Chapter Chapter Two

Drake found himself heading back to the infirmary early that morning after he had fallen asleep waiting for Akira to tell him of any progress. His body was stiff since he had fallen asleep on his chair in the home office. His entire night was plagued by dreams of the sky female. He could still feel her skin against his fingers and his mind was filled with the scent of her; wild roses and earth. He had never been more alert about a female before.

He could still remember the look in her eyes and damn those eyes; they were like molten chocolate, caressing the depths of his soul.

Drake shook his head and concentrated on the task at hand. He needed to know who she was and what happened to her. For all he knew, she could be a sorceress cloaking herself with the . She must have already cast an enchantment on him because he could barely think straight. He didn’t want the past to repeat itself. He had once allowed a spy to live within the premises of the Royal Fortress in the Agore city where the Lord Mage was residing. The worst part was that she was a dragon and he couldn’t even detect it. He endangered the lives of his king and queen, the lives off everyone who lived in that Fortress and the Realm in general.

After that incident, Drake told himself that he wasn’t going to trust so easily, that not everything was what it seemed.

“Hey.” A gruff came from beside him.

Drake turned and Feror was beside him putting on his shirt and couldn’t help but notice the little red marks around his chest. A grin appeared on his face. “Nymph?”

Feror smiled dreamily. “Phoenix.”

Whoa! Drake’s eyes widened. “I’m surprised you are not a charred mess.”

“There is not a species I can’t handle.” Feror’s face beamed with triumph as he raked his fingers through his messy hair. “And speaking of females, I have heard news you found a naked female in the woods yesterday.”

News surely travelled fast, Drake grunted to himself. “She’s been unconscious since yesterday.”

“Do you have any clue what might have happened to her? Was she attacked by something?” Feror asked moving as quick and fluid as the warrior he was.

That was one thing he loved about Feror. He knew when it was games and when it was business and he was able to move in and out of the two positions with ease. Feror was as deadly as he was a clown. He could handle most ammunition and when they didn’t work for him, his fists and hooves did irreversible damage. He was leanly built, a body almost like that from the pure-blood beasts; the or the Cheetah species. One would never expect him to transform into one of the strongest centaurs in the army.

Most centaurs, when they underwent puberty, their bodies became bulky, some almost monstrous but not Feror.

Right in the middle of his back he had a large brotherhood tattoo of his former team of centaurs bringing peace in the highlands of his home. The male was loyal and Drake trusted to have him cover his back any day, any time. Thanks to Feror’s quick thinking, Drake was able to live yet another day after they were attacked by rogue dragons when the Queen Mage was kidnapped and they were sent to find a gateway to the caves where she was held captive.

“There are no signs of a struggle. She hasn’t been attacked in any way.” Drake was relieved somehow because his heart churned just thinking about anything bad happening to her.

“Is she--safe?” Feror muttered warily. “You didn’t pick up any bad vibes from her, did you?”

Drake exhaled hard. “I wasn’t thinking about it when I rescued her.”

“Hold up, hold up.” Feror slowed down and glowered at Drake like he was the biggest idiot there. “You brought her here not knowing what she was?”

“Red would have warned me if anything was amiss but he was quiet throughout.” Drake gritted his teeth.

. Red’s voice chimed in.

Drake growled at him.

Red snarled back and sent a nasty headache streaking in Drake’s head. Drake flinched it away and turned back to Feror who was still not convinced. “She might be a shifter, I am not sure but I am positive she is harmless.”

“Just how harmless are we talking about?” Feror murmured still very sceptical.

“She’s human.” Akira announced to them once they arrived to the infirmary.

Both Drake’s and Feror’s mouths fell open.

“Human?“Feror breathed in hard. “Well, that’s harmless enough.”

“How could that be? I saw what happened with my own eyes. She fell out of the sky--now what would a human be doing flying?”

Akira shrugged lightly. “With what you said about it, my best guess is that she must have gone through a gateway somehow.”

“There is no gateway in that forest!” Drake exclaimed. “If there was one, we would have known.”

“Look, I don’t know how to explain this any better than you can. I don’t know what happened but these are the facts; she is human and she has amnesia!”

“Wait, what?” Drake didn’t seem to have heard the doctor properly because he could have sworn she said that the female had amnesia.

“She has no idea of who or where she is but what she seems to remember is that faeries and dragons belong in story books.” Akira scratch her forehead and sighed. “I have had a long night trying to figure her out but we have not made any progress so if you want to give it a try, be my guest.“Akira gestured towards the room where she was.

Drake turned to Feror then back to the doctor. “I’ll go and get to the bottom of this.”

“I don’t think you need me handling one helpless human female, do you?” Feror asked.

Drake rolled his eyes and turned to him. “You can supervise the training until I return.”

Feror nodded and left the infirmary.

Drake turned to the room. When he opened it he heard quick shifting of feet on the cool tiled floor. Before he could see what was happening, he felt a strong thump on his chest and found himself falling backwards. Yet again, the air was punched out of his lungs and his head knocked hard on the floor it left his brain rattling in his head for a while.

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a large pair of chocolate brown eyes sparkling venomously down at him. The female had used her body to tumble him down and she was now using it to keep him in place, pinning it against him but she had no idea that her slight body would have made no difference if he had wanted to get up. The surprising thing was that he didn’t. He wanted her to feel like she was in control so that they could try and figure out what was happening.

“What the hell did you do to me?” She gritted her pearly white teeth at him.

Drake fought the urge to brush the locks surrounding her face as he struggled to breathe. “I saved your life.”

“Then what happened to my clothes--and where the hell am I?” She pinned him harder and Drake had finally had enough.

Grabbing her waist, Drake shifted her off him and got up. He frowned down at her. She reminded him so much of a Nymph, very feisty and cuddly but he doubted very much that she was into cuddly given the ordeal she had gone through.

Her eyes darkened as she stared at him, her full mouth pinned into a tight line and she glowered at him. He just saved her life yet he was the bad guy!

“Do you seriously think you could take me on?” Drake frowned back, disappointed that she would try such a thing at the vulnerable state that she was not to mention she was human. Humans were considered as helpless as babies, not having any traits to go for them. They didn’t have strength, speed or agility that would give them any advantage in both their Realm and the Enchanted World.

The female pouted. “If it gives me answers then yes. Haven’t heard of the spurt of energy that occurs when adrenaline kicks in. Parents have been able to move cars to save their children when the need arose!”

Drake pitied her. Spurt of energy! Ha! “Why don’t we start with you? Who are you and how did you end up falling from the sky, naked?”

Instinctively, her arms went up on her chest even though she was dressed in a patient robe. Her cheeks pinked and her eyes darted everywhere else in the room as if the walls had answers. “I--I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Drake linked with his dragon but the dragon had been eerie silent. He had been like that since the time they rescued the female.

The dragon answered.

The dragon a little longer to answer, quite hesitant.

. Drake replied impatiently.

“Who are you?” The female narrowed her eyes at him and Drake couldn’t help but want to stare at her for eternity. Something about her felt too right for his own good. It made a shiver ripple down his spine. It took a lot to unsettle Red and this female was able to by her mere presence. Drake wanted to discover why because the last thing he needed was being vulnerable at a time like that.

“I am Drake, Second Commander of the Realm of Spells after the Lord Mage.” Drake gave her a curt nod.

The female expression was comical, a mixture of awe and confusion. “Is that like a level in a video game or something? Are you like a game fanatic or designer of some sort?”

Drake pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He prayed for patience as he tried to figure out how he was going to make this dense female understand that she was no longer in the world she was used to but rather in the world where fantasies and nightmares were substance. “I am an army commander.”

“Cool.” She shrugged her small shoulders.

She didn’t look impressed but why would Drake care. The sooner he found out what this female was about, the faster he could rid himself of her because he found himself out of his comfort zone in her presence.

The Drake turned to the female. “What happened to your chest?” he pointed to the red mark on her chest that she unconsciously caressed every once in a while.

The female looked down at it and frowned pensively. “I don’t know. It itches a bit, maybe an allergy of some sort, I don’t know. Where am I? Hasn’t anyone asked for a lost woman; a friend, a parent, a boyfriend….” Her voice cracked as hope shimmered in her eyes.

Drake ground his teeth at the last words. Boyfriend? Why did that word tick him off so much? “No one has come forward.” He sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. “Look, I have no idea who you are or where you are from and it seems you are suffering from amnesia. We are hoping it is temporary but until we figure out who you are and what happened to you, you will be staying her.”

The female pulled her lower lip between her teeth and nodded softly. She looked nervous for a moment as she passed her hand through her black mane. “Alright…but I can’t even remember my own name.”

Drake’s head tilted to the side as he studied her. She looked like a forest Nymph; very feisty, very enchanting yet mysterious and alluring….“Beina.”

"

?” She echoed.

“Yes. Beina was a very mysterious nym--female living in the forest. You can read about her in the books in Ullanis city library.”

“Oh.” She looked up at him and the look on her face told Drake that she had no idea what he was talking about.

Drake straightened and breathed in hard. “Get, some rest and recuperate. I will get someone to bring you food and a change of clothes and check on you later, alright?”

“Wait, you are not leaving me in here with all those crazy women, are you?” Fear entered her eyes as she limped away from the bed towards him. “I’m not staying here!”

Drake grabbed her shoulders and guided her back to the bed. He couldn’t shake away the shiver that went through him and he could have sworn he heard a purr escaping from Red. “They are , they know what they are doing. We still need to check you and make sure you are alright. I have other duties to attend to but I will come and see you later, okay?”

Beina pouted but nodded a little. “Fine.”

“Okay.” Drake let her go and stepped back a little. Her scent was intoxicating and the longer he stayed in her presence the more he felt drawn to her. “Rest, get well and we can start working on your memories.”

Again, Beina nodded as she slipped back into the sheets. She sighed and looked up at him. “Drake?”

Drake’s eyebrows snapped up his forehead. The sound of his name through her lips was something he had never experienced before. “Yes?”

“Thank you for saving me.” She pursed her lips and flipped her sexy eyes to him.

Drake tried to make a sentence but his throat was clogged so he quickly cleared it and nodded lightly before he turned to the door and literally ran out.

His heart felt as if he was going to jump out and run for cover. Drake passed a hand over his brow and approached the desk where two nurses were sitting. They both got up when they saw him, their faces turning red and their eyes sparkling with interest.

“Watch over her, make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. Get someone to bring her food. She needs to clean up and a change of clothes.”

Both healers nodded. “Yes Commander.”

Drake eyed the two females cautiously wondering if he should just shed his duties to Feror and take care of the female himself.

He chastised himself and walked out quickly before he changed his mind and charged back into her room.

…interesting name but why did Maya feel like she was supposed to take offence in it? She sighed and rested back on the bed. It was interesting how she was aware of Drake’s presence in the hospital before she even saw him. She found his presence quite calming. Maya always had a very good gut feeling about people. She knew who to stay clear of and who was a friend. She found Drake not to be a friend but neither was he a threat to her.

A small smiled tugged on her lips. For most of the time that he talked to her, Maya couldn’t help but take him in. He was quite tall and well moulded. He looked like the type who liked working out because he was in very good shape. She was able to see through through his pair of jeans, the v-neck T-shirt underneath the black leather jacket he had on. His dark hair was ruffled as if he had just come from sleeping without even bothering with a brush. He had the strangest colour of eyes but maybe he wore contacts. she didn’t know.

He had very precise moments and at times he zoned out. She caught all that in him. He was really hot! Maya grinned to herself. Even the timbre of his voice travelled to places she wished it didn’t. But that wasn’t the task at hand. She tried to push him at the further corner of her mind as she tried to think of what had happened to her. The last thing she saw was the blue sky above her….there was no much wind around her yet she felt as if she was burning alive.

Maya quickly sat up and looked down at her body. She didn’t have any burn marks so maybe it was just a dream. Her chest hurt just by thinking about the fall. It did look like she was falling from the sky, but where from, she had no clue. Again, Maya’s hand instinctively went to her chest as she touched the little red mark there. It felt as if she had something there but she couldn’t remember what it was.

Why couldn’t she remember? It was so frustrating. She raked her hands in her hair and wondered if after one died, this was a place where they work up to? The strange doctor kept on talking about dragons and sorcerers, Drake said he was the second in command of a place that could only exist in a computer game. Even though she had no memory of who she was, she still knew what reality was and though things didn’t exist in her reality.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door before a short woman with a pretty blond bob entered. She had a tray for breakfast in her hands and the coffee filtered to her nostrils. Her mouth watered at the delicious fragrance. She couldn’t remember the last time she had food in her stomach but she was looking forward to digging in.

“Good morning miss.” The woman bobbed to her and Maya frowned. What was that? “I hope the food is to your liking.”

Maya’s eyes turned to the tray that was placed in from of her; scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, two pieces of toast, fruits, a glass of water and a cup of coffee. “It is!” Maya exclaimed.

A small woman grinned, looking very proud of herself. “I have never made food for a human before--uh--” Her eyes widened and her hands clasped her mouth as her eyes widened.

Maya could have sworn the woman said she has never made food for a human before--so, who did she cook for? Dragons? Maya felt like she was going crazy and the only way she thought to keep her sanity was avoid such conversations. “What is your name?”

“Maura.” She dropped her hand and wrung them in front of her then stared down.

“I am--Beina.” The name sounded very strange and out of place. “Well, at least that is what Drake calls me.”

Maura’s eyes widened in surprise. “Ah! Like the mischievous Forest Nymph…uh--” Her voice cracked and trailed away as she bit into her lower lip. She quickly bobbed her head. “I’m sorry. I am nervous and I usually talk a lot when I am nervous. Having people like….you--is not very usual. This is too far North--but don’t worry there are several people like you here! You will fit in very well!”

If Maura was trying to make her feel better, Maya found herself getting more nervous every time she opened her mouth. It was even difficult for her to swallow down the coffee. “People like me?”

Maura’s fingers tightly snagged each other as she darted her eyes around the room. “Uh--uhm--”

Maya waved her hand to gesture her stop then massaged the headache throbbing on her temple. “Never mind.”

“If there is anything else you need, I will assist you. The commander said you might need a bath and a change of clothes. I got one of the quarters upstairs ready for you so once you are done, I will take you there. He tells me you still have a healing session or two before you are better.”

“What is this healing session?” Maya asked Maura.

“Uh--”

“Time to take your medication.” Akira, the doctor entered and eyed Maura for a moment before approaching the bed. “You look better.”

And the nut-case was back! Maya muttered to herself. “I feel fine—believe me I don’t need any more medication.”

Akira smiled softly and turned to Maura. “You can go now.”

The blond woman nodded and bobbed her head once more before she walked out.

Maya frowned up at Akira. “Why does she do that?”

Akira placed her fingers on Maya’s inner wrist and turned to her watch, checking to see if her heart-rate was good. “It is to show you respect.”

Maya nodded softly when Akira let her go and sighed. “Doctor I feel much better now. I think I should get out of here. You know the saying right; the longer you stay in the presence of patient, the sicker you can get.” n Maya bit the words back.

Akira nodded. “I can see that you are doing much better. I will arrange so that they move you to one of the chambers upstairs.”

“Drake has already arranged for that. Maura was supposed to settle me in until I regain my memories.”

Akira’s expression turned grim. “I know I am a healer and I have to give you hope but I just want to mention it to you that, sometimes memory loss is not temporary.”

Maya’s eyes widened as something close to panic settled deep in her gut. “You mean I might never remember who I am?”

Akira cringed her forehead slightly as if she was the last person who wanted to tell her such a thing. “There is a slight chance it could happen—some times they might take longer and other times—heck you could remember by the end of the day. Just take all these scenarios into mind, okay?”

Maya didn’t want to be told that. She wanted hope even if it was just to make her feel better. What was she going to do when she didn’t remember who she was or where she was from? She believed she had a family somewhere or friends who were looking for her. Maya refused to believe that she was forever going to exist as Beina.

“Finish up so that Maura takes you upstairs.” Akira patted Maya lightly and got up. “I have other patients to see...” then she muttered. “Practice has begun.” It looked like she didn’t like the idea of it but Maya didn’t push to ask what that was about.

Instead she dug into her meal quickly and by the time Maura returned, Maya had already finished her food and her fizzling with excitement of leaving that occult cavern.

Drake studied the new guns Feror was able to get while he watched over Herman. The lanky boy was on the other side of the training grounds, in a straight line with the other warriors. He stood out like a beacon at night. He was the smallest and the palest but he was also the happiest.

“You sure have taken interest in that shifter.” Feror grunted as he took the gun from Drake’s hand and started cleaning it.

Drake turned to his army captain. “He’s a shifter?”

“My best guess. He sure smells like one.” Feror snorted and sighed. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but are you out of your fucking mind letting him join the army?”

Drake shrugged his shoulders irritably. He didn’t need anyone rub all that blame on him. “He hasn’t joined the army, Feror, he is just practising with them. He is the housekeeper’s son and he has had all his family in the Royal army before. The least I can do for Abigail is to watch out for him and give him hope that one day, he too might be part of the Royal Army.”

“Never seen a more skinny and fair-skinned boy in my life. Could have guessed he was a Nymph or perhaps a merman but not with that scent.” Feror muttered, following Drake’s eyes towards Herman. “Puberty better hit him hard and fast or he would have a hard time shuffling his way into a female’s panties.”

Drake chuckled softly turning back to the ammunition. “We shouldn’t be quick to judge, Feror. As I recall the stories from your Brotherhood of centaurs, they thought you were a female in the beginning. Not only were you lanky but as soft-skinned--”

Feror peeled his lips back and snarled at Drake in warning. “Like you were any better. You could barely carry a blade.”

“And look how we turned out.” Drake stated.

Feror grunted in agreement.

Drake dusted his hands and collected a different gun before he started studying it.

“How is the female doing?” Feror asked and Drake found himself firing the gun unconsciously.

“Fucking hell!” Feror jumped out of the way as the black coated bullet splintered the stone slab used as paving on the training grounds.

Everyone had turned to them in alert. Drake held his hands up sheepishly and turned to Feror. “Warn me about it, the next time you feel like talking about her.”

“She’s got you on that tightly, huh?” Feror teased, a stupid smile appearing on his face.

Drake narrowed his eyes at Feror. “She hasn’t got me anywhere! She’s just—she just doesn’t remember anything about her life and that is quite difficult to deal with. For all we know she might have been sent here on a mission.”

“Drive Drake crazy with lust.” Feror chimed in.

“Infiltrate and destroy.” Drake turned to the centaur incredulously.

Feror shrugged his shoulders. “Then they should have sent a horned warrior, not a female human who has no idea just what sort of nightmare she has woken up in.” Feror looked up and pointed his gun to the warriors in front of them. Some of them were in their counter-part shapes. There were several half buffaloes trotting around. Two large eagles were screeching at each other while several Mage were practising enchantments. Half-blood Leos were in a friendly brawl on the other side while a young dragon was learning to shoot fire-balls without embracing the full change. “Imagine if she were to come out here right now and see this horde of madness.”

It is not that humans were not found in the enchanted world. Several people were mated to humans and they brought them back to the enchanted world or some gave up their abilities and went to live in the human realm. Because not many people believed in fairytale and dragons in the human realm, the energies that supported such magic, faded with time so many enchanted world species either lost their abilities or were weakened immensely. A good example was the Nosferatu who suffered ultraviolet ray poisoning and the mer-people who had to stay within the water throughout or die from dehydration. Lycans became slaves to the moon and the rest of the pure-blood’s counter-parts went into hibernation.

For the humans who were in the enchanted world, they had known what they were getting into and although they always got surprises every once in a while, they knew what it meant to be there. Beina, on the other hand, had no clue what so ever. The only thing left to be done was to keep her away from such commotion and hope that in time, she would learn to accept her new circumstances.

“I think you should call for a meeting and make sure everyone understands her--” Feror cleared his throat trying to look for a proper word to describe her. “--situation.”

Drake nodded. “We need to go and prepare for the meeting with the Nobles in town first. Come on.”

Drake up and dusted himself before stalking inside. “Get the males ready, we are heading out in half an hour.”

Feror saluted and went to get his team ready.

Drake went up the stairs and stopped on his tracks. The entire floor had the scent of the female he had been planning on avoiding until he got his bearings straight. It coaxed to him, flaring his senses and teasing him.

Even Red purred in his mind.

Red’s voice filtered in.

Drake chuckled.

Red crooned.

Drake frowned.

“Fucking hell!” Drake bellowed as his eyes widened. That was not possible--

A door swung open in front of him, missing him by an inch and a part of dark frightened eyes turned to him.

“Drake?” The female looked him. “Are you okay?”

Drake’s body tightened and started throbbing. “Uh—stay there.” Drake took a step back and another one while gesturing for her to stay right where she was. “Don’t move! Just stay right there.”

Drake turned on his boots and fled the other direction. Once he got into his quarters, he slammed the door behind him and began pacing. His heart was doing a thousand beats per second, he was hyperventilating and sweat had coated his body.

I Drake growled.

Drake ran his hands in his hair and his nails snagged in it. He looked down at his hands and blood-red claws had unsheathed from their hiding places. Scales rippled up and down his body.

Red said.

“You are not helping!” Drake growled feeling his teeth lengthening and sharpening. He took a deep breath and sighed. “Explain!”

Drake couldn’t believe this was happening. “She’s human! I’m a fucking dragon. How does that even begin to make sense?” he yelled.

Drake growled at his dragon.

If she was his mate, he should have been able to pick it up the moment she landed in his hands. He did feel the strange pull but he mistook it for lust because he was a potent male after all. Being draped by a naked female was not something to pretend didn’t happen but Drake was furious at the fact that this was the second thing he refused to acknowledge. First there was the female dragon living with them in Agore, a traitor using the dark arts to cloak herself and she almost got away with it, right under his nose and he couldn’t even sniff her out.

Now, his mate had appeared from nowhere with no recollection of what happened to her, who she was and where she was from and yet again, he refused to acknowledge it!

He was losing it.

There was a small knock on his door before his door cracked a little a dark head popped in. The female had so much concern in her eyes as she looked at him with her lower lip caught between her pearly teeth.

“I’m sorry to barge in but I think I just found out that one of the traits I have is that I’m nosey.” Her syrupy voice filtered in.

Drake eyed the female with brand new eyes. This caramel coloured, chocolate eyed and dark haired female that left his body hot-fused was his mate.

“Can I come in? Do you want to talk to someone?” She asked. “Talking about your problems helps I guess.” She shrugged lightly.

Drake felt his head nod a bit.

The female slipped in quickly, closing the door behind her quietly. She looked refreshed, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white woollen sweater with a scooped neck that hung on one shoulder. Her skin glowed like gold in the sun. Her hair was plaited in a messy braid that hung on her shoulder.

“I heard you screaming and I had a feeling something terrible must have happened.” She approached him, wringing her hands together in front of her as her eyes darted about his quarters.

There was not much stuff that was personal in there. He had just moved in and most stuff was still in bags somewhere...

Drake didn’t know it but he had taken a step back which made the female stop too and eye him warily.

“Is it me?”

“Yes!” Drake exclaimed then smacked his forehead and shook his head. “I mean no. It’s just that, there is so much going on...” His voice faltered as he stared at her. What did she do in her past life to be condemned to have him as a mate, he wondered.

“I heard you were yelling like you were talking to someone else yet...” The female looked around but it was just the two of them.

Drake pinched the bridge of his nose. “I tend to think out aloud sometimes.”

“Oh.” The female nodded but he was sure she was convinced he had completely lost his marbles. “So, what happened?”

. Drake wondered how the female would react to that! “Uh—one of my warriors got seriously injured.”

The female touched the red mark on her chest with worry. “Will he be alright?”

Drake dismissed it with the gesture of his hand. “He’s fine.”

The female nodded. “Oh, good to know because the way you were yelling I could have sworn you were dumped by your girlfriend or something.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Drake muttered.

“Now, how would a hot guy like you not have a girlfriend?” Her eyes widened then she quickly cleared her throat.

. Drake thought lightly. “I have duties. Shouldn’t you be resting. You still haven’t fully recovered.”

She sighed and smacked her palms on her thighs. “I feel much better now. In fact I was thinking that I should take a walk around, try and see if I can gain some memories back.”

Drake nodded. “That’s a goo--” He stopped and turned to her. Practice was still continuing downstairs. “That’s not a good idea for now. Stay in your room until I come and get you.”

Before the female could protest, Drake was already leading her out of his quarters towards hers. He opened her door and made sure she was inside then said. “Stay.”

She opened her mouth to object but Drake had already turned to leave. Drake wondered who he could actually talk to about this. It was easier to talk to someone when the situation wasn’t his own but now he found himself confused, panicked and dazed all at the same time. He needed a solution and he needed it fast!