Inside the fountain now Ligh-oan went over to where he kept his gold. Over in one corner he pushed down on an object resembling a silver crown. In response a drawer opened out of the wall on the floor to the left of where he stood and there was all his accumulated wealth from over the years. For the first time since he had been bringing his earnings here he began to count their number. Usually he would take what he needed and then depart. Today he remained. Hours passed as he was counting. At first he couldn’t believe it. There didn’t seem to be any end of his counting. As soon as he thought he had taken the last bag of gold coins another one appeared. He rubbed his eyes but there was no doubt about it. His gold was multiplying. The bags of gold were stacked around him. It wasn’t even necessary to continue counting the individual coins. He estimated the number of coins in a bag and simply counted the bags as they appeared. When he noticed the room was now almost completely full except for the entrance in from above and the place in the wall where the tunnel he arrived in at from the riverbank was placed. He stopped counting. This place had magic all around it. He pushed the lever to close the drawer and instead of sliding shut, golden bars slid into place between him and the exit ways. Trapped by this he sought escape. There wasn’t any. He looked for a release that would lift the doors. The problem was the walls were covered with bags of gold and he couldn’t see anything. He tried to move what he could away from the walls where he was trapped. It was no good. The gold was piled too high. No one would find him here. There was no sense in yelling for help. His private bank had become his private prison. He had stayed too long and triggered one of the spells that warded the fountain. Instead of despair at his situation he began to laugh at his folly and the years he spent collecting his gold. It was during this laughter that the door opened from above letting in the last light of day.
“Hello down there,” Trella’s voice softly echoed on the staircase walls. “Is everything okay?” She said as she walked into the room filled with gold and one laughing prisoner.
“Everything is perfect here. I am the richest man in the world and I am trapped by my own greed,” Ligh-oan smiled as he saw Trella. Her beauty seemed to add an extra glow to the already gold filled room.
“I didn’t want to disturb you but I waited and waited outside and when I didn’t see you come out I began to worry. You walked right in hours ago and didn’t see me standing there on the other side of the fountain. I had to know what happened,” she said smiling back a little bit unsure now as she took in the entire situation.
“No you are not disturbing me at all. I am in fact delighted to see you,” he smiled even more openly moving closer to speak with her as he held on to the golden bars which blocked his way. “You might be able to help me. It seems I’ve triggered some kind of trap here. There must be a release mechanism on your side,” he said taking in her beautiful form and smelling the sweet soft scent of flowers that were still pinned in her hair.
“What is all of this? It looks like treasure to me. Were you trying to steal the fountain’s treasure? Perhaps I shouldn’t help you,” she spoke stepping back now and looking around the room. “I might be trapped myself. Why would you do such a thing? Everyone knows it is bad luck to steal from the Goddess,” Trella looked sternly at him.
“I’ve been coming here for years. It is strange that I’ve never seen you before. I am Ligh-oan. I craft the finest river craft for the folks in town. This treasure here is ten years worth of my labors. I receive a goodly amount for my work and don’t spend much to take care of myself. I found this place by accident some years back. There is also an entryway from the riverbank, which is how I first came to discover what was under the fountain. I am not a thief. Some forty-five river craft are represented by the gold you see here. You might be familiar with my work. All of my designs have an S curve where merchants run their pennants to advertise their wares.”
“Yes,” she said excitedly. “I do know your work. My father has shown me these craft when we were in town. They are very beautiful. I am sorry if I mistook you for a thief. It is just that I am overwhelmed by the appearance of this underground place, which I never knew existed. You are trapped and here I am going on. What can I do to help?” Trella moved closer and noticed his almost turquoise eyes were kind. Before she knew she was talking to him as close as the bars, which blocked their way, would permit. It seemed natural for both of them. They forgot about their present dilemma and looked at each other and felt a sense of peace. As he reached over to place his hand over hers the bars shook once and then melted away. In the silence and their growing amazement she reached her hand over to touch his face. In a moment more they were kissing each other as if they had been lovers always. Unnoticed around them the bags of gold began to disappear until at last there was only one bag left.
“I don’t know if I am dreaming or not but if I am I want it never to end,” he said walking with her towards the exit.
“I know what you mean. All my life I’ve waited for this moment and now that it is here it just seems so natural. Don’t forget your gold.” She said one arm locked in his as they started up the steps. He turned around and looked at the one remaining bag of gold.
“I’ll leave it for the next lucky person to find it. All of my luck and every bit of gold I have walk with me now. I wanted to go off in search of adventure thinking to find a better life. It is clear to me now that I have found my better life. Everything that came before meeting me was my adventure. We can go anywhere. I can always build another craft,” he said as they return to the ground level. The fountain was glowing the water seemed to be rising higher than ever. They both gave thanks to the Goddess for finding each other. Trella then followed Ligh-oan back to the riverbank where another craft was just about ready to bring to market. There on the riverbank loaded into the craft in neat piles were ten bags of gold that represented all of his savings. Mysteriously it had turned up here.
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