Ravish Me, Oh Great Wizard King!!!

The Crown Prince Erick Rashak of Jade was super excited this morning.

The moon was still hanging in the darkness of the early morning sky when his lone figure ported from Diamond Palace's Rose Garden back to his Palace in Jade. Everything had gone according to plan and this was the last thing he needed to do.

The last item that he had prepared would be ready for him to pick up at day break. It would be a huge surprise for Mira, so he wanted to make sure that he would be there in person to pick it up.

By the time Erick had bathed and dressed, the servants had brought the carriage out to the front of the palace. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.

Erick took two bounding leaps and entered the carriage. He eased onto the velvet cushioned seat, his mind racing with anticipation. Would Mira like the accommodations he had prepared for her? Would she feel safe surrounded by the best warriors of Jade and Diamond?

But more importantly, would she like her gift?

He sighed and closed his eyes. It had been a six-month grueling endeavor to find any trace of his cousin as well as his paternal aunt and her husband, the old King of Diamond.

It wasn't that Erick was extraordinarily attached to his cousin or his aunt and uncle. No. The truth was that he was deeply attached to his cousin's wife.

He rubbed his eyes with frustration. Something was seriously wrong with him.

Even though Erick knew that he could never be with Mira, he could not help his body from responding to her every wish.

Anything she asked for, he would run to the moon and back to get for her. This also included things she did not ask for, and the very reason why he was running all over Ashrya.

The train was the very first thing that he had set up.

Going on quests and sleeping under a mage dome amongst the stars only sounded fun and exciting. The truth was much less fun. The mage dome was something that was thrown up for emergency purposes only. It needed to be constantly maintained or POOF it fell apart at the most inopportune time.

It did keep out the mosquitoes but it also kept out the oxygen, which meant whoever set up the bubble needed to figure out how to keep oxygen flowing within the tiny sphere.

It was a good thing that creating oxygen was a seriously low-level spell that even first year students could do but one had to stay awake all night to make sure everyone did not asphyxiate from lack of air.

It was also no fun to go on quests and have to eat roast rabbit and tree ears. He could not have Mira go all day without a way to return to a nice fancy dining hall for some good food cooked up by real chefs.

And of course, who could sleep on the hard ground?

He was a Crown Prince. His mother and father would be horrified if he had to brave the elements and lie on a bug-infested forest floor. Ugh. What if a stink bug crawled into his ear? What if a roach bit his skin? What if a rat bit him on the butt?

The thought gave Prince Erick the creeps. No. He could not subject his beautiful Mira to that kind of hardship. No matter what, he had to provide the best that he could for her.

Just the thought of Mira gave Erick a warm fuzzy feeling and he smiled. Then he caught himself. Raphael had told him several times within the last few months that he looked a little creepy when he smiled at nothing and for no apparent reason.

Erick sniffed and put on a stiff face. He needed to check his random smiles. He was starting to scare people around him.

As his face reverted to its normal regal countenance, the carriage slowed to a stop. The driver opened the carriage door for him and stood by as he stepped out.

The first rays of the sun slanted across the small gilded sign above the doorway of the fat orange pumpkin with the faded circular red door. The sign said 'Elsa Wiggins'.

Despite his best effort to remain stoic, Erick could not help himself. His face broke into a large smile. Elsa Wiggins had to be the coolest dwarf he'd ever talked to. She was also one of the tallest dwarves he'd ever met.

"Ah there is the Crown Prince, at the exact time I said it'd be ready. Come in, come in. Stop darkening my doorway or you'll bring me three years of bad luck." A voice called out from the interior of the pumpkin.

The round door dissolved into thin air, exposing the warm golden glow of the interior. Erick stepped through the portal and into a dappled sunlit glade.

The glade set the stage for a large bamboo grove just ahead.

In the bright crisp azure sky, a single raven wheeled and hovered on outstretched wings. It screeched and then rolled a couple of somersaults in the air before soaring back into the bamboo forest.

He laughed and ran the few yards it took to reach the edge of the bamboo grove where a narrow dirt road began. Then he quickly moved through the grove, heading towards the clearing at the center where Elsa Wiggins lived. This was one of his favorite spots to hang out when he was younger.

All around Erick, the towering green stalks of the tall hollow trunks wobbled and oscillated, twisting in the high winds above, their swaying stalks colliding and cracking against each other.

The rustling leaves and swaggering limbs creaked and groaned with soft sighs of a sensual nature that made Erick want to spend the days frolicking among the bamboos with the woman he loved.

The sun filtered through the thick grove, projecting thin slits of moving light and shadows onto the path that he was traversing, causing optical illusions that made the bamboo forest appear to be undulating and weaving, existing on a different world altogether.

As Erick came closer to the clearing at the center of the bamboo forest, he heard a gentle laughter. It was a bright silvery sound that was at once comforting and joyous.

Elsa Wiggins stood at the edge of the central clearing. Her long white hair and black Advisor's robe fluttered in the summer breeze which Erick was highly appreciative of. No matter what the season was in Jade, it was always mid-summer here.

Once he reached the clearing at the center of the bamboo forest, the rustling, creaking sounds of the bamboo forest gave way to the twittering of the sparrows and the trickling of the spring as it gushed out of the rock cropping, into the koi pond.

Erick paused to take in the beauty and serenity of Elsa's pond.

It was a masterpiece of artistry. The sun's rays sparkled as the dappled waters danced and flirted with the photons bouncing off its glassy surface tension.

The forest grass that grew along the koi pond was of a different type than what grew at the bocce ball court. Its chartreuse arching leaves plumed out and fell downwards in a graceful sphere, drooping and swaying in the warm breeze.

The grass clumps gave definition and dimension to the landscape, adding bright gold-green color spots to the deep green bamboo stalks with their bright red nodes.

Amidst the greens and golds was the deep red of a graceful arching wooden bridge spanning the diameter of the pond. He followed the dirt path leading up to the bridge ahead until he reached the spot where Elsa stood.

"My Lady Elsa," he bowed.

Elsa beamed. Her onyx black pupils gazed towards the distance, sightless. "You are a Crown Prince, Erick. Try not to bow too much unless it's to your beloved."

Erick grinned. Her physical eyes no longer worked, but her vision was sharper than anyone's he had ever met.

"Yes, milady. I bow to your superior wisdom." He proceeded to bow once more.

"What a stubborn child you are," she said before she turned and led him off the bridge and past the willows by the pond.

There, amidst the rocks and clumps of smaller bamboos was the shrine temple that he spent so many years of his childhood frolicking about.

It was a brown wooden structure, unpainted and unadorned save for the dark bronze door plates and handles. To him, it was a graceful prime example of the ultimate in architecture.

The lintels supported a gently curved roofline with brown ceramic roof tiles. The roof extended over the wide veranda that encircled the temple, serving as the perfect outdoor living space.

Elsa made her way to the front entrance and slid the paper-covered wood framed wall to one side, revealing the inner room. He followed her into the temple and paused at the doorway to take off his shoes before stepping into the inner chamber.

It was cool and tranquil in the inner sanctum. Erick's eyes slowly grew accustomed to the shadowy darkness. He stood inside the open area on top of the wall-to-wall covering of the large rectangles of pale beige tatami mats with bound black fabric edging.

At the far end of the temple sat a six foot tall stone Buddha...or at least he would be six feet if he wasn't seated on the dais.

"We meet again, Donatello." Erick raised a hand in greetings.

"Hello Erick Rashak." the chubby grinning stone Buddha called out in greeting.