Mirrorworlds The Crystal War E-Book

Rolf Glöckner

• Herausgeber: neobooks
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Deutsch

Seitenzahl: 221

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

War reigns in the crystal world Green crystals seek help from siblings Carolyn and Tom, well known to readers of 'Mirror Worlds: The Twelve Books,' in their fight against the red crystals. But there is more at stake, because the red crystals also threaten Earth. An exciting adventure through space and time begins. The dragon Dracontor, the trolls Lanudas andLakuno, and many other fantasy creatures also play a significant role. Another exciting fantasy novel, spiced with a gooddash of humour and plenty of action.

Leseprobe

Mirrorworlds The Crystal War

Mirror worlds

The Crystal War

A Fantasy novel by

Rolf Glöckner

Edition 1 June 2025 english version

© Rolf Glöckner

Cover photos:          

© Günther Gumhold / pixelio.de

© innovari - Fotolia.com

© 3dmentat - Fotolia.com

                    Rolf Glöckner

Creator:          © Tom Jay

About the writer:

Rolf Gloeckner, born in Georgsmarienhütte in 1945, now lives in Oldenburg, is married and has a son with his own family. He is enjoying his well-earned retirement and now devotes his time to astronomy, astrophysics, photography and, of course and above all, writing fantastic stories. ’Mirrorworlds the Crystal War is the second

adventure in the Mirrorworlds series, which concludes with Mirrorworlds The twelve books ’ and ’Mirrorworlds The witch castle’.

Chapter 1

One year later

A year had passed since their great adventure in the mirror worlds, a year filled with school, trips with their parents, meetings with friends, sports, chores around the house and whatnot. But all this was covered by a sometimes deadly boredom, Carolyn and Tom were eager for new challenges. What an adventure they had had together with their parents, their uncle and his trolls, the mysterious Betty and their many friends.

They often sat with their parents in front of the flickering fire in the evening and talked about what they had experienced together, until finally their parents, June and Marc, put their foot down and sent the children to bed.

One evening, it was raining heavily and storm winds were howling around the house. Everything was just as it had been when they unexpectedly slipped into their great adventure. Carolyn and Tom were just about to tidy up their rooms after a friendly admonition from their parents, when Carolyn suddenly cried out loudly, ran into her brother's room and breathlessly exclaimed: "Tom, please come, I've got", she faltered and then continued, somewhat calmer: "I think I've seen Lanudas!

He appeared to me in the big old picture that hangs above my desk." "You're crazy!" her brother replied, "We've probably talked too much about our experiences and adventures recently and now you're already seeing ghosts! All right, let's go over there together and then we'll take another good look at the picture, maybe it was just light from the streetlamp coming through the window from outside or maybe you were imagining things."

They went into Carolyn's room together. Tom looked carefully at the old picture, which hung there unchanged above the desk. "You see, it's all just pure imagination, let's get on with it now, otherwise we'll have to listen to our parents admonishing us again later." "But," Carolyn replied, "I really did see him quite clearly!" "Oh, nonsense!" replied Tom, "You know where he lives, in one of Uncle Hans' jacket pockets, he can't be looking out of a picture, I just don't believe it!"

He had a big grin on his face and was about to say something else, but he was abruptly interrupted by a noise coming from below.

The front doorbell rang loudly. They heard someone walking down the hallway, opening the door and exclaiming in surprise, it was June: "Brother, where have you come from? Come in quickly, you're all wet! What brings you here in this terrible weather?"

The children looked at each other speechlessly.

Hans, her uncle? What a coincidence! First Carolyn, Lanudas, claimed to have seen the troll, and now her uncle turned up? Strange! Was there a connection? People were talking downstairs and despite listening hard, Carolyn and Tom could only make out fragments, then they heard heavy footsteps on the stairs and their uncle came up to them.

 Laughing, he looked at them both and said: "So, how are my two mirror travelers?" "Hans!" cried Carolyn, jumping up and throwing her arms around her uncle's neck. He stroked her hair, then greeted Tom with a firm handshake and asked, a mischievous smile crossing his face: "Have any of you seen Lanudas? You know, the little troll who always accompanied me on my travels." "Yes," Carolyn exclaimed, "he just peeked out of the picture in my room." She pointed in the direction of the picture, which was clearly visible through the still open door. Her uncle shook his head, perhaps a little incredulously.

"I want to believe you, but he's not here now, let's see if I can make a connection with him."

He turned around, stepped in front of the picture and then took a small green crystal from a dark brown leather pouch that he had pulled out of one of his countless jacket pockets. He began to rub the small green stone between the palms of his hands, faster and faster.

A cutting sound developed and Carolyn covered her ears in horror.

A bright line appeared on the ceiling of the room, which grew larger and larger. Unexpectedly, a shimmering black gap opened up, screeching loudly, and a small figure fell wriggling onto the soft carpet of Carolyn's nursery, rolling over and scolding loudly in a high-pitched voice that was very familiar to the children.

Lanudas the troll! Still screeching loudly, the figure scrambled to his feet, stood up on his scrawny little legs, straightened his clothes and began to spit:

"Hans, you dolt, when will you finally manage to let me land properly even once? Every time I land I get a few bumps, one day I'll break my neck with a fall like that! Oh, my head, my poor head! But at least you came, just as I had wished."

 Tom, who had been watching the little troll's strange goings-on, could no longer contain himself and shouted, many question marks in his eyes: "What are you doing here, I demand an explanation!" Hans turned to him and looked at him with a smile.

"Let's go downstairs, I probably have a lot to tell you again and Lanudas certainly has a lot more. He was the one who called me and, unable to resist, steered me here. He's good at that, my little friend."

He bent down, quickly grabbed the troll from his belt and stuffed it somewhat roughly into one of his large breast pockets, left the room and began to descend the stairs.

Excitedly, the children followed him down to the large living room where their parents were already waiting for them. They quickly sat down in front of the old fireplace, in which a lively fire flickered, and waited for what was to come. Was there a new adventure in store for them?

What did her uncle and the little troll have to report? Carolyn jumped up excitedly from her chair and called out: "Now tell me, what are you doing here, what's happened?"

Hans looked at her with a smile. "Still impatient, little one? Be patient, our little friend is the one who has all sorts of things to report."

Chapter 2

Deja Vu

Carolyn shuddered when they finally came to rest in their large living room. There were a few small differences from back then, though: her parents, Lakuno with his partner and Betty, who seemed so different in age, had not been there. Now all that was needed was for Sulass from the Rucks to show up and everything would be almost the same. Carolyn was overcome with a slight feeling of fear that she couldn't explain. It was as if she had dreamed it all before. Tom, her brother, on the other hand, looked around curiously and adventurously when the troll Lanudas took the floor. "Danger is imminent, your help is needed!"

As soon as he had uttered this sentence, a loud rumble could be heard from above, from the very top, from the ground. Then there was a heavy thump, as if someone had bumped into something hard, and when a loud, pain-filled humming sound was heard, the children immediately realized that Sulass had arrived. Shortly afterwards, they heard his heavy footsteps on the stairs, the door to the living room opened and Sulass entered, the inevitable big sack on his shoulders, looked for a seat and sat down, humming painfully. He rubbed his round bear skull and shouted angrily: "Can't you build the stairs a little higher? Every time I have trouble getting down the stairs without hurting myself".

Everyone, especially the siblings, laughed out loud. Sulass, still grumbling, placed his big mysterious sack on the ground next to him with a thud.

Two pointed caps peeked out of the sack, which was not tied very tightly, and a shrill voice, that of Lakuno, rang out: "Lanudas, you thought you could go on a new adventure without us, how! I also brought Ladina, maybe she can join us on the new adventure that apparently brought us together here."

The man mumbled something into his goatee before continuing: "There's danger, I've already told you, I couldn't jump straight to you, I was prevented from crossing by some circumstance I don't know about yet and I needed Hans' green crystal to do so, only he could open the door for me with it. But why word of the danger has spread so far shows me that the danger is now greater than I previously thought."

June and Marc, now a little agitated, wanted to ask something, but Carolyn and Tom beat them to it.

"What danger is there and what is the green crystal all about and where is the danger and when and why are we the ones who can help?" "I don't know exactly either," the troll replied, "someone spoke to me as if in a dream, but I couldn't recognize him clearly." "You scared me off because of a dream, you pointy-eared journeyman, you summoned me here and all because of a dream?" Hans was outraged, "you'll have to explain that to us in detail!"

Everyone took their seats again and the troll began to speak.

The danger is coming.

"It is an old story that was written down by us trolls a long time ago and which happened in the distant past. This event destroyed almost the entire land of the trolls and it was only with the help of other peoples that we managed to save and rebuild our land, for the destruction that was wrought was immense. It has to do with crystals and the world they live on. This danger is now present again and this time it will be directed against your world. At least that is what our elders, our wise trolls, have come to realize. You are their target!"

Carolyn jumped up. "What kind of danger is it now, tell us at last!" she exclaimed. Tom, startled by the troll's statement, also wanted to know what was going to happen and how they could defend themselves against it. But the troll continued. "It has something to do with the crystal which is in Hans' possession and which he used to bring me here, that much I know. This crystal can store an unlimited amount of energy, enabling the wearer to bring other people to them or to travel to other places themselves.

This crystal, perhaps Hans can tell us something about its origin later, is missing for those who live on a mysterious crystal world and so they will come to get this mineral, which is so important to them, and that will certainly not end peacefully. And now Hans should tell us how he got the crystal and what he knows about it." Hans cleared his throat a little embarrassed, but Sulass mumbled something to him and so Hans had to give in and he began to tell the story.

Chapter 3

The newcomer

He had barely spoken the first words when there was a loud bang in the old poplars standing at the edge of the ditch on the property, followed by the sound of splintering wood. It was completely silent for a moment. There was a loud hiss and the dim garden was suddenly brightly lit. The children looked at each other and Tom exclaimed: "What was that just now?", rushed to the window, pulled aside the heavy velvet portiere and looked out into the garden, which was preparing to plunge into the night. Suddenly he began to laugh out loud. "Come quickly, you have to see this!"

Everyone jumped up from their seats and rushed to the window. "This can't be true!" shouted Hans, "We've just had a visitor, I hope no one has seen this visitor, it would cause quite a riot in our little village!" In the meantime, the light in the garden had gone out and everyone could now see, it was almost dark, a gigantic figure working its way out of a tangle of branches, bright clouds of smoke billowing around the gigantic figure.

A dragon! And so big! "Dracontor!" cried Carolyn enthusiastically, for she liked the great wise dragon who had helped them so much on their last adventure, "it's Dracontor!" By now, he had risen to his full height and moved towards the house. Then he turned his head to the side and one of his large eyes looked in at them.

Marc opened the window, looked into the big eye and said: "Welcome, what brings you here? And why did you have to spit fire again, you're scaring the whole neighborhood." The head turned again and now the voice of the old dragon reached them in the large living room:

 "It was like a compulsion, something brought me here, but I don't know how it happened. I was in our world, talking to the others of my kind about important things, when I suddenly felt a tug and a pull that tore me from their midst.

 I see the kids, Sulass, the Rucks, the trolls, Hans, June and Mark, but I don't understand the whole thing. He pulled back his big mouth and Carolyn saw his head. She cried out, "Look what's on his head!" The others were amazed to see that Dracontor's head was adorned with a large hoop with a large green crystal in the middle.

"Look at that," said Tom, "I've already seen a crystal like that here with Hans and now a piece like that on Dracontor's head, it must have a special meaning."

Hans, who had made it possible for Lanudas to enter the human world with his green crystal, shook his head in amazement, turned to Dracontor and asked him: "How, Dracontor, did you get this green stone, I thought I was the only one who had ever managed to leave the world of crystal beings alive, taking one of their treasures with him!" The big dragon let out a puff of smoke: "Can't we go to a place where I don't have to crouch down like this to talk to you? And if I could curl up my tail accordingly, that would be nice." June, who had kept to the background so far, spoke up. "We could move into the big barn, which has been empty since we stopped having animals and is probably big enough to accommodate us all. I'm really curious to hear what Dracontor has to tell us and we want to hear from Hans too. I don't want to stumble from one adventure to another again. Over in the barn there are still Grandmother's old oak chairs, so take a soft cushion each so that you can sit comfortably. I think we're in for a long night of explanations."

And so they all made their way to the big old barn, which was located behind their house under the large old oak trees. They moved carefully across the dark courtyard and Marc carefully opened the barn door, which was difficult to open.

Chapter 4

Dracontor and Hans

Dracontor

Now that everyone had gathered in the dark barn and Marc had provided some light, Dracontor rolled up his long dragon tail and rested his head on one of the large crossbeams that supported the roof. He looked around with his large lizard eyes, smoke billowed out of his nostrils and he began to speak.

"I never expected to see you again so soon and I will now tell you something strange that happened to me in Dragonland a short time ago. I had gone to sleep, yes, we dragons sometimes like to sleep, I had a dream. I saw this old house in a blur, saw you all gathered here and a voice, it sounded so strangely cold and stony, said to me: "Go there!"

"I jerked up and felt something unusual in my head. There was suddenly a hoop with a green crystal on the front, from which a strange vibration was emanating. But I was also startled to see that the vibration had now turned into an ever brighter ringing, which began to dissipate, starting at my tail. I also felt like I was going unconscious, a rather rare phenomenon for us dragons. And when I regained consciousness, I was already falling down into the trees that probably belong to your house. I can't explain why I'm here, but there must be a reason." He emitted a few more smoke rings and looked around questioningly.

Hans

Hans, who probably felt addressed by the questioning look, rose from the bale of straw he had chosen as a seat and looked up at Dracontor.

He looked at the ring with the shimmering crystal that adorned Dracontor's head for a long time and then said, as if to himself: "Strange, it looks exactly like the crystal in my possession, in shape and fire." Lanudas, the little troll, his pointed cap boldly on his neck, could no longer hold on to himself and fishtailed:

"And with this strange stone, you have cleared the way for me. Something wants to prevent us from coming together and someone is bringing us together anyway. Hans nodded to his little friend and continued: "I think I know a little about the magical powers inherent in these stones. In one of my many journeys through as yet undiscovered worlds, I landed, probably by mistake, on a crystal world covered in millions and millions of green but also red glowing stones. Unaware of the fact that they could be mineral life, I grabbed one of the green crystals lying on the ground in front of me. I also wanted to pick up one of the red stones, but I couldn't pick it up from the ground as it seemed to be fused to the ground.

So I returned as quickly as possible, because the world was inhospitable, there were no plants and no water, at least I couldn't discover any in the short time I was there. But what about the danger, my little troll?" The man addressed in this way pulled thoughtfully at his cap and looked around somewhat perplexed. "If my memory doesn't deceive me, but I'm not entirely sure, the danger concerns the human world." He paused, as a reddish light fell through the wooden wall of the barn and bathed those present in a mysterious light.

"What's that?" Carolyn groaned and Tom jumped to the large hallway door, opened it a crack and they all saw a glowing red crystal creature about to materialize in front of their house. With pounding steps it moved towards the house, climbed the large flight of steps, opened the door and disappeared.

Chapter 5

Tumult

Shortly afterwards, there was a lot of noise in the house. It sounded as if the upstairs was being swept downstairs. Suddenly the first panes of glass shattered and shards of glass flew in a high arc onto the lawn in front of the house. Hans jumped up. "Come on, we have to stop this scary creature!" No sooner had he spoken than the dark garden in front of the old house turned a shimmering green and another creature, similar in size to the red crystal formation that had just appeared, suddenly stood on the steps of the house, opened the large oak door and also disappeared inside the house.

Hans ran out onto the forecourt of the large barn and saw the figure resembling a green crystal disappear into the house. He was about to chase after the intruders when the large dragon held him back.

"Think first before you rush off, it's certainly dangerous in there and please think first about the experiences you described on the crystal planet. I see a connection, but I can't yet see exactly what it's about. So let's observe carefully first!" In the meantime, the noises had become louder and louder, accompanied by the crash of falling furniture and an infernal howl.

Then it started to get really loud. It sounded like a fight. They could clearly see the red or green glow of the very different creatures through the shattered windows, which provided a little insight. Were good and evil fighting with each other? Carolyn began to tremble in fear, her brother took her in his arms protectively and began to talk to her reassuringly.

Now the noise spread to the upper floor and Carolyn cried out: "I think the two crystal creatures are in my room now, what are they doing there?" Marc, who was standing at the door and cautiously peeking out, turned to Hans and looked at him questioningly. "What do you think this has to do with the green crystal that you took on the alien planet and how did such a crystal get into the ring on Dracontor's head?

I don't think I understand some things here!"

The three trolls, who had kept to the background so far, joined the group and turned to Hans and Dracontor. "You two have a green crystal, Hans has his from a planet we don't know, you, Dracontor, suddenly found it in a hoop on your head and this hoop or the crystal, whatever it is, brought you here to help this world in a great danger.

"Hans, show us the green stone again." The latter, prompted, reached into his pocket and took out the glowing green stone, which suddenly shone with a bright light as if it had been freed. In the meantime, the noise in the house had become deafening and then, with a thunderous bang, part of the outer wall of the house burst and stones tumbled onto the lawn. A red something was catapulted out of the house at an insane speed, crashed into the beautifully landscaped flowerbeds and lay there in a daze. The red light, it seemed, had dimmed somewhat. Had the power of the creature that had just raged through the house like a berserker been used up?

The friends watched in horror as the red crystal block, not unlike a human being, something like a head, with arms and legs, slowly began to move again. What was coming next, what would happen now?

Chapter 6

The pilot

A low, humming noise could be heard on the horizon, which developed into a loud engine noise. A helicopter, large and dangerous-looking because it was fully armed, was approaching the estate. The missiles mounted under the side stub wings were clearly visible. Suddenly it became brightly lit, the occupant of the helicopter, whoever it might be, had switched on his spotlight. The light fell on the red figure and the helicopter slowed down until it began to stand still in the air at a distance of three hundred meters.

The light focused and Hans, sensing what was about to happen, shouted in a stentorian voice: "Take cover!" As quickly as they could, they all ran to the furthest corner of the barn and took cover behind all the equipment lying there. Only the steady sound of the rotor blades turning and the engine noise could be heard. Suddenly, a different sound, the likes of which they had probably never heard before. There was a hiss, they heard a dull thud and the whipping bang of an explosion. One of the missiles had been fired from the helicopter and hit the red intruder, who was torn into a thousand pieces by the explosion. Everyone ran to the barn door and saw the helicopter slowly descend into the large garden. The rotors ran out, the engine was switched off and a small staircase was lowered to the ground. The pilot, because that's what it was, had seen the friends, got out and came running towards them, but turned back in horror when he noticed the dangerous-looking dragon head in the diffuse light. June, however, approached him, put her hand on his shoulder and said: "Thank you for intervening, you've just saved us from an emergency situation! Come on, let's go back to the barn, which will probably serve as our shelter for a while now, judging by the damage to the house, because there's probably not much left intact."

The pilot followed her and the confusion on his face increased as he faced the company that had gathered in the barn. The large dragon took the floor: "Who are they, and who brought them here? The pilot, still very surprised at the strange company, took a deep breath and then blurted out: "My name is James Middelton and I belong to a helicopter squadron based in Florida in the USA. I was on a routine flight when something forced me to return to base. My helicopter landed on its own and I saw the boxes of missiles on the tarmac. So I got out of the helicopter and fired my screwdriver, I don't know why." He jumped up and groaned: "There was a green crystal on one of my rotor blades and I can see a stone like this on the head of the big monster and there's another one there too!" Carolyn and Tom jumped up and ran outside, carefully approached the helicopter and then they saw the green crystal on one of the rotor blades. Excited, they turned back and reported what they had seen.

The pilot, still very excited, began to continue his explanations. "I then got back on my helicopter, which immediately took off with me and flew here. All my attempts to steer it were unsuccessful, and when I saw this glowing red thing lying in front of the house, I pressed the button. What was that I fired my rocket at and where am I?"