True Love's Seventh Kiss

Ch.10 The Countdown Begins

A/N 

Ahoy, this is an extra chapter since I missed a day, Please enjoy.

And may the winds of fortune ever fill your sails. 

-The Captain. 

*

With that almost a year past and with one month left on the clock, Countess Irina Cliffgard spent less time awake and more time lying dormant in a coma. The only reason they were able to tell at first was because of the book she was reading or last-minute letters she was trying to write for her family, she had managed to flip a page every so often.

Count Novak was going through more toffee's than ever before. And had Kaliban limit him to one glass of alcohol a night.

In the meantime, Marion only worked harder to accomplish his goals, he put the monster hunting on hold while he stewed over research and dragged out expeditions.

Today the rain had canceled his plans for travel, and he opted for more research in his father's study. And even as desperate as he grew, he knew he was at the cusp of something and even Corsair advised that he was almost there and claimed he had given him every clue, skill, and power he could afford to.

Marion sat over the map he had marked up and tried to make sense of it for hours. There were about three places that the roots seemed to point to, and he had checked each one and there had been nothing. No caves, nowhere to dig, no signs of magic.

"Young Master, perhaps you should take a break." Kaliban said as he placed down a set of cookies and cup of tea. "Sugar will help the brain."

"Cookties!" Erabelle rushed over and knocked Marion's drink while swiping a cookie.

She spilled the tea all over the map.

Marion clicked his tongue. "TSK! Erabelle!" he growled as his frustration reached its peak. He tried to gather up the cup and salvage the map that was already falling apart from getting ripped in half.

Erabelle had never seen Marion get this upset before and she teared up. "I sowwy. I sowwy." She tried to use her dress to dry up the mess.

"Erabooger, don't ruin your dress." Marion hissed as he picked her up and got her away from the mess. "Big brother is just tired and needs a naaaaaap." Marion then noticed something suspicious when the liquid flowed over the page.

"Kaliban do we have any information on ley lines or underground rivers or springs." Marion asked.

"Yes, I believe 30 years ago an underground river was mapped but since there was no evidence of the Elven spring it was tucked away." Kaliban searched the maps and logs. "Ah here it is. We enlisted some mermaids, and they provided a detailed report although it seems some areas were blocked off by... roots. You don't think...?"

"Erabooger, you are a genius!" Marion kissed her and blew raspberries into her cheeks until she giggled. "Kaliban let me see those records."

"I am not a booger." Erabelle giggled.

Kaliban handed the records to Marion and Marion handed Erabelle off to a Nanny to be changed.

Novak was interested in the newfound excitement and put his work aside to come join them. "I think I made a map of this already when I was comparing density of mana concentrations." Novak brought a map from one of his drawers. "Nothing came of it, so I didn't bring it up. I even marked off the areas that were blocked by roots." Novak unfolded it while Kaliban used magic to clean and dry the coffee table.

Together they began sketching and drawing anew on the map and a clearer picture came together. Between the new clusters of roots and the underground riverway they mapped a different more complete picture. Marion cursed himself for being so foolish he was chasing an underground tree, but he was looking at the map like a plane and not a 3D space.