17 Chapter 4 - Part 4

The air was cold as it rushed against Ermos' face, and his robes billowed behind him. The hound flattened everything in its path, covering a distance in a matter of minutes that had taken Ermos hours previously.

Ermos worried as they flew so quickly that he might have lost the potion from his sleeve, but when he freed a hand up to check, it was there, just where he left it, snug and secure. He grasped it firmly, vowing not to let go until he had tested the full extent of its magical properties.

Pash said not a word as they travelled, he was too afraid to. He went much of the way with his eyes closed tight. Ermos shook his head in pity. His young apprentice knew not what wonders his fear was forcing him to miss out on.

And then suddenly, the hound stopped. One moment it was running faster than even the most blessed of horses, and then next, it came to a screeching halt, even though they were a long way from the edge of the forest.

Ermos stood up curiously to look around them, searching for a reason that might have brought the dog to a halt, but he could find none, and he quickly voiced his protests. "This isn't the edge of the forest," he complained, "we still have a long way to go. Do you need a break already?"

There was movement towards the rear of the hound. Its tail had ceased its wagging, and brought itself high into the air, like the tail of a happy cat. The hound raised its whole rear-end up with it, until it was stood cocked with its bottom in the air.

A second later they heard a thud, as though a boulder had just fallen back to earth.

"…I think it's having a poo, master," Pash pointed out, having recovered slightly. He seemed glad of the chance to pause.

"No way. It's a magic dog. It shouldn't need to poo-" Ermos paused his words as he looked out over the side of the dog to see the biggest log of faecal matter in the history of the planet. It was like a felled tree. He might have even mistaken it for one, had it not been hot and steaming, and had another one not fallen on it a moment later. "Gross…" he concluded.

The two of them had to duck for cover as with a giant poo there came giant smells. "…Guh, what have you been eating for it to smell so bad?"

"…I can't breath, master," Pash said in a panic, desperately covering his face with his sleeve.

"Is this how we die..?" Ermos said weakly.

But as he foresaw his own death in a smelly cloud of foulness, he spied a shimmer of gold out of the corner of his eye, enough of a lure that his sense of greed was able to revive him. Seriousness took over, and Ermos was on his feet in a crouch a moment later.

"…Hello indeed," he purred. There, atop the steaming pile of dung, there sat a party digested wrinkled hand, complete with a shining gold ring on one finger, and a big fat ruby embezzled in the centre.

When his eye was for gold, Ermos' strength increased tenfold. He leapt right from the back of the dog, flipping in the air, before landing gracefully in the long grass, leaving Pash to gawk with his mouth wide open.

He wandered over, and by then the dog had finished doing his business. Ermos had to use the sleeve of his robe to cover his nose to avoid much of the foul smell.

As he drew closer, his eyes confirmed what he thought to be true – it was a ring after all! Ermos' mind was filled with thoughts of coin as he pictured how much it might sell for. By the size of the ruby, it would be worth a great deal.

"Clever dog," he praised. The dog looked at him curiously, wondering why he was being praised merely for emptying his bowels.

Ermos neared the mountain of excreted filth, his eyes firmly pinned to the ring on top. It was a disgusting mess for true, but Ermos was not afraid to get his hands dirty in the name of coin. He sprang up, using all of his athleticism to pluck the ring off the top of the pooey mountain, discarding the hand in the process.

He held it up to Pash triumphantly. "We have stumbled upon more than just a magical hound, but a magical hound that poos gold! We are doing very well here, very well indeed."

Ermos saw both the dog and his apprentice looking at him in disgust. Of course, his right hand was covered in a brown filth. Somehow, the fact that it was warm made it worse. But Ermos' smile did not waver. There was a stream nearby and he strode over to it confidently and washed his hands in its fast-flowing waters.

He made sure to wash thoroughly indeed, regretting that he did not have any soap to properly clean his hands with, but he soon reassured himself that he would have more than enough money for soap when they made it to the market.

He hummed a little tune to himself, pleased by the way things were going recently. It seemed his luck had finally turned. All those good deeds were paying off.

He stood to admire the clean ring in the sun, a fresh smile wide on his face, his features overridden by expectancy.

Only, the ring was not in his hand. Nor was it on his finger. Nor was it even in his sleeve. It had disappeared entirely.

With a franticness, Ermos began to search through the stream bed, hurling rocks from it in the hopes that he might recover his newfound treasure. "No!" He whimpered with every new rock that he tossed out.

His apprentice sensed something was wrong and came climbing down from atop their hound. "It's gone… I was washing my hands… and it disappeared," Ermos explained disheartedly.

Pash understood with a nod, and he jumped into the waters of the stream to help his master search, not minding even as his wide trousers were wet all the way up to the knee.

Hours they spent searching, right up until the sun went down, but still there was no ring to be found.