Another tale from me.
This time, just a translation and a bit of a correction of an old tale I wrote in czech.
Here ya go! :D
Salvation
Chapter 1
Tira was standing on a cliff above the sea.
She was watching a white swan that was flying in the sky. She whistled and the
swan came to her, it landed in her arms. Then the girl turned on her heel and
wend towards the forest that was spread behind her.
Tira had a sword at her waist and was dressed
as a boy, complete with high leather boots.
The forrest was wast, dense and almost
non-passable, but Tira knew her way around in it perfectly. She grew up in it
after all. Weawing through the trees she came to a clering and there was her
stallion.
She swinged into the saddle and rode a narrow
path. Her swan was sitting on the saddle in front of her.
When the day was nearing it's end, she reached
the edge of the forrest. And there she spotted a dark figure with an even
darker aura.
"Weird..." she thought.
Usually, noone would be there, apart from Tira
of course.
"Who are you?" she asked, but got no
answer.
The figure was just standing there with
nothing happening. So Tira spurred her horse to take her closer. And then she
sent her swan to do some exploring. But when the poor bird reached the
stranger, she was engulfed in flames. Only a pile of ashes was left.
And now Tira was angry! She drew her sword and
spurred her horse Darf. When she was reaching the figure, she spied something
akin to a forcefield around him. Immediatelly, she stopped and jumped down from
her horse. She picked up a rock and threw it at the stranger. The stone went up
in flames and melted into a smoldering goop.
And suddenly the stranger moved and spoke:
"Welcome to Darkland. And hopefully, you will not be opose to doing a
little something for me."
"Who the hell are you? And what little something are we talking
about?" asked Tira in an annoyed sort of voice.
Chapter 2
"My name is
Drakel," said the stranger. "And what I want you to do is something I
cannot do myself."
"Well, I still don't know what you want
me to do..."
"Let me tell you a story," said
Drakel.
"Okay..."
"When Darkland was created, there lived
two very powerfull mages. Their names were Sangrel and Hellman. They were
inseparable. Couldn't be without each other until... The older one, Hellman,
decided that he wants Darkland for himself. He wanted to be the sole ruler.
And so it happened. He chased Sangrel out of
the country. But before Sangrel left, he hid something that was supposed to
lift the shadows from these lands... And your quest would be to find it, if you
accept."
Drakel ended his story with a querry.
"And what is the reason that you cannot
go searching for this thing yourself?" Tira wanted to know.
"Because I used to be dark. And therefore
am unable to touch the thing," he explained.
"Very well, I'll do it," Tira
finally agreed to this quest... mission... thing.
Chapter 3
And so Tira started on
her way. She traveled north to the Great falls. After at least a week of
travel, she reached the edge of a swamp. So she left her horse and continued on
foot. Tira loved her horse, but the swamps were dangerous and she didn't want
to risk her frined's life. It was better to let him go.
Never before was she in this part of Darkland,
but something was guiding her. Showing her a safe passage. And Tira was very
glad for it. Otherwise she whould have been long gone somwhere at the bottom of
one of the swamps.
Slowly, she was making her forward when she
heard something rise out of the water. Turns out it was a huge hydra. Beyond it
was only a thick fog without a chance to see what there was.
The hydra spoke: "What do you want and
why are you waking me?"
It's voice was deep rumble, like the waves of
a stormy sea.
"I am seeking a passage. Nothing more.
And I'm sorry I woke you," Tira said in a strained voice.
"Too bad, girlie," the hydra
laughed, "who wakes me up has to fight me. And only if they win, can they
pass."
"Fine..." grumbled Tira, very
unhappy about this development.
"A bit of warning, so far, I'm
undefeated," the beast laughed some more before lunging forward, intending
to swallow the girl.
Chapter 4
The fight was brutal. The
hydra hardly stopped attacking and Tira had a really hard time deflecting the
attacks. But as the fighting continued, Tira saw a pattern to the attacks and
managed to think up a strategy to counter them.
At fist, she was very carefull about it. Avoid
here, small hit there, but in the end, it didn't matter anyway, because when
the sun came up in the morning, the hydra turned to stone...
"Well dam! Now I'll never know if I would
have won or not..." Tira grumbled, but ultimately, she was happy the fight
was over.
Tira was about to continue on her way, but decided
to check out the lair first. And when she stepped through the waterfall that
was hiding the entrance, her jaw dropped.
"Good thing I decided to check this place
out..." she muttered.
Because right behind the fall there was a
small temple dedicated to Sangrel out of all people.
The floor was flooded and across from the
entrance were stairs leading upward. The
girl waded through the water and started her ascend.
When she reached the top, she was on a clering
surrounded by cliffs and moonlight was shining on a crypt made of stone. And
Tira was almost sure that inside the crypt she would find the remains of
Sangrel and so she made her way over when she heard a tiny voice...
Chapter 5
Tira looked down, but saw
nothing. So she continued, but then she heard it again. This time, she managed
to understand.
Every
third step made from water,
Step over
it and then listen
To a
riddle from a sphinx.
Should
you answer correctly,
You'll
get what you need.
And then the voice faded out. What followed
was deadly silence. Deciding to heed the advice, Tira went down the stairs and
inside the tomb. She reached the bottom and the sphinx guardian with no
problem.
The sphinx was huge and Tira stared in awe at
it. Well, her, as it was obviously a her. Then, the sphinx spoke in a deep
voice.
"I will give you a riddle. Should you
answer correctly, you will pass, speak nothing and you can leave, but should
you answer wrongly, I will devour you. Here is the riddle:
Surpressed
by slavery,
Bind by
rules,
Yet not
ment to be controlled."
Tira repeated the riddle
to herself several times, but could not think of anything. And yet, it seemed
like the answer was just at the edge of her mind. So close and yet so far away.
Closing her eyes, Tira took a deep breath. And
then spoke the first thing that came to her mind:
"Free will."
And the sphinx smiled at her nad disappeared.
In her stead was floating a crystal. Or maybe a gem. It seemed like both at the
same time, yet neither. It was softly pulsing, as if it was alive.
Chapter 6
Slowly, Tira stepped forward and took the
crystal/gem into her hand. At that moment, the ground shook and skeletons and
zombies were risingn from it. Hordes of dead were comming at her, and suddenly,
she was not in control of her own body, which was ironic, considering the
riddle from the sphinx.
She raised the arm that held the crystal above
her head and spoke ancient words of power. A pulse after a pulse of energy left
the crystal and onne by one, the undead fell. Crumbled to dust. But the waves
didn't stop there. Tehy spread over the whole country, destroying every single
eveil creature they touched. And slowly, the dark clouds dissipated and for the
first time in centuries, sun was shininng on the land, the darkness being no
more.
Epilogue
Years… No decades later, a young man on an
adventure stumbled upon the crypt and found Tira's body. She had a rock in her
fist and was surrounded by mounds of dust and ashes.
The man burried her and then continued on,
never speaking about this straneg encounter.
And so years came and went and soon, nobody
even knew that there ever was a girl named Tira.
Darkland was filled with sun and the people were
happy.
But nothing lasts forever and somwhere far
away, in a land inhabited by vampires, evil was gathering forces, but that is a
different story.
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