Groggily, Demus woke up as he rolled over. It was warm and dry, there was light around, but it was indirect. He sat up, scratched his head, and yawned.

... 'I don't feel bad, even though I didn't stretch last night....'

--- 'The climbing worked for that.' He was sitting on a cot, stone floor, stone walls. Dust motes danced in the air.

John Thomas strode into the room wearing a bright blue kilt, with forest green tunic.

×÷× "I've not seen any take the day o' rest as seriously as do you." He was pulling a small, wheeled table. Upon it was a mug of something steaming, that smelled delicious.

×÷× "Here, lad! Hot chocateel milk'll do you up just right!"

Gingerly, Demus sipped from the mug.

... 'Wonderful!'

... "Did I meet your friend last night? I don't remember."

×÷× "You fell asleep, waiting in the foyer. Lumox 'n a servitor carried you in. My friend Reldar is sleeping. He does that alot, you'll come ta unnastan."

... "What kinds of things will I be doing here?"

×÷× "Och! Easy as pie! Water some plants, crank some keys, no trouble!! I'll show you tomorrow." John Thomas pulled the table out of the room. Demus stood, and began his stretches. As he sat on the cold stone floor to do his cross-legged finals, he thought to himself:

... 'Do I think this 'Reldar' is the protector I wanted?'

--- 'Probably. Fairy dust is amazing stuff!'

... "I love life!! I thank life! I love how wonderful it is to be able to discover what I want, focus on it, embrace it with my emotions, give up on it and then receive it! I love the process! I thank the process! I love having a protector! I love strong, stone walls! I reeeeaally love chocateel milk!! I thank the elses that there is a protector with strong, stone walls and chocateel milk! I thank the world that there are fairies. And thank you world for my guide, John Thomas, and his sturdy steed, Lumox!"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Demus got dressed, left the room the cot was in, and wandered around. The light came from wall-crystals in the hallways, and from arrow-slits far above. From the curvature of some of the walls, it was all one tower, about 80' across. Most of the inner space was open above, going up around 200', with ledges and stair-stones here and there. Many of the doors that Demus could reach were locked. Finally he found a set of stairs going down near the center of the floor. They curved around and down into a big eating hall. Facing him at an angle was a beautiful statue of a standing human man, all in scintillating crystal points, metal wheels, a moving flywheel.... and an intense sense of life! Nearby John Thomas was sitting, finishing a meal.

×÷× "Och, there you are! Step forward, lad! This is Reldar the Many-Powered, sleeping just now."

... "He sleeps standing up? With open eyes?"

×÷× "Indeed, 'tis so! Reldar, when you wake you'll remember this, this is the lad I sent you a message about. I think he'll do quite well! Come over here, Deemo. Alright, d'ya see that silvery slot in his right hip?"

Demo walked over.

... "Yeah."

×÷× "Slide this key in there 'n turn it ta the right a few times."

Taking the key, Demus complied, though the turning was a bit difficult, and made a ratcheting sound.

§§£ "rrsdnlfff! Aaaaaahhhhh!!!! What is, wort waggle? Sean tomias?"

×÷× "Master Reldar! G'mornin'!"

§§£ "Has Spring come then?"

×÷× "No. The fairies found a replacement, the lad has much stronger hands than I. His name is 'Deeemo'."

... "Umm, 'Hello'!" Reldar nodded at him. Then his eyes fluttered and everything went still except the fly-wheel.

×÷× "I was afraid of that. Even if you turn his key, he'll sleep on until Spring. Well, follow me to the kitchen, I'll show you where the supplies are. T'morrow mornin' I'll be leaving you here. Hmmm, you should know that Reldar often has two visitors, both fairly ethereal..."

... "What is he?"

×÷× "No doubt he'll want ta tell you that himself, lad! But he's not harsh nor deceptive, he just wanted ta live forever without having ta become a Lich."

John Thomas did a thorough job of showing Demus around, where all the supplies were kept. The key to Reldar's side was also the key to the front door, which was 5 floors up at ground level.

Demus wandered through the day in a daze, ate lunch (cheese, bread, mead), learned more, stretched again, shared a roasted pork dinner with John Thomas and slept in the cot again.