood up, and she heard the lift come up toward her. Before she could move, the lift appeared, and two grendels walked out of it. "Come with us," one growled, as the other took a step toward her. In the pale moonlight, she could see that the second grendel was Figgrah.
Before the grendels could move another inch, Annemarie turned, ran to the transporter, and frantically pushed the button.
When the teleporter got her to the spot above the island, she ran for cover behind the carrot vendor. As soon as she got back there, she bumped into something and screamed.
"Annemarie!" It's me, it's Urg!" it said. "Urg? Oh, it's you!" Annemarie hugged him. "Urg, you're coming back to the garden with me," Annemarie said.
"I can't. You heard Darrel. He'll kill me."
"No, he won't, I won't let him."
"Annemarie, you know he will. He said so," Urg said softly.
Annemarie sighed. "You're right. I'm going to stay with yo-"
The sound of the teleporter the booming voice of Figgrah cut her off. His strong arm yanked both of them out from behind the lift. "What's your name, norn?" Figgrah demanded.
"An-Annemarie," Annemarie stammered.
"Oh, and look, it's Urg, our beloved little traitor," Figgrah spat. "You know what happens to both of you now, don't you?"
"Yes, Figgrah, I know. Please don't kill Annemarie. She hasn't done anything!" Urg said.
"She's going to die, Urg," Figgrah said, his evil grin spreading over his face. This will be pure torture for Urg, to watch this norn die, Figgrah thought. "Tie him up," Figgrah commanded the grendel who was with him as he yanked Annemarie to the teleporter.
-----
"Urg, you will watch Annemarie die. Then, I'll kill you. It's to bad, though, you were such a fine hunter. But, you cost me my slaves. You'll pay for that!" Figgrah said.
Urg stared in horror as the grendel leader chained Annemaire to the wall and began attacking her.
Finally, the grendel leader stepped back.
Annemarie was covered with bruises, cuts, and blood. "Urg-" she gasped as Figgrah came toward him. "I-love-you," she gasped, and then collapsed in a heap on the ground.
"No!" Urg shouted, filling with rage. "You killed her!" he yelped.
"Yes. I killed her. And now, it's your turn," Figgrah said in a low tone, and advanced toward Urg.
Urg wasn't going to let himself be killed. I know I can kill him, I know it, Urg thought. He had a good idea how he would kill him, too.
Figgrah stopped. "I'll take care of you later," he said as he tied Urg up again.
-----
Darrel felt terrible. Not only for Annemarie, but for Urg as well. "It is my fault. I have to find both of them. And I won't kill Urg," he said to himself, and set off for the trees.
-----
Figgrah had finally come back for Urg. "So, I hope you're ready to put up at least a small fight, Urg, but I doubt it," he said.
"You won't kill me!" Urg snapped.
Figgrah laughed. "Oh course I will," he said as he untied Urg.
Figgrah immediately attacked Urg. As he was punched, Urg kept backing up. He kept going until he was near the lift on the bridge.
Then, his plan was ruined. Figgrah has turned and forced Urg against the rail of the bridge. "Here, you will fall to your death," he growled.
Urg had little hope, until he heard the lift coming. Then he had no hope. It was probably more grendels. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to force Figgrah away.
"Get away from him!" a norn's voice screamed.
"What?" Figgrah turned away from Urg, surprised.
Urg took advantage of Figgrah's being surprised and forced him against the bridge. Now Figgrah was going to fall.
Before Urg pushed him over, he turned to look at Annemarie's body. Figgrah raised his claw to punch Urg.
"NO!" The norn screamed, and grabbed Figgrah's arm.
Irg spun around in surprise. "Darrel?!?!?" He said.
"Don't talk! Push him over the edge, Urg!"
Urg, though still surprised, turned back to Figgrah. "You won't kill me, Urg!" Figgrah shouted, making Urg even more mad.
"Yes_I_WILL!" He shouted, and shoved Figgrah over the edge of the bridge.
Urg and Darrel stood in silence. Irg couldn't believe he had done it. He had stopped Figgrah. It was over. He had stopped him.
Urg walked over to Annemarie's body. He placed his clawed hand on her shoulder. "I loved you, too," he whispered. Then, Annemarie opened her eyes.
Urg stared, to stunned to speak.
"Urg? Urg, I was gone! I mean, I was dead! It felt like I was floating, just floating...then, I heard you say- you s-said you loved me, and I was back here, on the ground again," she whispered.
Darrel walked over and gasped. "What happened to her?" He asked in a worried voice. "Darrel!" Annemarie managed to say. "Get away!"
"Shhh... It's OK. If he hadn't grabbed Figgrah's arm, Figgrah would've punched me. Then I would be dead, and you would be, too. Darrel helped save both of us," Urg said.
Annemarie gasped. "Thank you, Darrel," Annemarie gasped, and then fainted. "She'll be fine, if we can find the Hand to help her," Darrel said as Urg picked her up.
-----
A few days later, everything was better in Albia. Annemarie was resting in her bed, and her cuts and wounds had been cleaned. Urg, though, was still bothered.
"Hand, is it possible to make me a norn?" He asked the hand. If the hand had a face, she would've gasped. "What do you mean, 'make you a norn'? You've got Annemarie, don't you?" she asked.
"No, no, that's not what I meant. Can you turn me from a grendel into a-a norn?" The hand would have gasped again.
"Yes, I think I can-it'll take a while. There are a lot of things I'd have to..er...add to you, but I think I can. I have to export you, though."
Urg shuddered. "Alright."
"This shouldn't hurt at all." The hand floated away, and Urg felt himself being sucked out of Albia, into the place where exported things go.
It was dark, and Urg couldn't move. Wherever he looked, there were norns and grendels, all frozen in the positions they were exported in. After a few minutes, everything went black. He couldn't see the other creatures anymore, he didn't feel anything, he couldn't think.
-----
All of a sudden, Urg felt himself being sucked away from where he was. At first it was black and cold, and then he felt the warmth of the fire. He looked around at the norns, who looked back at him with surprise. Annemarie walked up and smiled.
Then she walked over and kissed him, something she couldn't do when he was a grendel. He ran his fingers over his head, finding white, snowy hair instead of horns, and grinned. "I'm a norn," he said, and ran over and kissed Annemarie.
(end)