8 Back into the blazing fire - 3

The moment he saw Eva opening her eyes slightly, he felt a sudden respite in his chest. As he closed his eyes, a drop of tear trickled down his cheeks, which he quickly wiped away, averting the eyes of Leonidas and Nefeli.

"I am going to check up on others," said Morpheous and marched ahead to protect others from the wrath of fire.

Most of the houses around theirs had been destroyed by the flames. The south wind had added fuel to its intensity. 'Whom to save, what to save,' he wondered as he crossed one house after the other.

After crossing a couple of deserted houses, he found a couple of his village men trying hard to douse the fire with water and sand, and he joined hands with them. The fire was about to reach the last couple of houses that were near to the pond. So he looked in that direction and asked.

"Did anyone rescue Damianos?"

Damianos was the village priest and the most learned man that Morpheous had ever seen. He was the one who had found him abandoned in the woods and had brought him back with him to Ambracia. Leonidas and Nefeli at that time had been trying hard to have a kid of their own, but it seemed like nothing was working their way. So Damianos asked the couple to take care of Morpheous. Ever since then, even though Morpheous stayed along with Leonidas and Nefeli, his Godfather had always been Damianos.

He had taught him everything starting from ancient texts to the details of the crops and probably that's why Morpheous shared a strange attachment with him. So worrying about his Godfather at this time of peril was evident.

"Jerome? Are you even listening to me?" Morpheous asked again.

"Everyone here is trying hard to save their own people Morpheous," replied Jerome, who was about the same age as Morpheous and continued splashing water on the cattle shed.

"Fine then, I will check for him. Erastus! Here hold this pail," said Morpheous and ran towards the pond.

"Good heavens !" exclaimed Erastus as his knees caved under the weight of the gigantic pail, which was filled with water up to the brim. "How on earth can he lift it with such ease?", he said and somehow managed to splash the water on the shed.

"Well, that's Morpheous, my friend," said Jerome and continued with his efforts to douse the fire.

Morpheous was desperate to find Damianos, he was desperate to see his old man safe. So he ran as fast as he could and reached the small hut by the side of the pond where Damianos resided. The hut was still untouched by fire and that was a relief for him.

Calling his name out loud, Morpheous entered inside.

"Damianos !!!"

"Damianos !!! Are you ok?"

But there came back no reply.

He scanned everywhere around the hut, but he was nowhere to be found.

Worry and grief started filling his chest, but just then he heard a loud cry.

"Help me. Somebody help me !!!"

Morpheous ran in that direction and saw Iris, a woman in her mid-forties lying on her verandah, crying for help as she was being slowly crushed under the force of a pillar which had fallen on her thigh. There was no around her to help her out, so without even thinking anything Morpheous rushed in and slowly started lifting the pillar up.

That pillar probably weighed as much as a full-grown elephant, but with the strength of his arms, he was slowly able to lift it up a bit.

"Can you try to move out now?" asked Morpheous after lifting the pillar by a couple of inches. But the pillars had already broken her bones. With tears of pain in her eyes, she looked up at Morpheous and said,

"I cannot. I am sorry but I cannot Morpheous."

The fire, the heat, the sweat, everything was making things difficult for him. But he was not someone who would accept defeat that easy. So taking a deep breath he said.

"Do not give up. I am still here," saying that Morpheus exerted all the force that he possibly could and pushed the pillar away. "I will lift you now," said Morpheous and bent down. But before he could lift her, the wooden roof which had partially succumbed to death under the flames came crashing down.

"Gaaahhhhh..."

Morpheous grunted as his back bore the entire impact of the fall.

Pieces of broken wood from the fallen roof pierced through his back. The flame slowly started charring his skin, but determined not to let the woman get hurt, Morpheous spread both his arms around her, creating a human shield.

Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his nerves and then asked,

"Are you ok Iris?"

"I am fine Morpheous, but the fire is going to hurt you bad. Quickly move away," she said and tried to push him away with her palm, but he wasn't someone who would leave a helpless soul in distress. So he turned a bit to let the pile of wood slide down, that was lying on his back. Then he slowly got up taking care that the debris didn't her and doused the fire on his body by patting his palm all over.

Without wasting any time, he lifted her carefully and ran towards the pond as that was the safest place inside that inferno. After reaching there he made her lie on the ground carefully and then he quickly fetched a cloth and a firm branch of a tree. With utmost care, he tied her thigh along with the branch tightly like a temporary cast.

She was wincing in pain, but she tried her best not to show that to Morpheous because she knew that he was already deeply wounded while trying to save her. So putting on a brave face she bore through the pain and asked,

"What about your wounds Morpheous?"

"I am fine. Let me get you some water," he said and plucked some Alocasia leaves and went towards the pond. He drank some water first, to quench his thirst and then bent down again to collect some water for Iris.

Strangely the pain in his back had lessened. The burning sensation was also gone.