Erika - the adolescent archaeologist E-Book

Valsirion Scharona

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: In the Sign of the Black Unicorn
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 953

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Anyone who has an unusual hobby is vilified, despised, mobbed and excluded by his or her surroundings. The 15-year-old student and passionate hobby archaeologist can tell you a thing or two about this. Beatings, destruction of her work and bullying are part of her everyday life. Nevertheless, Erika is bubbling over with enthusiasm about the results of her work. How does everything change when the two worst despisers of all show interest in her work. They lure Erika into a completely new mystery in the shape of an ancient castle, about which there is no record, despite its proximity to the royal city of Dorphane.

Leseprobe

Index

Preface

A nasty prank

Gateway to darkness

Trapped in a force field

Anchoring points

Blueprint of a trap

The Princess of Ochonan

Frozen maze

The battle in the ballroom

Poaching in the forecourt to hell

Hollow traditions

Love-mad hag

"Progressive" school

Temple of Astarte

Heights and chasms

Disastrous model making

Lively clockwork

Bloodthirsty lust for power

Temple of doom

Scha-Rhwri

The king of Dorphane

A new life

Miss Professor

The fortress of ice

A truly divine dinner

A dark world

The lecture

"Your Majesty,

One step back

My last task

Glossary

Text marks

Site plan of the castle

Preface

Usually, the novels from the series "In the Sign of the Black Unicorn" consist of independent novels, for which no knowledge of the story from the previous volumes is required. Thus, the present novel represents an outlier in a certain respect. This novel deals in special manner with the protagonist Erika from the novel "Atavetas - the Clan of Ekrún" (note: "the Ice-Clan“). Her prehistory, her adventure in the company of the Atavetas, as well as the consequences she has to bear are told from her point of view, which is why this book should preferably be considered an addition to the main book.

Unexpectedly, Erika takes on the role of the fifth adventurer in the novel "Atavetas - the Clan of Ekrún". Since she is the only human in the Atavetas' entourage, her knowledge and insights are piecemeal. Some possibly questionable connections are explained in the main book "Atavetas - the Clan of Ekrún". As far as possible, the names of the chapters have been retained. Moreover, at the end of the book there is a glossary, in which some of the explanations from the glossary of the novel "Atavetas" are repeated or supplemented, where necessary.

So why this book? In general, I hold a special sympathy for the little people in my novels. For Erika, the daughter of a middle class craftsman from Dorphane, I‘ve developed a very special relationship in the course of her creation. In her role as the only human within the troop, she carelessly accepts her inferior position. She knows that she has forfeited her life and only takes the flight forward by surrendering her life to a certain Ataveta in particular for the execution. Courageously, she doesn‘t shy away from any depths to have her fate, which she has created through gross negligence, getting fulfilled. But despite her already downright humble attitude, her view of the world is exclusively human and thus shaped by this marterial world. Consequently, she must revise her own conclusions from time to time. Under the guiding hand of her Mistress, Erika learns step by step to find real life by her commiting her sacrifice.

A nasty prank

„Now go ahead! Don't you act like such a coward!“

„Yes, after all you're the one to who things can't ever be scary enough!“

„Exactly! That’s all you've got written in that creepy little book!“

„Totally right! Didn't you pretend to not be afraid of anything during your today’s lecture at school?“

Brackitra and Leyla had already penetrated a few steps into the thicket. Now they had stopped, turning to me demandingly. Brackitra, usually called Brack, was holding her storm lantern up high, just as if somebody could see better that way. These two spoiled bitches really hadn’t got the slightest idea of such bold adventures! Starting with our current clothing, which absolutely wasn't suitable for such rough expeditions!

At first, the two of them had pretended to be suddenly interested in my research work. Of all the students, exactly these two! The worst ones ever! Right after school, on this first day after our long school vacation, when I had been the lucky one to be the first to give my monthly lecture, the two of them had approached to me and started talking about another mysterious secret. This one would have been waiting for clarification far too long! Of course, their interest seemed suspicious to me. But what choice had I had, if me wanting to escape from my reputation of the eccentric and despised hobby archaeologist?

In the most peaceful cases the other students were ignoring me, let my lectures at school pass undisturbed and immediately afterwards went taking care again of their small-minded, uneventful existence and all their cheap affairs, of which in turn I hadn't any clue of what they'd be good for. Rather, mockery, disturbance, bullying and destruction of my laboriously gathered work were part of my daily bread. I had long known that it was better to only take copies and the meaningless artifacts of my research to school. Once a month everyone from class had to give a lecture on some topic. Classmates then wrote a recession in the form of an essay, which in turn revealed what the classmates had understood from the presentation. What "huge, big deal, exciting, interesting" things did you get to hear? Bruno had placed a bouquet of wildflowers he had picked himself on the windowsill of Hilde's bedroom window and now feared for her answer to his frivolous actions. Jutta had had a great experience together with her friends during a shopping spree at the farmers' market. One of the traders had hit on the girls and now they were so embarrassed that they didn't know how to tell their parents about their latest affair. Herbert had built a tree house in his parents' garden together with friends. I'd rather not list the rest. Shallow - shallower - shallowest! Insignificant - meaningless - senseless - mindless – worthless - pointless! Just to puke! Having to write recessions about each of those lectures, appreciating their “oh so exciting” adventures and evaluating their presentations, turned out to be a challenge for me, which I found increasingly more difficult than deciphering an inscription in a cave of a long-lost folk.

Conversely, as for my part I was striving for quality in the lectures. Whenever I got started talking about a find from a remote cave, the only thing bothering me was the extremely limited fifteen-minute speaking time. For a certain cave, which required several days to get to, I had developed a special interest. Well-preserved traces testified to the long-lost nomadic folk called Rikrhana who once had settled there. In the course of time I developed a special affection for a boy named Mirikuni. I tried to imagine what he would be like if he suddenly appeared before me? My classmates responded to my lectures with all imaginable forms of disinterest.

During the past summer vacation I had studied the cave thoroughly. On this first day after the long vacation I presented a small clay cup as the object of my lecture, which I was convinced had once belonged to my favorite boy Mirikuni. The disturbances I had to put up with today didn't leave much time for me to report on my research results. The more it surprised me that of all students this Brackitra, who usually fought rigorously against any form of order,1) and her personal "slave" Leyla, approached me after school and declared my lecture to be "ultra cool".

Uh, how was that?

I needed to hear that again!

After all, for once that day they hadn't led their smear campaigns against me, but defended me instead. Actually, this should have made me twice as suspicious. I had grown always more surprised as Brack appreciating details in my lecture. Leyla, Brack's shadow and voluntary slave supported everything her mistress did anyway.2) There wasn't really any point in lending an ear to that dark-skinned girl! Of all people, the daughter of the best miracle doctor in the whole city let this shabby Brackitra push her around as her property and mistreat her with sufficient abuse. Brack's maltreatment of Leyla degenerated far worse than the monthly thrashing that we other girls were "allowed" to get after we had been doing a better presentation at school than Brack ever could. The latter wasn't any great art, considering Brack's lack of constructive skills. Several times Leyla had almost died because of Brack's abuse. Leyla reliably didn't grow any wiser, but followed her mistress all the more submissively. She knowingly sacrificed her life just to serve Brackitra's arbitrariness! But why should I mind that business?

After all, I hadn’t seen any reason for not to at least look at Brack's proposal for research. Quite what couldn't it be! The two spoiled brats, who practically never left the city, certainly didn’t ever find anything really breathtaking. Rather, behind the unusual pretext, I assumed the usual trap of luring me into the nearest thick-walled cellar, to beat me up in there and finally leave me locked up. These pranks were as much a part of Brack's agenda as her arrogance regarding her blonde hair. I never understood what should be so special about Brack's blonde hair. At least every fourth girl and fifth boy in Dorphane has got fair hair and blue, green, or gray eyes. Every single girl at school was allowed to "enjoy" Brack's sick habits from time to time. If for whatever reason a girl suffered Brack's particular disfavour, Brack didn't content herself with thrashing her latest delinquent herself. In such cases she let her boys do the job, and they in turn didn't content themself with just beating up the condemned. Out of shame and because they didn't want to mess with Brackitra again, the girls kept silent about the abuse, while the boys bragged about it. Perhaps this could be the main reason why many boys were following this missguided Brackitra. On the other hand, as a girl it was better to avoid this brackitra in a very wide berth!

At least until now I hadn't ever had to experience myself Brack leaving me to her boys. Also today there hadn’t been any sign of such a degeneration of the expected maltreatment. So I had dared the risk. Brack had assured me for the secret's place to be very close-by and therefore we wouldn't need any equipment. With mixed feelings I followed her example to leave all our school equipment at school. On one hand, at least nothing would breake. On the other hand, I was already wondering in which oh so mysterious basement Brack intended to beat me up in this time. If I wouldn't follow her obediently to my place of execution, Brack surely called her boys to help. I really didn't feel any need, to have to experience this kind of maltreatment as well. Only my notebook and a stylus I took along as a precaution.

To my surprise, Brack grabbed a storm lantern off a hook just before leaving school and headed in a completely different direction. So she had found a new hiding place to beat me up there! Behind every bend along our path I suspected the entrance to the cellar of her lastest choice. But Brack showed no ambitions to head for a cellar dungeon. What had this sneaky Brackitra thought up this time? Finally we left the city of Dorphane and also left the widely scattered settlements around the royal city behind us. I surveyed the clearly arranged fields and puzzled which prank Brack was up to. Indefatigable determined, Brack headed for the woods. Brack held her clothes in high esteem. Would she really go that far as to enter the woods in her chic city dress? Was the prank she was planning to play on me worth that much to her?

Of course, Brackitra's hairstyle and outfit were in line with the traditional costume of middle-class girls and women. On one hand tradition demanded of us to wear certain dress. The combination and style of the clothes always corresponded with the traditional way in which all the bourgeois women of Dorphane dressed. In color, embroidery and the design of the clothes, however, creativity was given a fairly free rein. Brack and I were both fifteen years old. Brack preferred to let her long, slightly wavy, straw-blond hair fall loosely down to around her shoulders. With her hair loose or tied in braids, a girl announced that she was a single. On her forehead Brackitra trimmed her hair as short fringes, just above the eyebrows. A parting couldn‘t be made out in her voluminous hair. Her narrow face showed a hint of freckles. Her blue eyes were framed by light brunette eyebrows. She was wearing a green, one finger's breadth less than floor-length, sleeveless, bourgeois cotton dress with a white linen apron that reached down to her knees. The edges of the apron were trimmed with white frills. Embroidered floral patterns decorated the dress from the lower hem to a hand's breadth below the belt. Floral patterns also adorned the dress in the chest area. Beneath her dress she also wore a white blouse made of linen and over the dress she wore a cotton blazer matching it. I knew she wore a natural colored pantyhose made of cotton under her petticoat. Her brown urban shoes had heels about three finger widths high. Such shoes were by no means suitable for an expedition on muddy paths in the forest! Such fine shoes were made for the cobbled or, at best, trodden streets of the city. Surely that night Brack would again demand of her slave to clean her shoes until next day. Brack had never been bothered by Leyla’s slaving away all night with her drudgery tasks.

In the woods itself every reasonable person knew the danger of robbers, bears, cougars and wolves. But did Brack belong to the people with a certain minimum of common sense? It was already twilighting. To where was this Brackitra heading to? If we penetrated too far into the woods, for sure none of us escaped. Cougars and wolves only considered us a welcome treat, and robbers wouldn‘t let three pretty virgin girls stroll through their territory untroubled. They rather had a reputation for preying on and raping all the women they could get their fingers on. Either the family of the robbed women paid ransom for their daughter or wife or they were found in a ditch with their throats cut. Or the captured woman stayed with the robbers forever, whether voluntarily or not so voluntarily. Wild rumors even claimed for these robbers to be actually cannibals. But one believed travelers from faraway countries better only conditionally. However, even if not lending an ear to this kind of rumors, which undoubtedly originated from the wild fantasies of the traveling merchants, who bad-mouthed Dorphane at every opportunity anyway, it was certainly no fun as a young, pretty girl to fall prey into the hands of these criminals. I knew Brack as being way too much of a coward to risk her life easily. This pretty, blonde brat these gangsters would especially "devour" right on the spot! For sure Brack also knew herself to be a particularly sought-after prey. Being a pretty girl also involves being targeted by certain criminals. So Brack certainly wouldn't go that far! Brack's trap was definitely waiting for me right after the first bushes. My perplexity, but also my curiosity increased, the deeper Brack penetrated into the woods. Of course I would bitterly regret my faithfulness within the very next future, yet an escape wasn't on the table either. If I simply turned back, Brack and Leyla would shower me first thing tomorrow morning at school with such ridicule and abuse that a little beating this evening seemed the lesser evil. All of my research results would be worthless forever. Desperately, I was looking for a way out.

Leyla was a year younger than Brack and me. She was walking behind me as if to prevent me from suddenly turning around and screwing up their fun. Leyla's appearance also only corresponded to the beautiful life of the middle-class girls in the city. Leyla tied her straight, black hair in braids that fell over her shoulders left and right. Unusually for these northern regions she had brown eyes and a dark complexion. Leyla was the eldest daughter of doctor Elijahs. Her parents once had arrived from the so-called Orient, as accompanion of a wealthy businessman, to the promised land of boundless wealth Dorphane. They had found a significantly better life here and stayed the same. Leyla was wearing a pink cotton dress with a linen blouse underneath. Her dress was about two finger widths shorter so that with every step her feet were seductively visible under the hem of her dress. Her apron was executed in light pink checked patterns. The pale pink blouse under the dress was decorated with a very fine checkered pattern, which was enriched by tiny embroidered representations of flowers. The embroideries on her dress, on the other hand, were not as lavishly executed as on her friend Brack's dress. For her blazer she preferred mint green with dark green flower patterns. Her black shoes corresponded to the shoes of her friend Brack. Under her dress Leyla was wearing an alpine white petticoat made of linen and a natural-colored pantyhose made of cotton. Only particularly wealthy people from the city could afford such a quality of fabric for their clothing. Leyla's father was as undoubtedly one of the best doctors of the royal city and therefore one of them. Actually, Leyla was a really pretty girl. Her dark complexion emphasized her beauty, although her slightly stocky figure made her appear a bit chubby. Still, it suited her really well. The fact that the boys weren’t lying at her feet, was undoubtedly due to Leyla's devote submission under Brack's arbitrariness.

Snivelling I looked down at my own dress and briefly tested the condition of my hair with my hand. After all, in Dorphane my rust-red hair no longer caused demonization by the Sacerdotes, the nefarious priests of the old faith, as done in other countries. These wicked false teachers no longer dared to do so in the sovereign realm of our true Goddess and Queen Evelyn of Dorphane. In the realm of our overpowering Goddess and Queen I was allowed to afford myself the luxury of letting my slightly wavy hair fall loosely over my shoulders, which was just for a virgin, without anyone daring to be hostile towards me. Just below my shoulders the hair turned slightly inwards in a natural curl. I have green eyes - another thing the Sacerdotes would like to demonize - and bushy eyebrows. My figure was a bit slimmer and more athletic than Brack's, and the boys were already obsessed courting her. At the hem of my cream-colored dress I already recognized the dirt from the forest ground. Green embroideries bordered the hem, which were supposed to represent the foliage to the poppies in the form of a braided stem. My apron was as creamy white as my blouse of linen. My mint green blazer was made exactly to match the dress with deep green embroidery patterns to the poppy flower depictions. My petticoat was made of cream-colored linen and my pantyhose of natural-colored cotton. I use mint green shoes as footwear. I hoped to not to tear any of these expensive clothes on this reckless expedition! I wasn't one of those wealthy girls whose parents could easily afford such beautiful clothes.

Meanwhile the darkness of the night filled the woods. The eerie call of the owls echoed in the thicket. In the distance I heard the howling of a wolf. As an experienced researcher I knew that latest by now there wasn’t any escape anymore, unless with good experience and a certain minimum equipment. Brack for sure hadn't ever heard of neither of them, not mentioning of possessing one of them. In other words, she hadn't the slightest idea that we were already trapped since long. Permanently, I checked every single tree for a possibility to escape, should things get hot right now. Once you hearing the wolves in the distance, the whole pack can have surrounded you within minutes. That’s when you’re done! Not even luck can help anymore! Other wolves answered. No doubt. The wolves had already noticed us! We were nothing but prey for the wolves anymore! And prey gets eaten! That’s absolutely for certain! All three of us will get eaten up within the next hour! This reckless, stupid Brack! I don't want to explain how it feels, when you can inwardly already get yourself ready to get eaten up reliably. So in a few minutes my story will end! The hunt for us is on. We are the game! Maybe we rush through the undergrowth for a while, only to find ourselves suddenly surrounded. A last fight for our lives that we will lose. Our hunters will bring us down. My last experience in this world will be the stabbing pain when the predators knock their teeth into my flesh. But maybe in this case there was still a glimpse of a hope to escape from the affair at least alive?

As the path kept steadily rising, I really didn't want to go any further. I tried to dissuade Brack from her plans for this evening. I implored her to let her beat me up tomorrow after school in the well-known cellar. Brack, and of course Leyla, too, only sneered and accused me of being afraid of the dark shadows of the trees and the eerie calls of the owls. Behind me Leyla urged, perhaps also with the intention to benefit from the lamplight. Even the less I understood Brack's zeal for her latest prank. Didn‘t she really at least suspect that there wasn‘t anymore any turning back for all three of us? From the foot of the mountain the howling of the wolves intensified. So they had surrounded us already. In case we turning back, we would run straight into the hunters' clutches, unless a cougar or a bear would get us first. At least this one would content itself with only one of us while the other two could escape – only to succumb to our chosen fate as prey to the wolves. Spitefully I already hoped that the beasts would share their preference with the boys from school on Brack as prey. Serves her all right! On the other hand, I knew that Brack, in order to protect her own life in such a case, even commissioned Leyla to sacrifice herself to let herself get eaten by the beasts, and she wouldn‘t hesitate to do so. Leyla could have enjoyed such a much better life. The little bit of hostility she had to experience due to being a dark-skinned would really be bearable. Surely there would have been a few boys who discovered Leyla's beauty for themselves and protected her in further consequence. On top of that, Leyla had a rich father, who also enjoyed a reputation as one of the best doctors of the royal city. Usually the boys would fight each other till death for such a treat. But Leyla stuck to Brack with unbelievable loyalty!

The path up the mountain continued. To my surprise, I had somehow always the sensation of the wolves continuously keping some distance behind us. The howling didn’t fade away, nor did it get closer. Never before had I experienced wolves consistently keeping a large distance to their sure prey. Wolves possessed a fine sense for danger. Something wasn‘t right here at all! I won’t make it home anymore for sure! In any case, the three of us will soon get eaten! But in the meantime I didn't know to decide anymore for certain whether I might not prefer to get eaten up by the wolves. Something much worse was probably already sticking to our trail, which even the wolves feared. Brack neither paid attention to the acute danger of the wolves, nor was she alarmed by their unnatural behavior. Instead, Brack declared that the howling would make the creepy mood really creepy. Well, she would look at her in a minute! I, for my part, kept myself ready to rush up the next best tree. With the dress and the city shoes with the high heels, smooth soles and soft toecaps, I might not be able to do it as quickly as with my research equipment, but I knew how to climb. I was aware that I would have to kick off my shoes in a split second and that the feet of my pantyhose be damaged when using the hold of the woolen fabric for grip on the tree bark to get up the tree faster. But at least I might have a reasonably realistic chance to get out of this mess alive and perhaps even unscathed. Brackitra and Leyla on the other hand had probably never ever climbed a tree before. I certainly won't help them to keep me company in the tree.

Now Brack was turning off the path and headed into the thicket. A very long time ago there might have been a path here, but this one was hardly identifiable anymore. I stopped. Repeatedly, I called on Brack to at least camp for the night at this crossing! Besides, we all will have to be back to school the next morning! Actually, the most nonsensical excuse! If we turned back now, it was only to hand ourselves over to the wolves for them to eat us. And they for sure wouldn‘t hesitate at all. We haven't got a single hour anymore to live! But maybe still this was really the better option. But if there’s something with Brack that can be relied upon, it is her foolish stubborn head. Still, Brack and Leyla didn't want to listen to me. They threw insults at me and berated me as a coward. I reproached Brack with their ignorance, but she countered with the counter-question whether I’d know where this path was going? Because she‘d know! I accused Brack of having claimed for the mysterious place to be nearby! Brack assured that we would be there within an hour, and that the next morning no one would notice that we had been out at night. I didn't give in that easily this time. I argued with her that she had explained it so often now that I no longer wanted to believe it. Repeatedly, I made sure that Brack and Leyla carried no rope to tie me to a tree with and leave me to the wolves. In fact, besides Brack with her storm lantern only Leyla was holding a board and a hammer in her hands, for whatever purpose. Besides, they themselves were trapped just the same all along! The wolves only distinguished between a redhead on the one hand, and a blonde and a dark-skinned one on the other hand, depending on which group would be the more worthwhile prey in terms of quantity. While arguing with Brack and Leyla, I was eying the trees on which I wanted to save myself first from Brack and then from the wolves. Brack and Leyla would then definitely turn back and run straight into the wolves' clutches. Thus I might gain some sort of certainty that at least the wolves would have their prey and possibly not bother me the rest of the night on my way home. But the undergrowth didn't provided any chance of reaching a tree whose lower branches reached down far enough so that I could have swung myself up quick enough. The howling of the wolves was pressing from behind. So I decided to continue to follow Brack with her storm lantern wherever this path would lead. I didn't want to give up hope that I might at least escape the affair alive.

Nocturnal adventure

My penchant for mysterious secrets I probably had inherited from my Uncle Hubert. I hardly remember any event in my early childhood as much as that particular one. I had still been a small child and I barely able to peek over the edge of the table when Uncle Hubert came to visit. He enthusiastically spread out his latest find for us on the dining table. I didn't understand Mum's and Dad's appreciation for Dad's younger brother, who hardly ever showed up anyway. Also, the pieces that Uncle Hubert placed on the table just looked like a worthless collection of bone and clay splinters. But in Uncle Hubert's hands the stuff came to life! Skillfully, his callused hands put the tiny parts together and formed something out of the formless parts. With big eyes and probably mouth wide open I observed Uncle Hubert's work. My surroundings I had forgotten completely. Of course Mum had to disturb the fascinating work, as she demanded from Uncle Hubert to immediately clear the table for dinner. Recklessly, she literally pushed Uncle Hubert off the table. A few pieces of his collection dropped off the table. Of course Uncle Hubert searched for the pieces, but some remained missing. Only a few days after Uncle Hubert's departure I discovered the valuable parts while playing under the table. I collected the parts and hid them well wrapped under my mattress.

Within the same year Uncle Hubert showed up for my birthday and gave me a wonderful cup made of of delicate porcelain as present. But being only four years of age at that time, I was quite clumsy. It was bound to happen. Shortly after unpacking the present and my joy over this beautiful cup, the precious piece dropped. Facing the disaster, I got down on my knees sobbing, reaching for the shards unwilling to accept this cruel fate. Then Uncle Hubert's calloused hands moved between me and the shards. Trying to comfort me, he told me that the whole thing wasn‘t that bad after all. What was he talking about? My beautiful, precious, new cup was broken! Couldn't he see that? I didn't want to be comforted that easily. But then Uncle Hubert reached into his bag and brought out a miraculous paste. Piece by piece he picked up the shards of the cup and put them back together again. Amazed, I watched as my cup got re-created back out of the shards. Finally he held the re-created cup out to me. My cup! My very personal cup! My Uncle Hubert had taken my heart by storm. What happened next, I know almost only from the stories of my parents have told me, and of course from my Uncle Hubert. I must have run into the kitchen, grabbing as much as I could carry, randomly picked up plates and cups and threw them at Uncle Hubert's feet. That was a nice heap of shards! The reaction of the adults was mixed. Mom screamed at the misfortune of it. Dad lost all composure about the expensive damage. My Uncle Hubert must have looked pretty puzzled, too. And I glanced happily at my Uncle Hubert and could hardly wait for Uncle Hubert's magic hands to put everything back together again.

Although Mum and Dad and of course my Uncle Hubert told me the story later on with a smile, at least I knew where the fixed cracks in our dishes came from. Uncle Hubert taught me, how to evaluate my own finds by researching the objects in libraries. A year before I started school I could already read and write fluently. I learned about my finds from the banks of the Arundel River in the books in the Public Library. Browsing through the books constantly opened up new worlds for me. Initially, the librarian had pushed me out before the lunch break, but within weeks he simply let me browse in the library until I wanted to go home on my own. When he returned from his lunch break and opened the Public Library again, I was still brooding over the books so intensely that I often didn't even notice him. He put out some food for me, which I only discovered after hours. Inevitably, I satisfied my hunger and couldn't wait to delve into the books again. Quite a number of mornings he discovered me in the aisles between the shelves, where I had fallen asleep between my beloved books. He shared his breakfast with me and sent me home. I didn't want to leave, but he insisted that my parents at least occasionally wanted to see proof gain of me still being alive. My parents knew that I was in good hands with the librarian and got used to the fact that I didn't show up at home for days on end.

In my research for artifacts I kept pushing further and further up the banks of the Arundel River. And so one day, I met an old hermit from a foreign folk. The man was crouching on the banks of the Arundel, washing something in the water. Naively, I joined the man and showed him a few parts to which I didn’t know any meaning for. How startled I was when the man turned his face towards me. His brown skin was more wrinkled than my grandmother's face. There were hardly any teeth left in his mouth. Then the man also started to speak to me in a voice like the voice coming out of a grave, words I had never heard before. The stranger was patient. He reached for a stone and said "Takun" in his hollow, smoky voice. I didn't understand at first. The man repeated. Then he held up the pot he had just washed and said "Ukwén". I looked at him in amazement. The man presented me the stone again and said "Takun". Then he pointed to the pot again and said "Ukwén". Finally he hit the water and said "Hondura". I understood. These had to be the names he used for these things. I crouched down in front of him and picked up a stone and said "Stone". He smiled knowingly. Such a warm smile from such a coarse face, I couldn’t imagine until now. "Sto-n" he repeated, laughing and said "Takun" again. "Da-kun", I laughed back, which made him laugh more. Finally he took the object I had originally held out to him from my hand and picked up a stick. I watched in fascination as he fastened the tip to the stick with a thread. While I subsequently played hooky from school for a few days, I lived with the old man and learned his language and writing. He showed me how to read tracks, how to hunt with bow and arrow, how to tan fur, sew clothes and much more. I learned to navigate a canoe, how to build one out of hides, willow rods, hazelnut rods and tree resin, mend it and to fish. He showed me countless herbs and their healing power. I had never found this wonderful knowledge in the library before!

However, my good time with the old man should come to an abrupt end way too soon. One day I found the remains of his body lying in the water next to the canoe. The canoe lay battered in the water. Everything was covered in blood. A bear had surprised and killed the old man. Apparently, the old man had tried to escape. Filled with mourning for days, I wasn’t able to bury the old man. But I couldn't leave his remains lying around like that either. So at my tender age of eleven, I buried my secret mentor's body. That’s how I had inherited the old man's entire household goods all by myself. I repaired the tent and the canoe, as the old man had taught me. This inheritance enabled me to go on long journeys to the foothills from which the Arundel River originated. After each expedition I conscientiously hid my equipment before returning to Dorphane. At school, I couldn’t help but to show off my latest achievements in research. At first my teacher thought to condemn me to giving as many lectures as possible for my playing hooky, but already on the second day Mrs. Meisner recognized that she was actually providing me with the stage I needed to present my research results. Subsequently, she bypassed my turn for presentation for months in a row, which I had trouble accepting. Since despite my truancy I was by no means falling behind on my studies and instead kept returning from each expedition even richer, Mrs. Meisner got used to my truancy and simply accepted it. I didn’t care about the price for my lectures that Brackitra and her Leyla ordered me into a cellar afterwards, beating me up and locking me up in it. In the evenings, the old Jossn-Sepp released me there anyway, treated my injuries and sent me home. I was so enthusiastic about my research. I just had to share them with anyone, no matter the price. By the way, I was the only one who got released by the Jossn-Sepp from my cellar dungeon and my wounds treated. Somehow I enjoyed a silent veneration in his eyes. It didn't matter what cellar Brack locked me up in. Recognizing the situation, the Jossn-Sepp must have observed us each time when we left school together. At least he did me the favor of staying out of it, at least during the beating, and only opening the cellar after this Brack was long gone. Any intervention on his part would have only worsened the situation between Brack and me. Also today the Jossn-Sepp had followed us in a big distance and even a little bit into the edge of the woods.

During the past summer vacation I had enjoyed my free time away from school and traveled up the Arundel River as far as I had never gone before. I discovered the Rikrhana cave and in it the old man's tribal sign, which is probably why I immediately had a very special affection for this long lost nomadic folk. The prospect of an unprecedented beating in return for my latest lecture didn't in the least dampen my eagerness to let the whole class know the sensation of my discovery. And then such a turn in Brackitra's behavior? I absolutely hadn’t expected anything like that. Why didn't she just trash me up like usual? Instead, we were now rummaging through a thicket that was almost impenetrable even during the day. At any instant we could surprise a cougar or rather this one surprise us. In neither case it won't hesitate to kill the three of us at once. With melancholy I thought of my hunting knife which was with my equipment in the hiding place at the banks of the Arundel River. With it, I could have at least good arguments for an attacking silver lion to skip me as its prey and leave me to the wolves. With the wolves I could possibly come to terms with by climbing a tree and waiting a few days until they picked up the trail of another prey. As already mentioned, I couldn't get out of this alive anyway anymore. Reason enough to make peace with life and accept to get eaten as prey very soon. On the other hand, yet I wanted to keep on living as long as possible. As long as being alive, there's also hope to somehow get out of this alive. Being the wolves' prey there was the possibility, for these to eat Brack and Leyla while me waiting in a tree for the wolves to leave saturated. So a kind of a spark of hope, to make it home alive after all. Brack and Leyla definitely will get eaten tonight! They just didn't know it yet. Fortunately, I wasn't responsible for them. But using those stupid city brats as bait seemed appropriate to me. After all, they had been seeing us into this mess!

I suspected since long that Brack had gotten lost in the thicket. How could a spoiled city brat find her way in completely unknown wilderness without any practice? Repeatedly, I inquired Brack if she'd be sure of her doing, which she confirmed again and again. At some point she held the lamp higher and I vaguely identified the boundary of a long overgrown path. Brack's abilities to lead in the unknown forest surprised me somehow. At least I found myself a little calmer since at least Brack hadn't lied to me, but must have actually visited this place several times. However, the exhausting march through the thicket lasted on and again I began to doubt whether Brack hadn't just got lost and simply didn't want to admit it.

We finally reached an ancient barrier. Who was crazy enough to erect a barrier in the middle of the jungle? As if this nonsense wasn't enough, there was a sign next to it. Brack held up the lamp to make the text on the weathered sign recognizable. However, only vaguely weathered remains indicated from the former text. Somehow we guessed it to be a prohibition sign. Brack and Leyla sneered. Mockingly, they turned the board around, foolishly turned the sign on its stem upside down, and finally trampled on the board lying face down on the floor, "stamping it in" forever. The barrier itself merely consisted of a rotten, moss-covered turnpike on two equally weathered supports. At the slightest touch, the entire thing could collapse in on itself. Brack grabbed the turnpike and threw it to the ground. Then, with a feigned deep bow, she declared the "border crossing" as "opened especially for mistress Erika". With a bad feeling I just watched the hustle and bustle. On the other hand there seemed to be no recognizable, meaningful reason for an objection. The barrier and the sign had certainly been erected a long time ago and were forgotten relics of former residents of this area for at least as long. But this is no way how to deal with the remains of past residents, especially not if you wanted to explore their heritage! Brack and Leyla mocked my concerns. This rotten barrier and the illegible sign really meant nothing!

After all Brack started moving on again. The bushes became thicker and thicker. It seeemed as if bewitched. As if the forest itself wanted to prevent us from moving on. In this thicket for certain no cougar found a way, not to mention bears and wolves. If I simply turned back now, I‘d inevitably get lost without a storm lantern in this unknown thicket. Undeterred, Brackitra followed the remains of former foundation walls.

I was almost startled when we suddenly stepped out of the woods into a clearing. For a few steps we could guess the former path without a lamp. We headed along the path and came to a huge drawbridge made of heavy planks over a yawning abyss. I stared at the huge castle in amazement, for what little I could recognize in the dark. The castle looked completely intact, but for some unknown reason it was abandoned, just as if its inhabitants had simply vanished into thin air a few moments ago. I hardly dared to take the next step. I was gazing at the impressive building in amazement as I finally stepped onto the drawbridge. Of course, Brack and Leyla hadn't any glance for such sublime moments. Disrespectfully, they crossed the drawbridge and the square behind it. They stopped in front of the sublime gate and looked back for me. I myself wanted to savour every single moment to look at this ancient, sublime building before I desecrated it by entering. Somehow my opinion of Brackitra changed dramatically. This here was a goldmine for every explorer, and Brackitra apparently hadn’t a slightest idea of its extent and value! Why had I never found anything about this castle in the library? Its proximity to the royal city should fill entire books! In amazement, I took even smaller steps. Such a magnificent castle and really no one here? And now it all belonged to me? All mine?

Brackitra and Leyla blasphemed that I should hurry. It took me a while to regain my composure.

"This is way too big for tonight!", I gasped out. "Besides, the night covers everything in its dark veil! Let's at least visit this castle during daytime on the weekend!", I tried to win them over.

I thought to feel an uncanny malice, too, but I didn't mention it. At least I thought to see now the reason for the ominous barrier and the warning sign. How long ago might it have been that the last man had sought his way to this gate? No longer I believed that Brack had ever passed this dignified gate. Brack reacted pejoratively. Now we‘d already be here and had torn and bruised our dresses sufficiently! At least it would be worth to have a look inside! Didn't she really feel the wickedness of this place or did she cover up her fear so convincingly? I ventured another attempt to keep my hands off this castle for the time being and pointed out that the heavy gate was closed. Most likely this gate couldn't be opened at all! Brack checked the gate briefly and tried it. To our amazement, the gate opened a little bit with ease, but with a good squeak. The gate was leading into pitch black darkness. Brack triumphed, the way was clear! May I precede them as the experienced explorer! I barely dared to take the next step but Brack and Leyla simply pushed me in front of the gate. Panicked I tried the objection of there not being any light behind the gate! One could see nothing at all! In response, Brack pushed the storm lantern into my hand. Of us I'd be the most experienced one concerning such secrets! Leyla assured me, them being right behind me! Then the two friends gave me a push at the same time and thrusted me into the dark hall. Brack stated, them to be way behind me. Within an instant, Brack had closed the door with a slam. Before I realized it, I was completely alone in a spacious, dark hall. The bang of the slammed gate echoed horribly in the darkness. Ice-cold fear shot through my limbs. Brack must have been annoyed about Jossn-Sepp repeatedly releasing me from my prison. Now they had locked me up in here, from where I certainly couldn't escape anymore. In panic I immediately turned to the gate and tried to find the handle to open the gate again. But already I heard a strong knocking from the other side of the gate, as if someone would be hammering nails into the ancient wood. So that had been the reason for the board with the nails and the hammer that Leyla had dragged along! Brack and Leyla simply nailed the exit shut and made it impossible for me to escape! I was supposed to perish in here! This Brackitra hadn't improved over the summer holidays! She had worsened!3) She must have spent the whole of the summer vacation planning how to get rid of me for good! Or she now wanted to add murder to her list of outrages and I, a naive outsider, was the perfect murder victim for her. I banged my fists against the gate with all my strength, but the gate didn’t give in. I pleaded and begged to be released. Back in Dorphane they would be allowed to beat me up every day! Instead, the two friends sneered audibly that I might run into the clutches of a psychologically disturbed girl murderer in there! Leyla theatrically acted as if she were shocked... what if this was really the case? Shortly I heard in my dark prison, how the two comrades ran away. Then there was only silence! I leaned against the gate and howled for mercy. But there wasn't anybody left on the other side of the gate. The storm lantern stood on the ground and shone faintly into the pitch black night. Resigned, I sank to the ground and cried. How could I have been such a fool to think Brack and Leyla would be interested in my research? How could I have been so stupid to follow this Brack of all people to this dark castle? Slowly, it was dawning on me where I was really at. No, I hadn't overlooked this castle in my studies of ancient books! I had only obeyed the royal prohibition of access and limited my research to the records in the library! 4)

The only records of this castle I had ever got hold of were unusually sparse. Despite the fact of this castle always having been sitting enthroned like a landmark on the summit of Mount Ochonan not far from the royal city, I hardly had found any records I could clearly associate with this castle, even in the University Library. There were no reports from people who had ever explored the castle. I only knew that this castle must have been built long before the origin of Dorphane. But at that time the whole country had consisted only of ice and snowfields. Polar bears and caribou had been traveling their lonely paths, while ice-cold winds had driven thin clouds of powder snow mercilessly across the country. Just a few copies of some documents from Itasún revealed that a distant ancestor of King Robert of Itasún must have built this castle.

My messed up situation forced me to straighten up. I needed another exit! My instinct for survival drove me. Brack had miscalculated by assuming, for me to be stuck in a hopeless situation for the first time in my life! Well, I’m going to show her as soon as I get my hands on that bitch back in Dorphane! Now it was the end of fun and getting trashed up! This time I’d cut this nasty brat to pieces. Provided I ever come across her alive again, which was highly unlikely. In the best case I would arrive back home after heavy struggle, getting to hear that Brack and Leyla went missing. Or a hunter had found their remains in the meantime. Nobody at school suspected that the old man had taught me how to fight. Up to now I hadn't shown my skills at school, but now I would change that for good! I took a deep breath to clear my head. Brack will never come back and let me out again! In fact, she won't live long enough anymore to be able to let me out! At best, she‘ll run straight back to the wolves. There wasn’t any getting home anymore for the three of us! Possibly I was actaully stuck in the better trap. I just had to survive!

I bent down and picked up the lamp from the floor. The light of the lamp died in the darkness of the unknown, huge hall. Searching, I groped my way into the dark hall step by step. Desperate, I was holding my notebook tightly against my chest with my other hand. This was probably due to a psychological effect of looking for support somewhere. Besides, if I would lose my most precious book here in the darkness, I probably won't ever find it again. A pair of granite columns appeared in the light of the lamp, but the walls of the hall remained hidden in the darkness. My footsteps echoed in the dark dome. Timidly, I called out into the darkness. Maybe someone lived here and was just asleep. Yet, actually I knew that nobody would answer. So I gave up trying again. Frustrated, I scolded myself for stupidly having followed Brack at all. Again I passed a pair of columns. Again I saw no end of the room at the end of the lamplight. Searching, I swung the lamp around and sighed, what I actually would be doing and what I would be expecting from it? How I startled when a deep male voice, probably up close, stated that this was a very good question! Scared, I drove around, but discovered nobody.

"Who said that?", I asked shudderingly.

"It would be polite if you introduce yourself first!", the voice answered reserved.

"Erika", it came trembling from my lips and I felt taken by surprise.

"What are you doing in my castle, Erika?", the voice demanded to know immediately.

"I – I‘m sorry!", I begged, scared. "I was locked in here by a few schoolmates. But if you show me a way out, I‘d be only too happy to leave", I tried to win the voice for myself.

"Who are you and where are you?", I searched for the speaker, when the voice was simply silent and I still didn't discover anyone.

"The Lord of this castle!", the voice narrowly gave in.

"Then you must know a way out!", I pleaded.

"There is no way out!", the voice replied with disinterest.

"What?", I couldn't believe what I had just heard.

"This is my castle, not some hard cheese with an endless number of holes in it!", the voice instructed me condescendingly. "It's better that you accept it!

It will make it easier for all of us!"

"Who are you? Where are you?"

In rising panic I swung the lamp around me searching, but the voice remained silent. Instead, I touched something with my feet. When I pointed the lamp at it, I recognized a human skeleton. Tattered and bloody clothing gave wittness of the violent death of the unfortunate. The broken equipment was scattered all about the site. Spider webs and a thick layer of dust revealed that this unfortunate had been stranded here long ago. Horrified, I cried out as I stepped back.

Gateway to darkness

While me stagnating undecidedly about of how to proceed, I suddenly heard shrill screams of two voices familiar to me. But before I could assign the voices to Brackitra and Leyla and wonder of how that to be possible, two bodies plumped to the ground in quite a distance, probably somewhere near the entrance gate.

"Your comrade, is that the one over there?", demanded a male voice in sonorous bass that transcendently filled the room as if the air itself were speaking.

But that wasn't possible! Were there more people here after all? Perhaps my chance to escape this wicked castle was approaching! A pleasant power emanated from the voice and banned the horrors of the castle around me.5)

"Who is there?", I spun around and searched with the lantern to see if I could find someone in the dim light.

Two voices, the sonorous voice from before and an undoubtedly female voice, like that of a fairy, which radiated an equally solid sense of security, spoke transcendently through the darkness. But instead of helping me, they wondered why I couldn't see anything, as if I wouldn’t have any eyes in my head?

"Would it be possible with a little less insolence, if it wouldn't be asked too much? Can you see anything in this pitch black darkness?"6)

The voices ignored my questions, blasphemed about my lamp, and expressed their amazement about why I was waving it around so wildly. Another two fairy-like female voices came up and dismissed my lamp as irrelevant. While I was still wondering about the meaning of all this, I heard hasty steps of two pairs of feet on the cold stone floor. Astonished, I actually and seriously discovered Brackitra and Leyla emerging from the darkness into the light of the lamp. How did they get in? The gate was clearly nailed shut! And it hadn't opened in the meantime! I would have seen that immediately! But before I regained my composure, Brack reached for the lamp. This is hers! Instinctively I pulled the lamp away, only that Leyla was reaching for it. I couldn't get rid of them that easily. I fought for both, me possessing the lamp as well as triying to keep the light alive. Didn't these stupid bitches see that if the lamp dropped the light would go out? No, they didn't get it! Leyla hit my hand as I was pulling away the lamp from Brack again. I lost hold of the lamp and it shattered on the ground.

"Now look what you've done!", Brack nagged me.

"I?", I justified myself. "What are you doing in here after all?"

"What shall become of us now?", Leyla howled for light somewhere between us on the ground. Then a sharp outcry from Leyla's mouth. Of course, she had cut herself on a shard. She screamed in pain. Suddenly I heard the transcendent first female voice, as if we would be right inside her. I thought to sense a presence as if from a mighty spirit that enveloped us, but I couldn’t decide if I had to fear it. The being radiated boundless power, but the evil of the castle fled from it.

"Just simply watch yourself!", the voice admonished, as if she hadn’t yet noticed the evil of the castle herself.

A faint clink indicated that the shard had fallen to the ground. Leyla meanwhile relaxed right next to me, as if the pain of the wound had disappeared at once without a trace. I felt that I had to honour these beings. These beings were my hope to find my way out here somehow! I was just about to ask this being to stay close to me. Instead, Leyla started crying again immediately.

"It is dark! I am scared!", Leyla cried beggingly as if she still hadn't got it that we were on these beings' grace.

Didn't this Leyla really learn anything? Was she so blinded by her devote submission exclusively under Brack's rule?

"Why then did you bring this scared with you when it breaks because of this dark?", the first female voice snarled back gruffly.

I couldn't believe it. The darkness and the scare were bothering all of us, but in the voice of these fairys or whatever, these problems sounded downright ridiculous.

"Dark is what humans call it when they don't see anything“, I heard one of the other female voices gently. "For some reason humans can't see anything with their eyes at certain stages of a period and in certain places. It's like with that blind human in the city."

Had she just refered to us as "the humans"? What kind of beings were in the hall that we neither saw nor understood, and which blind human was suddenly being talked about? Nevertheless, I immediately felt drawn to this voice. That voice I loved most of all. I wanted to run to it and hide myself there. Best to dissolve in it right away, no matter the costs. But to my sorrow this person seemed to be far away.

"And why does this dark do harm to this scared?“, the male voice wondered.

"And what does this scared look like?" desired to get to know the first female voice. "She doesn't have anything with her!"

Stunned, I tried to follow the dialogue. Not that easy with a howling Leyla and a clamoring Brackitra right next to me. Was this castle actually not abandoned at all, but instead these beings living here? At least that could explain the excellent condition of the castle and why someone like us actually had no business here.

"I think the humans describe as scare their concern for their survival or wellbeing", I heard an attempt to explain by the second female voice. "Then the humans also always do very strange things. You’ve seen how the two outside were shivering."

"Which two? Hello, I'm here, too! I want to know what this is all about, too!"

Brack and Leyla, however, fell silent abruptly.

Ah, so these two!