When I finally came to the base of the hill, it was disappointing to see the sun hovering just over the horizon. I had missed today’s entry into the fissure where the sage resided.

There was not much for me to do. I did not want to return to the palace without having achieved my goal. I decided to spend the night out in the open. I settled near a tree and made myself as small as I could, surrounding myself with tightly woven bushes so my presence would not be obvious.

The wait began. The moments dragged and boredom crept into my veins. I observed ants as they worked unitedly to carry dead insects. I closed my eyes and I was about to doze off from fatigue, when I heard a sound.

It was a small noise of something moving, like an object was being slowly pushed across a surface.

I turned my head in all directions. I distinguished a stone that had been missing from the scene before. Was it the source of the sound?

But how could that stone be moving? Or were my eyes and ears playing tricks? It was a large boulder, at least the size of a stone giant’s head.

As a matter of fact, it rather resembled a head. There was the outline of a nose on it. Eyebrows were discernible too… were those lips?

There was something eerily familiar about the head-like boulder.

I observed the stone intently. Soon, I detected it moving! One inch at a time. I thought whatever was occurring was very remarkable. The head-like boulder was moving by utilizing lip-like structures.

And then a strange possibility materialized. My heart skipped a beat. Was I being too optimistic?

I approached the boulder with bated breath. I was shivering, covered in goosebumps.

The boulder was the head of Bono, my loyal stone giant.

“Bono?” I said.

“What?” a low voice said. The voice unmistakably belonged to Bono. I had approached the head from an angle such that Bono had not seen me. Now I stood right in front of his eyes.

“Isn’t that you… Vi.. Vi…?”

“Vicky,” I said.

“Right,” Bono said. “Sorry, it’s been so long, I can hardly remember your name.”

I fell on my knees, flabbergasted. For so long I had believed Bono to be dead, yet here I was talking with him.

“How?” I said in awe.

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“Well, my tale is rather tragic,” Bono said in a thin voice like someone that had repented so much over their fate that they eventually decided whatever happened to them was amusing. “The elf king did not manage to kill me. Separating my head from my body just knocked me unconscious. I did not die. I woke up a week later. How is this possible? Even I do not know. I wish I had died though. It’s kind of boring to have only your head and not the rest of your body.

“I cannot tell you how hard it’s been living like this. I have been trying to get to your palace ever since I was back to my senses. I want to meet Bui. But this is all the ground I have covered. I attempted to rejoin myself to the rest of my body still lying on the bank of the river, but it didn’t work out. My body lost too much blood, and is of no use to me. How my head continues to function baffles me.”

“At least you are alive,” I said, “that’s all that matters.”

“I guess it does,” Bono replied, “but this is a very different kind of living from what I have known. Before, with one stride of my legs I could cover tens of feet at once. Now I move by inches. Sometimes snails outpace me. I am jealous of snails! Can you believe it? Oh, the irony! You should have seen me cross the river though, that was quite an adventure.”

Now that he had mentioned it. I couldn’t fathom how Bono–or his head to be precise–had crossed the fast flowing river.

“How did you do it?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, what happened was that I had not really intended to cross it,” Bono replied, “but as I was ‘sitting’ on the bank of the river wondering what I was to do, a manture came and sat on top of me. When I asked it for help, it was frightened out of wits. It flapped its wings and flew away, blasting poop on my face. This disbalanced me. I rolled down into the river. Being a rock, I sank to the bottom. But the river current kept pushing me and I figured I could use it to my advantage.

“Using my nose I steered myself such that the river current swept me towards the bank on the forest side of the river. However climbing up to the bank from the river bed was another herculean task altogether. Took me three days… Now you tell me, how is my girl, Bui? Is she good?”

I told Bono of her arm. Bono was disheartened to hear that, but he was happy that she was recovering.

“With a shoulder like that I think you should best be resting in your palace,” Bono said, “and why aren’t any of your followers with you?”

I told Bono about the sage and all that had been going through my mind.

“You are a good man,” Bono said, “But sometimes, pardon me for saying this, good does far more harm than bad.”

I agreed. He definitely had depth in those words. I promised Bono that once I returned to the palace I would order my monsters to take him to Bui. I did not know if they would be able to continue their previous relationship, but I had a feeling that Bono and Bui would be happy together even though Bono lacked a body.

The sun had set. Mantures were flying in the reddish sky. An arrow caught my attention as it shot to the sky and hit one of the aerial monsters. The manture fell, while its companions scattered to save themselves. The arrow was doubtlessly shot by players. They were not very far from my spot.

“Players are nearby,” I said to a dozing Bono.

“Wh… what?” Bono said, licking his tongue, becoming alert.

“Players are nearby,” I repeated.

“Well,” Bono said, “I don’t care anymore even though I try to avoid them. Their king failed to kill me, what can they possibly do to me? But I fear for you. What would you do if they came here?”

“Not a lot,” I acknowledged. I had a few abilities, but no way I could deal with a whole group of players single handedly.

Bono bit his stone lips.

“Then let’s leave everything to fate.”

The minutes progressed. Faint voices echoed in the air. Definitely players. I was tense. I could make out specific words now. They were giggling and teasing each other, and were probably on their way back to town. I prayed they would pass without noticing us.