14 In search of Morpheous - 3

"A fallen what?" asked an equally frightened and surprised Nicholas.

"Angel !!!", Balthazaar said, trying hard to get words out of his mouth.

Nicholas kept looking at him for some time, trying to figure if that man was telling the truth. He had heard about fallen angels, but those were all fables. Never in his life, he had expected to meet one for real. He knew that angels were harmless creatures of God, but he wasn't sure if that man was telling the truth. Unable to hide his curiosity, he asked,

"You are lying. If you are an angel, why don't you heal yourself? Why do you call for my help?"

Holding the last couple of his breath, Balthazaar said,

"Why would I lie in the name of God?"

Nicholas stood there stupified. His heart was racing so fast that he could almost hear it's sound.

'Ba-dump'

'Ba-dump'

His mind told him to gallop away as fast as he could, but being a nobleman from heart, he just couldn't leave him suffering alone. So he inched closer carefully to look at his wound which was the source of all his pain.

But before he could say or ask anything to that strange man, he saw his eyes roll back. So he immediately rushed close to him and started tapping on his face, but he didn't respond. Unable to understand what to do, he tried to hold his wounded arm which was burning hot.

Misfortune was shining in front of him and he had no water with him at that moment and the nearest pond was miles and miles away. There was no time to go and fetch water or call the apothecary as it looked like he was about to pass. His pulse was almost nil. He thought hard about how to cool down his wound and suddenly out of the blue, he was struck with an idea.

Nicholas had seen the apothecary of his village use the saliva of horses to bind the medicinal paste and use it on burn injuries. So immediately he pulled the rein of his horse and made his horse lick the wound of Balthazaar forcefully.

He kept tapping on Balthazaar's face continuously for quite some time.

"Wake up !!!"

'Wake up for heaven's sake !!!"

He was scared and at the same time angry with himself for ignoring the plight of the man because of timidness and scared because if he really was an angel then he could see that he was definitely going to the purgatory for not helping an angel in need.

His trail of thoughts was suddenly marred Balthazaar's sudden gasp for air. Seeing him breathing again, Nicholas started patting him even vigorously.

Within a couple of seconds, Balthazaar's breathing came back to normal and he opened his eyes and looked at his arm. Even though a considerable amount of pain was still there, but the intensity had reduced to a great extent. The burning sensation had also come down a bit.

That mortal man had saved him.

"Are you feeling ok? Shall I take you to the apothecary with me? My village is just a couple of miles away," asked Nicholas with a tone filled with sincere concern.

"You saved me. You helped me escape the pain. How did you do that?"

"Erm... ", Nicholas hesitated at first thinking that how an Angel would react if they get to know that they have been licked by a horse.

"My horse licked your wounds. I have seen the usage of horse's saliva for burn injuries by the apothecary of my village. So I thought it might help you," said Nicholas, lowering his eyes.

Balthazaar couldn't tell that man with words, how much he felt grateful. He looked at him and asked,

"What is your name?"

"Nicholas. I hail from Eresos village. It's a small village, you must not have heard about it."

Balthazaar smiled after hearing his statement for he was the head of the general council. He not only knew about Eresos, in fact, he even knew how many ponds were there in Eresos. Without saying anything he got up and when he did, Nicholas immediately cam closer and dusted away his robes.

'He is a good kid,' thought Balthazaar. But even though he was a good kid, he was still a mortal. He had to erase all the memory of this encounter from his head. So he lifted his hand with his index and middle finger stretched out, about to touch the temple of Nicholas, he pushed him and made him hide behind the giant birch tree.

He was a tiny man but possessed quick thinking. Since he was the son of a horse keeper, he could hear the galloping sound of a horse from a mile. He could hear the sound of two galloping horses approaching that area. So he hid Balthazaar quickly, afraid that they would figure out that something was wrong with Balthazaar from his burning hand.

"What are you doing here all alone?" asked the soldier on the horseback, while the other got down and started patting all around Nicholas to see if he was hiding something.

"I was just lost. My horse was tired so I was taking rest for a while. I got up just now."

Saying that Nicholas gave out a fake yawn.

"Hurry then !!! ", said the other horseman and they both galloped ahead. It was then that Balthazaar realized that this man was trustworthy. A moment back he was ready to obliviate his memory, but now he decided not to. In the kingdom of Nubia, where even he couldn't trust the air he breathed, this man was definitely a keeper.

So when the men left, he looked at him and asked,

"Would you like to be the royal horse-keeper?"

"You mean at the kingdom?" Asked a surprised and excited Nicholas.

"Yes !!!"

"But will they employ someone like me? Oh wait, will you use your angelic power to convince the general council?" Asked Nicholas.

Holding on to his arm, Balthazaar chuckled and said,

"The head of the general council doesn't need to convince people. People just do what he tells them to do."

"Oh, so you know the head of the general council?" Asked Nicholas.

Licking his lips, Balthazaar let out a faint gasp of air and said,

"I am the head of the general council."