The beautiful Valley

           “It’s really very beautiful,” Antul whispered.
           “May be. But it’s a very dangerous place,” answered Seben.
           A week before he had learned about this place from the merchant Rely. “It’s a picturesque valley high in the mountains,” he said. “But there are many monsters there. So I want to hire somebody to escort me.” Seben and Antul agreed. And now, while Rely was getting down, they were standing on the top Aranit.
           As soon as they arrived at the valley, the merchant said:
           “I’ll look for the cocatrice’s flower and you’ll guard me.”
           “What kind of flower is this?” Antul asked.
           “They say it can save a person from the cocatrice.”
           “That’s false, I’m sure.”
           “That’s not the point. One man has told me that he will buy it so I must find this flower!” Rely answered…
           Three hours later Antul suggested having a rest. They hadn’t found the cocatrice’s flower and they hadn’t seen any flowers at all, and the merchant was very angry.
           “I’ll find it!” he cried.
           “But there aren’t any flowers here,” Seben interrupted him. But suddenly they heard a strange voice:
           “We’ll eat you, because you are very silly, people!”
           The friends knew that it was an ogre. Seben and Antul drew their swords and Rely realized that Seben’s sword was magic – they were many ancient gnomes’ hieroglyphics on it. The ogres attacked them but the warriors jumped aside and Antul pierced his enemy with the sword. Seben thought that it was not very funny to fight with the ogre and chopped his head off.
           “You have killed them so quickly!” whispered Rely.
           “Yes, but it’s time to get back, isn’t it?” Antul answered.
           “Ok,” Seben said. “Rely, your friend is a traitor, because he wanted ogres to eat us. I think we must visit him.”
           Two or three days later they got to the town. But Seben decided to visit that beautiful valley again. He was sure that there was something wrong with it.   

The Picnic in The Valley

 It was a beautiful spring day. We were camping in the valley high in the mountains. There was a river there so we were swimming and diving every day. A week before Sam had suggested that we should go on a picnic and we had decided to visit the village, where his grandmother was living, and to camp there. When we arrived, we saw such a spectacular view that, we stayed in this valley.
           One day, when we were walking along the riverbank, we saw a small old house. The weather was fantastic, it was sunny and warm and we decided to come in. There were many strange things in the house and we spent a lot of time there.
           “It’s getting foggy,” Angela said. “I want to get back.”
           “Ok!” I answered. “Let’s go to our camp!”
           But suddenly we heard a terrifying voice… And then a monster attacked us. It was a big snake and it had two heads – one at the beginning of its body and the other – at the end of it. I was sure that this snake would eat us, but… guess what? A tall man came into the room. His clothes were strange and his hair was strange, too. Part of the hair was blue and the other was white. And he had a long sword. He immediately drew this sword and I saw, that there were many hieroglyphics on it. This man attacked the snake and killed it. “It was the amphisbaena,” he said. “And this animal is quite dangerous. You must go away because this valley is a very dangerous place, too.”
           We immediately got back to the camp and then we got to the village. People told us, that the valley was really very dangerous. They had seen ghost, vampires and other monsters there… Next day we went to the city. We all felt very happy to be back home.
           “Is it the end of your story, granny?” asked Mary.
           “No, but you must go to bed.”
           “One question, granny, please! Was it a fairy tale or a real story?”
           “A real story,” she answered quietly, and Mary understood that her old grandmother had told her the truth.
           

Turuck-redal

A strong wind is rocking the grass and the high green trees; the mountain Aranit is showing white on the right; caks and elms are towering in front of Seben.
            It began raining, and Seben’s clothes became wet, but he didn’t recognize this because of the spectacular view.
            “Wonderful! What a pity, that there aren’t any flowers here,” sight he.
            The warrior saw a small house and went towards it. It was an ordinary house with wooden walls, small windows and a chimney on the roof. But Seben didn’t see it when he was in this valley for the first time. He was absolutely sure, that there hadn’t been any houses in the valley before. He came in. Two tables, a chair, a chest and a hearth – that was all. Or… The warrior bent down, pulled at the ring. Cellar! Seben took a long stick, wrapped a rag round it, fired it and then went down.
             The cellar was a big empty room. Seben went round it and found a door. He opened the door and saw a long tunnel.
             “It’s a tunnel!”
             “You’re right,” answered someone from the darkness.
             Seben took a step backwards and put the right hand on the handle of Dorlan, the ancient sword.
             “Who are you?” he asked.
             “What do you want to know? My name? It won’t say anything to you. My father’s name? You didn’t know him. Or my job? Well, I can answer you. I’m called taruck-redul here. And I will kill you.”
             Seben squeezed the handle.
             “You are a wizard hunter? But I’m not a wizard. You made a mistake.”
             “No, I didn’t. Now you really aren’t a mage. But you have… You had had chances to become a mage before I found you,” he said.
             He left the tunnel, and Seben saw a tall middle-aged man with shoulder-length dark hair. The man had a two-handed axe; he was wearing a black leather jacket and a black cloak; on the stranger’s neck handed a silver amulet shaped as a half-moon.
>          “And now you’ll die,” he said quietly and jumped forward.
            But his enemy was ready to defend. He threw the torch, drew the sword and attacked. The killer parried. His new blow was so strong, that he could chop a man in two… He missed, because Seben jumped aside. The warrior attacked again, the enemy parried his blow. Their fight continued for a long time, and Seben realized, that he would wear out soon. His torch burnt out, and it became very dark in the cellar. It was hard to scrutinize anything and it was very hard to fight. But the two men with steel weapons could see each other, and it was the main thing for them.
            The killer lifted the axe, but the warrior decided not to swerve. He bent his knees, took Dorlan with two hands and lifted it, two. The enemy’s blow landed on the sword. Seben swung, his hands went numb, but he kept his balance. Quick and strong attack was successful and he hurt the taruck-redul. Then the warrior jumped aside, and the killer missed again. He was wondered in the hand and he dropped the axe. The man in black clothes cried: “I’ll find you again and I kill you!” – and ran away.
            Seben sighed, took the axe and went upstairs. Then he closed the hatch, put a heavy chest on it and went out… There were lots of flowers near the house: white, red, yellow, blue… And the sky was different, too. He went round the house and set down on the grass.
             “It’s impossible! What does it mean?.. Yes, of course! It’s another world! The cellar took me to another world,” Seben said. And then he fell asleep.
             “A snake! It’s a snake!” – someone cried in the house.
             Seben stood up, ran to the door, came in and saw a few people and a big amphisbaena in the room…

(C) [GG] Sir W@11er